Last evening a host of monkeys
were playing on our window sill
eating, jumping from branch to branch,
playing, scrubbing their back
and each others’
with their uncut nails.
Pulling each other’s unkempt hair.
Life, for them, is bindaas …

No worksheets, no homework, no exams
no steam inhalations, no gargle, no wash-your-feet
wash-your-face, change into your night suits
before going to bed. No brush-your-teeth twice a day,
no bathe everyday. Life is cool!
Great yaar...!

“I told Mama, “if only I were one like them…”

Mama was taken aback!! Asked

“Do they read good books like you?
Colorful books full of knowledge!
Do they have a computer like yours?
CDs/ DVDs, mobile games, good dresses,
pizza huts, chips, parties, friends, teachers,
school, picnics, movies, study tours, aeroplanes
to travel, a large universe to explore.
Can they think like you?
Do they have the most precious thing on earth,
‘Knowledge’?
And do they have a Mama, who would love
love and only love?”

“Ohh..! Thank God, I am a boy.”

“No dear! Thank God,
that we are all human beings.
Thank God for being You.”