Autorickshaws & Poetry: Dignity In A Post COVID World
Finding poetry & gentleness in an angry post COVID world. I found dignity in an autorickshaw driver. And a poem.
Cityscapes, city sights, urban communities, metropolis life, city dweller identity, focussed on Mumbai with an occasional mention of Delhi, Bangalore and other cities I’ve been in.
Finding poetry & gentleness in an angry post COVID world. I found dignity in an autorickshaw driver. And a poem.
I’ve been calling myself a Mumbaiker by identity. But yesterday, a compilation of Konkani songs sent me down nostalgia lane. I realised my history is a specific slice of Bombay culture. It is a Bombay of Koli fisherfolk, their current descendents dressing in westernwear rather than a kashta draped saree…
I’ve always loved Mumbai but now feels like a new lease on life. A second chance to truly experience every breath.
For some months now, Clubhouse has been my new social media toy. It has also been my solace, my refuge during the soul-shattering COVID-19 second wave. I’ve made friendships of a very different kind from any I’ve had before (even counting the pioneering days of chatrooms, blogs & Twitter). Hearing people’s voices through the dark desolation of a pandemic and having those voices be what carry you into choosing to wake up every day – this cannot be explained to somebody who hasn’t experienced it. This piece was written for a theme set by my steadiest co-host, Tareque Laskar – Better Days.
I mean, look at that sky! I’m rekindling my love affair with the city. Just like any romance, it feels terrifying, disorienting & sometimes overwhelming. I thought I knew this island for life, that its metamorphosing roads would never feel unfamiliar to me. Mumbai, Bombay, it keeps surprising me. Then…
You can be grateful for the beauty & also upset at the ugliness. The things that inspire these co-exist & sometimes in the same place. Why would the feelings that these bring up, not be able to occupy the same mind simultaneously? Human beings can feel more than one feeling…