On The Road, a haibun by K. Ramesh

(for Vinayan)

There was a time I lived like a hobo—not on freight trains like Kerouac, but wandering through books, poetry, and jazz. I carried a Walkman with cassettes of Monk, Coltrane, and Brubeck. The 29C bus took me from Adyar to the American Library, and from there often to Landmark, where hours slipped by among books. I discovered Gary Snyder there, and my friend and I spoke endlessly of literature over coffee at Sangeetha. I introduced him to the Beats; he brought along his Mamiya C330 and took photos, each frame carefully chosen—only twelve per roll. Some evenings we browsed Shiva Bookstore on Mount Road, returning home with bags heavy with journals and poems. Landmark is gone, the 29C still runs, though the view from the bus now is broken by metro stations. 

subway... 

we pause to listen 

to the blind singer 

—K Ramesh