That Ice Cream Vendor! Poem by Namita Rani Panda

There is no such satisfaction in the air-conditioned ice cream parlour
Lavished with mouth watering ice creams of unconventional flavours:
Chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, pista or kesar!

There is no such pleasure in the frozen desserts in parties
With ice creams of varied varieties:
Blue Moon, Raspberry Ripple, Moon Mist or Tutti Frutti
From branded companies like Amul, Dinshaw's or Kwality
That I nibble carefully protecting my cultivated beauty,
So cautious I'm of my make up and false status
That I enjoy happiness with extra caution in little measures!

But how sweet were those ice creams of street vendors
Whose horns used to rouse my taste buds from deep slumber,
Whom I used to wait anxiously in the noons of hot summer
And to have one I persistently pestered my mother,
Blackmailed/ was blackmailed to fulfill the demand
To savour an ice cream was a celebration so grand!

A stick with a coating of thin layer
Of water, sugar, some colour without flavour
That I used to consume with utmost care
So that not a single drop would slip from my tongue
With a longing that it would last long,
Relished as if a thirsty barnswallow
Licking the melting flow from the elbow!

What a simple way to beat the summer
With no fear of contaminated water
And sneer of society or satirical remark
When with full concentration I used to lick, suck and smack!