What Will People Think

They put you in to this little box

And tell you how things should be

They wrap the chains around you

To ensure you meet all the norms perfectly

You can't step out of the notions built

No No No, what will people think!

Stay put, stay safe, you cannot break these social binds

So what if you're unhappy, so what if you're on the brink

What matters in the end is 'what will people think'

You want to step out, you say...

You want to be free?

Don't be ridiculous,

Your future has already been planned so easily!

Your opinion, what's that? It's of no consequence at all young lady!

You try to spread your wings,

Against all the odds you've been dealt

You try to embrace your spirit

Fighting off each hurtful word you've felt

They laugh at you and sneer

They say you'll never make it

They shun you for your 'weird'

They fear it, you see.

They didn't know what to expect 

From someone so fearless and bold

Someone who managed to break out

To show the world, she refused to fit the mold

She set out to achieve her dreams

And achieve them she did

She struggled and clawed her way to the top

The view from up there was just splendid!

Truth Be Told

Do we even know what the truth is any more?

All of us too busy hiding behind misguided perceptions

Shedding numerous disguises, executing multiple deceptions

Just to make us feel like we belong, like we 'fit in'

Building so many versions of ourselves

Screen after screen of different personalities

Can our mind even distinguish between all these dualities?

Are we even able to be honest with ourselves any more?

Spinning in our own intricate 'white' lies

The stories we tell people, to ensure they remain allies

Decision after decision taking us down winding pathways 

As we slowly lose the ability to decipher our own reality

Forgetting sometimes the reasons for our actions

Being led astray by numerous distractions.

Does this reflect poorly on some sections of society?

We are unable to be ourselves for fear of harsh judgements

Working hard on shifting and morphing to make all the right adjustments 

Maybe its time to learn its ok to stand out

Bring yourself to the table, flaws and all

Be true to yourself in the face of adversity

You may be surprised by acceptance for your diversity.

 

  

A Story About Love

"Taj President, good morning and how can I help you sir"

The voice he heard over the line set his heart aflutter.

He couldn't understand it, 

How this simple greeting, 

Had caused his pulse to start racing. 

He seemed bewitched by that voice,

As if the fates had left him no choice.

There was a magnetic pull unknown,

And so each day, he reached for the phone,

To have that slight bit of conversation.

Little did he know they would last for his life's duration.

That he would wake up each day to her good mornings

And end each one with her good nights.

The first time they laid eyes on each other,

Definitely surprised her in to a stutter.

It was anything but an ideal situation,

She - all wrapped up in her blankets shivering,

He - having spent the day frantically wondering,

What happened to that voice that made his days seem brighter?

He'd dashed out of his home and made up his mind,

Today the face to that voice, he'd definitely find.

And so their story began anew,

Looking back, they felt that their time together just flew.

It was filled to the brim with trials and troubles, 

That usually came with the package of love and romantically involved couples.

But they persevered together for 14 long years,

Through the ups and the downs and all of their fears.

Married on 21st December 1991,

That is when their second story begun.

This is where the fairy tales end,

Happily ever after, but I won't pretend.

They had their fair share of road bumps and fights

But at the end of the day they always came back to make things right

And next came one more little joy (I think) - me!

And their story went forward, now including three.

Here I leave you with the end of this piece,

About the re-telling of a love that didn't cease.

Maybe it was never about the gift wrapped ending,

That all the movies and novels have had us believing.

But faith, strength, determination and understanding,

That are pillars of a relationship that can be everlasting.

Ripped jeans

Will you decide what I should be wearing?

Your pompous views stating that a woman can't be daring.

Will you decide what makes a woman 'sanskari'?

Your ideas that a woman should be all wrapped up in a nice sari.

Have you been looking around at the world changing?

Where women stand tall with their voices engaging.

Do you think the outer wear can define ones inner self?

Your backward thoughts probably need to be placed back on a dusty shelf.

A person is not defined by their clothing

Ripped jeans makes a woman indecent, you've got to be joking!

Your mind set needs quite a bit of an upgrade,

Your notions are definitely not of this decade.

Each of us will stand shoulder to shoulder for what is right and just,

Till we snuff out such perceptions and turn them to dust.

The Start of Something New

Two silent ships passing in the night,

Moving in perfect harmony,

They docked up parallel to each other,

Never meeting during their journey.

A light knock of one body to the other,

With the soft waves created their destiny,

The light touch sparked something within,

They looked to one another to find they were meant to be.

And then the skies broke apart to a bright new day,

The fates smiling down on them knowingly.

Ablaze

She saw fire in the skies,
Blazing hot, orange vastness.

She felt the heat in her bones,

As she walked that empty road,

Slowly approaching the end of the line,

Ready to run through it and prevail.

Because she knew she would fight,

Right up until the end.

No matter all the voices she heard,

Telling her she couldn't, 

Telling her she'd fail.

She banished those thoughts,

Those fearful lies,

Being fed to her by the silence inside her head,

Being fed to her by the unseen and the unnamed.

She focused instead on her beating heart,

The pieces of her that made her whole,

The sounds of encouragement of those who loved her,

The vitality and strength coursing through her blood,

Each day, every day,

And so she screamed in defiance,

At all that was holding her back,

And sprinted head on,

Straight into the flames!

 

Pockets of Time

Do you feel your moment...

Your present, your now, your current?

Do you believe in your strength...

Your values, your principles, your intent?

Do you see the world full of opportunity...

Partaking in the small joys of your life's continuity?

The hidden beat of a birds soft chirping, 

The gracious movement of a leaf's unfurling,

The innocence of a child's first giggle,

The happiness of a mother's first snuggle.

Do you pause to hold on to these pockets of time...    

Your feelings, your hopes, your dreams, your climb?  

Do you keep that piece of you intact...

Your peace, your truth, your love's impact?

Do you hold on to your purpose in life...

To keep you together through your lows and highs?

The moments you cherish and keep close to your heart,

The ones with those you never want to part,

Focus on them in your here and now,

And make your mark with what life endows.

The Widow

The lights went out 

A plate shattered

A choking guzzling sound was heard

A thud as something hit the table

Just a matter of seconds changed her story

As the room was bathed in light once more 

His dropped down head as if asleep

Startled the entire dinner party

Wide eyes met each other 

Hers round and shocked the most

She stifled a scream and reached for the phone 

Shaking hands and shaking voice

The whispers around her felt from afar

The death reported, they waited in silence

The doctor would have to examine him now

She sat completely still, the arms around her unfelt

He was gone, her life's companion

Where would her fate take her now

The next few hours felt like a whirlwind

A heart attack, the doctor declared

Sighs and laments filled the room

Oh! So sudden, what will the poor widow do?

The maid ushered the guests out 

Each one consoling her in dismay

It will be fine, it will be alright

Don't worry they said, a better place he'll find

She nodded to each and stared at the floor

The doors closed, the body at the morgue

Funeral arrangements would be made tomorrow

Up the stairs she went alone

And began to change to turn in for the night

As she stared at herself in the mirror

She finally allowed herself to relax

With steel in her eyes she touched each mark 

The blue bruises on her didn't hurt as much

The knot in her stomach now unwound

Good thing she chose poison and not a gun

The blood spatter would've been a nightmare to clean up.

I miss you

I miss you a little bit more each day
And wish I'd have had more time with you to stay
I miss your smile and the light in your eyes
I miss the little love you's and good-nights
I miss being called your angel and sweetheart
I miss the sound of your laugh which would always make me start
I miss you driving me everywhere
And all of the wisdom that you used to share
I miss the little things that you would do
To ensure your little girl was happy through and through
I miss standing on your feet and dancing around
And the piggyback rides all across the ground
I miss holding your hand which always engulfed mine
And looking into your brown eyes with all the laugh lines
But most of all I miss your unconditional love
It made me feel special like I was your treasure trove
There's a space in my heart which feels empty now
And time and again I have to fill it with happy thoughts of you somehow
I tell myself to be strong the way you would have wanted
But your loss is something that can't be easily casted
I love you Dad and I always will
I'll miss you each day that I'll live.

Your people

The sun sets bringing in the darkness
But the moon and stars bring their own kind of brightness
The stars, they spread out across the night sky
Twinkling in earnest to light the path that gets you by
The moon shining down from its perch up above
Bathing the world in its own kind of love
Life is the same with the good times and bad
Pitching you into variations of sad
But when things get difficult and the times get tough
Your people will be there to get you through the rough
They will steady your stride each time you stumble
And be there for you when your worlds in a rumble
So find your own pinpoints of light
And when you do, hold on to them tight
They will get you through the toughest of times
And be there for you when everyone shies
They will stand by your side and be the shoulders to cry on
Your crutch in those times for you to rely on
Those people of yours will keep you strong
But that doesn't mean they will do no wrong
Remember the times they stood by your side
When the darkness was raging and till it subsides.

Conflicted

Sitting on the shore
While the waves crashed in
She contemplated submerging and just giving in
Was she a bit broken?
Was she a bit scarred?
Where did she fit in?
What had left her so jarred?
She had too many scars right now
She knew why each one was caused and how
She had too many cracks right now
One touch would leave her shattered and lost
A bit too fragile given the circumstances
Some of you'll driving her to take the wrong stances
Each decision taken she second guessed
To protect herself from feeling bereft
She tried to hold on to her own sanity
To get through each one of her responsibilites
One step, two step, three step, four
What was it that she was walking down for?
Checking each off to get through her day
But what was all of this for anyway?
She looked to the skies for some resolution
Though she didn't think she would get any solution
Where was the one who could be her strong hold?
Just someone in whose arms she could fold
Nobody was there to be the person she needed
Your actions ensured your advice anymore, wouldn't be heeded
She wished to go back to the root of each problem
To have a do-over so that she could solve them
To take that poison right out of your hands
To not agree as you tried to advance
To not be dependent on your kind words
Cause they would be leaked and never reserved
To be a bit stronger in the quiet loneliness
To be a bit tougher in the empty absoluteness
But she didn't know the path to reach there yet
She might be broken for now
She might be a bit too scared.

Drown out the noise...

I turn up the noise as loud as it can go
To drown out the thoughts, leaving me with pain and sorrow
I try not to think and fill up the gaps
I try and relinquish myself of these sinking traps
It hurts to think of all of the messes
I wish I could forget all of my stresses
I want to get rid of the complications
Some of them of my own creation
I try to get lost, move from one to another
But they keep on coming, one after the other
They creep up on me in my idle times and leave me aching on the inside
It's not easy anymore to take things in my stride
So how do I get rid of these feelings
Close off myself so I'm not sent reeling
Banish those sources causing my plight
Can I then focus on myself to see the daylight?
So many questions left unresolved
The actions of others leaving me devolved
I remove the emotions in anger and frustration
But they come back to haunt me in my times of relaxation.

From Afar...

From afar I watch the changes in you
From afar I see you accepting defeat
I hate every minute of what you are going through
You don't deserve what fate has brought  you
From afar I see your spirit cracking
From afar I watch your body contracting
Your smile now a sight for sore eyes
I feel you want to break all of your ties
I see you shrink into a shell
My mind begging for you to get well
It pains me to see you losing your hope
I can't figure out how we can all cope
From afar I watch you try to stay in control
From afar I see the fight taking its toll
"It's not fair!" I scream in complete silence
And sometimes all I can feel is fear and violence
I want to fill your life with a light
I want you to believe a miracle is in sight
But sometimes, as I watch from afar
I can feel your wounds leaving a scar
A scar on my thoughts to see this all through
I begin to doubt if we can start each day anew
A numbness spreads across my mind
As I struggle for a solution to find
My positivity wanes from time to time
But No! I refuse to give up my hope
I refuse to believe that we all can't cope
From afar I may see your spirit cracking
But I'll be standing there to put back whats lacking
From afar I may watch you go into your shell
But I'll draw you out, I won't let us fail
From afar I may see the fight taking its toll
But I'll be standing behind you, to keep the sword in your hold.

Betrayal

Rush up to the room and slam the door tight
I don't want to talk and I don't want to fight
You beg me to listen, to give you a chance
For what? To once more start the betrayal dance?
I don't want to see and I don't want to listen
To all of your lies that will make my cheeks glisten
I felt my world tilt right on its edge
With all of the feelings that now you have dredged
I drown out the falsehoods and drown out the white noise
Wipe out the memories of all our little joys
I hear you knocking, this time a bit softer
I guess you're accepting that these wounds might fester
You whisper for me to just listen once more
To your messed up excuses that will just leave me sore
So I close my eyes and slide down to the floor
Shaking my head leaning against the door
Leave me alone! to my own misery
Don't make me remember all of our history
I can't forget it this time and I can't forgive it again
Your treachery today has left me in pain
A deep shaky breath, a sigh I let out
I dry off my tears and tell you to get out
Get out of my life and take your vices with you
Get out so I don't have to deal with what's untrue
And as you reach out, I take a step back
You think you can convince me and get things back on track
You say what you've said a million times before
Honestly now I can't trust you anymore
This time will be different or so you shall say
Do you think those words will keep my doubts away?
Oh! How I wish to truly believe you
How I wish I couldn't see right through you
So I harden my eyes and close off my heart
To tell you to leave and stay forever apart.

Somewhere along the way

Somewhere along the way
We lose our paths to greatness
Somewhere along the way
We get lost among all the craziness
Somewhere along the way
You hear the whisper of wrongness
Somewhere along the way
You give in to your own weakness
Oh! how we fall when we don't fight back
Those misleading words
Setting us on misleading tracks
Your virtues and ideals take a backseat
Going with the flow
So that the present seems like a sweet treat
I can't believe how times have changed
How importance is given to things of a short range
How intoxication has replaced conversation
How we all seem to try and run from our situations
There isn't much that can be done
But introspection is certainly one
One to help you see the truth of your actions
One to save you from negative repercussions
One to keep you true to yourself
One to ensure the greatness doesn't die within yourself.

She blinked...

She felt them well
She blinked, they dried
And she continued on
So no one could see her cry
But did they see right through her
Could they tell the mess that was wrought
Could they tell she was pretending
Pretending to be someone she was not
She felt like she was losing herself
She felt that all her hope was lost
But still she blinked and hitched a smile
To melt the frost around her heart
A day would pass and onto the next she'd go
One after another they went by so fast
She tried to sort through the confused mess
She tried to fight through all of these tests
How could she set out on her goals
When her will to fight was on a deadly slope
But try she would and try she did
To retain that hope even while it faded.

Reclaim...

Give me the reason
Give me the words
Spark inside me thoughts unheard
My feelings are brazen
Things have gotten blurred
I want to light up
And defeat all that I feared
I want to reclaim the innocence of self
I want to reclaim the joy that I felt
On the littlest of things, the childish wonder
I want all of that back but things don't get easier
Shackles ensnare and try to reproach me
When will they understand that the world can't encroach me
Imagination and daring is all that is needed
To be right there with those who've succeeded
I want the feeling of being unstoppable
To liberate myself of the thought, 'it's not possible'
When did I loose my spirited self
When did I let my dreams sit on a shelf
I want to reclaim my hope once more
I want to reclaim those dreams and make sure
Make sure I can believe once again
That trying and trying is never in vain.

The Cost of Feeling

I felt a way that made me wonder
I felt a way I've never before
You told me things that made me ponder
Whether what I thought was just a lore
A roller coaster of my emotions
My mind was thrown into chaos
I questioned each of my notions
Truth be told I was at a loss
A loss for what is real and true
Second guessing my every thought
I didn't know what would get me through
It was difficult for me to accept what reality had brought
A little bit of trust was lost
A little bit of me as well
The way I felt was at a cost
 I should have looked before I fell
A mistake I made in believing
That the outer shell was you pretending
The facts laid out were truly relieving
And now I know the truth of feeling.

Can we go back......

Can we go back to the simpler times
When all we worried about was when the bell would chime
When we'd rush out onto the playground
Tag and run with our friends all around
Can we go back to when things were easy
When we could come home and just be lazy
When ice creams and chocolates would light up our eyes
And happiness meant falling asleep to our parents' sweet lullabies
Can we go back to when the games we used to play
Involved laughter and smiles with everyone in the fray
When the shout of a teacher was the scariest thing
And getting called to the principal's office left us shivering
In such a rush we were to grow up
Not valuing the innocence of our childhood drying up
And now instead of freedom we are in clutches
Chocolates and ice creams replaced with vices
'Lazing' a foreign term while we run towards an unknown end
As you feel your happiness is just around the bend
The laughter filled games now replaced with politics
All of us too busy learning the latest mind tricks
And now its too late to appreciate what was
To be able to go back to the way things were.

Shadows and Light

The shadows they crawled in, closer than ever
As he knelt in the centre, drawing into himself further
They leapt and they bounded, nearing his trembling feet
He huddled in closer, not willing to accept defeat
The shadows they drew up to their full height
And beckoned him closer with all of their might
He looked inwards, into his heart
Knowing she'd be unhappy if they were to part
A bright light shimmered around him then
Showing him the path of where to begin
To escape the demons that threaten to destroy
To trick him into one of their ploys
The light blasted outwards into the night
As big as a tower, it burned to ignite
He called out in victory as the shadows withdrew
And the light grew larger bringing in a day anew