MATCH BOX HOUSES

MATCH BOX HOUSES

 

In snaky lanes

Along twisty by lanes and bends

With tinder's struck

A fiery cosy hearth

Little Match Box Tinder Houses

In rows stacked one atop another

As if there was a tinder box sale

Of teeny-weeny Match box houses

In rows or horizontal lines

Vertically upright

Sometimes bulging from side to side!

As one opened and shut

A Match box

To light cigarettes or pipes!

 

A single room

Maybe a kitchen

One window with a flower bed

Of Tulsi leaves and a rose pot

To bring in sunshine and cheer

Maybe a sofa cum bed

One chair and a table of course

Sparse furniture that matched

In its self sufficient core

Spruce and tidy 

Match Box Houses

Would fit in only one refrigerator 

Not too much though

A bicycle too hung in the corridor

Even draped washed linen

In some corner

On strings and stands

 

The doors hung marigold garland wreaths

Welcoming guest warmly

With coloured "Rangoli"

Like mosaics on tiles

Alongside lay "chappals"

Neatly stacked in shoe boxes close by

Dried mango chunks for picklets

In trays high up

Roofs of gauze tin and tarpaulin

Even rungs of ladder to a room upstairs

Such shanties called slums

Stood out little Match Box houses

Erect in rows

Brightly lit like match sticks

The 40 volt bulbs outside doors of

Compact Match Box chawls!

 

Humble dwellings of some

Its busy folks

Peeking out their teeny chambers

Like prison bars

The horizontal grids on wee windows

Stood humble yet simple and sweetly though

Amongst towering buildings, spires and domes

Decorated moon satellites

Antennae of dish T.V's 

On roof tops!

For entertainment within

Cosy Match Box homes

Telly boxes they contained

Slim or L.E.D

Whilst gave company some strays 

Feathered pets as well in gilded cages

Behind curtains of doors

 

Whilst in just a span and wing

 On airport runways

Those aeroplanes taking off

Or landing

Got an ariel view of the crowded mayhem

Lamp lit hubbubs of Match Box Kingdom!

That ignited like a spark

The charcoal tarp of the skies

Like jewels on

A sierra of Cutlass Mountains!

Like stars on a charcoal grey sky!

The shiny Match Box Kingdom

Just off the next stop 

 Santacruz Airport Villas!

Called "Shanties of Paradise"

From left and right wings below

The airplane vehicle

It's left and right winged lanes

Of angel dwellers!

 

Such were the Kings Queens

And noble men

Of Match Box Kingdom

Busy with businesses

Shops, tinkers, tailors, factories

Gave way to throngs of crowds

Coming in and going out

Visiting their shanties

And crowded alley ways

Tinder Match Box Rallies

Like mirrors facing each other

Gazing each their own reflections

Matchmakers with solemn Matches

Grooms and brides

A family of joint members

All under one tin roof

Even juggled jobs, fending for children too

 Such trivial matters

Could handle with ease and co-operation

Each sibling a different task

Taking turns every day 

In turn trophies would laud

 Bread Winners their soul mates

In unison were called

Slum Dog Millionaires

Proud inhabitants!

Busy shining their golden talents

With a Midas touch!

Lighting up their tinder head like match sticks

A golden aura

Inside Match Box dwellings

 

Even when weather got rough

With stormy rains and thunderstorms

They reinforced their Match Boxes

With strong tarps and rubbers

Even cements and plaster of Paris

To fill in holes and gaps

This tiny hamlet

Now said goodbye

To all those who loved 

Tiny comfortable and cosy

Little Match Box Houses!