Rooted-Uprooted

She was there in a car
By the side of the driver…
Night was eating into the evening.

The deal had been struck
A fast car passed
I stood by the side of her car
Window rolled up…

I was eager, but the
Car rolled out of my sight
And I walked away from my
Roots, my memories, my childhood,
My first tears, my first heartbreak,
My first triumph, my granny’s smile, my
Father’s pat on my back, my mother’s sitar
And its sound wafting through the
Room and then out of the windows
Onto the streets, to an uncertain
Future, an accommodation far less
Costly somewhere I was not born, did not
Grow up, somewhere downtown.

She comes back, in dream
She comes back riding
The evening breeze, the sunlight
Of the morning, the waves of
The forgotten river and pulls me
Out of my gloom
Into a new horizon and
I
Feel
Rooted
Once
Again.




{First published in Indian Literature,
a Sahitya Akademi (under the aegis of Govt.
of India) journal}