-January, 2022 The dull, orange moon was hanging there, a dusty, swollen ache. The guard said, Close your phone– you said, friend, it’s just the moon. He shrugged his shoulders and looked down– what was left to say? This waning moon, this smokey sky– the orders we all take.Comments closed
The emperor is worried: first the plague, and now the council of ministers turning against his favourite viceroy– and what of the guilds– how can one trust those who build, weave or reap? It’s time to take strong action: re-invade that northern region, imprison a merchant from Bactria or Persia, announce a horse sacrifice– or better still, a pogrom; well placed fear yields division and hate– (We’ve done it before, sir, we know how it works: just say the word, and we’ll make it so.)Comments closed
The two year old child is kicking the mud outside the flooded playground: I don’t like the rain, I want to go back, take me home, take me home, take me home! On a flyover in Punjab, an old man kicks the floor of his armored car: It's been twenty minutes, I want to go back, take me home, take me home, take me home!Comments closed
-writing from Tihar Jail, Umar Khalid quotes Faiz Ahmad Faiz In the photos the young lovers post, they are smiling as they sip from the same bottle of cola, they are sharing a plate of chaat, they are sitting on a seesaw, under the bright, winter moon. Some nights he says, I’m cold, please warm my hands. Some nights she says, Let us pray now for Umar Khalid; I hear he is lonely inside.Comments closed
-January 1, 2022 Flocks of sheep drift down from the hills, like dry leaves blown free by a gust of winter wind– they block highways, refuse any compromise. In Lutyens’ Delhi, the Home Minister paces and shouts: Who’s in charge of the sheep? I told you to crush all resistance!Comments closed