Others

Living on the mandate of others

Is basically Life imprisonment

Yet we all bear through it

All Smiles through a gritted teeth.

A rite of passage of course

To come unscathed through the other side

Full of sudden wisdom and cryptic cynicism

Silently afraid to cut these choking umbilical chords

Nourishment and community and all

Convincing ourselves this is what it is

To Be Human,

Taking the place of the Others

Who won and lost

Losing our wonder

And wondering what we lost-

The essence of being ourselves

The hyenas feed on our soul

Only when it is exposed

Keep it intact tightly within you

Guard it like a watchdog

Fundamental rights and all.

Worship it like a temple and

Pray you don’t lose yourself

For the call of others

Whatever may be the cost.

You Too

I too didn’t

 wanna  get raped

Stalked hunted preyed on

And

Live in a social structure

Where I could do no wrong.

I too wanted to report him

And make him pay

For all the layers

He stripped off me

And made me a sexual object

Only worthy of being attained

I too want to come out clean

After I burn down this building

Of patriarchy and misogyny

Where his silence is valued more than my voice

And my silence is enough to prove his male noise.

I too

I really do

But will you pay my bills

And help me when I’m on pills?

Why will I ask you for justice

When you shame me for asking too late

Truth is

You don’t want me to voice out

And change this system

Where it works just fine for you

How is my accusation worse than his actions?

Because now you have to do something about it now?

So I’m sorry

If it is going to affect your privileged little life

But I am going to climb to the roof of your building

Take my biggest fricking megaphone

And shout YOU TOO*

*you silent enabler of patriarchy

I hope you can hear now*

A hard day's night

Sometimes

Whatever you touch turns to gold

And people sing your praises

And name their babies after you

But mostly

It is a crap fest

And walk in the dark

A whole lot of ‘learning’ and ‘hardwork’

Without reward or due.

It is very easy to get disheartened

Or a whiny loser

A self-fulfilling prophecy

Which can be avoided

With a bit of grit

Bite your teeth

Get down to work

Not to prove anyone wrong

But prove yourself right

The world openly admires talent

And secretly respects hardwork

Become as good as you think you are

Take these bad days as a boon

Or fool yourself with any b.s

Anything which helps you sleep at night

So that you live to fight and win another day.

Actual experience makes clichés real

And superstition into faith

And a bad day

A good one