On the road again...

It was a gloomy monsoon morning

The dark grey clouds-

in the sky, in my room, in my mind

Was it the brown cascade

that Rapunzel had let down the tower window?

I carefully removed the pink curtains-

I hate the way it tenderly drapes my bedside window

Outside, the heavy monsoon rains

I was on the road again...

You were, so to say,my first love

You played for your college band

You gulped down Tagore and Shaw

On the other hand, Asterix was your life

Coherence of binaries? I often wondered

You have never shopped according to my grocer's list

You have never attended marriage parties with me

You have never...does it matter now?

But outside, the heavy monsoon rains

I was on the road again...

I was eighteen then

I thought the chrysanthemums in the garden bloom

Just for me

I thought, the moonlight blesses the treetop heights

Just for me

I thought, the puddles on the broken road were there

Just for me

I thought, you sang "I can be your hero, baby"

Just for me

I thought...does it matter now?

But outside, the heavy monsoon rains

I was on the road again...

We often sang Rabindrasangeet together

We often sat for hours at the Coffee house

discussing- the revolution that you dreamt of

We often tried to climb down the up going escalator

disregarding the dangers of loosing balance!

We often took the tram ride from Ballygunje to Esplanade

only to board the metro and return back to Kalighat!

We often...does it matter now?

Perhaps it does-

We often walked hand in hand getting drenched

Jumping into the water puddles...

Today-the heavy monsoon rains-

I was on the road again...

The phone has started ringing

Perhaps my hubby from Boston

He is a nuclear scientist

His seminars are famous over the world

Last one at M.I.T went really well!

His success makes me happy

and proud and lonely...

The curtains are blowing

I hate the way it caresses my window

I grab the curtains in my hands

Feel it against my cheek- soft, tender...

The phone is still ringing

Let it ring-

Outside and inside-

the heavy monsoon rains-

I was indeed on the road again...