Union Minister Smriti Irani's latest Instagram post might take you on a trip down memory lane. On Sunday, Ms Irani took to Instagram to share a video of a poet reciting "Mera Chota Sa Ek Mohalla" - a poem that looks back on some of the little joys of living in a small, close-knit neighbourhood.
Sharing the video, Ms Irani wrote that she found the "beautiful rendition" online and it describes a life that many of us have been privileged to live. "Found this beautiful rendition online.. don't know who the lady is but what she describes is a life many of us have been privileged to live," she wrote. She also asked her followers to help her identify the poet. Instagram users obliged and soon identified the poet as Jaya Sarkar in what Ms Irani later described as the power of Instagram.
"The power of Insta - in my comment section am told the lady is a poet Jaya Sarkar," she wrote.
In her poem, Ms Sarkar recalls living in a "chota sa mohalla" or a small neighbourhood, where children were often found playing on the road and teenagers gossiped under the guise of combined study, where the streets were narrow but homes were welcoming, where the rustling of the peepal tree heralded the arrival of spooky story sessions, and where everyone came together to celebrate every small joy.
"There are some who consider big bank accounts, huge mansions & a row of jazzy cars to be the hallmark of privilege," wrote Smriti Irani while sharing the video. "For me, true gold is the relationships, the memories that enrich us and make us who we are..."
The Union Minister also said that she, too, once lived in such a neighbourhood. "Mera bhi kuch aisa hi chota sa mohalla tha .. with the peepul ka ped (I too had a small neighbourhood like this, with a peepul tree)," she wrote.
The recitation has been viewed nearly 70,000 times on Instagram and received a ton of praise.
Ms Sarkar took to the comments section to thank Ms Irani for sharing her video. "Dear Smriti ji, It's euphoric to know that you have shared this video," she wrote. "This memoire has rekindled the Mohalla culture that you rightly mentioned, we were privileged to live."
She had first shared the video on Instagram back in June last year.
What do you think of the poem? Let us know using the comments section.
