Lockdown Lines

"The Loner"

he was humming a tune
as he opened his trunk
'rahe na rahe hum, meheka karenge,
ban ke kali, ban ke saba'
an old Lata song
from well before his time

you like that song I asked
he looked at me with slanted eyes
his mask stretched perilously
over his heavy beard
'those who don't know this song
aren't even born yet'

strange words from a kid who had
a trowel, a gamcha, a pair of slippers
a pant, a framed print of a woman
in his trunk, he arrowed a finger at me
'the age in which a song is born
does not ask for bondage'

then he chewed his paan
the Shramik train rattled on to Patna
he touched the framed photograph
'I'm a loner, I dig up cities
and set concrete bones
my mother hummed this song'

we may not be around, I said
that song will outlive us
he locked the trunk and sat on it
'this virus won't take me, I'm stronger
but the world will
only the fragrance matters, my mother said.'

............................
"The Wolf"

the wolf may not come, one writer said
the numbers don't add up
yet every day the numbers mount
like a cloud calmly building up
keeping casual banter as foil
running up the meter
there are those who see the clouds
as warning and prepare with alarm
many who soak the brief sunlight
feeling warm and undisturbed.

• 

  Rahul Dé

  Rahul Dé is a Professor at Information Systems at Indian Institute of Management Bangalore. His research interests are in ICT for Development, Open Source and e-Government Systems. He has published two books and over 50 articles in international journals, refereed conference proceedings and as chapters in books.