Orchha – a place I wish was never discovered

Year 2008; a tiny ad on the last page of a travel magazine got me glued

3D/2N in a century-old hunting lodge next to a river with regional food

Despite a childhood spent hunched over atlases, this place intrigued me

Madhya Pradesh was as mystic to the rest of India, as India to humanity

The dormant vagabond in me had already set off on a voyage of its own

Leaving me to iron out the details and assure my family in a casual tone

For my prior experiences of travel being summer holiday trips to Bihar

I must say I appeared quite self-possessed, about venturing out this far

The early morning Bhopal Shatabdi train took us to the Jhansi station

To be received by the hotel staff and then driven right till the reception

Where do I begin?

My first sight of the river Betwa is etched in my mind, quiet and wide

rolling over the rocks, fringed with thick, wild greens on the other side

An unexpected calm fell over my senses, as I made my way to the bank

A historic silhouette rising at the horizon, calling me to explore its rank

The sleepy little town of Orchha was ruled by the brave Bundelas once

who left their mark with captivating compositions, working for months

The true sense of the word ‘grandeur’ was descending on me in ample

As fort, palace and temple designs, all adorned the Chaturbhuj temple

Walking down those steps on to the next place hastily felt like a crime

For the first time, I realized I wanted to travel solo, to spend more time

Orchha introduced my taste buds to the world of international cuisine

Korean, Italian, Israeli, everything on the table from the lands unseen

Piling up on Nutella pancakes, we ambled towards the ageless Chhatris

Dotted along the river, the regal cenotaphs were an ode to symmetries

Vanishing and emerging through the arched doors around the sanctum

I’d a tough time capturing all the angles; some creative, some random

Only when I was told of river adventure, I could bring myself to leave

Rafting by the magnificent monuments is to be experienced to believe

But the bridge on river Betwa offered what no other view could deliver

Unveiled in the water was the medieval soul of Orchha, shining forever

Oh! how I had wished that this place was never put on the touristic map

As I bid ciao with wistful steps, but with a pact to come back after a gap

Invisible hands

The granite slab is sparkling clean

The waste disposed off as it's been

The bedsheets changed bi-weekly

The house dusted & cleaned daily

The breakfasts & suppers appear

The dishes are done; the table's clear

A pair of invisible hands & mind

Goes through this lifelong grind

The back breaks, the heart, aches

Doing more tasks without brakes

The kid is hankering for attention

Catchin' a breath is out of question

But this hard work is not counted

The time spent goes unaccounted

Stuck in a profile they'd never sought

Sharing the load is a wishful thought

Oh! They just sit at home all day long

The whole world sings the same song

Confessions of a supermarket wanderer

I miss ...

Wandering around in those aisles, with nothing specific in mind

Wondering if there are others too on this planet, kinda my kind

Secretly startled on discovering a new sauce bottle on the shelf

Admiring its artisanal packaging and the ingredients by myself

Spinning out recipes in my daydreams for an epicurean evening

having a gala time in my kitchen stirring, sautéing and seasoning

Scanning through the shelves, a new cheese grabbed my attention

I googled the name ‘Pecorino Romano’; a crafted Italian tradition

Ancestral to exotic, the spices’ section stirred so many emotions

that unabashed, I had stood there for a while, gauging my options

From baguettes to hummus, it is a world of possibilities in there

Poring over the pack details for facts that I could use somewhere

Detecting the % of refined flour and sugar content in the cookies

I felt like a cop, out to take on the pranksters just as in the movies

I’d return home refreshed and all charged up to cook up a storm

Trying out a new recipe in my style, sans any strain to conform :)

New Normal

I don’t want to go ‘back’ in future after this pandemic is over
I want to be more careful about my social hygiene & behavior

I don’t want to go through the lockdown to start it over again
I want to think twice before I shake hands or get in the plane

I don’t want to live forever in the fear of contracting the flaw
I want to live a new normal where we regard the nature’s law

I don’t want to be sitting at home listening to my own voice
I want to do this ‘coz we have left ourselves with no choice

I don’t want us to undo the struggles and sacrifices of billions
I want us to opt-out of the marathon for man-made medallions

I don’t want us to ever judge others based on their job or race
I want to reboot for a new normal where every element ... finds its place

Bhangarh - Haunted Ruins of Rajasthan

Eerie, creepy, scary, and spooky stories swamped every cell in my brain

As we pleaded with our cab driver to take us there, amidst a pounding rain

But he refused, for he could not see beyond the car wipers on the highway

“It will be dark before we manage to get out if it continues to pour this way”

So, we prayed hard to the invisible powers to bail us from what we feared

And lo! 2 kms before the Dausa intersection the skies mysteriously cleared

“Is it true that this fort is haunted? Who haunts it, the princess or the priest?

Why did he curse the entire village?” So many questions, I couldn’t resist

Speeding up, in an hour, we were outside the ramparts of the fort, excited

We took the first step inside, fingers crossed and an eerie silence awaited

I try hard to push back memories of all the horror movies I’d seen till date

Where friends decide to explore a deserted fort against the village dictate

Even though in ruins one can make out the shops on either side of the street

With many intact arched doorways alluring you to come in and have a seat

Here in ‘Jauhri bazaar’, Ratnavati’s maid would have bought that perfume

on which an evil spell was cast, to make the princess fall in love, I assume

Unamused, she had thrown back the bottle to hit that warlock as a boulder

But before he was crushed to death, he cursed her and the villagers forever

Condemned to battles and famines centuries ago, the fort faded to folklore

Thus, fell quiet the royal halls once full of revelry, with no one to deplore

Few minutes on top of the fort lay bare the outline of a well-planned city

Complete with a step-well, dwellings, and dancers’ palace in the vicinity

Unencumbered from the present, it now rests on the slope of the Aravallis

Its collapsed roofs and walls lie around, arousing further vicious allegories

Intrigued by local tales, together we decided to enter an impressive temple

A saga of stark splendor; it's stone carvings, a fine craftsmanship example

Wait, did I hear her? The footsteps of Ratnavati, eager to offer her prayers 

at the Gopinath temple or was it just my terrified heart unfolding my fears

A glance at the solitary cenotaph of the magician made us uncomfortable

As the rain clouds loomed to end the day even before the sun could settle

Not in a state to explore or question this strange experience or even shout

We darted towards the exit before the drizzle deepened into a full washout

But a troop of monkeys awaited us up on the banyan trees, ready to attack

And in no time, we were ducking a hail of monkey poop, quite taken aback

Driving back through the rain, we couldn’t be more amazed at our luck

Or was it those unknown forces who wanted us here? I was dumbstruck!

Spring is here!

There’s yellow, there’s pink and also a soft purple

The cuckoo is teasing the crow to leave its huddle

Bees and butterflies burrowing flowers for the sap

Squirrels dart across the trees while kits take a nap

A trail of ants carrying titbits to their destination

Crisscrossing through the grass with deliberation

With no trace of human hokum to outrun the fun

Look! The spring is here, blooming with abandon

Terrible tiny loneliness

Being alone alone is easier than being alone together.

Claiming it back?

After many years, I breathed free

I’d forgotten what it was to be me

As they moved back from the fore

I felt lighter and livelier in my core

My skin too, shined under the sun

More of my friends joined the fun

Birds, fishes, and animals returned

to claim the spaces, long yearned

The sky stole a glance in my face

‘This is my blue without the haze’

The earth slept quietly, unstirred

I can’t believe what has occurred

Where have they gone? I wonder

Will they come back??? I shudder


I = river during a lock down

How long? How far?

Cooped in my home for fifteen days now I listen to the birds outside

But this pleasant pandemonium is subdued by the commotion inside

Slowly crept into my dreams, telling me stories, I don’t want to hear

How far could I be from becoming one of those numbers? I now fear

New recipes, new exercises, new books and a ‘new’ more to explore

The social pressure to do something new is plaguing me to my core

Fighting an enemy, we can’t see, can’t believe it’s happening for real

All hopes are on medics risking their lives despite the lack of material

I don’t mind staying at home at all, I have enough to keep me going

But how will those on the roads survive with empty bellies growling?

Exponential to logarithmic, steep to flat, graphs and projections galore

How far is the cure? How long will this go? Nobody can tell for sure