Long Distance Voyagers
 

Pravin Gandhi observes the loneliness of parents who spent many years, energy and their youth to raise a family, to find that their family, in turn is busy raising their own.

Pravin Gandhi relates the arrival of a train to pick them up from a railway station to the arrival of Krishna to pick them up from the world. Just as the arrival of a train is heralded by the tooting of the horn, so also the arrival of a dancing Krishna is heralded by the sound of His anklets.

They have said their goodbyes
There's nothing more to do
They've left behind the house
That they built
Teeming with people
and luggage
Who once were their joy
Their pride, apple of the eye
Too busy now with their own.




Waiting... On a lonely railway platform
Surviving
on a diet of nostalgia
Remembering, reminiscing
A lifetime spent together
Through eras of strife, struggle and want
Through moments of joy and fulfillment
A life well lived, a job well done
Lots of goodwill all around

Laughing, crying
Hurting, caring
Tired, as they wait for
The sounds of the flute,
The jingle of dancing anklets,
The "mrudu-smeet" Charioteer¹ Himself

Ah! Liberation.

By Pravin Gandhi - 1994

1 "Mridu-smeet" Charioteer = the gently smiling Charioteer of one's life; allusion to Krishna