God’s Mysterious Ways, A Poem

A garbage pile on fire, 27 April 2022, men at work, near GTK Bypass, Delhi

In a big, soulless city like Delhi,
When the sun burns red hot
In a clear blue sky,
Huge mountains of garbage smolder and burn,
Sending up plumes of deadly smoke
And red-hot flames.
Where are we headed to?
What is our future going to be?
There is no answer.
All we can do is
Hope and trust in God’s mysterious ways.

In a big, soulless city like Delhi,
When the sun burns itself out,
And turns into a red-orange ball in a beautifully hued sky,
Huge mountains of garbage smolder, turn into ashes,
Sending up plumes of deadly smoke
With little, persistent flames.
Brave, fearless men work amid these mountains,
With their huge earth-moving machines,
Dousing those deadly fires.
Yes, there is hope, I tell myself.
God works in His own mysterious ways.

I turn around,
And I see
Pink bougainvilleas blooming.
A little bird chirping,
On a tree nearby.
Yes, there is hope, I tell myself.
Those brave, fearless men will take care.
Douse the deadly fires,
Nab the war-hungry, blood-thirsty
Mischief mongers.

—Jasbir Chatterjee

Gulmohurs & Flamencos

Gulmohur tree, 2022, Delhi

Summer is reaching its peak in Delhi and the Gulmohur trees are stealing all the spotlight now. Their canopies are filled with bright red-orange flowers.

Just try gazing at them with the sun setting in the sky with matching hues and it will take your breath away. I did and it made me think of a painting of a Flamenco dancer I saw recently. See below. Don’t they look similar? Same colors, passion, rhythm, and poetry…

Painting of a Flamanco dancer.

Source: Google

An Instagram friend of mine suggested we rename these Gulmohurs as Flamencoes…

A World Of Contrasts

Stray pigs grazing on garbage with a backdrop of bright, colorful flowers, April 2022

Who said a pig’s life is drab? Not with these lovely, colorful flowers around you, honey!

Peacock Theater

Peahens fighting for survival, April, Delhi

Summer is back in Delhi now and peacocks are back in action.

Badan Pe Gulab Lapete Hue…

A dress of roses…in a DTC bus…18 April 2022

Today, on 18 April 2022, while travelling in a DTC bus on my way to work, I spotted this lady wearing a kameez with red and pink roses printed all over it. Even the slip she was wearing inside appeared to have similar roses on it.

She reminded me of a famous Bollywood song. I replaced the stars in it with roses…Badan pe Gulab lapete hue, o jaane tamanna kidhar ja rahi ho..meaning, “With roses draped around you, where are you headed to, sweetheart?”

Soothing Summer Whites

White Bougainvilleas, Delhi, 15 April 2022

It’s April now and Delhi’s roadsides and pavements are ablaze with bougainvillea flowers of different colors. Pink, orange, and purple colors are more common. White ones, the ones you see in the pic on top, are less common. I noticed them yesterday on my way home from work. They looked so pure and ethereal with the backdrop of the orange-and-yellow setting sun. They had a soothing effect on my eyes. Someone had set the wild grass around them on fire, but these lovely flowers remained unfazed…

Snacking with cornflakes…

Snacking with cornflakes on Sunday, 10 April 2022

We always look at corn flakes as breakfast cereal, don’t we? Something to eat with milk and sugar. But I don’t like milk, so I recently experimented with using them as crispies for a quick evening snack. I was in no mood for elaborate cooking. My dish turned out to be so yummy and I wondered why I hadn’t done this earlier.

Method: All I did was chop a tomato, an onion, and a green chilly on a plate. Then I dropped some corn flakes on all this along with some salt, sugar, and black pepper. Voila! My snack was ready.

Note: You can add some roasted nuts too. I didn’t, as I had a cold.

A Table For Two

A cow and a pig together, 8 April 2022, Delhi

Destiny often throws us in strange circumstances. Take this cow and a pig, for instance. Here they are on a day out, unlikely companions, grazing on garbage in an urban wood, dirty, dark, and shallow…

Night Thoughts

In a big city like Delhi, the night is its saving grace. It casts a gorgeous sheen over all the dirt and squalor that the city so shamelessly gathers everyday. Look at these two morning and evening photos of the same place (Mukarba Chowk, New Delhi) and you will understand what I mean.

Mukarba Chowk bridge, New Delhi, 29 March 2022, at night

Mukarba Chowk bridge, New Delhi, 29 March 2022, around 9 AM

An Invitation…A Poem

A Red Hibiscus; sexy and flirtatious

Based on this pic as a photo prompt, here’s my latest poem…An Invitation

The red Hibiscus
Looked so voluptuous;
Its lips curvy, red, and luscious,
Eyes dancing and flirtatious. With a husky voice
Sounding like the man’s
Dead wife, it called out,”Hey, let’s
Meet for tea and homemade biscuits!

—Jasbir Chatterjee