1.

Thought is rhythm
of a flag.

tell me O dead man I’ll name you your name Sir/Mr. dedan 
whether what you wore was your own
in the safari you went to as a child with your grandfather the Gujrati merchant who wouldn’t cross sail to the otherside of Brahma
fathering your own, as you later told me
confused, I sat, listening to you, on that dreamy day
and you answered, yes
because it was stolen
from God himself

enter, exeunt 
all those 
who ever speak here

2.

A film is shot in one, maybe two scenes. 
Absurd? Well, no. 
A man goes to the theatre because he is tired of life. So he longs for escape in that darkening 
room of the hero he longs to see. The national anthem plays, 
he stands in wait, wait that has taken too much time, his whole life.
Javed Akhtar has made this film. Who is he? Does he exist? 
He writes for himself, he is a poet.
Sometimes, the script is too good to be true, but the hero dies
in the last scene.  Then years later, 
after a thousand scenes he reads the paper, 
sees the ad for the re-release of Kala Paani in color
recalling it as a fond memory
of all years and years to come,
happily as it was.

…

Ritwik Chaudhary is a theatre and literature student. He wants to do PhD., following which he will continue to write and do theatre. He is currently pursuing BA in English from distance education. He is 26 years old.