Extinction: A Ghazal
My mind is gone where the birds have gone
Some peace it has found where the birds have gone
What happens to abducted love stories?
They are all unbound where the birds have gone
All unkissed moments of our lives gather
As the sirens sound where the birds have gone
In the nest of dreams twigs and memories
Each other confound where the birds have gone
O Amit, your extinction is near
We’ll see you around where the birds have gone
Taxila
A treasure trove of artefacts –
ancient Gandhara civilization.
Taxila – a city of ancient trade.
Arrian speaks of Taxila
as one of the most flourishing
among the cities that lay between
the Indus and the Hydespes,
Strabo tells us that Taxila
was thickly populated,
Plutarch and Hsiian Tsang remark
on the richness of the soil.
Classic Gandhara society
where women loved to be chic –
two necklaces and a pair of
bracelets made out of solid gold –
the tempting designs, patterns…
And a relic depicts mourners
grieving over Buddha’s casket.
