Poetry in the city.

[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi]

The Delhi Walla arranged to meet poet Job at the BKS Marg subway in Connaught Place. Telling me his story, Job says he was a decent man who suffered calamities in his life for no apparent reason. “I questioned the fairness of God,” he tells me, “but later I reconciled with Him.”

Taking up the disguise of a malnourished homeless man, Job dresses up in torn clothes and positions himself beside the subway stairs. He shares a passage of his Hebrew poem with us.

Remember: life is a breath;
soon I will vanish from your sight.
The eye that looks will not see me;
you may search, but I will be gone.
Like a cloud fading in the sky,
man dissolves into death.
He leaves the whole world behind him
and never comes home again.

[Translated by Stephen Mitchell]

As part of the series Delhi’s Bandaged Moments, The Delhi Walla is searching for poets in the city. If you are one, please contact me at mayankaustensoofi@gmail.com.

Poet Job

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