Braided Rivers

Published in Indian Literature

Sahitya Akademi’s bimonthly publication

November-December 2025 issue

two couples enter an elevator:

them Chinese, us Indian

how you doin’,

we say, smile and talk

about the puppy that pranced out

as we entered

then silence

emboldened I stare at

their willow eyes and black shirts

I see the Yellow River, red lanterns

women carrying babies in cloth bags

fan-shaped gingko leaves boiled into potions

Sichuan peppers sprinkled over duck sauce

stereotypes for sure

the lady looks up, smiles through her spectacles

does she see in me a saree or elephants chasing tigers?

does she see dim call centers with fluorescent techies?

or the Ganga calling out to her mother in the Himalayas?

there we are

two proud civilizations

braided together in a San Francisco elevator

riding down twelve floors

till we nod goodbye and

step out to a homeless man

selling balloons at the door

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