small joys

mushroom soup
chicken fried rice
jousting brothers
a mother's indulgent smile
the warmth of a kitchen on a winter night
such are the small joys of a domestic life

to my brothers

life has taken unexpected twists and turns
and we aren't what we used to be
but what will forever remain unchanged
are the delightful childhood memories:
the solace of many an hour of sadness
and the promise of what may yet be

haiku

the glistening pearls

awaiting the morning sun

evanescence

motherhood (2)

his scream of terror
raised me from slumber
with tear blinded eyes
I reached his bedside
he slept with a smile
his fears transferred
to my racing pulse
If only, my son
I could thus efface
all the fears you face

Seene mein jalan (translation)

Why does the heart smoulder 

a storm rage in the eyes

an anxious look reside 

on every face in this city

Why is it bereft of emotion

as lifeless as a stone
the heart that for a reason 

searches, so it can throb

A wilderness stretches before 

my eyes as far as they can see

where has loneliness brought me 

my friends, I but know scarcely

Does a new aspect in my visage it espy
why does the mirror look at me with such surprise

Freedom

he's tall and strong
and athletic too
the gym is his haunt
when he returns from school

he is fragile, he thinks
he thinks and he writes
his Macbook is his ally
as he sits down to philosophise

my life is a dedication
to my sons and their ambitions
its a choice I have exercised
I don't blindly follow tradition

Exile

how madly I do love you
but I love my heritage too

the gold flecked mustard fields
the soulful voice of the granthi

the tractor trolleys keeling over
the loud weddings, the garish colours

the jutti, the paranda, the phulkaari shaal
not the Patiala peg, but the Pattialvi salwar

the sundar mundriye, the gajak, the rewari
the hot tea, the bonfire, the Lohri bonhomie

the giddy gidda, the exuberant bhangra,
the dancing dhol, the bolis, the tappas

the tradition of langar, of ebullient kar sewa
of happy faces stepping out of gurudwaras

years ago I gladly entered exile
I embraced your world, I made it mine
I wonder why you never ask
about the world I left behind

You and I

you are a first born
so am I
a child most beloved
so am I
the brightest spot in their lives
the source of joy and pride
so am I
you were top of the class
so was I
you got all the awards
so did I
you landed the dream job
so did I
so when you get up to make the tea
why does your mother frown at me?