Thursday, September 3, 2009

1984

No, not because of George Orwell's classic

Which I've not yet read, by the way;

But the year is significant to me

As this was the year when

I was born (or so I am told)

On the seventh of June

At exactly twelve twenty seven p.m.

Yes, on the most sweltering of occasions

In an Army Hospital in violence stricken north India (of which more later)

I had weighed four kilograms (average is two plus three quarters)

And was fair,

Had hair

That was more brown than black (straight from Dr. Ganguly's official report)

Twenty five years since,

I've often wondered

When my mother (presumably) and I (naturally) were crying;

What was the rest of the world up to?

And I've actually found some answers....

For example, I know now, that somewhere in the hills in Mussourie

A girl had written to Ruskin Bond

After reading one of his short stories

And inquired if he really was the same little boy of Dehradun's Aubrey Bond

She had been Rusty's first crush....

Back in Cleveland, Ohio

A then unknown Jim Jarmusch was finishing up his first film

About two self-styled hipsters, one immigrant girl and no plot

It was made with donated film stock, borrowed money and amateur actors

Of course, the film would go on to win at Cannes that year....

Just seven days ago, Indira Gandhi had been shot dead

By her own bodyguards

And this had led to a twentieth century witch-hunt,

Nation wide curfews, four thousand unnecessary deaths

Up to a couple of miles from my cradle....

In another part of the country,

While I was still to open my eyes;

Winnie was on the verge of walking.

She was exactly ten months and six days old

Even today, after a quarter of a century

She's learned to move on

Much before me

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