FOOTBALL,VUVUZELAS,LONELINESS

Afternoon : SouthAfrica
Soccer city stadium.
Night : Mumbai, India
Drawing room
Daughter, husband, children, friends.
All in front of the flat-TV.
A roaring stadium
full to the brim
Vuvuzelas keep on blowing.
Exhilaration and excitement rent the whole atmosphere.
Commentary non-stop,
betting, arguments, debates, too non-stop
daughter and husband enjoy
crunching snacks,
occassionally standing up and clapping
'hurrays' repeatedly
Coaches restless on the side-lines
expressions change seconds by seconds
minutes by minutes
facial muscles tightening and loosening
depending upon the occassions.
Excited and disappointed often
keep on encouraging from the side-lines
A goal scored,
Vuvuzelas keep blowing
Spectators go more and more upbeat,
time ticks thick and fast.
Who will win? who will lose?
Betting and arguments galore.
Bed-room
Mother knows what goes on
Doesn't care but,
she lives in the past,
loves to be in the past always
Drowned in memories.
The Ancestral home ,
locked and no one to look after
a gnawing feeling
presence of her husband
still inside the nook and cranny of each room
And like a butterfly
fluttering around the premises.
The thick greenery
days with him and children.
Then as the clock ticked past
she and her beloved better-half
with their children
Happy moments all spent together,
The joyous moments shared,
All she cherished and
loved to cherish.
Outside in the drawing room,
the excitement and applause mount and mount.
SouthAfrica : Afternoon
Ellis Park Stadium.
Night : Bangalore, India
Drawing room
Stadium goes on roaring
Spectators full to the brim,
Like a pond on the edge
Vuvuzelas keep blowing,
exciting the spectators,
already upbeat them all.
Room awashed with light,
son, wife, children, friends,
all in front of the flat-TV screen
football tossed about,
kicked around, passed in between each's legs,
with no rest whatsoever,
Commentary non-stop,
A goal scored,
Applauses, Vuvuzelas
reach its crescendo.
Non-stop betting and debates continue albeit,
son, daughter enjoy,
biting, chewing snacks.
Coaches on their roles
As usual , As always,
Referee keeps on running after the ball,
not loosing seriousness,
final decisions always his.
Like a jury.
Cards, yellow and red
safe in their pockets.
When to take it out,
and show to the foulers,
kind of warning,
they know better.
Bed room
Mother lies, looking up
to the ceiling
her mind
Like the speeding fan,
Past days come and
embrace her
Memories cloud her mind,
The locked-tiled ancient house,
Her youthful days spent with her husband,
her beloved-
shining always like a star
Later their children,
the little flowers bloomed in their love-life,
the pleasurable moments with all.
The lush greenery around,
very thought of a lonely
soul wandering there,
that of her beloved,
made her eyes wet.
But no one saw it.
In the darkness
the lump in her throat,
the agony she felt,
only she knew.
Outside the drawing room-
lively kicking and throbbing.
Betting, arguments, debates,
still non-stop.
SouthAfrica : Evening
Nelson Mandela Stadium
Night : Chennai, India
Drawing room
Stadium crowded and full
like a reservoir at its limit.
Vuvuzelas keep on blowing,
Spectators in high spirits,
as always
teams, confident and
formidable powers both,
Like two super powers facing each other
to take on
coaches also seem to be competing
exciting and encouraging the boys
through gestures
Referee in yellow and black,
with the whistle in his mouth
As if it was his organ,
'Whistle-blower' he is,
commanding looks flashing in his eyes,
'I mean business' like looks
essential in a no-holds barred-battle,
no partiality, no controversy whatsoever.
Jabulani goes on rolling
tossed around, kicked around and passed
in between each's legs,
one to another and occassional slips
reaching the wrong foot.
An upper hand each look for,
goals, more goals
ultimate victory,
the ultimate aim.
Grandson, wife
children, neighbours.
All eyes centred on the flat-TV screen,
Betting, arguing and debating,
voices go loud in the heat of the moments,
Grandson and wife enjoy,
biting and chewing snacks.
Adrenaline keeps on flowing among all.
Bed room
Her mind always
a compass
The big tile-roofed ancient house,
flying around the memory of
of one person, one soul.
The locked house, the
premises strewn around with dry-leaves,
Verdant surroundings around,
his soul seemed to be
wandering like a dragon-fly,
past comes alive and caresses her.
She yearned to be there.
There only she knew inner peace.
The locked ancestral home,
where her better-half still lives,
she always wanted to be there.
The invaluable moment she cherished.
Helplessly she turned around.
Outside, the victory celebrations
in its crescendo.