Bombay Prayers By Daruwalla Poem by Bijay Kant Dubey

The poet opens his heart, lays it bare
In the poem Bombay Prayers
From Winter Poems collection,
Whatever it is in his heart
As in the form of complaint and grievance,
Injustice meted out to,
What it the Divine Jurisprudence
And what it the shortcoming of Judgement.

The poet like the Job of the Old Testament
here prays to in submissive form
Like Kabir and Nachiketa,
Like Savitri learning from Yama,
But his is a modern question,
A modern, man's existential search,
Absurd revelling,
what the purpose of creation,
Why there sin and expiation?

A Zoroastrian he thinks in terms of
Ahirman and Ahurmazda,
The Zend Avesta
And the Doonger Vari
With the birds of prey circling over,
Reflecting in his own way,
Thinking about the ways of life and the world,
The Fire Hymn
And its cleansing capacity.

Save us Lord! Save us from ourselves! ,
Daruwalla prays to
Keep away from temptation
Tough cannot be totally,
But to resist it and surrender
Is the thing of concern,
We as human beings
Like to turn our face away
From the sick and the ailing.