On being an Idli in Navi Mumbai....

Some people just see; others just click.

But then there are some like my friend Slogan Murugan alias M S Gopal alias Mumbai Paused,  who perceive societal structures in what they see, and then click  visuals at a roadside Idli joint at breakfast time in Navi Mumbai.

As he says , "Invisible class lines are visible at this street-side idli joint everyday.
The middle class office goers, students and deodorant class eat close to the counter. The shop assistants types eat silently a little away from them.
The khakhi clad auto-rickshaw drivers a little further away.
And the swachch Bharat safai karamachari (or the poetic in Kannada - Pourakarmika) always sits or stands in a Pluto orbit, almost a planet but treated like a nameless Kuiper belt citizen."

Just wondered what the Idli might be thinking ....

She sits,
HRH Idli,
always in white
along side the
chutney-sambaar-in-waiting,
and watches her future unfold.

Some junta level types,
mechanically
breaking her to pieces,
pushing her around
in between
world matters
discussed
after a hurried exit
sitting for hours
in a rattling bus.

Some ,
slightly higher class,
helplessly
taking a quick bite
between carburettor roars
and
"mulgi shikli, pragati jhali",
watching the time,
enjoying the
unusual empty space around.

And some,
supremely high class,
on their first break,
after
cooking and cleaning,
first for their own home,
then for other homes,
and the Idli
simply basks
in the avid delight,
of being
finally treated
as she should always be :
Chappals removed,
hands washed,
and sitting down,
enjoying the taste,
and just wondering,
if Mr Chai might follow,
cuttingly....