Flattery

“Acchi didi,
Pyari didi,
paise do na?”
A spindly arm
reaches into my cab and I look
up to see her pleading eyes.
When I turn my face away,
she adds quickly,
“Tum Rani Mukherjee
jaise dikhti ho,
paise do na?”
For a second, I’m
stunned; look at
her blankly.
Then almost immediately
both of us burst out laughing
at the pathetic desperation
of her situation.

And
mine.






Travellete 4 - Bombay, Feb 2006.