Reflections

This is my poem as an engineer, toiling on a construction site in a refinery.

100 miles away I stay
yearning for you, in a pipe jungle
waiting for my project to get over
to meet you and embrace you my dear

Things are glaring, contrasting too
the world colourful with you but on site, so very blue
Difference such stark
and life without a spark

The dull grey , coarse and rude concrete
antonymous to your long silky wisps of night
The din of hydra and the roar of poclain
can however never silence your singsong strain

Your adorable chiding against the abominable cacophony of workers
echoes silently in my ears
perhaps I could get lost in dimples on your cheeks
which somehow seem deeper than 44.8 feet.

The starving tedious night shifts
leave me reminiscing about those evenings
The romantic evenings we spent by the sea bay
rather than standing over bentonite clay

Girl, you re dear to me
but so is the project to my manager
I yearn to be by your side
while manager wants me to supervise the ongoing piles

Caught between the two
Engineering in the industry and engineering my thoughts
Between my manager, industry, pipes and workers
Thinking about you, I get lost

Mumbai Under Siege

The daybreak couldn’t have been any worse
When Mumbai came under the sordid curse
The city that never sleeps
Began to bleed and weep
The clandestine operation wreaked devastation
While the terrorists, celebrated the success of their revelation
Unleashing an unpardonable diktat
They draped Mumbai in blood red pallor
A thousand emotions came to the fore
Desperation, fear, anger and despair
While the innocent people were gunned and shelled to death
The grand Oberoi and majestic Taj, lay humbled to dirt.
Then there were the revered Jawans
Who pawned their lives, fighting with spirits
Saving the countrymen and the nation
They command respect and adulation
The media too played its role
Poking its filthy, vulture like nose
Ostensibly it sensitized the masses
No less playing with the people’s emotions
Where are the statesmen in the hour of need??
When people are dying irrespective of region, religion or creed
Amassing votes and wealth was always the priority
Has the crisis handicapped the members of our polity?
Whose was the onus is not the question to be ploughed
Neither Security nor intelligence should be blamed now
Terrorism has challenged not just our security
But also questioned our nation’s integrity
A jehad, islam, hindutva or a sangh
Should never have the courage to cause another 26/11
This time lets not just hope, things go well
But vouch for a country where peace eternally dwells
It is our honesty that can change our country
All we need is a little rationality
Lets be a better democracy and challenge the perverted authority
Terrorism should then have no autocracy.