Cities are strange.
There is a scrap shop beside a palace.
The drainage dances beside a river.

Cities are strange.
A dog sits on a Thar.
A hotel named Topsy is located beside a graveyard.
An abandoned elephant idol lies in the garbage.

Cities are strange.
Pigs roam happily inside a temple.
There is a Mercedes showroom near a zoo.
The most unhealthy foods are sold in front of a hospital.
Pigeons cause traffic on a bridge.

Cities are strange.
People pass by
Without noticing anything
People are stranger.

-

Who are we?
If we are not
Stars in constellations
Trying to have a
Constellation of conversations
While exploring
The same unknowns.

-

Nestled among the row
Of concrete buildings
In my street,
There was a tiny
Brave plant blossoming
Amidst the chaos

Today I see that it
Has been trampled,
It's twigs scattered
Like bolts of thunder.

I stand there helpless
Wondering who's more broken
The plant or us?

-

Of all the
Folktales
I have known,

My favourite is
A forgotten story
Of light,

Where a humble candle
And a distant star became friends
On a dark lonely night,
And talked and talked

As the candle was about
To be burnt out,
The star cried
And thus the earth
Received the gift
Of fireflies.

-

The old teacher let out a sigh. When he spoke there was a tiredness in his voice that made his words sound like a forgotten tune.
"Tell me what comes to your mind when I tell this word" he said.

The three children staring at him nodded. He loudly announced the word
"Liquid"

"Ocean" said the first child having remembered a scene from a recent vacation.

"Tears" said the second child having seen it just the day before in her mother's eyes.

The third child was silent.

The old teacher let out a sigh.

"Blood" said the third one at last, remembering her childhood in a conflict zone.

-

Everything breaks
When hidden
Away,

Nothing hides
When broken
Everyday.

-

There's a fragrance
In the air
That I can't fathom

It smells of roasted peanuts
And Rose lipstick
Merged together
In unison

I close my eyes
And breathe in
The memory
Of a forgotten kiss

-

We dance around love
Like moths drawn
Towards light
To welcome fate.

-

Dear Fiza,

Change is hard but change is okay. A few days back I felt a sudden urge to change things around me. It took a while to understand that I actually wanted to change a few things inside me.

And the best place to start is to change things around me. Even the air I breathe is demanding a change constantly. I can't help but wonder that a few years from now on they are gonna find a replacement for Oxygen. Maybe they'll call it Proxygen?

The walls that we build around ourselves needs to crumble someday or the other. After all we are travelers in an infinite universe.

Will you travel this universe with me? Or will you be an universe in which I can travel? I promise I will try my best not to get lost.

-

You told
Me to
Hide my
Feelings in
A bottle
And throw
It down
The ocean,

But how
Can I
Hide the
Ocean in
A bottle?

-