from shankar, thru me, to mr.ahluwalia, with love

shankar is homeless.
but he doesn't need money to sleep at the pavement
on the shimla bus-stand.
every morning
he doesn't brush his teeth
because he can't afford it.
but he does spend 5 rupees every dawn
to go to the shulabh facility every morning
in the bus stand complex.
then he buys a bread for rupees 15
and a glass of tea for rupees 5.
the bread keeps the flame of hunger under check
for rest of the day
but he needs two more glasses of tea
worth rupees 5 each
at noon
and at night respectively
to swallow the bread.
all these luxuries eat up 35 rupees
that he had begged the previous day,
already 3 more than
the limit permitted by
the honourable and learned
planning commission
to be an honourable poor.
he has no money left
to buy a soap
to wash the only shirt and pyjama he is wearing since days
he has no money left
to buy
a tablet of paracetamol
to cool down
his hot forehead
engraved with the "not-poor" lines of destiny.
he has no money
to go home
to face his children and wife again.
fortunately
he doesn't need money to drink water from the municipal tap
neither does he need money to breathe the city air.
he would need money for his coffin
but that may not be too soon.
for the time being
he is happy
for not being "poor".