OBLITERATION

(Now)

I resemble to everyone

But myself

In sea of crowd,

Serpentine queues of malls,

Wilderness of personnel rules

And civil society.

I – a file

Placed on personnel department shelf

With a tagged code

A competitive commodity for super companies

But self gathering dust in a forgotten corner.

I – a robot

Dragged through main gate metal detector

At bewitching tunes of Krishna's flute.

Myth inhabits and psyche pervades

Like gopies of Gokul

Lost myself in vacuum – a undefined state.

Who are you? Identify self.

The man at counter shouts.

With my humility I justify self and

ID card comes to rescue, where 'I' sits

Often being mutilated

For on my face being signed

(by security officer).

Is it me - the self?

I resemble everyone

But My-Self?

Hrushikesha Mohanty

August 2008.

OBLITERATION

(Then)

I resemble to everyone

But myself

In sea of crowd with uniform,

Serpentine queues of company canteen,

Wilderness of personnel rules

And civil society.

I – a file

Placed on personnel department shelf

With a tagged code

A uncompetitive supermarket commodity

Gathering dust in a forbidden corner.

I – a robot

Dragged through main gate

At bewitching tunes of Krishna's flute.

Myth inhabits and psyche pervades

Like gopies of Gokul

Lost myself in vacuum – a undefined state.

Who are you? Identify self.

The man at counter shouts.

With my humility I justify self and

ID card comes to rescue, where 'I' sits

Often being mutilated

For on my face being signed

(by security officer).

Is it me - the self?

I resemble everyone

But My-Self?

Hrushikesha Mohanty

before 1994.

Note

I find nothing much has changed in psyche between the crowd at ECIL gate and the young software engineers speeding to their companies now.