My Nights
Some of my nights
my body shiver with fever
I get sweat and my throats get dried
My weak heart beat fast and fast
I will get up in between and
I lose my sleep
Which you will see on my face in the next mornings
I measure the heat on my forehead by myself
Which will remind me about the heat that I have experienced in my childhood
My mother's heat
As I hug her tight on the nights when I have nightmares and get scared
She will shout, "Don't make me scared"
I see this dream of four people coming to kill me for many years
Which use to appear frequently in the nights, I will shout
"Four people", "Four people"
Save me, help me
When I accompany her on the nights to toilet
As she is scared more than me to go out, walk a bit to the toilet
Some times, I have noticed
She also get scared
though she don't say it or show it
which I sense from the speed in which she walks
When she don't look at the both sides and only look ahead
until we reach the toilet
I wait outside alone and she is inside alone
We both two scared souls listening to each other's heart beats and breathings
and ensure both are there for each other
Suddenly, a leaf of coconut tree falls
and we both get scared and hug each other
and console, and we go back
Some of my nights
my body shiver with fever
I think about her.
Govandi
Govandi is located between Vashi and Kurla in the harbor line
No lines apart from harbor run via Govandi
On the top of the houses that look like broken match boxes,
you see more green flags and blue than saffron
The biggest slaughterhouse and the dumping ground is located here.
Govandi has 27x7 police patrolling and CCTV cameras
but no water and electricity or
any other government service 27x7
Some government records writes
Mini Pakistan, instead of Govandi
Govandi wakes up early with the Azan of Subhi*
you see a crowd of women, from young girls to elder women
going to near by flats and societies as house maids
Kasai's* starts their morning routine at the slaughterhouse.
As the Autowalas begin their morning
Govandi get into the routine
Govandi doesn't sleep even after the last local passes from which
the smell of the sweat come out
the scent of work from CST to all other suburbs
to which men and women of Govandi go for work
The color of Govandi is green mixed and blue with saffron here and there
The smell of Govandi is a mixed smell of
fried beef, Kheema Pav, chicken Kebab and drainage water
The sound of Govandi is a mixed with auto wala's, running locals
various types of street vendors and the Azhan
* Morning prayer
* People from the butchers caste among Muslims.
