Memory of a Past Life

"Tumhara intezar hain"
Hemant Kumar sings
With his nostalgic voice
The old cassette which you pushed
Onto my willing arms
That day...years ago
Had those whistles of the heart
I heard them again and again
for days and days when you went far away
Bonded slave of your mad imaginations
Those sligtly muffled voices
From the past
now, resurfaces like memory of a past life.

Smelling You

I keep smelling you
In that old T-shirt
Which you peeled off
And made me wear
That rain-soaked day.

To My Grandmother

I go down to sleep with grandmother
Frail with age, a web of wrinkles
I can't bear to think of old age sleeping alone,
Compainonless.
And, she can't bear to think of my lusty youth sleeping alone,
Companionless.
I go and hold her matchstick hands
Which feebly encircle me
I hold on to time,
Feeling the sea snatching the sand under our feet.

Tonight (for Geeta Dutt)

Endless songs of sleepless nights,
Restless soul - who walked before me,
Your voice keeps me company,
Tonight.