Jhalmuri

 Will it amuse you today

To know, I mixed muri in a bowl

Threw in chopped onions, coriander, tomatoes

Peanuts and boiled aloo,

The Mukhorochok Chanachur was a big miss,

But I managed with some aloo bhujia,

And that was it, a poor man’s jhalmuri

Was my lunch

 

It was hopeless, let’s be honest -

Without the imli chutney

The slices of coconut and the papri on top

But I gobbled it all

Almost even hoping

For the real thing outside Victoria.

All the time, I kept wondering

What would you say?

 

The same boy who looked down

On a street snack

And talked about Mughlai Paratha

And Cello Kebabs;

How far must he have gone away

To realise a complete circle

And end exactly where he begun

While the world has moved

 

In those last morsels

I drift inside your eyes

And realise, your world was always simple

Green grass of the Maidan

Overcast skies above

And your smile, that life will happen

When it is time

Until then, jhalmuri in a paper bag

 

The only snack we could once afford

Now tastes priceless -

If only you could see

This ascent of mine

Into the blue skies of your dreams,

But we have traded enough,

That hunger doesn’t mean the same

And an empty bowl stares back in a quiet afternoon…

 

12^th July 2026