As my beloved Dilli,

Covered under a shroud of dirty-brown haze,

Is battered by the scorching loo *,                                                                  

Its people, exasperated by power cuts and water shortages,

Feel optimism and verve slither away,

Like sand slipping from a closed fist,                                 

And the ogres of misery and despair closing in,                    

Like the foreboding God of Apocalypse……….                            

Mercifully, even in the midst of this tedium,                                         

There is a dash of life and color round the corner,

As amaltas**,its branches adorned by a blossom of incredible beauty,

Grace, freshness and vibrancy,

Rolls out an opulent carpet of yellow/orange flowers,

Sometimes alone, often in a row of brotherhood,

To shower a feeling of serenity, and hope……….                      

Stirring a lone eagle from its extended snooze,

Onto a flight of excitement and bliss,

High above the Dilli skyline……….

* loo: The brutal hot winds which lash most of north India in the summer months, before the onset of monsoons

** amaltas: Cassia fistula, commonly known as golden shower tree which has yellow flowers in the peak of summer