if Mahatma Came Back!

When mahatma died
his eyes twinkled with hope
that someday, there wont be any descrimination
there wont be brutality
massive protests will be peaceful
and governments would understand
the value of peace

no one would be recognised
by their religion or caste..
just other than for the folksongs
and cuisines they inherit..
and they would be free to love!

and if he came back now
as he left,
what would shock him first?

now what would be "chauri chaura" like?
where?
vidarbha? bhundelkhand?
or the endless nameless villages in andhra and rajastan?

what will he burn first, for poorna swaraj?
he might have to start with water.
stolen from village wells,
(leaving back chemically polluted ones..)
turned into colored colas and branded mineral water,
to be sold in hitech cities
filled with ignorant people digging their own graves
whom would he talk to, first?
the villagers,
or the very "indian" urban crowd?

and what would he have to say about the state sponsored violence?
Kashmir, North-East..
will he too call them terrorists
or will he teach them a non-violent freedom struggle?
will he lead them to say
"quit Kashmir "?

what will he have to say
about age old narmada bachao
and brand new posco
will he try telling the leaders again
"India thrives in its villages"?

or will he just go mad
because, for a human, its so hard..
such a beautiful dream,
shattered..

about alice

yes,
its so difficult
to be innocent

you shouldnt be

but she is
and she will be.

she will keep asking us
true but disturbing questions
"why do you do it when you dont have to?"
"why did your time stop on a tea-time in the past?"
"when did you forget how did you come here?
and why?"

that's why
we need her here....

that's why
i love her..

i read about burkha!

what's burkha for us?

for me, i saw my grandmothers wearing it
i dint like it quite well
i thought
they must finding it hard to walk on the streets with it
how will they see the things around them

my pias auntie
she says every woman has to
because if she doesnt
she will show the shape of her body
to outside world
of men
excite them
which she has to, she can only her husband..

those very intelligent leaders
of "modern" countries
they cant stand if someone does, if someone wants to.
have they heard of the man called mahatma
who talked of tolerance ?
(even tolerance is a wrong word,
appreciating other religions it must be,
someone said..)

and when our sisters from afghanistan speak of it,
they have memories, long ones lasting, spreading though
centuries.
they remember a grandmother,
who escaped being caught
while going to a cinema because of it;
they remember their heart beating looking at someone
though the mesh of the veil..

yes, women can survive, as they have
the mens world
and they can be naughty however they are!

(reference to an article,"remembering chadori",
sunday magazine, the hindu,15-10-2006)

why?

when did i want to write?
i wanted to do it since long.
why dint i?
well, i thought i wasnt qualified, may be.
i thought i wasnt good enough.

now i feel i'm the one to speak about it.
noone else will, noone else has to.

of a dead youth:
why?

an essentially de-politicised childhood, we all share.

history, not very interesting topic.

cocacola, why not?

poor? do they exist?
(yes, i saw the photos on a forwarded mail..
really sad.)

from life?
we want freedom, money, love.
(freedom: what we have to save from pakistanis, may be by playing cricket
money:whatever my software company can pay me , they pay huge!!
{even when i work for 14 hours a day.. good that i dont know the labor laws}
love: not that one, it comes with anyone i live with, essentially of my caste. )