People locked in houses tight
Binging on Netflix through the night,
Because you need not wake up early next morning.
From a distance, I hear you speak
In the emphatic privilege of which you reek
‘The net is slow,’ the techie sulks
Social influencers must shoot videos in bulk
‘Hookah bars, cafes, are all shut down’
‘Thank God, there’s home-delivery in town,’
The housewife blesses Swiggy and Zomato,
‘I have heckled enough for the price of tomatoes’
First world problems these seem to be,
Each luxury enough for a vagrant like me.
I’m the homeless migrant who’s going ignored,
The beggar who’s starving while you are bored,
The friend you abandoned in that animal shelter,
Betrayed by a world running helter-skelter.
Away from my village, I am forced to be,
Far from my parents, wife and children who adore me.
I yearn for their voice, their touch, their sight,
And pray they escape this sorry plight.
I understand, you too are terrified,
After all, you got a family just like mine,
But if only you’d keep your selves aside,
You’d see I too am spending sleepless nights.
And while you binge watch on your favourite show,
I pine for my family who doesn’t even know,
Whether I will wake up,
In the morning, or not.