Three Verses for a Rupee Each and One for Free

My language settles more comfortably on my tongue
Like thick bhaat that breaks into pasty starch
Whose sweet is countered by kali daal's
Jolting old-world flavour    
When my language wears words like rice and lentils.    
 
Science textbooks taught me a counterpart to
Everything that reminded me of going home
So that alien words became more
Familiar-
I was asked to put various lentils
In air-tight ziplock plastic packets
And label them using their other names.

I don't know what the point of that was
Because my daal settles thick in my mouth and
Its searing heat burns my insides every time I walk down an aisle
Instead of an alley
And look for a placard titled 'Black lentils'
Instead of saying 'Kaali daal'.  

*
3 rupees.
3 rupees multiplied by 28.
84 multiplied into 7.5 million.
What do you think when you walk back home
With no change, and only change?
Do you toss it up in the air and catch it?
Do you ball it into a fist and use it to wipe sweat?
Do you simply stare at nine lion heads?  
Do you calculate how many days until you eat again?
Do you tuck it away like a secret aspiration    
In the lines of your wrinkles,
The folds of your skin,
The cracks in your feet
And the hollows of your cheeks;
In your earthern ware
And save enough to buy a rope
Or fertilizer maybe
And drink it like the kali daal
You sold for a profit of 3 rupees?