The Plague

All of us have listened to stories of all kinds during childhood. Some of them managed to inculcate moral values in us and left a huge impact on us. Through this poem, I have tried to rejuvenate those days of storytelling. It talks about a king who, due to his arrogance and malevolence, lost the only thing dear to him.

It was an era of kings and queens

A time of coins in bronze, gold and silver

When the globe was just blue, brown and green

With spotted deer on the banks of every river.

I narrate the story of a king and his kingdom

The king being a miser as well as a dictator

With less prudence and lesser wisdom

He was a ruthless ruler.

The land was often barren

And the peasants were often starving

But the royal treasure was always laden

With pearls, jewels, necklaces and rings.

Seasons came and seasons went

But there was not even a hint

Of that wet, earthy, promising scent

That would give the dry patches a healthy tint.

The poorest of the poor apprehended-

" The Rain God is angry with us."

The average peasant retorted-

" It is just a temporary phase; Don't make a fuss!"

The rich zamindar affirmed-

" No worries, I have an everlasting stock."

And the brave soldier declared-

" Food or no food, I am as tough as a rock!"

The talks reached the king's ears

And as expected, he said-

" Let them starve! Who cares?

They are as good as dead!"

One fine day, little Ravi went running 

With tears in his eyes, to the old physician

"My brother is very ill, he is whining.

Please come and see what can be done."

The physician examined the two year old

With experience and the instruments he had got

"Holy God! Lo and behold!

This boy here is plagued!" and left his body to rot.

One went down, others followed suit

The kingdom became the Land of the Dead

The plague became an epidemic, constantly spreading its roots

Devouring all in the family, from the child to the head.

But the king was unmoved by the catastrophic event

Became deaf to the loud wails of the folk

On his ego, he was hellbent

While the land and its people were broke.

Then a day came, when in his own palace

A shriek went thundering through the walls

For now it was his own daughter in the maze

Trapped by the Devil itself, above all.

Oh! What a pitiful sight it was!

And Oh! How the king shed tears!

And Oh! How he broke all his laws!

And Oh! How he cried- "Don't leave me, my dear!"

But the disease would not leave her

Even after the king offered his own soul

And the entire realm watched in despair

Its own downfall, with the plague taking toll.

She died, leaving behind a remorseful man

But her end taught him a lesson

That The Plague never belonged to another Clan

It was within him all the time, lurking there in the form of a Demon.

                                                

                                                                                                  - Disha Wahi

Declared a Girl

Note for the readers: This post does not refer to a particular girl's life. It is a common observation made by the author, keeping in mind the kind of circumstances that some girls still have to endure, whether in a large city, in a sub- urban area or a village. Also, the emphasis of this post is on the small things or instances that make difference to a girl , rather than the larger aspect of it.

So here it goes......


I write a story here and now,
A story of a girl, like you and me,
I happen to know it by heart, don't know how,
But I guess it was meant to be.

The day she was born, born a girl,
Some were happy, most were not,
Some were indifferent, some were in a whirl,
"What about all those gifts we bought?"

"You are not supposed to go there. It is dangerous."
"You can't be sitting idle when there is so much work in the kitchen."
"Why don't you smile? Is it too tedious?"
Were words she was being subjected to since, God knows when!

"Leave it! Your physical strength does not permit you."
or
"It is out of your brain's scope to solve it."
Were the words, that to her, started sounding true,
And one fine day, she said to herself, "I Admit."

She ignored what was best for her,
Not caring to grab what all girls her age had,
At times trying to calm a lonely tear,
Trying to forget the disparity between good and bad.

Nevertheless, she sustained, she grew,
Like a lotus in a messy bog,
With people's foul sayings clinging to her like a flu,
She survived the constantly hovering fog.


Where did she go.......

I suppose she still manages to live in some corner of the world,
Where she eagerly awaits the 'Flag of Choice' to unfurl,
But one question remains unanswered-
In a race, when people are declared winners or losers, Why was She Declared a Girl?


                                                                                                            - Disha Wahi.

Flashback archived

Its been quite a long time since my last post. So I have decided to dedicate this post to some "relevant topic"...and by relevance I do not mean relevant to my nation (like Anna's fast unto death or the 2G scam or Kanimozhi's arrest, as much has been written and telecast about them..but I might write about them in my next post), or relevant to my family (my parent's worries about my brother's admission in a college, due next year). Relevance here implies relevance to me...so here it goes..............

The initial three months of the last semester proved to be the best, reason being my first job, my birthday, two of my friends' birthdays, a cousin's marriage, roaming about the markets of Janpath and Sarojini Nagar, a smooth tension- free life and much more. I shopped till I dropped, be it kolhapuris (or something very close to kolhapuris), kurtas or T- shirts (before this, I had always doubted my shopping potential!). After that, life around me suddenly started getting the better of me, but in the process made me a better person. 

Midst the final year project, continuous trips to Bahadurgarh and Karol Bagh, posting innumerable forms for post graduation, witnessing companies coming for on- campus placement and giving vivas and presentations, a very different flavor of life came out in the open. It captivated me completely (both literally and figuratively!!).

People who were just classmates before became close companions (courtesy: 'project'). We braved the heat stroke together, crossing all barriers of distance and time, so engrossed in the project work, that appearing for exams seemed to be a formality, a ritual that we had been performing for the past seven semesters (what more can one expect from final year students?). But then hard work pays. Our project was selected for the inter- college competition, and we brought laurels to our college by winning the first prize. No one was expecting an all- girls team to give such a spectacular performance at this level, but then they could not deny the fact that our concept was feasible and more importantly, we thoroughly knew what we were saying and what we had fabricated, and that's the way the cookie crumbles (Copyright: Bruce Almighty)!!

Then came the end term examination. At first, it seemed that this is the last exam of my life, but there are many more exams yet to come. But one thing that I am going to miss for sure, wherever I go, will be my college- IGIT, and every single being, living or non- living,  associated with it.


Well now, there is a whole new horizon ahead and an entirely diverse world beckoning me towards itself!!