Talk

- I thought you didn't take sugar in your tea.

-Well, you never wore funny golfer caps either.

-Are we here to fight?

-I am here for the sugar bowl.

-Wow, isn't that sweet of you!

-I'd smile at that, but Diabetes at this age could be fatal for you.

Silence.

Occasionally punctuated by soft sips of tea and the whirring of the cappuccino machine.

Somewhere across the window, street lights make love to the rain water.

Somewhere on that table, a sugar bowl lies untouched.

Traffic lights turn red on the threads of a golf cap.

And the radio plays songs of love.

Pic: Bombay, 2011

all i could hear were your thin fingers strumming at your guitar when i knew of your death. the same song you sang for us three years back.
no, i could not tell blue skies from pain then and still cant.
when the world danced infront of my eyes to a mad drunken frenzy, all i could see was that long corridor of red and you sitting at the end of it. and that face that passed a smile at times, the voice that spoke a few times in class.
i knew of your pain that afternoon we sat cutting marigold petals from their stalks, even when you sat in the front lawns staring at the sun for hours and even when they told me that you decided to end it all with that last step.
i knew and did nothing. we werent friends, and i dont know if i could help if i tried. it's just this silence over these questions that disturbs. questions thought too late, not asked at all.
rest in peace.
i hope you find that happiness you forever wished for, looked for.