Zindagi.

Ek panne se dusre panne k beech ka faasla ho
 shyaad,
Bistar ki khamosh silwaton me chupi karwatein ya fir,
Darwaaze par lagi doorbell se aati Teri dastak shayad,
Intezaar ki tick tock me guzarte hon lamhe 

ya fir.
Adhuri nazmon ke beech atki hui guftugu Hai shayd,
Gazal k intezaar me bhatakti ho koi mausiki 

ya fir.
Benoor seher me ho qaid roshan mehtaab

 shayad,
Khaali kandeel dhoondta ho roshan falak 

ya fir.
Aus ki boondein timtimaati hon sitaaron par shyad,
Band lafzon me jhilmilaate hon lakhon ashq 

ya fir.

Teri saans se bandhi Hai ye uljhi girah shayad,
Ishq Hai, junoon Hai, Hai ye Zindagi ya fir.

Dialect.

DIALECT.

left to time, it withered,
like a dead corpse hung from wall,
after the sentence.
no poems to defend, no stories to tell,
no anecdotes to share.
waiting, for someone to give her a name,

for someone to claim,
someone who would speak, her.
She, is always there.

Deepti.

SCHOOL.


and the rats nibble and nibble,
and scribble and scribble.
the endless fates,
of hungry futures and parched pasts.
gums bleeding ink.
poisoning the paper.
mediocrity stacked high at the altar,
where screams rumble into silences,
and gongs are heard,
for things undone.

Sita.

Ram, why did you kill Ravana,
I was dishonored in your palaces by thee.

Forced out of the womb, I yearned for a home
Janak made me a princess whilst I wanted to roam,
I learnt and unlearnt to belong, to be;
Before I understood myself I was married to thee.

With a heavy heart and moist eyes, I left behind,
A home not my own, new places to find.
We came to Ayodhya and I was lost to all,
Till I wowed to find home in your banishment as goal.

Forests frightened yet gave me a calm I never had,
Each day brought me near to myself, I was glad.
My home was now all earth, skies and sea,
You were dutiful to me, I learned to love thee.

While you kept busy fighting demons as they say,
I became me, happy and free, I must say.
Till the he came, took me away, and ran,
Imprisoned me in his gardens to avenge his clan.

Fates decreed, he fell in love with me,
But I had forever bound myself to thee.
He pined for me, I pined for thee,
You worried for your honor of the palace not me.

You won me back or did he loose me,
I was dishonored, not by him, but thee.
Had it not been for him I wouldn’t have known,
I was sacred, yet scared, yet strong when alone.

Banished, broken, betrayed I trudged,
The same forests and it was him I grudged.
The flowers wilted, the leaves all dried,
The trees all bent down with me and cried.

Clouds pregnant with water, earth ready to receive,
My birth as a mother and a woman who grieves.
Birds fed me water and grain I survived,
Wrapped in my grief day and night I cried.

I knew not why, what agonized me more,
If it was you or him or myself I am unsure.
In life, after death, he marked me with his name,
Sacred made by his love and not by your fame.

Oh Ram, why did you kill Ravana…

You loved honor of the kingdom you owned,
Where I was dishonored and shamed and scorned,
He owned my honor and you my shame,
Neither of you could ever own my name.