City

The city and people, multitudes of new faces everyday.

Some come with a longing to leave, some with the determination to stay.

Their stories are different and the characters diverse,

Fellow travelers sharing a moment and space in this kaleidoscopic universe.

Travelers with memories to hold on to, secrets to keep and stories to share

The people and the city, a tempestuous affair

The city and the people, engaged in a dialogue with other another

Who knows who these people are - motely crowd or refugees or perhaps brave warriors?

The city lets them in and makes their struggles her own

The people wish to stay or they desire to leave, or continue the quest for a place called home. 

And the city reciprocates; welcomes you in or detachedly bids you farewell.

The city and people, pride and regret mixed with the distinct sights, sounds and smell

The city is a legend, a maze, lingering history juxtaposed at cross-sections of tradition and modernity

Loud, rich and ostentatious development challenged by naked poverty 

Playing hide and seek with truth and myth, modernity is history continued only in a different facade, 

The modern palaces and temples for few are built on starvation and deprivation; development is just a charade 

However, the city prepares the people and hardens them with brutality of their city-life

The city and people, negotiate with each other, they bargain and haggle and settle for a fair price

They learn to maneuver through the illusive, tempting, exclusive and all-engulfing, development monster

Glancing away and trying to mentally block the starving, dirt-covered beggar

The city inspires, the city depresses, 

The city trades your life and your dreams with its past and its present.

The people and the city, your blood and your breath make it what it is,

Your life brings the concrete alive and you are the city as it is.

With your arrival a new chapter begins, with your departure it ends.

The people and the city, the strangers, growing acquaintance or even friends.

The people and the city, in conversation with one another,

And eventually, you win over the city or the city wins you over.

The city and people, are they one and the same?

A mirror image, a camouflage, or a conversation with the self?