By Snigdha Agrawal
INFLATION OF MEMORY
Yesterday…
Life seemed well-orchestrated;
I got my gas cylinder refilled
in three flat days,
I visited the doctor
without making an appointment,
I walked in and walked out
feeling confident.
The doctor hardly needed
an MRI or an ultrasound scan
to diagnose my ailment.
I earned dividend income
without paying tax on it.
Public Provident Fund
earned a high rate of interest.
And at no time were there shortages
of rice, lentils and onions,
Nor the price of tomatoes exorbitant.
Today…
In an astonishing volte-face,
Markets are down.
People are finding it hard
to make both ends meet.
The job market is as volatile,
like shifting desert dunes,
unpredictable.
Yesterday’s positives erased,
leaving visible shavings of unrest.
Tomorrow…
Perhaps we’ll download hope in an update,
buffering between policy tweaks
and breaking news alerts
of meaningless wars being waged.
And, we’ll stand in queues again,
this time for optimism, subsidised, if eligible,
While experts will debate on prime-time panels
The new currency for international trade.
And I’ll look back at “yesterday”,
officially rebranded as a golden era,
wondering if it was ever real
or just a well-edited memory,
because in this grand economy of irony,
even nostalgia seems
to yield the desired returns.
Snigdha Agrawal (née Banerjee) is the author of five books and a lifelong lover of words, writing across genres. Based in Bangalore, writing and travelling continue to remain her lifelong passions.
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