homesickness

my homesickness begins by six

in the evening!

the sun, in a hurry to meet the better-half of the earth,

beckons me back from the western horizon...

with a grain of rice in his beak

the wayward sparrow at last returns to his queen

nestling the chirping chicks...

and my longing for my home begins

as i bed bon voyage to each bus i miss !

the gloomy halogen lights on the road outside

becomes gloomier,

and i rush for downward lift in the Capital complex

where my bureaucrat friend lingers

in LAQ files on oustees.

waiting in the visitors' lounge

i get restless, tormenting my heart,

cursing the bread and butter

i had left my little hamlet for...

Kevadiya or Calcutta

i belong to where i happen to be,

happy with the kids

and happy with my mate.
like the Adiwasi couple  

uprooted from the Narmada valley

embracing their little-clad lims

and dreaming of the hillocks and streams

in the chilly nights
of an unknown city-pavement.

my homesickness begins by six
in the evening
as i hear the shepherdess whistling her flock home.