Visibly Fake

I pass this shop everyday
Beautiful tigers sitting proudly on the box car
The car so real – but the tigers so visibly fake
I cant sell tigers on the road
Today standing right next to the box car –
The real car with the fake tigers
I felt my heart soften
The box car came – parked itself – switched itself off – looked on to the road
Because the box car was real but the tigers were not
An empty box car – and the box car keeper both so real –
Both of them I could relate to –
The real car and the real man standing on the road
Just like me in my car looking for some solitude
The box car and the box car keeper – oh ! so real
But the tigers so visibly fake
And then the tigers started coming out
And the box car keeper set them on the box car with so much care
Set them – so that they could sit proudly
Set them – so that all of them could be seen
Set them – the smaller first and then the bigger ones
Set them – to be seen by all
He set them with so much care
On the box car – its bonnet – everywhere
And then he smiled not at the real box car
Nor at the real me
Nor at the sky
Nor the living tree
But to the visibly fake tigers sitting proudly on the box car
He touched them – and patted them
And put them at ease
He looked around but stared back at them to see if they were at peace
The tigers were suddenly alive –
The tigers could breathe –
The tigers were so real –
But only he could put them at ease –
I realized nothing in this world is fake and nothing is real
Living in a world of illusions was never easy
But yet every moment the fake meets the real
And yes every moment visibly fake tigers come to life !

Aakanksha Kulkarni

08,December,2006