college.

A hundred other people-
Look exactly like me.
Walk exactly like me.
Speak exactly like me.
Think exactly like me ?

The same Fabindia kurtas.
The same dangling earrings.
The same Janpath chappals.
The same drawling talk
With the same curse-punctuation.
The same drinking parties.
The same gossip about the same people.
The same songs on the guitar
In late afternoon out on the lawns.
The same life ?


But
The same late night aloneness
When I wonder what the hell?
The same annoyance when the
Same old classic songs are strummed and sung
In the same old college way?
The same shrinking, shivering doubt
In stabbing moments on a busy day
When I wonder- What if I'm not ?
The same long hunger of
Wanting to be - ?

Maybe not.
Maybe so, but maybe no.
And that, there, might be the difference.