8/2/16

Poems | Bishweshwar Das

Photo Credit: Bishweshwar Das


Faded Address

Hutchins Main Road,
St. Thomas Town
Bangalore – 84
Go straight down mosque road
Haji Sir Ismail Sait Mosque to your left
Take the immediate right after the rail bridge
Bangalore East station now to your right
Go past till you see the general class passengers streaming past
the broken wall, the autos and the mangy dogs staring blank
Keep going.
Don't take the left -that is towards Lingarajpuram
Keep going straight
The traffic here gets a little dicey
All swarming to slide towards the underpasses on the right
Sometimes it feels like one is in a bowling alley
The underpass in the middle is a century old, still intact in stone
over which the boilers throwing steam once rolled.
Keep going straight and then take the 1st  left
You will find the dirty yellow plaque
Hutchins Main Road.




Before he sent his last tweet, he decided to quit

I am still not very familiar with facebook
So if you can gather the time to write to  me on Gmail
We can exchange notes on our conditions
Rather simple everyday situations
Let's say  picking  my newspaper and deciding  on coffee, tea or last night’s left-over rum
Half-a-joint lying carelessly somewhere always helps along
I open the front page to read that the PM's twitter handle has been mishandled
Children in school still feeling unsafe
Public parks become dens of vices
Tribals killing cows
Kites getting entangled in Chinese kite strings
Prostitution rackets busted
Few more rave parties raided
Oil prices dropping and communalism rising
The internet needs to act on sex determination information online
Now let’s turn to the other sections:
Elections & Selections
Investigations & Enquiries
Evidence & Obstruction
Conversions & Re-Conversions
Campaigns & Reports
Condemnation and Commendation
Digital is the way forward
Print is getting passé
Book train tickets now, pay later
Travel portal flash sale

Poetry readings and Plays
Valentine’s Day Discounts
Upcoming events in town
The Mayor, The Minister, The Commissioner & The Governor
Temple robberies & Church vandalism

Today's word was 'Roasting’
Obscenity won't be tolerated
“Thundered the Censor Board Chief”

Elsewhere in twitter world the hashtag “Bombay” was trending for several hours, as many users described the decision as ‘mindless,’ ‘idiotic’ and ‘unacceptable.’

Away from the websphere ,
Laxman's Common man is orphaned
Will the Ambanis adopt him now?
Or will he finally get a ticket to the Rajya Sabha ?
I think the latter option is better
He can still get to enter the Press Club of India
And sign autographs, maybe not with a Parker
but a Reynolds would do just fine

The World Cup’s around.
Who won the last one?
Team India you snob
We need your support, that's all. You can bugger off now
And start making breakfast for yourself
Don't waste your time on the editorial
You are not called for any television interview.

Let me fold up now?
At the bottom right
Is an Obituary:
“Before he sent his last tweet, he decided to quit.”

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