Mercy Killing
February 13, 2007 | Filed Under Mumboji, Point of View, Travel | 2 Comments
Jumboji: What do you think of Euthanasia?
Mumboji: I don’t have any great views on it. But I think it should be given to everyone who stays in Bombay. Everyone who tolerates Bombay. Everyone who goes through hell to earn his bread and butter here. I stepped out of my house and there’s a traffic jam. I go about 50 meters ahead and roads are dug up. The road has been like that for about a year now. It’s all for a better future it seems. I don’t know when this better future will come. Just about a week back hutments along a road nearby were razed to build a road. While I am not a big fan of people constructing houses on roads illegally, seeing the homeless people was not a happy sight.
Some people were staying open roof and some were sleeping on their razed houses. When I look at people like them, I realize how blessed I am. I still have a cozy room and a nice bed to sleep on. In fact I have much more than that. But I am guessing when one is poor, one doesn’t care too much about the law. I think even the rich feel the same. I think people who care about the law can be counted on fingers.
Jumboji: Do you think, you can leave Bombay?
Mumboji: Vicious city, isn’t it? First I thought I love this city, but I guess my love is more of 29 years of dedicated staying in it. I haven’t seen too many places outside it and whenever I do, I’m overwhelmed.
I visited Pushkar recently and I was floored. The place has a serene feel to it. (Some people would think serene is my favorite adjective as I use it everywhere I can even remotely attribute it to.) Here, have a look at this panorama, doesn’t it give you the feel of serenity?
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| From Jaipur – Ajme… |
And then have a look at this sunset….
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| From Jaipur – Ajme… |
And imagine seeing the sunset everyday. With probably a nice cup of tea (alcohol is prohibited in Pushkar). Yeah things have their pros and cons.
When I was there I went on a 3 hour camel safari along with a friend of mine – Harish. It was splendid, I even bruised a part of my body that is seemingly impossible to bruise. Lots of things happened on that camel ride. They warrant a separate blog entry so I will refrain from it at the moment. I have had a tiring day at work, I was absconding for about 9 days and things have piled up. But the trip was worth it.
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| From Jaipur – Ajme… |
That’s the camel I rode on. Splendid animal, extremely cute. Large well built and loved rolling in the sand. The guy apparently had a fear of moving vehicles. Whenever he saw one coming, he would get all panic-stricken and try to veer away as far as possible or stick his head in another camel’s butt. He was called Moti and I have decided to name the fear of moving cars after him — Motigo. Apparently after arriving in Bombay, I feel like the fear has become mine and I suffer from Motigo too.
If at all you ever plan to visit Pushkar, a very good person to get in touch with is Himmat Singh – +919414300143. He has a web site that’s under construction – http://www.hotelvenuspushkar.com/ but there are more phone numbers there that you can use.
And if you intend to go on a camel safari, you can get in touch with Raju – +919982338600. He is a nice fellow and has working knowledge of a few foreign languages including English. But if you are not able converse with him, you can always contact Himmat Singh and he can help you with most things around Pushkar.
Dry Cheeks
February 10, 2007 | Filed Under Poetry, Travel | 6 Comments
what have I lost?
what have I gained?
i washed my soul, mamma,
when the other day it rained.
i wanted to cry
but the desert was dry,
way too dry for any leaf to grow,
but the thorns didn’t prick
and the sun didn’t wane.
Kismat is a devilish woman,
she sometimes comes and seduces the man,
and he leaves his virgin bride, mamma,
leaves her but takes her pleasures away.
mamma, the other day,
a beggar woman was asking for alms,
she asked not for money, not for food,
she asked for medicines, mamma,
her child was suffering from tubercolosis,
i gave her medicines,
i did right, mamma, didn’t I?
i have lost something in the desert, mamma,
I need to go back again….
moo cow and boo cow
November 10, 2006 | Filed Under Poetry, Travel | 2 Comments
came from the village – moo,
to visit her city cousin boo
boo asked her cousin,
“how’s been the pastoral life?”
“how’s been the kids?”
“and how’s been the midwife?” (in cow society the bull fights and the midwife is the real companion)
moo in her sparkling splendor
clumsily crossing the fender
said, “all praise be to god”
“there has hardly been any strife”
but moo was more than shocked
seeing boo’s almost skeletal figure
her hard-working push-up udder bra
while around her neck an ipod shuffled
“boo,” you’ve gone so thin and where’s your bell?”
“why’re you chewing gum instead of cud?”
aren’t you afraid of going to hell?”
asked moo, without any feathers but ruffled
“chill woman, times they are a changin
this is the city you know, the big bad world,
you need to be fit, you need to be thin,
you need to be trendy and need to be in”
“you can’t go about eating anywhere
only from the best bowl of open bin
and you need to stick to diet plastic
and newspaper, for a skin that is paper thin”
“but what about the sweet hindu woman,
she respects you for being so givin,
won’t it break her heart and burn her soul
to see you eat all that thermoplastic resin?”
“oh, she is fine, totally fine
she loves me more than a ton,
i give her dung in a zip-locked bag,
and milk in a date-marked carton”
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Dedicated to harish – who is a normal human being and not to be confused with boo cow or moo cow.
(the poem was a product of a conversation between me and harish.)