Names
Remember Sundaram Mama’s
Standing joke?
“I retired from Godrej and Boyce.
But wife didn’t retire from Godrej and Girls!”
He told it everytime.
Forty year’s service without a blot,
Daughter married off to America groom.
Or Venkatesan Mama in 25B?
Left early and returned late
To avoid the rush hour crowd.
No children, and no regrets.
Recollect Jayaram Mama?
The one who secretly returned potatoes,
Purloined by his wife.
That brings Sita Mami to mind.
The one who would turn up
After the poojai ended
And take a whole flaskful of payasam?
Can then Pankajam Mami be missed?
Sitting under the barren mango tree
To extract gossip from passers by.
I don’t blame you for not remembering.
I had to make up their names
To write this poem, for;
I have forgotten the original ones.
They were meant to be forgotten.
Standing joke?
“I retired from Godrej and Boyce.
But wife didn’t retire from Godrej and Girls!”
He told it everytime.
Forty year’s service without a blot,
Daughter married off to America groom.
Or Venkatesan Mama in 25B?
Left early and returned late
To avoid the rush hour crowd.
No children, and no regrets.
Recollect Jayaram Mama?
The one who secretly returned potatoes,
Purloined by his wife.
That brings Sita Mami to mind.
The one who would turn up
After the poojai ended
And take a whole flaskful of payasam?
Can then Pankajam Mami be missed?
Sitting under the barren mango tree
To extract gossip from passers by.
I don’t blame you for not remembering.
I had to make up their names
To write this poem, for;
I have forgotten the original ones.
They were meant to be forgotten.
Labels: poetry
Selected by Ozymandias |
22:36 |
2 Comments:
i remember all the aunties..who addressed my mob as "my sister's mom" and got a piece of me for ignoring me..
i remember ambi mama..who shared the news paper with tata..
i remember each accent..thats been used to call my name..
but what the heck..
hello ozymandias!!
firstly, i liked the poem. easy to connect with and it is very "Indian"...which means that a non-Indian reader will only superficially understand the poem as the poem arises from a very specific locale.
not a prob. not at all.
i like the transition from name to name...the manner in which you have introduced each character, or, more specifically each voice and experience.
what could be improved, i feel, is particularly the last stanza as it feels very obvious. the last line really works though.
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