I took a walk today
in long bazaar
along the fort,
the heart of vellore

market-place smells
of fish,fruit,of afternoon
hung in the air
in chaotic competence

bright clothes lay
spread out on the roadside
in plain blues,yellows
among proud moviestar blacks

sunny families went
boating in the moat,
a cow on the footpath
moo-ed morosely at me

I dodged hawkers,
made my way through the crowd,
liking the lightness
of anonymity.