Works of RK

There was a betel wine that fondly and fiercely cuddled on to a yellow flower tree in my courtyard. They lived together, with each other, intertwined, for as long as I remember. I will pluck the tender betel leaves for chewing pan, and my grandma will gently sweep the fallen yellow flowers from the courtyard everyday at dawn. The dying flowers huddled together in their final journey to the recycling pit.  One fine day, grandma did not wake up, and in a month, we had lost her .  One rainy day, not long after i saw last of my grandma, the yellow flower tree got uprooted. It died too, with the sweet betel vine.

The transience of my being Is in contradiction with the permanence Of this journey. I shall come back again And again Forever Until I get to travel Once With you besides me.

एक पतंग थी हमने भी उड़ाई सिर्फ तुम्हारे रंगों वाली. लट लगाती गोते खाती लहराती झूमती खुले आसमानों को चूमती। एक पतंग थी हमने भी उड़ाई सिर्फ तुम्हारे रंगों वाली बड़ी प्यारी, बड़ी दुलारी आसमान में, सबपे भारी। डोर न था वो मांझे वाली न कटती, न काटने वाली शाम न थी वो आंधी वाली फ़िज़ा सी थी वो भीनी भीनी। फिर कटी क्यों मेरी पतंग प्यारी जा लिपटी किस झोंके पे वारी इक गुडबाय तक न वो हमसे बोली और छोड़ गयी हाथों से लिपटी ढेर सारे दिल के धागे टूटे और एक लटाई जो अब है हम पे भारी।

Don't draw from me,  without leaving behind a bit of you in me. I am not eternal. I would wither away, with each day of your neglect.

No I don't miss you like the morning dew I don't miss you Like leaves from Spring In midst of Autumn's desolation No, I don't miss you I don't miss you Like an umbrella loaned And never returned. I don't miss you. I don't miss you Like a favorite pen misplaced Or the old house In a new place. Life goes on Some bit of longing Helps hope survive.

You swarmed my being Like a locust cloud Invading Fields in full bloom I was just another small blip In your radar of life.

As I walk through this wilderness In large circles and loops and forever I still cling on to my little dream My little patch of sunshine And all the promises Hidden within. Shine on my dear For I am not afraid of the dark anymore For as in a dream I hold on to your light within.

As the sleeper class coach hurtled on iron rails, I found myself gazing out of the window, the wind catching what remains on my balding head. It was the Carriage's willingness to be lead by the engine that surprised me. It kept pace and hurried behind the big boss, trusting that HE will lead the way. The landscapes changed from urban grime to barren wasteland to paddy fields awaiting harvest. Soon, the dusk fell upon us, and there was more light inside than outside. By the time I could make sense of the journey, sleep had invaded me. I woke up at 4.00 in the morning and found a cab home. The train was neither sad not happy that I was no longer a traveler. It's a journey it has to make, and that's about all it ever needed to know. As the car entered my residence , I could hear a Siren honk somewhere in the distance.

It's not that you don't love me. You love me in fragments In small bits, from little corners In small moments in time When out of time Some wanton memory Reminds you of me. It is then that you love me. And I love you with my being. All my broken parts stringed together Into a complex whole. I love you to the extent of my unbeing Until there is no more of me in me It's only you. Also appeared in Muse India

How far can I swim away from you For someday's I catch a lonely wind And float along aimless adrift Into a sea that I once called home. I tire out and find myself longing for you And just when I believe that I am far away from you I find myself washed ashore Into your arms Forever awaiting Never letting go.