NOTHING REMAINS STATIC

The same old congested city

the same old long-winding street

with crowds like ants pulling

along to and fro

keeping no pattern.

Vehicles roaring past

blaring horns in opposite directions.

Dilapidated, multi-storeyed

buildings on both sides of the street

with broken, grimy walls.

Whenever I had walked

down the street 

(sorry, I have lost count of

the numbers of years

since I last passed along

this street) 

I had experienced the sense of a

pristine city emerged before my mind.

I stopped in front of a

double-storeyed building

old, dilapidated with broken

grimy walls or

stained with dirt

muddy, yellowish tinge.

Climbing up the ladder

I could listen the wooden steps

making a creaking sound.

The steps were always

like that, I reflected.

There were times on

climbing up the wooden ladder

made me feel frightened with its

creaky sound,

my heart-beats pounding incessantly.

I always feared, the ladder

would collapse anytime.

The wooden steps too

were old and ugly,

but the feelings of

fear and heart-beats

like drum beats

vanished gradually.

Now that

after a gap of several years

(sorry I have lost count

of the number of years)

here  I am once again.

I entered the corridor

engulfed in solid thick darkness

and walked cautiously, slowly

to the dinghy room

where both of them

Rahul and Eva lived.

To my surprise and astonishment 

the room which was

always kept alight

with a slice of light spread

outside through the half-closed door

during day time.  

To my shock and astonishment

the door was kept locked

with no light spreading outside.

Still I

dared to knock on

the door two to three times.

On hearing my footsteps

a stranger in the

adjacent room

came out and inquired:

‘Looking for Rahul and Eva’?

‘Yeah, yeah’ – with a

smile I shook my head.

‘Both left the room

two years back.

They’re somewhere in Andheri now.

Don’t know the exact location’ –

I hid my shock and pain behind a veil 

of smile.

Neither did I inquired him

anything nor did I

bid him goodbye.

Through the solidified darkness

I walked cautiously, slowly and walked down

the wooden steps of the ladder

shaking frequently

my mind was quite empty      

 and didn’t think or recall anything

about my friendship with Rahul and Eva

who were close to my heart

for several years

while living in the city.