Wagah and Thandi Hawa

Wagah

here’s an image of indigenised hippieness:

perhaps I should wear flowers in the lapel of
my achkan/ kurta (what would you prefer?)

drag my charpai out to Wagah
where the gate to India is

and play Yoko to John
(make love not war)...

think any lover will leap the fence?
Of course,

I won’t make public my intentions
until "wo" arrives,

so that a couple of days
alone

under a neem tree,
I can claim I was protesting

by fasting...
and live to love another day


Thandi Hawa

between pressing the "cook" button and closing the door on the microwave
mujhay khayaal aaya kay...

bahut saal baad main kisi maano kay saath koi Caribbean island hut main
betha hoonga,
pepper and gray beard,
mota paet, fishing rod behind the door...

breakfast pay apnay kisi fan ko
bhashan dena band hi kiya hoga,
about how chauvinistic Lahore is and how arrogant Karachi,
and how no Mumbai distributor picked up my film because I am Pakistani...
aur bas ab main sirf Spanish boolta hoon...

to radio pay gaana aay ga, jesay abhi iss kitchen main, over Radio Pakistan Lahore

main tujhai chahoon
jesay gul chahay shab-nam
chali thandi hawa tham tham...