Shoes

“I’m going to take her to buy her new shoes for her first day at school!”, exclaimed the excited grandma, untying her saree’s end in search of coiled notes.
“Who goes to shop nowadays, Ma? I have already ordered her shoes online, along with other accessories.”
The dismayed woman slowly crawled back to her knitting. Somehow and somewhere, time has found some big shoes and taken some huge steps to go beyond.

I am fine

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Stuck in Sunday eve traffic, you’re getting bored as heck,
You’ve reached the end of your newsfeed, there’s nothing more to check.
A boy walks by, his dirty clothes make you frown,
And then you think “Why should I care? I’m going to the best pizza place in town!”

His shoulders drooping with dejection and not school bag,
The boy’s pants are his dead father’s, his shirt’s a former rag.
No, he doesn’t have a soul in this world to look after him,
His little brother waits in his slum, unbelievably joyous to the brim.
Earlier in the morning he came first in his class,
He was promised by his elder brother that he’ll gift anything he asks.
The innocent little soul doesn’t know how much his brother gets kicked around,
His hungry stomach blurts out “I want the best pizza in town! ”
The boy masked his helplessness with a smile, he showed nothing in front.
One pizza costs more than his salary for an entire month. Continue reading “I am fine”

The Adaptation

She finally bought the best seller novel from the book store beside the kindergarten school after picking up her son.
“Who is this, Ma?” chirped the little voice as he ran his finger on the man on the cover.
“Someone I knew a long time ago”, she smiled.
The actress playing her in the movie adaptation continued smirking from the nearby poster.

The Jar

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“One order fulfilled, one turn of the lid”
I will never forget this phrase, or its variations, for the rest of my short life.

I still remember the day when I opened my eyes and saw that ugly opaque lid above me, the lid of the jar in which I was kept. Looking around, I found that my jar had only four things inside. A bed, a cupboard, me and my thoughts. The last thing was the dearest to me. In my thoughts I could see myself flying above the hills with the birds, occasionally coming down to eat fruits from the trees and drink from the river. In my thoughts I was not a captive of the jar.

Fortunately the walls were transparent, so I gazed outside. There were others, similar to me, but different in every way. All of them dressed the same. Neither did they talk to each other, nor did they seem to think. Those robots seemed to roam around lifelessly in specific paths at specific times.

At first I was least bothered about my situation. The cupboard gave me almost everything I could ever ask for. Books. Pictures. Food. Fancy clothes. But not people. Not freedom. Soon, I longed for someone to talk to me. I longed to see the bright blue sky for once. So one day, I went towards the nearby wall and called out. Continue reading “The Jar”

Vain Odium

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I’m perched upon the highest branch,
Plucking the fruits of my dreams.
I feel a pull on my leg from down,
Yeah, I see through your schemes.
It took me everything to climb up here,
Which you’ll never have, sonny!
Its my talent that has brought me here,
Not my dad’s money.

My mom and dad weren’t loaded,
They had a thankless life.
Thankless job, anxious bed,
Pills and food in strife.
Yet they never surrendered,
Their tears told me “Fight back, honey! ”
Class is what I got from them,
Not their money. Continue reading “Vain Odium”