Kharghar is burning

I wrote the following poem many years ago, when I had 2 years of laryngitis due to the burning of garbage on the roads outside our earlier residence. It was common, so an ENT specialist had her clinic details posted on the society notice board!

Diwali, a festival of new beginnings, is the time I don’t walk down the streets. Firecrackers used to start well in advance of the festival, but this year seems better, and I’m grateful for it.

Still, roads don’t usually get cleaned immediately after Diwali here in Kharghar, and the remains of firecrackers and the strong smell is a health hazard for many. This year seems a little different and people are starting to realise that we need to change and find new, non-polluting ways to enjoy the festival. I hope this trend continues.

Kharghar is burning and nobody cares.

There’s often a strong smell of smoke in the air.

Garbage collection is not a routine,

And waste segregation still is a pipe dream. Continue reading →

Start to explode?

The roads there for walking, the streets are for parking,

The footpaths where we sell our wares.

The junction is where we stop to chat,

Though the signal is green and we’re causing a jam.

We’re desperately eager to eat at the cart,

On the road mid the smoke from the bikes and cars,

We give our kids soft-drinks and call it juice,

We want sugar, and fat, and colour in our food.

We drive on the wrong side of the road,

‘Cos to follow the rules would be a great load!

We walk on the inner side of the path,

With our kids on the outside. We’re as happy as larks!

We don’t stress the small stuff, we let it grow,

Till it’s heavy and big and things start to explode.

You’ve either got to laugh at the Navi Mumbaikar, or have a good cry 🙂

A tale of two families

Husband No 1 :

Nothing to do, nothing to do!

My poor dear wife has nothing to do!

I come home from work and the house is so clean,

She’s sitting around reading a magazine!

The food is all cooked and our ironing is done.

She looks like her day’s been a lot of fun.

She has nothing to do ‘cos housework is easy,

She nags! Maybe, she needs some occupational therapy.

So I sit down and ask her to get me some water,

To bring me my kindle and the newspaper.

I sit down and wait while she serves dinner,

A little bit of work helps her keep her figure.

Husband No 2 :

Too much to do, too much to do!

My poor dear wife has too much to do!

I come home from work and she’s running around

The dinner’s on the stove and her work is not done,

The home and the family take all her time,

Her life is too busy, she needs to have fun!

I walk in and get a drink of water, then help her bring dinner to the table.

My wife needs a break cos there’s too much to do,

So I help her at home when I’m able.

Wife No 1 :

Too much to do? Too much to do?

My dear friend really has too much to do?

Nothings done ‘cos she works at a comfortable pace.

She takes the breaks that she needs.

I envy her style, how she does with a smile.

The help that she gets makes me burn up inside,

I do so much more but it’s always a chore.

I wish I had time, but there’s too much to do,

and there’s no-one at home who helps me.

Wife No 2 :

Too much to do, too much to do!

My dear friend really has too much to do!

She doesn’t know when to take a break,

and thinks it’s a sign that she’s really great!

She’s stressed all the time and she takes so much trouble,

But what is it worth, if she’s always nagging?

Child of Couple No 2 :

Too much to do, too much to do!

My poor dear mother has too much to do!

Child of Couple No 1 :

Nothing to do, nothing to do!

My poor dear mother has nothing to do!

I better find something for her to do.

It’s funny watching women who have totally different styles of managing their home. It has such an impact on the attitudes of their families and the appreciation they get for their work.

This play in a poem is fictional. It’s a lighter look at two stay-at-home women who have very different styles of managing their homes. I hope you enjoy reading it!

We have to pay the piper

We have to pay the piper,

For all that we have got.

If we don’t pay up when it’s due,

It’s gonna cost a lot. Continue reading →

Till death do us part

Till death do us part, yes that saying is true.

It certainly holds good for me, and these shoes!

They were on their last legs many weeks ago,

And today I’ve given in, and shown them the door.

An ode to my lovely pink shoes. I haven’t been able to get the exact same fit in this colour and am feeling quite sad about it.

The game

I don’t know you so I pass you by,

When I walk past every day.

You start to wish me, with a smile in your eyes,

And I think that you’re friendly and it’s a nice surprise! Continue reading →

Not Wonderwoman.

The world will not end if we put up our feet,

For 20 minutes each day.

The world will not end if we eat left overs,

More than once in a way.

The world will not end if we go meet our friends,

And we’re not there to serve you your lunch.

It’s these breaks we take and the time we make,

That help us get time before it’s too late. Continue reading →

The pot-stirrer

I could let the dal cook and not give it a look,

Let it stick to the base of the pot.

Then skim off the top, throw the burned part out,

And not worry about the waste, if what’s left suits my taste.

But the bottom of the pot holds the flavour,

That makes the dal taste divine.

And looking away is more labour,

Because scrubbing away the burn takes time.

Continue reading →

Pleeease dirty the mat!

A message to all our visitors. It’s about the floor mat that slants diagonally across our doorway during the monsoon, kept that way so everyone has to walk over it to enter our living room.

Sometimes visitors see that it’s clean and try not to dirty it, trailing all dust and the wet from the rains into our home! The funniest is those who can’t bear to see it slant across the grid of our floor tiles and feel compelled to take the trouble to straighten it out!

This poem is for them 🙂

You can step on the mat that lies across my floor.

Wipe your feet as you enter the door.

Don’t try to save me the washing,

‘Cos all it does is increase my mopping. Continue reading →

I can sing my own song

I can sing my own song while the music plays loud,

I can sing my own song, of this I am proud.

I can sign loud & clear though it might hurt your ears,

Cos I’m singing a song that’s not playing! Continue reading →

I search

I search for the empty that lets me embrace,

The busy that fills me with joy.

I listen for spaces,

For rests that give meaning,

To music that plays to the mood that I’m feeling. Continue reading →

The breeze that knocked me over

You’re the breeze that knocked me over,

And I’m lying on the floor.

I struggle to rise, clinging to hope.

I’m in a better place now, but still struggle to cope. Continue reading →

My friend for a reason

My friend for a reason,

I thought you were true,
But you ran when you thought I had need.

I was your friend for all time,

And I thought you were mine,
But now things have changed and there’s no going back. Continue reading →

That wonderful feeling

That wonderful feeling that you don’t know enough.

It’s what keeps you wanting to study and learn.
To strive to always be better today than you were yesterday.

That feeling that you never fit in.

Because you don’t live by rules imposed by the outside.
You’ve got an internal compass of your own and you’ve learned it’s wise to trust it.
And be comfortable with who you are. Continue reading →

This gift

You taught me to believe.

To have faith and to talk to a higher power everyday.

First thing in the morning, and at night before I went off to sleep.

To think about the reasons to be grateful and to say thank you out loud.

Continue reading →

I loved you

I loved you, so I never said no.

I wanted you to have order in your life,
So I cleaned up after you.

Now, you’re growing up and I can’t face the tantrums.

You don’t have the ability to take the knocks that life will give you,
And you don’t have the independence you need to stand up on your own.
I’m fed up. Continue reading →

My choice

I chose you and I lost my ability to see.

I couldn’t see your failings, though I was aware of them before.

It’s not that I was blind, but that I didn’t want to see.

Deep down inside, I think accepting your flaws was a reflection on me.

Because you were MY choice. Continue reading →

The Mountains of Tasmania

Mountains tall as old as time, look upon the twilight gold.

Dark now, in the fading light, till moon-rise, and a sky so bright. Continue reading →

Possibilities .. a poem about my dreams for the future

Sometimes I sits, I sits and thinks, of things I’ve never seen,

Of places that I’ll never know, of what I may not be.

Of all the possibilities that seem so far away,

of all the lovely winding roads, that lead out from my gate. Continue reading →

Kharghar is burning and nobody cares.

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The roads there for walking, the streets are for parking,

We’re desperately eager to eat at the cart,

We drive on the wrong side of the road,

We walk on the inner side of the path,

We don’t stress the small stuff, we let it grow,

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Husband No 1 :

Husband No 2 :

Wife No 1 :

Wife No 2 :

Child of Couple No 2 :

Child of Couple No 1 :

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Hey diddle diddle there’s more on my middle,

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We have to pay the piper,

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Till death do us part, yes that saying is true.

They were on their last legs many weeks ago,

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I don’t know you so I pass you by,

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The world will not end if we put up our feet,

The world will not end if we go meet our friends,

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I could let the dal cook and not give it a look,

But the bottom of the pot holds the flavour,

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You can step on the mat that lies across my floor.

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I can sing my own song while the music plays loud,

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You’re the breeze that knocked me over,

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My friend for a reason,

I was your friend for all time,

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That wonderful feeling that you don’t know enough.

That feeling that you never fit in.

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You taught me to believe.

To think about the reasons to be grateful and to say thank you out loud.

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I loved you, so I never said no.

Now, you’re growing up and I can’t face the tantrums.

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I chose you and I lost my ability to see.

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