“Tum thethar admi ho. Why came back now”

I “Delete” my WhatsApp account
I do a bunch of other such cancellations
And before the diurnal cycle is completed
I reinstall, restore, rebook, reactivate
Much to the chagrin of my friends
Who are now beginning to feel sorry
“Tum thethar admi ho. Why came back now”
Texts a friend about my reinstalling WhatsApp
She advises, “Kam se kam izzat rakha karo”,
Which sentiment seems to be broadly prevalent
As another friend, who is now totally exasperated,
Says, “Khud ke pair pe kyun gulati maar lete ho”
“You are smart, but now people will get doubts”
I hear them all and smile, and wonder why we say that
Why we find it peculiar and odd and are bemused
To encounter the oddities in our lives, God after all
Is free to manifest in this world as he wants, he’s free
To appear as me, as the homeless guy, as the autistic kid,
As the prodigy, as the prostitute, as the social reformer,
As Rahul Gandhi, as John Nash, as my crazy friends
Well, not all friends, some of them, not all of them,
As the guy who wanted to end suffering in this world
And after 2,500 years if he returns back to this earth
He’ll see how little it has ended despite his Noble Truths
This may drive him to so much despair that I might find
In him a kindred soul, with whom I can share my meds.