banwaas
ram has started back on his
way from his banwaas.
i can smell diwali already.
the clouds start weeping,
every now and every then,
just like ammi.
sunsets wear all the shades
of ghagras sold at chandni chowk.
the first wind of each september
day carries mountain songs.
all roads diverge in a
spider web at CP;
and none are less travelled by.
i am packing.
below, a hawker tries to lure me for
—meerut ki mashoor garma garam nankhatai—
i am lured.
the imam talks about parents.
i am leaving soon.
why is delhi so dramatic?
why am i?
lost
i can give varied literature lectures
on varied literature topics
in their language.
but i am realising
i do not know how to
live through the english tongue.
—bhindi kaise diye bhai—
remains untranslatable.
i slur words when i have to apologise
or thank someone. the genuinity
was bent into my maatras, i guess.
—haanji?— is so not “yes?”
i’m funny in hindustani,
i don’t know about english.
my head nods can’t find a place in conversations.
home is 4000 miles away
and language is meandering,
lost, on my uvula.
Hanzala Mojibi is a literature PhD scholar in Newcastle, England. His poems have found place in publications like Sahitya Akademi’s Indian Literature journal, The Wire, gulmohur quarterly and DoubleSpeak magazine among others. His poems explore political questions, divinity and ideas of identity entwined with the personal. Having left home, Delhi, for his research, the theme of “home” can be evidently seen in his recent poetry.