Summer

I kept it under the lid,

tight and safe;

silent effervescence, water- trapped

in a green bottle with a blue marble .

A summer child’s longing eyes on the codd-neck,

lining the old man’s box- shack, 

after cricket on a sweltering afternoon;

déjà vu.

The bottle pops and explodes,

fizzes...

the sour outpourings of the soul

corrosive on the lips.

Alice in Realityland #6

Summers were a boring affair and li’l Alice was weary during that part of the day as usual. The hour of the power cut! Going without power during day time was ok. She could do something even when she was bored like- watching the sparrows, or playing hide and seek with her cousins (at grandma’s home) or at least going for a ride on the bicycle ( herself happily seated on the rear  while Rachel grudgingly tagged her along answering her stupid questions ). But power cuts in the late evening... err... she hated it!

One thing she enjoyed the most, however on summer evenings, unlike school days, was watching television uninterrupted. On school days TV time was rationed. But, lo, again during vacation she couldn’t watch it as uninterrupted as she wanted to. Why? Because of the biggest villain — the  POWER CUT!!!

Power cuts were a daily routine during that time and li’l Alice hated it more than anything when it ate into her TV time on the National channel. The soap operas would be telecast only for a few hours, that too only till 10 at night. How insensitive on the part of the electricity board!

As there was nothing else to do during “the hour”, the whole family would take a trip upstairs. It was especially pleasant when the moon was out. They would carry a mat and lie down watching the skies. Sometimes, Appa and Rachel tried to figure out the constellations and then Rachel would go into raptures about the wonders of the universe. It was her secret wish to work for NASA. Although, all these things were beyond Alice’s comprehension she still listened to it keenly.

At other times they would play a word game...something like a scrabble but without the board. Appa would start with a letter from the alphabet, then construct a word and with the last letter the next person would construct another word. This game helped li’l Alice to learn a lot of words and often, she was awestruck at the number of words others around her knew. This was also the occasion for Rachel to do her verbal parade and Alice was always jealous when she did that, as Amma and Appa would appreciate Rachel more....

“Honorificabilitudinitatibus” said  Rachel with all the pride of a sesquipedalian. “She sells sea shells on the sea shore... “ shouted out li’l Alice in an attempt to outdo her sister. “That’s not a word Alice...” said Rachel “ that’s a tongue twister- don’t you know the difference? Duh!” “Then you should be using words people use...” replied an agitated Alice. “This, for your kind information, my dear sis, is something the great writer Shakespeare used”. That felt like the unkindest cut of all to li’l Alice. Mustering her wounded pride she declared “I’m not playing with you anymore” and left the arena.

Although Amma was asking them to stop the argument and not to be silly, Alice refused to join the game. She wanted to go downstairs but was too afraid of the dark. So she settled herself in a corner observing the stars while the others continued with the game. To her amazement she saw something moving in the sky. Forgetting that she was angry, she ran to them and pointed out a shooting star plummeting through the sky. She knew that her mom considered it as ill luck but Alice secretly believed that it was lucky.

In her excitement she uttered her wish aloud. “ I wish I could travel on a shooting star and reach the moon”. She had always loved the Frank Sinatra song “Fly me to the moon...” her father played on the tape recorder. It had opened a universe of possibilities to her. But to her dismay, Rachel began with her argumentation - with her rockets, NASA, Neil Armstrong and the scientific impossibility of Alice’s whole project.  Although angry with her sis once again, Alice knew that Rachel is right and remained quiet.  There was a smile on li’l Alice’s lips, however, and slowly did a “moonwalk” when no was watching cause in her mind she was riding on the shooting star from one planet to the next in a jiffy. Power cut was not a bad thing at all after all li’l Alice realised. It could make her “dream-magine” at least and she laughed!

Insanity

I place the knife on it

pressing its sharp edge gently

on the smooth hard husk,

then peel it layer by layer; 

tugging first, at the thick outer casing,

then remove the spongy membrane 

delicately, 

to reveal varied chambers of rubies.

They stain my thin long fingers,

these fleshy jewels,as I pick them out,

the only way to cure...they tell me...

I take,

a cluster of cardinal joy, accordingly, and

lay them tenderly on the plate...

Next a bunch of garnets,

of fear and other anxieties;

a conglomeration of fury follows,

scarlet berries popping and exploding on the platter,

and finally the sanguine debilitating pain,

rotting seeds which I reluctantly throw away, 

a reminder of my pomegranate days...

Conversation on a Saturday Afternoon

I long for that long chirpy saturday lunch
when in the air-conditioned cafe
we sat sipping iced-tea, lime soda and a smoothie
the three of us spilling beans...

A woman who threw herself
from the tenth floor crept in
with her depression.
Next was the creaking bones
and the body
which no longer is what it used to be...

We munched on the memories
of our last meeting
and of our travels in between
from visiting a temple to a nude spa...

We drew dotted lines on a flat map
marking our next destination
and remembered the taste of cocktail we drank
last time in the far East.

I long for those minutes
of absolute bliss when I could dive
into that beautiful world of books, art and memories
than live in this rut of extreme stupidity, 

where not even a modicum of sense crawls in...

Packets

I have my life
arranged in little packets.

A pack of meat, eggs and vegetables,
I marinate, beat and cut
to feed the hunger rising from my depths.

A packed basket of clothes,
to suit every occasion, and,
to cover the little things i feel in between.

And of course an ice- pack,
to soothe my swollen joints
or maybe a bruised heart.

Dead Weight

You promised to let me fly
into the heights of the infinite sky,
and you did fly with me
in exhilarating joy;
but I realize love, now,
that your love was -
weighing down-
down by my ankle
like a dead dead weight,
not letting me soar,
nor letting me drift,
even towards
the nearly distant shore... 

Alice in Realityland #5

This has been going on for days now. There was nothing Alice could do about it. Was it some kind of unknown psychological condition? Was she going mad? It seemed so, cause she hadn't heard of anybody speak about having such an experience...

She could see them erupting out of her brain like a violent volcano, floating around, like debris after a flood. Every action of her body was spewing them out like earthworms from the depths of the earth. Her senses sight, sound, smell, taste, touch to even the flow of blood in her veins spilled them  and they were crawling around directionless. There wasn't a way to control them. She could see alphabets limping, crawling, wriggling and then suddenly shuffling, combining, altering to form words. It was like a chain reaction.

Alice was listening to those around her and she could feel her thoughts transforming into words. They asked her questions and she answered but she could see them waiting for her to speak. She was confused and opened her mouth to speak again like she did a few moments ago, only to realize that the words were choking her, refusing to come out though a few had inched its way to the tip of her tongue. She coughed hard trying to expel them. Some leaped out but were found lying still and motionless on the ground.

#AliceinRealityland