Searching home,
Away from home,
He wanders---
Odysseus-like, in the
Alien lands,
Weathers unseen earlier,
Helping hands,
Smiling faces,
Each mirroring a rich nation,
Languages different,
Gestures common,
Each journeying
In the Odyssey,
Bound by goals,
Middle-class and global;
Cooped up in a small
Sublet, doors shut,
Cooking, ironing, studying,
Talking on Skype,
Remembering Mumbai coastline
Drenched in the fierce sun or the torrential rains,
Now---
Dreaming of the golden Florida shoreline
That quietly beckons,
The young lonely student,
---A teetotaler and vegetarian, a stranger in his own land for this habit among the Indian male hedonists, defined purely by daily intake of the meat and foreign liquor---
Away from the hustle-bustle of an Asian mega-city,
Secluded like a monk,
Doing individual lessons and Internet,
An international learner,
Searching love and home,
After every three months,
In grey Aarhus, covered
In rains/snow,
Moving about like a poor tramp,
Powered by a soaring young spirit,
And youthful determination,
In the university European town,
Where identical aspirations,
Come to
Complete disparate fellowships,
Of mutual support and understanding;
In Aarhus, my dear,
A welcome occasional invitation,
For coffee in a restaurant
With two loving friends,
---Three is a crowd everywhere---
From varied geo-locations,
Sounds so good, real and fulfilling,
A rich soul-curry,
Served with care,
Or,
A relaxed nightly chat with nuclear family,
In a receding far-off home
Now, it seems
Lost forever! |
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