An Ode to Jigisha

I did have a dream, 

not the dream to walk on the ramp or on the red carpet,

or to be bracketed with Freida.

Never dreamt of becoming

princes of the fairyland,

and marrying the prince 

or to have the world as my oyster.

I did have a dream,

a dream to wipe out a 

tear from my Baba’s eye.

in the twilight years of his life,

who would now never

wait for me to return

to the middle class flat

in the periphery of Delhi’s

affluent urban suburb,

I did have a dream

to see a glow on Maa’s eyes,

but alas the cruel hands of capricious

grid smothered me

and silenced my

last words to

to my revered

Baba and Maa.

Rup Narayan Das

[Jigisha was a young IT professional, who was brutally killed in 2009 in Delhi]