"Modern Sanyasi"

Sporting funky jewellery, I speak with a drawl,
I’m more than just my saffron ‘dhoti’ and shawl.

Stone studded rings adorn my hands,
Don’t doubt it; I can do a mean head-stand.

I have manicured nails and grey dreadlocks,
Love marigold garlands and my ‘holy pot’.

Do take note of the mobile I tote,
If my clients didn’t call me, I would be broke.

I have an old companion, who keeps me sound,
If not for my B&H, I would have gone underground.

I’m setting out for the city, have a long journey ahead,
I need some retail therapy and to earn my bread.

Don’t be fooled by what’s written about me
I am a mere, modern-day ‘sanyasi’, you see!


Written for a "Theme exercise" for S & Co

My Treasures-my children :)

I wish to see the world through your eyes as you,

hastily wipe your chocolate filled mouth on the curtains.

tie my colorful chiffon dupatta into a make believe sari.

stealthily apply lipstick all over your chubby face and rosebud lips.

uninhibitedly dance to remixed music and insist I dance too.

squeal with unbidden glee over a surprise packet of “Lays” chips and "Cadbury’s Dairy Milk".

listen to me while I teach you alphabets and ask me after it’s done," Where is my star"?

with such patience and focus peel off every onion of its skin and leave my kitchen floor in a sheet of slippery pink.

you insist on making our grouchy neighbor smile each morning and insist I wish him Good Morning too.

carry your little handbag to the park, bunched up with coins to pay for your daily dose of “sev-puri”.

so sweetly ask each Friday if I have a holiday on Saturday just like Dad and “Didi” do. (You are the only one who has ever asked me if mom’s get a holiday).

fight with me and make that cute scowl of yours and then show your fingers asking for peace (how quickly you change your mind).

salute a tired policeman while we wait in an endless traffic jam.

You give me many reasons to smile and I ask myself do I need to teach you or do I need to learn?

My Quest

Not smooth or rounded
or free of glitches,
At times a pot-holed journey
replete with hits and misses.

A relentless search
for nudges and signs,
That could lead and guide me
towards this quest of mine.

Difficult to express,
words may not suffice,
A hesitation to share,
even if it’s for a price.

It seems to shift and change
like the grains of sand,
Perhaps to do with me
and the ways of my mind.

As of now my quest
seems simple and clear;
To live in truth and faith
and be without fear.

To be more of what I am
with each passing day,
And to live life to its fullest
come what may.

As part of the Theme exercise for Shakespeare and Company Network of Writers(Ryze)