Flame

Self immolation

Isn’t that what you do everyday?

To spread some light around

And show them the way?



Blind fools groping in darkness

Stumbling…falling…getting hurt

If it were not for you

Throwing some light around…guiding them



Will they ever remember

That it was you who gave them light

At a time they were fumbling

Not knowing what lies ahead



Yet you burn yourself out

At pyre of knowledge

Sharing what you know

Without a care



Lighting many earthen lamps

With your burning flame

The room glows brighter

When eager young faces shine



You know you’ve done your job

When you don’t see them again next year

In your class, in this room

They’ve moved on to greater heights



Some day when they come back

And tell you how good you’ve been

Passing on the flame of knowledge

That made them who they are



Someday, when they forgive your chiding

and red welts on palms

And realize the pains you took

In making them learn



You’ll feel that’s it’s justified

Your troubles forgotten for a while

Someday, when the oil gets diminished

And the wick shortened



You’ll bask in the glow

Of a thousand lamps lit!

The road downhill

The road downhill
Winding snake-like, creeps
Making me want to just throw up
I shudder as I hurtle down
Deep gorges and valleys

Tight, I shut my eye.

Bumping over potholes
Aching back and numb mind
Eyes sleepless, red with rubbing
A rumbling belly drives me on

That’s all I can think of now!

Piercing through the darkness
Twin swathes of light beam the way
Don’t know what lies beyond

Just pitch darkness, not that I care

I close my eyes into a dreamless sleep
Tired and weary, it’s bliss for a while
Thrown and thrashed by jolts
I wake up with a start, to drift again
Somewhere down the road, the bumps cease
And I wake up in my favourite fantasy

Here I am in the big bad city!

I gaze up in disbelief
Towering high, in the skies above
Glistening in the sun, my eyes squint
I shade them with my cupped palm

My ears get used to the un-nerving din
The wail, cries and roar of the multitude
Voices crying to be heard
Louder and louder the wails
I hold my nose as the stench invades
Rotting dreams or putrid flesh?

The city smells of unwashed hopes
Of a million dreams of sweet success

I swing my rucksack on to my back
My knees buckle, yet I do not fall
Steady on my feet, I take those steps

Into the crowds, I lose myself!

The road downhill

The road downhill
Winding snake-like, creeps
Making me want to just throw up
I shudder as I hurtle down
Deep gorges and valleys

Tight, I shut my eye.

Bumping over potholes
Aching back and numb mind
Eyes sleepless, red with rubbing
A rumbling belly drives me on

That’s all I can think of now!

Piercing through the darkness
Twin swathes of light beam the way
Don’t know what lies beyond

Just pitch darkness, not that I care

I close my eyes into a dreamless sleep
Tired and weary, it’s bliss for a while
Thrown and thrashed by jolts
I wake up with a start, to drift again
Somewhere down the road, the bumps cease
And I wake up in my favourite fantasy

Here I am in the big bad city!

I gaze up in disbelief
Towering high, in the skies above
Glistening in the sun, my eyes squint
I shade them with my cupped palm

My ears get used to the un-nerving din
The wail, cries and roar of the multitude
Voices crying to be heard
Louder and louder the wails
I hold my nose as the stench invades
Rotting dreams or putrid flesh?

The city smells of unwashed hopes
Of a million dreams of sweet success

I swing my rucksack on to my back
My knees buckle, yet I do not fall
Steady on my feet, I take those steps

Into the crowds, I lose myself!