photos taken by Rahual Dhankani
a meditation in red in Kolkata
OH Calcutta!
your screeching crows, howling hounds, wailing cats, moaning babies-
all the restless horns rise in unison like a tidal wave
your shouting selves bury market songs
and then the tinkering -
each revving engine and roaring bus that passes
sends my heart beating faster to catch yours.
cacophonous being dressed in red laughter with a scarf lingering in the labyrinth of the path
a rusted faucet drips water, filling in the cracks of a dusty sidewalk like mystical tributaries in a mandala
the matted grey locks of the beggar wed the dangling malas of marigolds
the crossed legs of the vegetable seller mirror the dutiful hands of the pan wallah
the children share snacks on the stoop of the tailor's shop
while the stitching of the sewing machine orchestrates
the colorful scraps on the floor
the frame of dark eyes of bus riders stare out across train tracks to infinity
while bricks crumble where the pissing man hides
in this thick smog of workday woes
the crackle of the trash pyres line the roadside
the bells of the evening's aarti awaken mind's eyes
the blinking lights of the fancier interior of an autorickshaw
illuminates the face of the handicap man protesting for equality
the curd sweets beckon
and the smiling beauty beams radiance from within the blur of yellow cabs
the used clothes salesman contemplates purple flowered undies
the bathing men
the painted lori
the collage of all the new and old,
here and now
the 2 names for the same town
the collapsing colonial structures
the stasis to modernize
this city
this life
this art that requires participation
OH Kolkata!
built from the inside out
has my heart beating faster to catch yours.
a view from a taxi KOLKATA 2/22/10
