For Sale

There is a sadness in me, not of grief
A haunting emptiness, with no relief
Kerfuffled thoughts, messy baggage
Not clear, regular problems that's easier to manage .
Don't want to talk and make it a conversational piece
It won't help make peace
I could cry my worries away
but still find no reason, to wake up day after dismal day.

I don't matter to that man sitting on the chair
Or that woman, combing her long, silky hair.
If I snatched her comb away, and poured my heart out
I know she wouldn't care.

The once brightly lit spaces of my heart
have reduced to dark, sullen corners.
It's up for sale, but has no takers.

Tata Nano

According to the World Health Organization, New Delhi, where the incidence of respiratory diseases due to air pollution is about 12 times the national average, is one of the top ten most polluted cities in the world. While our GDP has increased 2.5 times over the past two decades, vehicular pollution has increased 8 times. The level of coarse suspended particulate matter (SPM) in air is also on the rise. And to top it all – the launch of Tata Nano, the one lakh car – realizing the dream of every Indian to own a car (so what if it’s without a/c?) Of course, it comes with promises of reduced pollution, super efficiency and all that crap.

Time to bid good-bye to that secret parking spot of yours – it will be taken. Get used to the feeling that the roads are getting narrower by the day. Start to notice that profound deterioration in air quality. Say hello to longer traffic congestions, deteriorated olfactory sensations, and the like.

At the global level, care to know what the availability of cheap cell phones resulted in? Read this. At the rate we're going, we'll get there soon, and I've a feeling that air pollution and waste management won't be our only worries.