Video narration
Late in the evening, a tired father rides home on a crowded train, staring blankly as the city slips past. In the first stanza, Dilip Chitre, a bilingual Marathi-English poet, presents him physically exhausted and emotionally detached, surrounded by commuters yet alone in the city. The train, railway signals, and cold surroundings create vivid imagery, while enjambment keeps the journey moving. But then he reaches home. The second stanza shows routine, not warmth: he enters quietly, washes, eats, and remains separate from his family. Arrival does not become belonging. The poem uses free verse, conversational language, realistic details, and a subdued tone. Remember its message: reaching home does not always mean feeling at home. For this father, work, city, and home all isolate him.