(A/N-On the recent stampede at the railway station in Mumbai)

'Bridge is falling'

A remark added to the chaos,

Like sugar to diabetic tea,

Chaos is not a ladder

But chaos is chaos

And after chaos only death and more chaos prevails

Hellphinstone (not a typo) was grieved by the politicians,

Their grief rivaling the authenticity of their smiles

A stairway to hell was clogged with too many folk,

A flower vendor flies from ICU to mortuary

Like pollen to stigma,

A woman in burqa is unable to find her man,

And his faith,

Amongst the blood common to all,

A boy chose train over bike on that rainy day,

A girl asked her differently abled father to go ahead,

Treasures for bullet train but not even

A rupee for the bridge,

Amongst playing Namaste-Konnichiwa,

Modi and Abe have built a game of snake and ladders

Without ladders

And Mumbai- city of dreams

Is turned to its true nightmarish form.

The lives are lost but life moves on...