MONKEY BUSINESS

My mum was cooking, holding a pan,

And a hard ladle in her hand,

Just as the batter was becoming nice and fine,

My mum felt a chill go down her spine…

She felt like James Bond, she felt like a spy,

Discovered by the enemy’s watchful eye….

Slowly, by instinct, she turned around,

And caught the gaze of a creature, furry and brown.

At first she didn’t know what to think,

She rubbed her eyes, gave a blink,

Then she realized the situation wasn’t funky,

Sitting near the kitchen window was a monkey!

She shook her ladle, gave a heart-stopping scream,

Shaking her daughter out of a sweet daydream.

But the monkey did nothing but sit and stare,

While my mum responded with a ‘monkey, beware!’

 It took its own time, waddled over to the bottles,

And what it picked up, made us all chortle –

It was an empty peanut butter jar, with nothing to hide –

Yet the monkey tried to open it, to see if something was inside,

My mum tried to appear as a large scary threat,

But the monkey did nothing, the monkey didn’t fret.

And let me tell you, the monkey must love bread,

For it chose another bottle – this one of cheese spread.

My mum had had enough, she couldn’t take anymore –

She made her way, and opened the kitchen door.

‘Hyash! Hyash!’ She screamed and she shouted,

Now the monkey was startled a little, undoubted.

My mother shrieked in Monkenese, ‘DON’T YOU DARE COME HERE!’

The creature gave one frightful look, and then it disappeared.   

Happy Diwali!!

Upon the red stone floor I lie,

Watching marshmellowy clouds pass by,

Thinking of how, in the night,

The sky will remain just as bright.

Not becuase of the Sun, which lights up our world,

But because of US, normal boys and girls!

In the evenings we'll rush with matchsticks in our hands,

To turn this ordinary place into a fiery land!

With sparklers, and chakras, and flowerpots...

Enjoying whichever crackers we've got!

With friends and family, we'll admire,

The sky alight with colourful fire.

BOOM! BAM! The bombs will burst,

100! 1000! They'll keep getting worse,

But even THEY cannot scare us away from this place,

Even THEY cannot wipe the smiles off our face!

For this is the festival of lights, time of flaming glory -

Behind these moments, there's many a story!

All of them talk of change, a mass upheaval -

The world will be saved, good wins over evil.

Gods and Goddesses descend upon Earth,

In magnificent form, all of them take birth!

Bringing about miracles, just as a child -

They'll save Mother Earth from demons so wild!

And they'll defeat these monsters, with power and magic,

And this will avoid events which could've turned tragic.

All these tales come back to us today,

And we celebrate these triumphs in the above-mentioned way.

To scare off the danger, around us which lurks,

We burst and enjoy many fireworks!

And I'm so glad, it's come! I'm so glad it's here!

Diwali: My favourite festival of the year!