Coconuts, palms, green and hills
Posters, graffiti, music and films
Unruly mopeds and crazy bikes
…and that is the trend and the people likes.
Rickshaw, car and innocent mob
There is a charm and a hidden throb
Bullock carts once in a while!
Traffic stalls and vehicles pile.
Multiplex, market and shopping mall
Bungalows, huts & houses-small or tall
A contrast of past and contemporary style
You got o see in archives file.
Temples, murals, idols & pilgrimage trend
Century old structures ready to mend
World class highway but the pot-holed lanes
Awful to wade in the dark, when it rains.
Morning starts at 4 or so
Buses ply with DVDs, having 250 watt PMPO
Often electric horn shrills in the dark
When morning joggers trot and a few dogs bark.
A little while late when it’s bright
Arrogant vehicles with overtaking right
Speed, thrill and sometimes fatally bite
Ambulance yells & rushes at the site.
People throng from all walks of life
Alone, in group or with children and wife
Laborers flock with axes or spades
Big or small boulders on their heads.
Laptops, briefcases are also in the sight
With handsome earners, qualified or bright
Salesmen roam from morning to dusk
Swarm of students busy in their tasks.
People hope and people dream
All tries for the crest but a few gets the cream
For a modest lifestyle at the start, Salem
For a future –stable and bright, JSW Group steals the limelight.
School, college and office jobs are vast
Agriculture is common but fading so fast
Business is popular and is on the rise
Traders want to be stable by virtue or by vice.
Day ends and evening falls
Fried chicken smells from the makeshift stalls
Students flock to the hotels and joints
Bars are full & wine shops are queued at all city points.
Idlee, Roast are common mans want
Tandoori and continental are also in the hunt
Hotelling out is the trend on the rise
But people avoid the exorbitant price.
A little more dark and the eunuch hooks
Police patrols but not much of crooks
Street halogens glow ‘n guard, underneath the insects fly.
Half sleepy travelers, in or out bound
Get victim as the auto drivers hound
The whole city & town is in blissful sleep
Nobody is bothered as none to peep.
Politics rules & politics reins
Amma & Karunanidhi are in everybody’s veins
Prabhakaran or LTTE is in all others’ hearts
Uneducated, crazy, learned or smarts.
MGR or Rajanikant are not remote past
People dreams with their quotes a-vast
While sentiment prevails the common sense crisps
With “Nalay Namoday” the mantra in their lips
Young boys lean while the young girls lag
Romance plays silent without any tag
Bold & careless meets & spin around on ride
Secretive, shy & orthodoxes hide.
Love knocks the heart while romance jerks
Cell phones ring and emotion sparks
“Naan unnai kadalikiraen” is the hymn at start
Failed and betrayed stalk and flirt.
Sudden winter & morning hazy mist
Summer evening when blue skies blitz
Coffee bar packed with cigarette smoke rolls
Two or three drunkards scroll on the roads
Devotional song or vernacular rock
Is played in public round the clock
Or political speech from recorded tape
Rare to be heard about murder or rape
Still Salem Salem
Amidst sweats and crazy screams
With window open and half closed door
Salem belongs to rich, Salem
When the clock struck ten thirty nine
With unfulfilled dream and heart full of pain
I said bye…….Salem see you again.
No comments:
Post a Comment