Friday, 29 July 2005

Salaam, Bombay

So you're back, old friend, unbowed,
a little damp, thirsty perhaps.
(Ironic, isn't it? Floods,
but no water in the damn taps?)

And you're telling brave stories
via email and SMS:
How many kilometres
you walked; how long it took; the mess

you walked through; and wasn't it sad
that we still haven't got a
disaster management plan;
oh, you read the new H Potter?

It's business as usual,
you're back, you're selling things.
You're picking up the phone
after the requisite two rings

Is it resilience? Pluck?
Or just that you need that pay
cheque? Whatever your reason
I'm glad you're back. Salaam, Bombay.

2 comments:

Manjula Padmanabhan said...

Beautiful/sad -- a fitting poem to a great city with monstrous administrators. I believe Zig, that a citizens' protest group should sue the municipal corp. collectively, for negligence. I believe it CAN BE DONE.

Anonymous said...

Well said. (Or should it be well versed?)