You entered this world…..
Quite Effortlessly,
A special gift to some around you.
You don’t do much but breathe, cry, eat and sleep.
Life seems rather simple and peaceful.
The village is small but beautiful.
Happiness and contentment are intrinsic to existence.
You think to yourself, Life is surely going to be good.
Time goes by…..
You grow and so does the world around you.
Things appear different from what you remember.
Complexities seem to increase,
Challenges are mind numbing ,
Peace is lost.
Poverty, Indebtedness, Violence every where.
You fail to see life as a gift any longer.
Times goes by……
The struggle continues.
Life seems to be filled with bitter dualities.
To live with family but in constant fear and insecurity,
To Study and not succeed.
To Work and not like it.
To make money in return for the sale of your body, mind and soul,
To marry and not be in love.
To live but lifelessly.
Life seems to get caught up in the web of ‘chances’ and not’ choices’.
Drugs and drinks give momentary relief, but the pain and resentment continues.
Times Goes by.....
Then one day, Life is cut short.
Abruptly.
Shockingly.
Unexpectedly.
And then sudden consciousness dawns upon you –
As your soul begins to leave, first your body and later the world
I should have tried to ‘live’,
Somehow…..,
Anyhow......,
Fighting chances and situations,
Rather than merely succumbing.
And wishing time and again that it would be better to die.
In conversation with a 35 year old, rescued victim of commercial sexual exploitation, succumbing to HIV/AIDS.
Latur District of Maharshtra. 3 years back.
May her soul rest in Peace.
Quite Effortlessly,
A special gift to some around you.
You don’t do much but breathe, cry, eat and sleep.
Life seems rather simple and peaceful.
The village is small but beautiful.
Happiness and contentment are intrinsic to existence.
You think to yourself, Life is surely going to be good.
Time goes by…..
You grow and so does the world around you.
Things appear different from what you remember.
Complexities seem to increase,
Challenges are mind numbing ,
Peace is lost.
Poverty, Indebtedness, Violence every where.
You fail to see life as a gift any longer.
Times goes by……
The struggle continues.
Life seems to be filled with bitter dualities.
To live with family but in constant fear and insecurity,
To Study and not succeed.
To Work and not like it.
To make money in return for the sale of your body, mind and soul,
To marry and not be in love.
To live but lifelessly.
Life seems to get caught up in the web of ‘chances’ and not’ choices’.
Drugs and drinks give momentary relief, but the pain and resentment continues.
Times Goes by.....
Then one day, Life is cut short.
Abruptly.
Shockingly.
Unexpectedly.
And then sudden consciousness dawns upon you –
As your soul begins to leave, first your body and later the world
I should have tried to ‘live’,
Somehow…..,
Anyhow......,
Fighting chances and situations,
Rather than merely succumbing.
And wishing time and again that it would be better to die.
In conversation with a 35 year old, rescued victim of commercial sexual exploitation, succumbing to HIV/AIDS.
Latur District of Maharshtra. 3 years back.
May her soul rest in Peace.
The image, the voice, the story has remained with me since then. And today I somehow mustered enough courage to write it down.
Its unfortunately true that - "Death is more universal than life, everyone dies but not everyone gets a chance to live."
1 comment:
Deeply poignant!The last stanza captures the nub of the poem very well.
Post a Comment