That Night, in a Prison cell at Mathura

In a trance they sit, The mother and father Holding the new baby All those years of waiting All the hurt of hoping And all the pain of losing Already forgotten. As they hold him They appear to have Frozen in time. I watch with anxiety And want to shout Get going! Now! What are you waiting for?The dark hearted one Will be here the minute He senses the eighth one! You can hold your baby And cover his silky body With tears of joy When the time comes. Now, get going!Image

Suddenly a bright light Fills up the Dreary prison walls My beady yellow eyes Almost pop out with fright And I grip the wall tight.

Is it he himself? Four armed, a bright disc In an upper arm, A glowing conch in another one The lower left arm Holding a lotus Which seems to blush at his beauty The right arm which says "Fear not"

Can dark be bright? Can Sapphires glow with The radiance of a million suns? Can someone intoxicate With a single smile?

Can a pair of eyes Be filled with So much compassion? Can a voice wash away The pain of long years?

As the great one speaks Of his plans for them The parents throw themselves Before his radiant form.

He disappears and The tiny one smiles

What sort of a newborn Will be so quiet, When he should be crying out Shaking up the dark night?

The mother hugs The tiny one once, Sheds silent tears and Swallows her whimpers.

Then, with trembling hands She hands the treasure To the waiting father And as he looks at his Hand cuffs , more Incredible things happen.

Will miracles ever cease? Will the magic of this night end? Is this really happening or Is this just a dream?

Clang! Broke the cuffs Clang! Went all my ties Of the temporal kind Bang! opened the gates Of the dark prison, and , Swoon! Fell the guards

With hope, his only companion The father steps out of the Now wide- open prison With his baby boy.

I scurry out of the prison
As fast as I can
And drink in the sight
Of the newborn who lies
In a basket full of old clothes
Balanced on his father's head.

But as he turned round the corner
I swear the magic baby smiled at me
As if to say "I've arrived!"
And made my lizard life worth living .

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PS: This was written around the Janmashtami of 2005.The occasion fills me with a certain awe every year.

As we decorate our floors with diluted rice dough and draw patterns we call "kolams" along the baby - sized foot prints, which are meant to symbolize his entry in to our homes and hearts, I wonder.

What was that night like? Were Devaki and Vasudev, the lucky parents, the only witnesses?

With the guards asleep, thanks to his magic we call Maya, who else could ‘ve witnessed the almighty in the form of a tiny baby, who arrived once again for us? Who else was the lucky one?

Well, I've taken some liberties with this writing, but I don't think he'd mind.

This is also the night his Sister and female counterpart Maya was born to another set of lucky parents, This holy night,let the Brother-Sister duo walk in to our homes and hearts .