Harbhajan Singh Deol

Harbhajan Singh Deol (b. 1936) writes poems, both in Punjabi and English. He retired recently as Commissioner, Linguistic Minorities in India.

Coffee House
 

In the coffee house
why have you become pensive
my friend?

You need not take to heart
the sorry scheme of things
that you find around you.
That madam
in her best outfit
has attained her position
by dint of hard work
but she herself is sceptical about it.

That man with a round and round head
well-concealed under a big turban
bemoans the days gone by
when love was at its peak
illicit or otherwise.

The man over there
who has just entered the room
with unstable steps
is still under the impact of
the drinking bouts of the last night.

At the corner table
the girl sitting pretty
has passed through the whole gamut
of profit and loss
but is dazed as yet

That nondescript person
wearing a long sanctified robe
that hides his protruding belly
know a little too much
about the ways of the world.

That youngish looking man
with his beard dyed well
is reciting his poems
in a voice deep and sonorous
while his eyes are closed
like a crane on one leg.

That self proclaimed authority
on the matters religious
surpasses sometimes his own arguments
while handing over his verdicts
on men and material
without any provocation.

Yet another person
with his beard outspread
mutters in a sing-song voice
some holy hymns.
For a while
he has come here
to take stock of things
after accomplishing his black deeds
in the broad-day light

The coffee house is that sangam
where every table is a punch naad
this is the sojourn of many a god
in the company of his consort.

Let's now, dear friend, make a move
and occupy our assigned places in offices
tomorrow again we shall visit this place
where all tensions are resolved.                                 Coffee House (1996)