This morning

Opened the window this morning. Mynah's chirping in enthusiasm, a whiff of sweet morning air.

A girl walking on the street, looking into random cars, hoping to fix her hair. I wanted to shout out 'You look fine, don't worry you've got the flair'.

Curtains in Monsoons

The curtain is in paroxysms, dancing with the sea breeze. The monsoons must not be far away.

Like a drunk uncle of the groom dancing when encouraged by the firang girl at a Punjabi Bagh wedding.

In the camps of Idomeni

The lazy smoke rising from the campire,

Children playing football, it's twilight,

In the camps of Idomeni.

Voices speak of the ancient cities of Damascus,

Of Aleppo, of the silk route towns of Herat & Kandahar,

In the camps of Idomeni.

Dreams of Berlin, of Scandinavian smiles,

Of warm beds to sleep in, of bread, of better lives,

In the camps of Idomeni.

A boy smiles awkwardly at a girl, they do not speak each other's tongue,

She is unsure what to do, it's all Greek to them,

In the camps of Idomeni.

Context : At the start of the Syrian & Middle Eastern crisis, many people were forced to run from the destruction of war, and escape into Europe on crowded boats where many died. One of the first camps the survivors encountered was Idomeni in Greece. The European authorities had bundled them into the camp while they processed their applications for refugee status. I saw a documentary and was moved to know more about them via articles and news features. This piece of writing is a result of that.

When you kiss someone

When you kiss someone,

You don't just kiss their lips,

You kiss their smiles, their dreams,

Their fears, their insecurities.

You kiss their memories

And every one of their stories.

9pm on a Saturday night

It was just before Andheri station

9pm on a Saturday night

The girl was holding back a yawn when their eyes met

She smiled disarmingly at him

His eyes shone in surprise

A moment of reaffirmation of warmth

In this tirelessly cold world.

Eid Mubarak

Dheeme se sapnon se jaagti hui zindagi, kitchen mein chai banne ki aahat. Subah ho rahi hai, Eid mubarak.


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Dhaba

Punjabi cholleyan di khushbu, naal poori tallan di awaaz. Do mukka pyaaz, te dur truck da horn bajda hove.


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