This week’s highlights, exclusively for Different Truths, include Shail’s tribute to Zakir Hussain, commentary on minimalist travel, and observation on US trade relations.
Waah Ustaad! Waah!
The pupils on the musical drum
have lost their sheen,
the sclera left untouched,
without the hands, the fingertips
that gently caressed them
building up a crescendo that
only they understood until
the dhaa din dhinna permeated
the universe with music
dancing with the curls of a head
that swayed in sync with the beats
of the taal; the large expressive eyes
inviting one into their world much
like the rhythmic beats on the instrument
made immortally famous like
the stars in the sky making their
place in the heavens, illuminating
the world after they were long gone
with innumerable tabla players
wanting to become him –
the Waah Ustaad,
the Ustaad Zakir Hussain!
Flying in your birthday suit
Flying nude is not what you think it is.
Any desire like the above-mentioned
would remain unsatiated (thankfully)
but ‘flying naked’ is catching the craze
of people wanting to board a plane
and land across the miles as if they
were swimming across a lake, one
bank to the other without any worry
of luggage carry-on or checked-in;
a minimalist travel trend
(fully clothed)
not comfy at everybody’s end
but stirring up a buzz-
‘pocket people’, totally bare’ does
run fine to avoid stress in line.
How much of the office laptop
and other accessories can fit in
pockets and the brain; for all
practical purposes- insane
unless, of course, one is a game.
Reciprocal relationship
Guess the honeymoon
is ending before it even commenced.
The first red flag in the Modi-Trump friendship
puts up its head as Trump fumes
on high tariffs charged on US products;
not like this, tit for tat Trump decides,
‘reciprocal’ is the term;
about this Trump is firm
be it India or Brazil; will it
go upward or downhill?
Canada, Mexico, and China also
in the offing.
Tariff is king!
References:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2exzm9r043o
Picture design by Anumita Roy
Shail Raghuvanshi is a poet, freelance journalist, copyeditor, voice actor, and artist with 30 years of experience in various media. She has worked as the Cultural Correspondent for India’s first integrated media company, PLUS Channel, and has written course material for Madurai Kamaraj University’s Post Graduate Programme in Advertising and Public Relations. She has also been a coach of Communicative English. She has published poems, short stories, and articles in leading magazines and anthologies.
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