THE BOY WHO SMILED

"Come on feed the birds , feed the birds."
The people  bought some grain, heeding her words.
 And started feeding the birds.

 This Indian version of  Mary Poppins 
Smiled  at the kids carrying satchels and tiffins
Selling  her grain from broken and bruised   tins.
Hunched under the  ramshackle tin-shed  of a bus stop
Trying to hide from the hawk eyes of a cop.
Ah, this was her home, sweet home
Where she lived with her grandson
With whose tangled hair played his mate  the happy sun. 

Now and then towards a pole she glanced 
Where her grandson danced tethered.   
His cracked feet splattered in mud.
To a tree next to him stood a buffalo
 Indifferently chewing the cud.
Raising half an eye towards this maladroit dancer
 Whose feet were smeared in mud. 

Round and round the pole the boy  turned 
With some hidden fervour his eyes burned.
The rope  which tied him to the pole
His loyal friend , his only hope. 
A bird hopped up to him
Tweeting a cheery greeting
He  turned an innocent face towards the bird 
And smiled a smile which reached from ear to ear.
Ah the music of this lilting smile  I could clearly hear. 
It throbbed with  the beats of steel drums,clarinet,
 The flute , guitar and the trumpet. 

The music played on and on
It was the food of love 
And yes, the food for the dove 
Was provided by the woman old
Whose grandson's head was now drenched in gold.



"Come on , feed the birds, feed the birds."
She hollered to the bearded man with the cattle herds
"He suffers from  epilepsy and mental disorder."
Smugly said a gawker buying bird fodder
 With half crazed eyes
 And gloating  sighs
Discussing financial matters mainly
And laughing insanely.


The joker self styled
Smiled and smiled 
Ignorant of the cackles he had evoked 
And the crazy folks who viciously poked 
And jeered 
The joker weird .

Round   the pole he turned, while people bought bird fodder  
With every passing moment, his smile becoming  broader.
Ah , there was a glow on his sunken face 
He had found a happy space 
In some snug corner of his frame which was , ah so fragile. 
Hence the smile 
The never ending smile.

Have no fear , the monster's gone 
He is on the run and your daddy's here 
No doting father sang darlin' son to him
But he still did not look grim
And  smiled and smiled . 
And  mesmerized 
Was  I by the unending smile on  the face 
Of this  joker self styled .
The sun too smiled 
And smiled and smiled.