Sunder And Sonati

Twenty years ago We watched in amazement As our neighbour and his family His wife, his parents, his small children Armed with nothing more than Gadaparais, mammutys, kothus and chattis Transformed

We cleave to relationships Come what may But Relationships Are like a braid Strengthened or weakened By use and disuse Sometimes knotted By misuse or abuse A knot can be picked By two hands working

Online, online, saglw online Google Meet Zoom call Proctored Exam Audio mute kara Video on kara If you switch tabs You are cheating If the current goes You are cheating If you use headphones You are

Someone I have seen In frocks and skirts In pavadai-sokka In pavadai-davani I met yesterday In a sari We measure out our lives In clothes-changes But ageing is relative, too After all After the

Smells are evocative The smell of khichdi cooking Evokes in me This childhood memory: I go to school In the pouring rain Raincoated and gumbooted Arrive on time To be met with The announcement Of a

Father Stan Was quite a man The might of the state Sought to crush him It didn't even manage to Anywhere near shush him A caged bird Still can sing He said this quite Inspiring thing And proceeded to