There is no poetry in smog
There is no poetry in smog Over and around us Bad air surrounds us We have constructed this demon On our own For our own And think we have won. Nothing is clear Except the fear That our misdeeds may never be undone. . . . . . . Arvind Passey 07 November 2017 PS:...
Delhi wouldn’t be Delhi if it wasn’t sprinting
Delhi lives in the aspirations of not only those who live in the city but propels even those who come to it from far… and thus over a period of time the city got the best to make it the best. No wonder then that Jan Morris calls Delhi “a soldier’s town, a politician’s town,...
That thin streak of rage
Lots of people define Delhi as a city of rage… feelings that are uncaged, boisterous, out of control, and forever stampeding on to newer forms of destruction. What they do not understand is that it is this rage that invariably and inevitably explodes into an evolved form of existence. Almost like a new universe being...
Farzylicious tickles
Nobody has said this so far so let me be the first to announce that life is so much better with tickles and giggles zigzagging their way through your mouth and into your gastro-intestinal tract to redefine happiness in an utterly original way… and the charm gets multiplied when you realise that spear-heading this joyous...
The thin line between freedom and anarchy
Freedom is a much misunderstood word because we take the ‘free’ from this word to sometimes do what is unthinkable and undoable. This is when the word changes form and takes the form of anarchy, though not everything unthinkable and undoable is anarchy. Pope John Paul II once remarked that ‘freedom consists not in doing...
Roadside vendors of Delhi
‘Move. Run. Disappear,’ he shouted as he ran from one end to the other, ‘Municipality is here.’ There was a major ruckus and I saw footpath empty itself of roadside vendors in less than the time it took me to blink. Some were still there and when I looked at one who stood there, he...
Four short poems on peace
Four short poems on peace Poem 01 A page A stage A gist A mist A herd A bird A still A thrill Stitch peace Piece by piece
I’m not paid enough – Life on the streets of Delhi
A friend from London who was touring India told me once, ‘Life is easy in India. Everything is so inexpensive.’ I looked at him in mild surprise and asked him to give me a few days to show that Delhi wasn’t an easy city to live in. As he turned to go, I saw some...
Yes, this is where I live
“I am back in my beloved city.” – Khushwant Singh, Delhi So like a book that just goes on and on One page to the next, one page at a time From the same alphabet new words are born New families, new neighbourhoods, new ways New relationships and new lines to rhyme Yet there...
Racing with the dogs
Even dogs know What any scheme By any Government In power or out of power Really means. Even dogs know How to act And how to react. What dogs do not know Is that acting and reacting Is where humans have beaten them hollow One race that we have won… Or have we? ....
The lost traveller
There is hardly any romance in a wild goose chase in the middle of the night. I wouldn’t like to land in a strange city after dark and then go running from one place to another to find the right place to spend the night in. The traveller in me is generally lost when it...
Lines dedicated to the Delhi weather on 30 May 2014
Come, beat me to pulp.. I’ll still Stand and fight. I have the will! Arvind Passey 30 May 2014
