“Thatha, what is Shangri-La?”
“Ah! Where did you get that, dear?”
“I was playing with the thesaurus!
And I found this word on ‘S’!”

“It’s paradise, dear”
Thatha said, smiling.
I pointed to that Milton’s book
“Paradise Lost” it said.

“Can we lose it, Thatha?”
“It’s within. Complete bliss.
It’s extraordinary.
It’s a place of delight”

“Like, our home, Thatha”
“Yes”, he smiled.
Next day I wrote a poem
On the new word I learnt
Wanting to surprise him-
And move him into tears.

But, Thatha he was!
How can I outdo him!
He surprised me instead,
People said,
“Thatha is in Heaven, child”.

With tears, I asked myself,
“Isn’t our home Shangri-La?”