सत्य हैं तो हैं क्या
अगर हैं तो हैं कहा

क्या सत्य नश्वर हैं
सत्य के क्या स्वर हैं

क्या सबका सत्य एक हैं
या सत्य भिन्न,अनेक हैं

क्या सत्य हमेशा वही रहेगा
या समय के साथ पल-पल बदलेगा

किसका सत्य सत्य हैं
क्या कोई भी सत्य सत्य हैं?

Pots, pans and plates
Pots, pans

And the larder
A ghost house
Trembling

The larder
Stocked with oats and rice
Pots

And when it is time to cook
And then the gas stove is lit for
A feast

Pots, pans and plates
- Rows of jars line
The windowsill

Preserves, chutneys, jams
Preserves, chutneys
- and mango atchar

That reminds me
Of India
Oh! Lord Gandhi!

Never by a house far from the school
I've learnt in these 17 years
Mine one's quite far
It's good though
Least they say so
Anyways

As bell rings to dismiss our tardy souls
I run and hop on the van
Bigger boys crack crude, sexist joke on the way back home
I sit silently
Revolting within
Wonder if they'll change
Whatever

The van stops unexpectedly, punctured,
On a crossroad, I'm on my own now
I walk towards an auto
He says 15
I sit in the one which costs a rupee less
Great savings!

In front of me is an old, poor man
Blind I presume(not the driver)
I wonder how he gets by
Somehow, definitely
I wonder how they live

Next me sits a boy of same age
Staring at the formulae
In preparation for his engineering exams
Since he was
I glance at his doodles
Sad
Whether he'll pass I wonder
Whether he wants to....
Nevertheless

I stop at the park near my home
That's the farthest they'll go
He checks the coins diligently and vrooms away
I amble
Beneath the summer sky
They cut a tree for the cable
They always do
I guess that's more important

Posters of manifestos
Of various parties lie round
Selling dreams
To those who'll buy

***** stenches as I near the street
A Mercedes goes by
I look round
Ignoring the girl begging
Like everyone else
'They'll buy drugs'
My mom says
'So what?'
I wonder some days
Anyhow

The lanky mad dog
Who's nobody's
Never will be anybody's
Welcomes me
As I open the gate

The rest of the day's less eventful
Internal turmoils
Seem vainer
In the daylight

We get by
Somehow
Hanging on a thread
Of unfulfilled dreams

Everyone strives
For something better
All don't get it
But..
Nonetheless

They had nothing to give
To their motherland
Except their mortal lives
So they gave it cheerfully
Without a second thought
To see her wrinkled smile

These road on which we stand today
Were built upon layers of stone
And skulls of warriors great
This freedom wasn’t free
Of cost. Their debt we must pay.
Each and every day.

Two brothers fought
None won
Both lost
Freedom exacted a dear cost

As the clock struck twelve
On that August day
From heaven the martyrs cried
Their dream
Their struggle
For which they died
Was finally realized

The dawn was breaking
It was history in making
The charkha of time had turned
After so many years
A nation was waking
Up

I am untouchable, right?
You don't want to touch me
Be near me
I'm so ugly

An outcast, I gripe
Sparkles of dust
Flying aimlessly
Towards the void

I disgust, don't I?
An abomination in flesh
A ***** -inducing nauseating pile of thrash
I'm nothing to you
You are nothing to me

So you fear I'll give you the disease
Honey, there's no disease worse than the one that is rotting your brain
To you
I'm dispensable
An object
A slave

So you won't touch me
But you want me clean your dirt, your shame, your filth
For they would make your hands *****
My hands, what hands?
I'm subhuman ******‌, right!
They don't matter
Nothing matters

So you won't touch me?
That's fine
I DON'T WANT TO BE TOUCHED BY YOU
NOT IN A MILLION YEARS
YOU DISGUST ME