Sultana Raza

Hindustani Rail-gadi¹ Vignettes – 1

 

Underdogs win coins with humble smiles,

by distributing free blessings

to folks; who’re afraid to offend a ‘god’

disguised as a beggar.

 

Popular songs blare through loudspeakers

At paan²-shops, unite fakir³ and merchant alike

With laments about unrequited love.

 

Lulling chug-chug soon has heads nodding off

To the soothing beats, forgetting the heat

For droplets of blissful naps.

 

Instant friendships strike up even during

Arguments about local, regional, national,

Or international politics.

 

Fertile land runs by, with abandoned ruins of

occasional temples dotting kilometers

of nodding crops of mustard and wheat.

 

Tea-sellers do well at quenching thirst, as they hand in

Steaming clay-baked cups through windows

While patrons drop down coins

From the slow-moving train’s window

pulling out from the nowhere station.

 

Intangible peace that one gets by being away from

The nitty gritty of everyday life,

As one is carried along with the flow of life.

 

Non-material, immaterial, other-worldly, or ethereal?

Philosophical discussions abound about ideologies

Between an open-minded pundit and a Sufi writer,

Exploring similarities, connections, between their religions.

 

Gleeful children enjoy this adventure

Play tricks, pop b’day balloons, ask inquisitive questions

Unmindful of the heat, dust, or parental irritation.

Foot-notes: ¹train; ² mouth-freshening ingredients wrapped in betel-leaf chewed by millions of Indians; ³a person who has given up worldly possessions due to their spiritual quest

Acrostic: Uplifting

Note: previously published in the Border Beats Journal 2023; and in Verse/Virtual, May 2026

Scenes from a Hindustani Rail-gadi

 

(returning from Europe, and travelling on an Indian train)

 

Women carry bricks, water pots,

On their heads, or children on bent backs;

Provide for hungry families,

Do grueling house-work

After hours of back-breaking manual labor.

 

Integral to joint family life,

Elderly people are cossetted, protected

On chugging trains by faithful children.

 

Shared resources, community spirit,

cooperation lead to betterment for most

family members, entire neighborhoods.

 

Essence of hope that attracts thousands of dreams,

brides, widows, businessmen, farmers, pilgrims

to the holy Ganga to wash off a myriad of sins,

as millions of bubbles pop under the purifying sun.

 

Acrostic: Wise

Note: previously published in Candyman’s Trumpet Journal, April 2026

 

En Route to Infinity

Fatal germs hit his fragile health,

Vesuvius erupted, pure molten gold,

Damaged weak lungs, working by stealth.

On road to eternity was jolted and bowled.

 

Packed off to Rome, like so many bones,

Not even his effigy would ever be made,

Burden on friends? Weighed like stones.

Anonymous swamps his ghost would wade.

 

In own wracked ruins, would he now roam?

As big as squeezed heart, was hole in dome?

 

No clan to decry his cheek’s ashy pall,

Except for a sister, sequestered, small.

 

To dear friend, was always polite,

Except when hollowed chest clamped too tight.

 

Note: inspired by Keats’s journey to Rome.

Previously published in Spillwords in September 2017