Poetry: In Honor of the Late Electric Kettle Martyred on the Promise of an Elusive Education

This poem is dedicated to:

Kirti, Pallavi (roomie), Khushboo, Priyanka, Kanchan, and last but not the least, my darling dead kettle. I miss you all!! :*

(image source)

For nine months we were Rapunzels

Languishing in the tower of redundant education

Bidding civilization a teary farewell

To buy a degree with the currency of isolated frustration.

And through it all, you were there

By my side, when the world seemed dark and bare.

Oh, beloved companions of my embittered soul

My electric kettle and my Maggi bowl.

Through the heated – if slightly inebriated

Political debates of 2AM

You kept us full and caffeinated

You are the Magi of Bethlehem.

And even when our packaged noodles

Were pilfered (or borrowed) with dubious consent

And even when our budgets frugal

Had all been on clothes and vodka spent.

Through those tumultuous times you kept us fed,

Never went hungry to the creaky hostel bed.

Neither snake nor monkey on those haloed grounds

Ever wanted for tasty food within your compound.

And here we convey our sincere apologies

To the morning lectures, whose many qualities

We shall never know, for they were always missed

With a commitment that bordered on religious zeal.

And here too, we must admit

That we never really gave a shit

About the assessments or the flashy PPTs

Of imagination and research a shapeless potpourri.

But my friend, you should never believe

Anybody who tells you they didn’t grieve

For the cheap momos and cheaper pav bhajis

When the town of Dhenkanal they had to leave.

And it was a strange and glorious land

Where mosquito troupes and reptilian marching bands

Danced to Bollywood numbers on command

At night when all was dark and grand.

Boiled Maggi and filter coffee

Had never tasted better than on the crappy

Sheets of the rickety hostel bed

With music loud, the future on an arrowhead.

And it was the best of times

Though we were broke and bored, didn’t have a dime

Yet we got the lesson of our lives

Never miss the chance to have a good fucking time!