Cityscape

As I look out of the window, I see the dark starless sky and thousands of spots on the terrain before me.

Far away to my right, there is a hillock covered with yellow dots - lights of lanterns that burn on kerosene. There are bulbs too over some o f the huts.

At its feet are tall buildings and I see bright neon signs and long tube-lights arranged in rows. More in number than required.

To my left, I see a line of bright yellow spots - moving slowly in a straight line - almost like a streak of diamonds being pulled in a direction.

And I see dots of lights of different colours.

There are huts with the lanterns, skyscrapers with tubelights, bulbs dotting the shops and markets and headlights of cars moving on the highway.


I see survival in poverty in the lights of the lanterns. I see flamboyance in the array of tubelights and the neon signs.


The way I see the cityscape is in the form of patterns of these dots - each dot an entity, a person, a set of dreams and ambitions.

Two night-lamps

The two night-lamps kept talking to each other. One would light up, stay that way for a couple of minutes and then go off. The second one would follow the regime. They were blinking alternately. For over two hours - as if they were sharing the sweet nothings of two lovers...


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He turned the night-lamp on.

"Put it off! I want to sleep!", she said rather scornfully.

"This one's on my side. Let me decide..." he would say. Some time later, he himself put it off.

She switched on the night-lamp on her side of the bed now. Got up to fetch herself water from the kitchen. While she was inside, he shouted, "Now, Why the hell have you kept the lamp on??"

"My wish!! Isn't this one supposed to be on my side?"

They were fighting - alternately turning the lamps on and off.

But both of them knew how superficial these arguments were. And that these arguments were just the tiny little things that only spiced up the love between them. And how much they loved to fight - and yet loved each other.

They were talking to each other rudely. With words. And rather subtly. Through the night-lamps.