The tale of my city

As I grew up, my city has changed
The clamour of crowded streets that I once loved,
becoming unbearable by the day
An uneasy throng filling up the mass transport,
the maze of underground pipes spewing filth into the oceans
Heritage structures that once stood tall and proud,
now vying for space between tattered shanties
Her roads no longer pliable, her maidans no longer playable
and the highways that we once loved breezing through on cold winter mornings,
sadly turning into a parallel valley of shitters
Seemingly unstoppable lawbreakers, unplanned development,
Is this what we call taking her the Shanghai way?

But whichever way my city goes,
Trains and buses plying way past midnight
Even the street ragpicker getting to grab a bite
The monsoon waves lashing up her beautiful seafronts
chowpatty with the ganesh visarjan, Mohammad Ali road engaged in Eid celebrations
Shopping malls, garish pubs
Booksales along the fort footpaths, her suburban railway music clubs
Bollywood dhamakas, the page three masalas
Whichever way my city goes,
I sincerely hope,
that while I sleep each day and as my word will change,
My piece of this planet and her undying spirit will remain the same