Bombay11 Bombay Photos

Bombay, Mumbai, India.

12/30/2004

Ode to Andheri Train



The Day before your Andheri Train Came
[Written by a Mantralaya clerk, inspired by Abha].

I must have left my house pretty late
because I always do
my train, I’m certain
left Andheri station just when it was due
I must have read the Times
going into Churchgate
and having gotten through the editorial
no doubt I must have sneezed
I must have cleared my desk
around a half past ten
with comics to be read
and heaps of forms waiting to be filed
I must have gone to lunch
at half past eleven or so
the usual idlis, the usual mosumbi juice,
and still on top of this
I’m pretty sure it must have rained
the day before you came

I must have sipped my seventh
cup of tea at half past two
and at the time I never
even noticed I was dazed
I must have kept on sipping
through the business of the day
without really knowing anything
I slid a part of me away
at three I must have left
there’s no exception to the tea
a matter of routine
I’ve done it ever since I finished school
the train back home again
undoubtedly I must have
read the evening midday then
oh yes, I’m sure my life was
well within its usual strain
the day before you sang

I must have opened my fridge door
at six o’clock or so
and stopped along the way
to buy some idli dosas food to go
I’m sure I had my dinner
watching some street fight
there’s not, I think, a single
episode of chaya geet that I didn’t see
I must have gone to bed
around a quarter after ten
I need a lot of sleep and so
I like to be in bed by then
I must have read a while
the latest one by Sant Tulsidas
or something in that style
it’s unholy, but I had no sense
of praying without aim
the day before you sang bhajans

And turning out the light
I must have chanted and
cuddled up for yet another night
and rattling on the roof
I must have heard the sound of rain
the day before you came
asking me to be on platform one
half past seven

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