In The Back Of My Mind

 The airplane coasted over the slums of Mumbai,

Chiding at the cynicism of the high-rise in NYC

Soon, we were walking towards the taxi,

Hot humid air sticking to our faces

Dark-complexioned men all around filling a void inside me

Even though they were strangers

Even though they were unknown

They somehow filled the wide abyss in my heart


People surrounded me

Everywhere I looked I could see ME

I could see myself around me

After all those years of confusion

I could finally see an Indian like me.....


Poignancy, sheer exhilaration and nostalgia gripped me

Unwillingly bringing me back

Taking me along to the India of 1990's

My country somehow felt different to me,

A stranger in the back of my mind


So close yet just out of reach

An indescribable feeling to me

Exasperating my piqueness to no end

I searched and searched

Until I just stopped. 


I stopped looking for an answer

And started accepting



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