Sellout

By Gaurav Parab

Another thank god its Friday night

She dresses up in spite

those songs and pictures in her mind

and all that she knew of her kind

Artists of sound and prose

preferring crossroads in place of rows 

On how she planned to be who she was

And not give in to everyone's cause

Of them lost girls and the things they do

For pink houses and sunset views

When did she really became

Who she really became?

She thinks of who she was

How she preferred bottles to straws 

And conversations with him was all she had

Not made up words on a trend or a fad

This man on the right of her bed

Could be cut and bled

But no original thought will ever come

All his head does his nod and thrum

While that stranger's ghost to her right

Would explain the world till dark turned light

Its the age of sellouts her mind explains

All the cars stick to their lanes

He was but a drifter

With soulful words that would lift her

So she saw the world his way

From high up, so high up that her mind would sway

From the fear of the fall

Into mediocrity and a world so small

A world so fake and empty like it is now

The ghost said a goodbye, this man says a ciao

And her lips smile, but her soul cringes

For she still prefers broken hinges

To doors, those unpredictable doors

And every temptation she dutifully ignores

Her little world is like every little world

Peaceful, honest,and tragically unfurled

When all she wanted 

All she wanted

Was a mind of wonder and of doubt

And she wonders, did he too sellout ?

Rustom and the Last Storyteller of Almora by Gaurav Parab [Hachette] was listed by the Times of India and Business Standard as one of 5 weekend reads , The Hindu calls it a Genre bender, The Statesman ‘An Almost Perfect Debut, The Lucknow tribune calls it a debut to remember, The Pioneer calls it Cinematic, The Vistara Air inflight magazine a Good Book on the Shelf, the Sakaal times says its ‘sheer brilliance in storytelling’ while the Bangalore Mirror calls it an unforgettable story. It is available in leading bookstores and online here