That December, Delhi stood in disbelief. The Indian flag fluttered reluctantly at the top of the Lal Qila which stood an embarrassed red. All the minarets and all the monuments handed in their two weeks’ notice. There was no honour left to protect, no pride left to fight for. Delhi was mourning. Her people gathered in a conglomeration of hurt, hoping to overpower the smog that sheltered the city from the eyes of all those fortunate enough to not live within her maverick borders. A loud cry came from within a loud cry. Everyone knew.
Shouting and screaming
in streets that were used
to not much else. Lights
Do you see
the people begging
for change today
amongst
the people begging
for change today? Camera
From Safdargunj
to Hazrat Nizamuddin, this time
those who weren’t
privileged enough to forget,
chose to remember. Action
Everyone knew. The milkman who worked at the dairy in Khan Market had mentioned it to his wife over dinner, who narrated it to her sister over the phone the next day. Her sister was quick to bring it up when she dropped her dirty laundry off at the washerwoman’s. The washerwoman, during her rounds that day, spoke about it with everyone and that is how the engineer’s wife found out. Her children overheard their parents discussing it when the engineer returned from his job at the cable factory. During recess, the class teacher was shocked to find her sixth graders chatting about something so despicable, so vile. The class teacher rushed to the principal’s office leaving the class monitor in-charge. The school didn’t hand out newspapers that day. A loud hush-hush.
Swift, sound, and sans mercy
justice arrives in
the unexpected
the unanticipated
the unprecedented victory
of good over evil.
One justice is
enough justice
for the year.
There remains
little else to do now.
Now we must sleep, again.
A loud hush-hush. The celebrations soon disappeared and all that remained was silence. The silence revived the decay. The mufflers were shed, and the monkey caps were replaced by a sea of Gandhi topis . The December gave way to a similar January (albeit in a different state) which transitioned into a February of equal depravity (albeit in a different year) and then March, April, November. Not a month was spared. Delhi stood in disbelief. Trying to look outside while it peered within.
The smog thickened.