My Personal Hippies

I was on the road, lonely and alone
Pitiful were my days, my evenings forlorn.
A barren road lay stretched behind and ahead,
I wouldn’t even know the direction, but for my footprints on the sand.

The sun shone bright, always at high noon,
Never saw any clouds, or the stars and the moon.
I was destined to trudge the infinite path,
Was not to halt, rest or even catch my breath.

One morning, with the sun still at mid-day,
I said to myself, “I’d do something better, if I may”
I repeated the same at noon and then in the evening,
But nothing changed and my hopes were diminishing.

As darkness approached and I prepared to stop,
A shrill scream from the right gave me a jolt.
Turning in the direction of the sound,
I spotted a bunch of hippies with joy unbound.

They were eagerly calling to me by my name,
As if I were an artist courting popularity and fame.
Their excitement grew watching me approach,
The screams too went up a few notch.

They warmly welcomed me to the group,
Treating me to delectable food.
Despite the curiosity, the music all around helped me cheer,
And later in the night, they told me who they were.

This was my personal group of hippies I was told,
People who I had met on the path, in days of old.
As I got to know more and more,
I realized all this had happened before.

Whenever I was dejected and ready to quit,
They would pick me up and put me back on my feet.
There was more to it, this being only part of the rhyme,
I too was their hippy as they were mine.

I too sing for them and dance to tunes,
When they are stuck in their sand dunes.
When day breaks, the celebrations end and we move on,
And you find yourself on the road again, walking alone.

This morn too, the road remained the same and so did the sun,
But I was a different man after the night of frolic and fun.
Brisk was my walk and my stride long,
Joy in my heart and on my lips was my ‘Personal Hippy Song’.

- To Sajal and Satyan, on their Birthday