Our Bundle of Joy

Source: Pinterest

An hour past midnight.
The corridor silent yet lit up
With the rush of late night assignments.

She slept while I worked,
Eyes half-open, drinking in the light
In spite of the slumber.
Or so I believed.

That Time of the Year

Half past eleven on the 31st of December.

Raving crowds and coloured lights are all that they'd remember. 

I stopped making new year resolutions two years ago. Not because I stopped believing in them. But because I was still working on my older ones. The ultimate 'life- plan' was still underway, time management for me was still a bummer, and I hadn't yet sorted out my priorities quite well.

It'd been a while since I'd spoken to the diary. Every year the first pages spoke highly of my resolve. The two years saw no new diary and with it no new resolutions. In the last half hour of the year, I still found no reason to make one.

There in the midnight chill and the lights flashing in rhythm, I sat apart from the crowd. But not alone. 

Diffidence

Source: Skolsida

Dear diffidence,

Why won't you let go?

You put my efforts in vain,

Pull me down to the floor,

You drive me insane

Shutting every other door.

You put to death my ideas,

My beliefs and my dreams.

You befriend my fears,

My inhibitions, my shame.

The Monster

Source: webolutions.com

Rage has failed me.

Hope has left hold.

No place to run away to,

No person to be told.

You leave us but one choice

To carry fear in our minds.

To fear the daylight and the dark,

The empty streets and the crowds,

Every gaze and every footstep,

Every solitary walk.

"You are Beautiful"

Source: feminismindia

"You look beautiful."

My brow is raised before the mirror.

Beautiful, did you call this error?

I see an oversized belly way out of norms

I see a brown clingy top showing off my fat arms

I see a flattened tiny face

struggling to fit in facial features.

I see a lump of gathered mess

struggling to achieve finesse.

And before this muddle of disarray

Is a beaming mom come out to say -

"You look beautiful honey."

And I smile. How funny.

A shake of head and a shrug. Moms, you see.

I am India's Daughter

Parivartravels

A cozy bed, newspaper ahead, and a nice cup of tea.
A perfect morning it was to be.
Flipping through pages of the paper and this photo is chanced upon.
This merry photo of little boys playing football in the beach.
Just another photograph of kids relishing the summer heat.
Just another game for the boys in the beach.
And yet this photo held something more; something that tingled my nerves.
This harmless picture rekindling the rebel soul itching to break out.
A gush of impulse springing from the shackled freedom within.

Sisterhood

# Sisterhood

The fifth time over,
I'm oblivious however;
The phone alarm screams,
And she alone heeds.

One Day

picture source: http://www.youthconnect.in 

 One Day

One day I shall smile

 Not my visage, but my heart.

One day the veil shall fall,

 Adieu to my mayday calls.

One day I shall leave

 To the land of what I feel.

One day I shall cry

 With no reason to a why.

One day, I shall dance 

 With not a pang of guilt.

One day, I shall write,

 Of a legend that I built.

One day I shall dream;

 Let my vicinity vanish.

One day I shall move on;

 My own shoes, I shall don.

One day I shall heed,

 Myself and not any else.

One day I shall decide,

 Not you or him, but I.

Yes, for once I'll fend

 But nor will I now sigh.

That day my wings shall sprout,

 Then yonder, I shall fly.

That day I shall know

 The 'me' and all the 'rest'.

That day I shall be free.

That day

 I shall BE.

Monotonous Cacophony

You think time doesn't cease?

That it knows no 'pause'?

That it heeds no halts and it's its own boss?

I thought so too,

That it waits for none,

That if once it moves it's never undone.

But then, here now

So it seems, that

Our dear old time's just been outdone!

For I've seen it slow

And I've seen it halt,

And I bet you must have seen it too.

When a room so filled 

And you're stuck there drilled...

With that same voice

With that same face,

Each day, each time

with that same unbroken 

Monotonous cacophony.

Was Yesterday today?

Is today now tomorrow?

Did hours pass by?

Or maybe just minutes?

Ahh yes, time halts

when unneeded the most,

when the cacophony of lectures

rings boredom down to earth. 

Yes, time pauses

when wished to speed up

when seconds on a clock

seem hours at end.

Yes, time ceases, 

The king of existence

And yet it bows 

to monotonous cacophonies,

yet it bows

when boredom descends.

***

# classroom_scene #boringlectures 

FYI this is with reference to all those long hours of class in school (or maybe college), which never (-ever!) seems to end. One must appreciate the endurence power of a student! But of course it is one of the come-and-go episodes of life we cannot avoid. So we might as well make the best out of it. All the same, the monotonous cacophony is one that has beaten time itself, so one cannot possibly expect us to get along with it that easy. Well, here's to all those students who actually make it through their boring lectures without losing their peace of mind ( or anything else for the matter).
We be wows! ;)

When the heart speaks

This would be the poetic version of the article 'When the heart speaks'

I woke up today
My mind was still astray.
No life breaking plans,
No answers came on call...
Life was same old crazy
It's purpose, vague and hazy.

Long, did I journey through
Along with the wind that blew.
I finally reached the fork
I'm afraid, it's time to choose.

Must I follow Robert Frost?
Would the untaken road cost?
Which way led me to my dream?
Which road gave a purpose to life?
And yet, no clues paved way.
My mind had nothing to say.

In the ides of sweet sixteen,
In here, I laughed and loved.
In time, I smiled and cried,
In crowds I whiled and sighed.
The junction seemed so far,
And now I'm not up to par.
Why did my mind not speak?
Why did it not keep still?
Why was it still locked?
Why was it's key lost?

And then, as silence swarmed,
I listened to all else.
A whisper, I could hear..
A whisper, soft and dear...
Oh yes, it now made sense!
I knew what path to choose!
The veil was now unleashed.
My mind was now unlocked.
For whisper, did my heart.
My heart who held the key.
My heart, whom I failed to heed;
My mind, I searched in need.

The tedious day was done
Way longer than the years.
No more was the path a blur.
The purpose of life was clear.
For now, my mind could see!
'Cuz my heart was now set free.

(presented at #open sky slam, calicut # https://m.facebook.com/events/741548702634617/?ref=br_rs)

The Lasting Battle

They cheat, they lie.
They hurt, they kill.
We beg, we cry.
They cease not still.
No happy, no smile;
Them all, they seize.
The evils pile;
And yet, don't cease.
But nor do good
And nor do love,
With humanhood,
They ally dove.
They combat hate.
To rebel, they dare,
Choosing their fate;
To fight, hands bare. 
In them, there lives
A mighty power,
A power that kills
The evil hour.
The power of love,
The power of hope,
That stands above
All doubt and grope.
The power to care,
The power to cry.
A heart to share,
The courage to die.
They live to serve,
To save their kins.
They've got the nerve
To sweep all sins.
In them, there's heart
For every soul.
In them, there's hearth
For the world in whole.
Their hope paves way
To a life anew;
The ills don't stay,
Not even a few.
There's happy, there's smile,
And beauty, no bounds!
No trace of evil pile
No cry of sorrow sounds.

A Decade Hence

A decade hence,
What am I to be?
When no more a teen, 
No more the now-me?

This smile will I wear,
My pals being other?
Will chores now vary,
My home being thither?

Will lanes now differ?
Will habits leave hold?
Will altered environs
Leave me less bold?

Will life get tougher,
Unfamiliar, and wild?
But come may whatever;
I'm set for the ride!