by Swetha Ramachandran
[box]Swetha Ramachandran pens a poem of days long gone, but that we still hold on close to our hearts.[/box]Perfect worlds that nobody could alter,
kind-hearted people with no dark streak;
dainty dolls clothed in handmade rags,
imaginary friends who could be summoned when bored.
Classrooms and hostels brought within the confines of home,
lisps and innocent talk recorded in brown taped cassettes;
fountains and coconut trees materialized on a round, black head,
printed skirts and colourful frocks adorned a chubby little girl.
Railway tickets collected and treasured in tiny purses,
sketch books filled incessantly with neckless stick figures;
songs with indigenous lyrics, impromptu dances,
tears shed for pots broken and ‘Baby’s Day Out’.
Fairy tales and Aesop’s fables read and re-read,
‘Lock and Key’ and ‘Four Corners’ played for long;
‘Nataraj’ pencils and ‘Faber-Castell’, prized possessions,
‘Tom and Jerry’ and ‘Mickey Mouse’, constant companions.
Montages, memories, echoes of childish laughter,
penetrate the mind like tiny worms,
red and yellow, squirming and squeezing,
the past oozing out from their slimy bodies.
Pic : Sukanto Debnath – http://www.flickr.com/photos/sukanto_debnath/
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