I Asked The Indian Hanuman, How Are You? Poem by Bijay Kant Dubey

One daybreak
When it had been racing towards
On the lonely road,
Coming hurriedly
With the tail hanging by,
Looking hunch-backed in its gait
As its gait is generally,
Brown-haired
But with the black mouth
And the showy teeth
So temperamental to lose its temper.

On seeing him rushing towards,
Coming hurriedly
Or in a huff to go somewhere,
I asked him,
How are you,
Where are you going, my friend,
But instead of doing the handshake,
It lost the temper
And grinned it,
Gnashed the teeth
In such a way,
As ever ready to growl and ogle
As if to frighten hospitality.

It gnashed the teeth,
Grinned and growled in such a way
As if I were thrown off
In a world of fear and threat
Looming large over,
I taking my space,
Standing aghast and speechless,
Without the smile
Or the laughter
On my face,
Looking pushed
And leaning out to back
And the time be,
To escape the onslaught.

A monkey a monkey,
It could not be man
Even though we tried to educate it,
Wore it not the pants and the shirt,
A beast it remained a beast,
A brute a brute
Of the forest,
Ogling and grinning
And gnashing the teeth
And frightening as always,
Ready to bite and snatch,
It will not be manly
And educated
Even though we try our best
To educate through literacy programmes
And adult education.