Today I left the road, went to the margins

Contributor: Shanshank Kalra

Today I stepped off the edge
Left the road, went to the margins
You know, 
I always have had 
A love for mountains
Today, it just got deeper
And disturbing and
Intolerably moving

But I have to admit
Today was different
I have loved the air up there, 
It uplifts me
Today, it choked me.
Water. How I have liked it flowing through
The ridges, sparkling musically
Meandering streams finding its way into my body
Pacifying every cell
Today, it was. Different.

Oh! Do you love tea too?
Going to the mountains, for me is going home!
Can I call this mountain my home?
Even as I live in that far off land
Delhi with its delights
Look, this has 2 of my favorite delights
20 years I have been investing 2 minutes this way,
This home shall live with it for 200 years. Or more.
Today I stepped off the edge
Left the alluring road to development, went to the margins
And found my lost friends.
Much like in this frame, nobody notices them
Even as they go about prolonging our life on the planet
Oh, they don’t know it.

Today, I saw my own gatekeepers throw stones at them
And I just stood, like always.
Before today, I have whizzed past on the road
Comfortably cushioned
Forcefully detached from other worlds 
by my elected

Today, I stepped off the edge
Left the road that separates, came to the margins that connect

How far can I go, I asked myself?
And just then
It came again. And blinded me with dust.
Separated from my expanded world.
Something like this comes outside my house, every morning
And blinds me, day after day
To see beyond the road, into the margins.

This came out after a visit to Bhalswa MCD Dump (Landfill) in Delhi. He is set to visit several landfills across many small & big cities. And tell their story, of people, of stuff, of the system. Write to him to know more and join him. The intention is to start the conversation around this, build understanding and gently shift our ways.

Comments