SHIMLA

lets go back
and look for our footssteps on fresh snow
on that deserted meandering road

I am sure
if those would have faded with time
the glow of a warm,shy first kiss would still be
hovering the pines there.


lets go back
to the famous road
lit with colourful shop windows
marked with an old church on one end
and an antique library on the other.

I am sure
the smell of the many shared coffees
and the fragrance of our first love would still be
looking for us.

lets go back
to the British monument and its plush lawns
where we shared many a book and you wrote
some of your best poems.

I am sure
the words full of youth
and the glances full of hope
would still be brightening the place.

lets go back
lets go back to Shimla.

WOMEN

It is morning
your choices
will determine your day,
my day will determine my choices.

As you set off
to break the glass ceiling
I only hope to have
a "me" minute.

Your battles are fierce
pushy bosses,board members,colleagues,parties,traffic
mine more complex
they only involve
my children and family.

You decide company policies
and exercise authority
independently
I look for independence
constantly

We both indeed are caged in
our bastions
you bear the cross of
women empowerment
I carry the dead albatross
of super modern woman.

It is only roles
that separate us
some days I am you
and on others you become me.