On a noisy, dusty road leading to the highway, I chanced upon an alien object – an Italian basil plant, lush and in full bloom, growing without a care in the world. This plant that I have struggled to grow in a pot at home and offer so much love, protection, good vibes and juju, but never managed to survive, somehow was growing magnificently in a spot where no one watered it, the sun beat down on it and the fumes of pollution fanned it constantly. It was thriving and how!!

I am no poet but the sight of this basil plant sent a wave of emotion in me and the next thing I knew I had lines and verses forming in my head pretty much like the how you watch AI respond to your query, line by line… only this was my Actual Inference and not the much hated AI.

(This image is AI generated though)

Here it is, my Genovese, Bombay

What brings you here, Genovese basil?
What made you send your roots
down this dusty Bombay asphalt?
Whose hand let your seed slip on this busy road?
Did a bird carry it off from a fancy pizzeria’s back door?
When did you find home and call this place your own?
Why does no one notice you, half-wild on the curb?
Where do you mean to grow, and to what delight?
Which plates of fine pasta go without you tonight?
Maybe this alien soil preserved you, let you survive.
Or maybe you’ve lived past your prime, untapped, ungarnished!
I’ll pass your ‘aangan’ every day. I’ll say hello, wish you well.
I’ll take your picture and put it on the gram,
hoping they find the same voyeuristic charm.

This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon