when
I couldn't stop
him from raising
his hand at you.



when
you stopped
him from raising
his hand at me.

-

Violence is never
domestic,
It roars wild
where everyday
she serves dinner
to the carnivore
in a porcelain
made out of her
broken bones.

-

THE HOW OF LANGUAGE

His face grew
on me
like a story
dismissed at
the first page,
still... found waiting
to be found.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
His face grew on.
Me like a story dismissed
at the first page.
Still.
Found waiting
to be found.

-

She wanted those funky and temporary
Hannah Montana belts on her waist .

She got some ,
But those hard leather ones
Which left permanent scars on her waist .

//Domestic Violence

-

कितनी कमजोर होती है,
याददाश्त उन औरतों की,
जो हर सुबह,
चाय का कप लिए,
मुस्कुराते हुए,
सामने आती हैं।
भूल जाती हैं,
कल रात की मार का दर्द,
वो बेल्ट के निशान,
और मन पर लगे ज़ख्म।

-

Burning of tyres was his hobby .

I wish he knew the difference between
Burning of tyres and Burning of body .

//Domestic Violence .

-

His sister would sing all night,
so that he wouldn't hear the sound
a belt makes when it hits flesh
and the screams that follow.

-

I might have got the quietest and the most inspiring house in Bengaluru but of late, living here has been a nightmare. Quite literally. Come the night, the couple living below starts fighting. The man screams, the woman throws things. The woman screams, the man throws things. Both cry sometimes. I hear: I hate you’s, why’s and sorry’s peppered in their arguments like masala over aloo chat. I don’t know if fights are necessary for relationships to survive but I detest them. It disturbs me. My entire childhood flashes by, countless fights all at once. The fear during those fights was never for my own safety but of those fighting. The fear now is not for my own safety but of those fighting.

Like how people make homes, so do their sounds.
My home now partly belongs to the couple living below.
I wish for my home to be quiet and inspiring, once again.

-

....

-

रोज़ रोती थी वो थोड़ा थोड़ा
द़ाग शायद इससे मिट जाए
जिस्म के तो चले गए
पर रूह के न धुल पाए

-