Waheeda Look-Alike Poem by Madathil Rajendran Nair
Waheeda Look-Alike
It was year nineteen sixty-two
Magic girl Waheeda
Of the tinsel town of Bombay
Had young reverberating hearts
Captured in her spell of charms
The haunting melody
“A lamp burnt somewhere
Somewhere a heart”
Flowed everywhere in the air
Monsoon wet
Filled with mist
I was just into college
When her look-alike arrived
In our midst
Same hairdo, veiled
Yet its front-line deliberately unveiled
To let a wisp of lock droop on a wide forehead
Eyes naughty, lovably cocky
Nose chiseled, sharp countenance
A total clone
That had me fallen
Head over heels
In a well of deep infatuation
And burning adoration
“A lamp burnt somewhere
Somewhere a heart”
I stood transfixed
As she passed
In and out of the college gate
Head bent, yet with a budding smile
That said she knew
Everything happening around
Soon it became a ritual
For me to wait at the gate
Motionless like a pillar
To see her pass by
Day after day
Without respite
So much so that
I became a part
Of the pompous gate
No one could any more
Tell me apart from it
She knew my presence
I was doubtless
How could my dogged devotion
Miss her attention? !
Yet never I could muster
Courage enough
To unbecome the pillar
And utter my heart
My silent worship
Consumed half a decade
Rains came, seasons changed
And every day she passed by
With that same budding smile
Watched by me, the worshipful pile
And on the last day
She looked directly into my eyes
Then bent her head again
Cupping her mouth
To suppress a laugh
And lo! I found her drop
A piece of paper on her path
As I ran with the winds
To capture the note
I saw her vanish from sight
In a darting haste across the street
That was the last
I ever saw of her
Perhaps, she got into wedded life
Hid in a burqa, mothered several kids
Sprayed attar day and night
Humming to motionless pillars in life
“A lamp burnt somewhere
Somewhere a heart”
And don’t you want to know
What her final note had said?
“Be bold, ye stupid, adieu! ”
Me the eternal pile placed at a gate
Wow.... this is such an entertaining write that has brought a wide smile to my lips! Imagine the present out spoken philosopher being a lover head over heels in love, but lacking the nerve to tell it, waiting sheepishly at the college gate to have a look at Waheeda's 'duplicate! I know much of it is fancy, especially the note part! However you have beautifully and humorously presented that shipboard romance! A sure 10
The wry diction plunges us back into the quivering mass of a collegiate youth's heart. It is a telling move to describe him as a pillar, for he himself felt the sting of being so pillar-like. In moments of sympathy for what he was, he replays the soundtrack of youthful reveries. Who is to say that those hours of inchoate longing were not laying groundwork for something? A poet endures great hollowness of soul and so becomes receptive to many things.
We all know time and time waits for none and yet due to hesitation breed from a combination of factors, we often fail to take the plunge. An excellent poem.
There are many look alike around, So much so, that one can easily make mistakes! Nonetheless, this is very pretty; no wonder you are so mindful of her!
Marvellous expresssion. It is an amusing story filled with romantic vibration. Enjoyed. Thanks for sharing. ..... 10
Haunting melodies keep on pleasantly haunting for life. Haunting beauties remain burning in the heart. You captured the entire episode hauntingly beautiful. Enjoyed the poem.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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5/4/2024 8:07:45 PM # 1.0.0.1119
this is such a cute poem. and i see the honesty in this poem. I feel it is always better to have loved and lost than not to have loved at all. (before marriage of course!) i find this exciting too. Imagine that you suddenly meet her across the street.. what will you do now? will you find her old and haggard? will you still be stupid? will you be stupid to be brave to go and talk to her? ? ? well Romantic too....... Did you study at all? ? ? ?
Madathil Rajendran Nair is lucky to have a reader who comes up with all the right questions. I wish I had thought of all those questions after reading.