THE HYDRA

The city, once my foster-mother beckons me not these days.

Her inability to offer guarantee to one’s life

if he/she mulls over catching a train or any vehicle

and for that matter keeps her silent, gloomy and frightened

due to her helplessness

since the hydra of

terror, violence and apprehensions spreads its tentacles

across the length and breadth of the

hapless foster-mother.

There was a period when the city and her

children basked

in the glories of peace, non-violence and harmony.

True,

her tremendous growth makes one baffled

the advent of the monster of terror,

violence and apprehension goes on strangulating her

she never welcomes any one to her lap

reaching from faraway lands risking their lives

in order to have their daily bread

by toiling hard throughout the day taking no rest.