Shail reviews the fortnight that was in verse. Aarushi’s parents were acquitted of murder charges by the Allahabad High Court. In Mumbai, many died due to the collapse of a railway bridge at Elphinstone. The Delhi CM’s car was stolen from outside the Secretariat. Didi Taihuttu, a Dutch, has sold everything his family owns for Bitcoin including their house, car and children’s toys. McDonald’s failure to provide enough special edition Szechuan dipping sauce triggered protests across America. Read more in the regular column, exclusively in Different Truths.

Aarushi Denied Justice

Parents acquitted of her murder,

freed from an imprisonment

of a crime, they said they did not commit.

Losing a child to cold-blooded killing –

difficult, life an eternal mourning.

‘Justice prevails.’

But does it? Really?

All of 14, dead before life even began,

a teenager usurped cruelly of existence

for something she did or did not do,

for loving life, for being herself.

Dead and gone, what does it matter

whether her parents are acquitted or not?

Dead and gone, does it make a difference

that the guilty are still at large?

Dead and gone, will it make her soul any happier

that her murderers, responsible

for her untimely death

still not brought to justice?

Dead and gone, she still lingers around

questioning her death,

queries, doubts float in the air

murkied by the acquittal of guilt.

Deadly Curse of Elphinstone

Did the erstwhile Governor not take it lightly

that the station named after him changed hands

nay loyalty, calling it after a mere deity?

Did the late British army man’s ire transcend

all portals of divine protection

resulting in deaths pitiful in their wake?

Innocent lives scrambling to their death

 in the claustrophobic bridge, hurriedly bringing to a permanent halt

movement, voice, breath; life itself.

Shamefully absolving them of all blame,

unmindful of pathetic infrastructure provided

Western Railways holds rain, rumour guilty

as if warning us that once Ma Nature pours down again

rumour-mongers like monstrous predators will lurk around

ready to push down to oblivion

another twenty odd people.

Until then, until another bridge to safety is built

the ghost of Elphinstone takes refuge in the Railways.

From Wagon R to Biopic

Chief Minister’s iconic blue Wagon R stolen;

the audacity of the thief to pick on the landmark vehicle

of a personality known for the aam-aadmi’s broom.

The lucky car, campaigning in it got him his election victory;

its insensitive unwarranted theft a petty pity.

A ‘suitable reward’ declared for recovery of the car,

could be increased, age no bar.

Even while the politician mourns the loss

his biopic gets created getting readied for a global release;

‘The life of a social activist to a politician’ – an ordinary man’s showpiece.

Bitcoin Billionaire

Digital currency the norm,

virtual investment a booming storm.

Life no longer measured in currency notes, credit cards.

What function anonymously are the ‘private key’ bards.

Heavily encrypted hash codes, digital wallets

leave your virtual transactions brimming with invisible cash.

Ask today’s generation; you are bound to get a bitcoin hash.

No wonder then, 39-year-old Dutchman Didi Taihuttu

sells a house, hearth, household commodities for a lark

if only to be part of the bitcoin boom bark.

Living on a campsite currently, the family busy

building up bitcoins like building blocks, the Dutchman

sacrifices foolishly his thriving present

waiting anxiously for the next crypto-currency boom.

Hoping beyond hope it is not this family of five’s monetary doom.

We Want Sauce

While people protest for causes

they deem necessary, humane for humans

there are some protests that arise out of taste

or, the lack of it.

There are protests for the desirous appetite

longing for food which alone can satiate the 

the craving tongue

so, McDonald’s all over the US is a witness

to protestors complaining about non-supply

of Szechuan Sauce long out of production.

‘We want sauce. We want sauce’ the constant continuous refrain

rends the air while some poor kid of hunger dies elsewhere.

©Shail Raghuvanshi

Photos from the Internet

#Poems #News #Trending #ArushiTalwarCase #McDonald #BitcoinBillionaire #WagonR #ElphinestoneStampede #Justice #NewsInVerse #DifferentTruths

Shail Raghuvanshi

Shail Raghuvanshi is a poet, freelance journalist, copyeditor, voice actor, and artist with 30 years of experience in various media. She has worked as the Cultural Correspondent for India's first integrated media company, PLUS Channel, and has written course material for Madurai Kamaraj University's Post Graduate Programme in Advertising and Public Relations. She has also been a coach of Communicative English. She has published poems, short stories, and articles in leading magazines and anthologies.

See Full Bio