The America That Was

Gone are the good old days,

When going abroad meant the US,

An image of a heaven to us all, young and old,

A mental picture of paradise on earth,

The home of our favourite characters,

Of Disney, of Hollywood,

Of Superman and Batman,

Whose products brought big smiles to our faces,

Be it stationery, a peculiar machine,

Cereal or movie merchandise,

Its dwellers seemed to us seasonal relatives

Who came out of nowhere,

Consuming only 'mineral water'

At a time when it was hardly known,

Fussing profusely over hygiene and discipline,
'Enlightening' us about right and wrong,

Merely since they live in a more developed land,

Making short trips once or twice a decade,

Before disappearing for eternity once again,

Only to talk over phone or chat,

Once a week or even less,

We laughed at them, and we still do,

But the land has always seemed a place for awe,

Perhaps a bloody history but a flourishing now,

It commands respect, turning heads,

With the likes of Google and other such wonders,

And a few lucky ones among us,

Getting to go on a trip,

For a few months, if not more,

With others teary, waving at them,

As they walked past those guards,

Past those counters at the airport,

To return changed, smiling, in a cool jacket,

Laden with goodies.

But over the years, with many moving there,

That land seems to have lost its lustre and respect,

Merely a land where we dump our brains,

Gone are the days when only the best of us went,

Today it's the average, perhaps even less,

Students who flee from India's system,

Chasing after another, only to get trapped there,

A world of liquor, of credit cards,

Of large, dull schools and no home,

Lost to their family, but for a trip or two,

Smiling for pictures but living in gloom,

There is life there, who am I to talk?

They talk of experience, of research,

And a term called 'exposure',

Much like other jargons used to mask truth.

The whole world's getting crowded,

Why blame just one land?

Well, this is just what I've heard,

I've seen, known. and feel,

Oh how I wish I'd gone there when it was still nice,

On an airline I've heard called Lufthansa,

Too bad, I'm old now, and I no longer want to,

It's a boring old land now,

With nothing there that I don't have here,

But despite all, my memories,

And dislike for it,

America will always

Have a special place in my heart.

Conceived and written on 27th May 2015 at 2:08am, spontaneously at B001, H13, IIT Bombay.