A whimsical dreamer chasing fireflies, a wayfarer wandering through lanes of magic and poetry.

Sunday, August 25, 2013

A HEAVY NUMBNESS

Dry leaves scattered all over
on the pathway
Withered, pest-eaten
Yellow, brown foliage.

And this brings into me
A heavy numbness.

Like the billboard of love
Inviting his women,
Like the mirage in the desert
Inviting thirsty nomads,
Such is destiny for beggars of life
For mothers of stillborn children.

And this in me
Brings a heavy numbness.


Friday, May 24, 2013

SUMMER SMILES

It's a beautiful blue, this color of the sky
as Aurora strikes an arrow
on the silent, sleeping earth
swiftly through the night.

Never did summer bring
such a striking day,
dew-wet grasses to walk upon.

Now I do not await the monsoon
for hails and rain
instead, in the warm morn
see the birds fly towards
dreams unborn!

(5:11 a.m., 24th May '13)

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Are they really 'juvenile'?


The last sunset hues have spread throughout the endless sky. It had been a busy, tiresome day in the college. A while after some rest, two of my friends and I decided to eat out. As we walked past a Government Boys’ School, one of my friends cried “Ouch!”. When asked, she said that she had been pelted on her back with a stone. We looked back with a hope to find the culprit and lash him with strict words of discipline; only to see many school boys hanging around. It was difficult to point at someone randomly. Discussing how mischievous children can be we headed towards a roadside food stall. We were of the agreement that we could have taught the person a lesson had we known who he was and to lighten up our moods, started eating some delicious snacks.

Suddenly, two adolescent boys who overheard our conversation came up to us and said, “Didi, hum jaante hain kisne mara. Hum dikha sakte hain aap logon ko.” (Sister, we know who has done that. We could direct you to him).
 He was a little boy, hardly eleven years of age. With a hope to teach him a lesson and reform his ways we approached him in a stern, but not angry manner. We enquired as to why he had done that and his reply was not in the affirmative. He denied having done any misdeed. We warned him not to lie and that we could go to the police to lodge a complaint against him for his mischief. However this ploy was just to scare him and we did not actually mean it. But up came the horrifying answer from a boy who was almost ten yours younger to us. “Main chota hun…mere upar koi case nahi lag sakta. Police kuch nahi kar payenge!” (I’m a juvenile and no case can be registered against me. The police would never punish me.)

Just a month has passed after Nirbhaya’s gang rape. People are still protesting against the rapists nationwide and newspapers are still writing articles to bring a reform in the Indian Constitution about the Juvenile Law. And here in front of us a juvenile freely does whatever he wants and says that he would not be punished for anything he does by the law. We, three women, stood horrified. The ‘Nirbhaya case’ not only made people terrified and aware, but also made a section of adolescent people worse. This section realized that however gruesome and brutal act they commit, they would not be punished by the law if they are below eighteen years of age.

This might seem like a mere incident but if such incidents are not taken seriously today they will grow into bigger incidents in a few years, such boys will become men and commit heinous crimes. The eleven year old boy’s statement proves that if he could do this mischief today, he might rape or murder people after a few years if his mindset grows in the manner it is growing today. Surprisingly enough many young boys do not fear the police and the law anymore.  They have realized that the law is too shaky in this country, the police lenient, greedy and to some extent anti-women. They understand the Juvenile Law in a way that makes them more prone to commit crimes. If such incidents and worse than this continue to happen with women more and more ‘Nirbhayas’ will see their fates sealed, denied justice, and more and more rapists will walk freely on the streets of India.

Friday, October 19, 2012

AND YET THE CANDLE BURNS



The night is spread over the valleys
Like a dark blue shawl covering
 The day’s smiles and miseries
And in her heart there’s just a candle burning
Carefully surrounded by passion to live
yet alone…

In her mind cynical are the thoughts
That she is left to live alone
In this city of towers and smoke
That she is not wanted among the hills and waterfalls—
Her abode just a little while ago.

Wordsworth in her heart quotes,
“She dwelt among the untrodden ways
Beside the springs of Dove
A maid whom there were none to praise
And very few to Love.”

But erroneous she is at such times.

There’s one who walks with her
On the path of darkness searching for a light—
The candle that never blows out in the west wind,
That burns amidst all strife
That candle that still burns in her heart.            

Monday, October 8, 2012

A LITTLE PAUPER CHILD


He is a little pauper
Short, skinny and pale
Collar bones abnormally out,
Ribs seen through the dark skin.
Clothed in rugs and barefooted
He has his hair long, untidy, dry.
His eyes, sore with tears
Seek solutions to his miseries
His tale, a portrayal of his innocence

On every doorstep, he calls
With a hope to get something good,
With a strong desire to live
In this false, inhuman world
Of heartless, powerful people

It isn’t that he’s just refused
He’s made fun of, rather abused
Yet, he’s sober. He can’t fight back
Self-respect he’s supposed to lack
Can’t hum with the wind
To the warmth of sunshine, he’s blind

He knows the world as it is.
Every new dawn,
A struggle to keep his soul alive
But still, in his heart
He has a longing,
A longing to live…

Roaming about on the streets
From dawn to dusk,
He gets a chance to remain alive;
Silver coins from pockets
Of a few good hearted fellows
Fill his little bowl—
The only source of his meagre income.

Thus, this child fills his paunch
Keeping himself partly covered,
Shivering and shivering.

Sometimes little tears
From the corner of his eyes
Falls on his ‘vessel of hope’,
When the day’s bad
And the basin remains empty.
That night, he stays hungry
Empty stomach aching.


Such are his days
When people on earth
Are also dwelling in castles and palaces.
His roof is the zenith high,
And music is the zephyr…
Stars accompany him at night,
And the moon gives him some light.

"Honesty won't get you anywhere;sell it
For the want of bread, be one with the crowd
Bleed for your sake; for those who have ample
All they know and seek is to trample", he's told

No one questions him his origin, which
He himself doesn’t know,
And do not even like to know!

Realizing the futility of his existence
With an empty bowl as the sole comrade
He strides on, for his journey has just begun
With every rising sun!

-----Tezaswita & Bhaskar

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

UNTITLED

Tears trodden by thy mild touch
Yet my heart seizes every pain
Entangled in a web of emotions
Questions my heart, "Why such insecurity?"

Feelings live, inspire, die,
ruins love...
Yet thy caring hands hold my pain
and yet I seize every pain!


Creeping on the meadow of faith
Ceasing to believe in myself
I burn...
In flames of hope,
flames of desires, flames of 
unnamed fears!

Still I find momentary peace
Hearing thee speak in the night's dead
Tears then give way to smiles,
hearing thee!
Thy love treads upon my grief
Yet I seize every pain...



LOVE


As the dew drops sparkle like pearls on the petals
The whispering zephyr touches my heart
The smiling sun gets brighter
And butterflies fly about.
I love this air around
And want to run in the wheat fields
Where my cotton skirt would touch the ground
And my open hair would touch the wheat.
Today, I have found my soulmate
And I would like to be a peacock
Loving the monsoon rains
And rainwater would drench my golden youth
As I dream of my love!