Ramleela in the Tennis Court

It was quite a thriller

to see the neighborhood

kids behaving 

and it was amazing 

that they could

actually stay quiet on the stage 

and in the two hours play out

a grand spectacle of 

a legendary king

of whom, while speaking

all eyes are filled with tears..

The saga is a strange 

documentation of pain,

and of loss and duty and right

and how truth wins over might.

It remains a story well enjoyed

despite being told, 

over and over again..

..if one chooses to ignore

what the subliminal has in store

like inequity, and patriarchy

and the subplots galore

that make one wonder if

Rama was indeed, 

the best of men as he is

sought to be

portrayed widely..

The tennis court is a venue

that seems to attenu-ate

the lofty conjectures in 

the saga within

which drama plays a lead role..

Lit up with lanterns, 

it felt quite like the 

revolving stage 

of memory's door..

The morning after the deadly battle

all that remain in the place

are festoons flying around

and scattered spangles

like stars that have 

passed their prime

and are headed toward

the ubiquitous black hole..

The tennis court had become a stage

(just as the naughtiest child 

was playing a sage!)..

And today, the sunshine

has wiped out all traces

of darkness in the dimly lit places

which masqueraded

as a theater for 

the mother of all plays..

It all began with nothing

and nothing remains

just the floating memories

of a soulful refrain..