Jordan - Levant on my plate!

A kettle gurgled over an open fire in a Bedouin caravan serai

while we hit the cushions to rest our sore muscles on the sly

Sitting at the crossroads of the Middle East waiting for my tea

brewed with runic desert herbs with powers to fix any lethargy

Rooted in the starkness of this desert life was tribal hospitality

‘No traveler is turned away’, smiled our host, ‘The tea is ready’

But my introduction to Jordanian cuisine was through Hummus

Scooping off the chickpea wonder at a restaurant, quite famous

With each bite, we babbled over the tastes we had discovered

Indeed, Hashem was the mecca for local cuisine to be savored

With influences from the Mediterranean to Persia and around

The ingredients stirred up the most savant palates to be found

Ful medames, Falafel and Moutabel - new names were gobbled

with countless warm pita bread and soft labneh till we toppled

Wandering about in downtown Amman with a contented heart

We were stopped by an old man pushing his sesame bread cart

For just ¼ dinar he stuffed it kindly with feta cheese and za’atar

So that we don’t feel hungry going up the Roman amphitheater

Just when we thought we had enough for the today, we caught

a long queue outside Habibah, something sweet being sought

Künefe, a sugary cheese pastry soaked in orange blossom syrup

was ordered double to ensure no sharing dilemmas bubbled up

A backpacking honeymoon

Pristine mountains, picturesque valleys and all things good

We knew we were entering paradise, credits to Bollywood

The hub of romance for newlyweds on their first vacation

A first of their many firsts to remember later with elation

But neither Mt. Titlis nor Jungfraujoch was on our circuit

With a lake on either side, Interlaken was an idyllic gambit

Gulping down our ration of hot chocolate as true hostellers

We set off on our own jaunt as backpacking honeymooners

60 exciting minutes later we were still where we had begun

Rattled and parched as every trail rolled back to square one

Without a soul to ask for directions, we trusted our feelings

Only to be chased by Swiss cows; adding to our misgivings

Hauling our cycles uphill, we debated each fork on our way

Gasping on the scent of the spring foliage; Oh! What a day!

A mountain brook kept us company till we found the valley

Looking just like the souvenir postcard I’d seen in the alley

A dash of sunshine squeezed generously over the soft grass

Speckled with myriad hues of blooms you could ever amass

A shy wooden chalet lay at the center of this alpine tapestry

Making us dream of life here, rife with the purity of a poetry

Under the wary watch of rocky precipices, aloof like a sage

We trudged around like a mountain sheep set free to forage

Plummeting almost 300 meters down from those lofty walls

nearly lost in a spray above the flora were surreal waterfalls

A breezy sensation swayed us towards this misty rhapsody

Freewheeling down the hilly meadows humming a melody

Childhood

When ...

A blanket over few pillows made for a bunker

Paper bullets were shot with bands of rubber

A glass of milk could be a daunting enemy

If not cast-off, when mum wasn’t watching

Mud was the central ingredient for laddoos

Moulding which, were on top of our to-dos

Train journeys were like travel through time

And siblings were your best partner-in-grime

Plastic Story

P lastic glasses, instant sachets, countless bottles on the shore,

L oll around, enjoying the sun, having partied like never before.

A fter searching in vain for a place to stay, they took to the sea.

S ome scuba diving sounds fun, to know our marine fraternity!

T ons of friends and families will soon join us in our exploration

I ndeed! they still don’t know what to do with us post occasion

C an you believe that they created us for comfort and longevity

S ure! We can outlive them by 400 years; that’s almost eternity

T hey’re clinging to their fairy tale of great economic progress

O nly thinking about money when the reserves are getting less

R eality doesn’t bother them; they can’t foresee the calamity yet

Y ayy! By the time they act, we will be rolling all over the planet