Friday 30 September 2016

My shoes are too big for your feet

You all seem to have something or the other to say
Curses, complaints, whatever suits your ways
She’s not the same, she’s changed
She doesn’t take initiatives, she’s lame
Sadistic, self-pitying, excusing
The most appalling things you people have to say
Now here’s a picture I’m going to paint
I know you’ll fall short of imagination
To comprehend, what I’m trying to say
And I hope and pray you never have to paint one for yourself.

Here’s the picture,
Imagine the 20 years of your life that you’ve lived,
Get topsy turvy and take a 180 degree spin,
Over. Finished. Never coming back.
A new settlement that you have to make with yourself
Each day when you flip the calendar to a new date,
You start thinking of survival ways.
Wake up in the morning,
Wishing you never did.
Look at the clock,
12 hours of the day to go,
Before, again, the nightmares hit.
Take the pills to put you to bed,
It’ll get better with time,
They all said.
It’ll never get better,
The better is over.
What lies ahead the remaining days of life,
Is a new normal.
A normal that is with constant pain, grief and of course unanswered questions for the ways of the universe.
A normal where you’ve known the best days stored in the brain.
Under a file named 20 years and 11 months of my life.
A normal where random tears flow from the eyes,
Of sadness, reminiscence, nostalgia.
And you’re surrounded by humans like you, my dear friends,
Who will never comprehend.
For them, you are not the same,
You have changed.
And you want to scream and shout
To their faces.
This is what you want to say.

YES OF COURSE I HAVE CHANGED.
MY 20 YEARS 11 MONTHS THAT YOU WERE A SMALL PART OF,
THOSE YEARS AND THAT TIME IS OVER.
WHAT LIES AHEAD, IS OF COURSE CHANGED.
MY LIFE TOOK A SPIN I DON’T WISH UPON MY FOES EVEN,
A SPIN THAT HAS MADE ME LOOK AT YOU EVEN DIFFERENT
IT’S LIKE A BAD BRAIN INJURY THAT HAS CHANGED MY COGNITIVE ABILITIES FOREVER
It’s not a hangover that will pass over the day.

You definitely held hands, laughed, played
While the VIBGYOR colored the days of my life
But a friend told me once,
We all praise the rains and wait for it eagerly,
But when the VIBGYOR vanishes and the skies cry,
We run to the nearest shelter and curse,
for it disrupted our daily lives.
I disrupted the way our conversations took place,
I disrupted the cheery mood we shared.
But I’m not going to apologize for causing you this inconvenience
Because the Gods didn’t do it either when they spun my life around.
You go on with your jobs and higher studies,
And I am the happiest for you and shower you with blessings,
I hope you reach the top of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs,
Get all the success, name, fame, and fortune, whatever you wish for.
But I ask you one thing and only that,
Don’t judge me for my change, where I grieve and survive (and change, I definitely will.)
Because I don’t judge you for your fortunate and happy lives that you live.
Let’s let each other be in peace,
For my shoes are too big for your feet.



Friday 2 September 2016

The brain is a clever piece of flesh

Memories, Remembrances, Nostalgia, Recollection, Reminiscence
Words, synonyms
All heading the same way
The past.
Brain, the body part that latches on to things, events, happenings
Good, bad, ugly
But it’s a cunning piece of shit,
To always fondly remember the good past
And miss it, wish it back.
And the ugly, thank the lords gladly that it’s over.
The brain be a twisted piece of flesh.
From the moment I open my eyes to the sun in my room,
To the shutting off of lights and pulling up the blanket.
Brain remembers him everywhere,
In everything.

Hope is another dark place
Could lead to more darkness,
Or to the tunnel leading to the light
But it’s better than knowing for sure
Because you don’t know what you don’t know
I would take the past days of uncertainty
Over the current certainty, the reality any day.
The certainty of the changed existence
Of those around me, for all the days left that we survive.

The brain was convulated, Numb, Uncomprehending
For those 3 days
But there was hope,
Hope for things to be eventually alright
But that’s all that it remained
Hope.
Never grew into certainty
But what became certain the 3rd night
When I heard the words,
“His last 2 hours”
It’s over.
The 20 years and 11 months of my life were over.
What lay ahead was a lifetime of Memories, Nostalgia, Remembrance, Recollection, Reminiscence
Of the good days,
Better days,
Of sanity
Because all I could see ahead
And my heart knew,
Was madness, chaos, unfathomable existence
No way out, just the one door
The one door that is survival
Each day at a time.
But the brain,
If only the brain would let me,
This clever piece of flesh,
Recalls an attached memory of his
Everything and every point it notices,
Leeches on to it and refuses to let go.
So even I can’t let go,
And so I survive as the top flesh commands
Remember and recall all attached memories
All to everything.
Everything. Anything.
Everywhere. He is.
Everything.





Tuesday 22 March 2016

You’re not here- under our yellow blanket

Dear Mriganka,
When I needed a GPS to my first day in class,
You were there
When I needed to not feel like a loner and sit with someone
You were there
When I needed to know about the different cliques
You were there
When I needed to understand pre-adulthood
You were there
When I needed to feel pretty
You were there
When I needed someone to call a friend
You were there
When I needed to heal from betrayal
You were there
When those who betrayed needed a dose
You were there
When I craved for my favourite Music album
You were there
When I needed to borrow cash
You were there
When I needed to get out for some fresh air or lunch
You were there
When I needed to lie to my mom for a date                
You were there
When I needed a bed after a fight
You were there
When I wanted to rebel and cry
You were there
When I wanted to get drunk with no regrets
You were there
When I had to be alone in class
You were there
When I wanted to talk about my past
You were there
When I just needed someone to listen, not necessarily understand
You were there
Then when I had to leave and go away from you
You were there
When I was excited and you were going to be alone
You were still there
5 years, it’s been my love
And you’re still there
Not in the close proximity that I would want you in right now.
Because I really miss you.
All the good, bad, ugly, drunk, awesome times we’ve had,

And we’re growing up. Damn we’re growing up.
Birthdays and the years that are going by are deciding our lives for us, our future.
I don’t want to grow up. I still want to be a rebel and come crying to you. I still want to be angry and have you bring me back to reality. I still want to be immature and dependent on you. I still want to be able to have your home on the back of my mind always when things aren’t going right.
I still want to be able to tell the world to go to hell in a hand basket because you’re walking distance away from me.
Seas separate us now. Time zones differ. I know our love doesn’t, our bond doesn’t.
But you’re not here.
I love you, yesterday, today, tomorrow, forever.
I miss you every day every moment that my brain functions.
Home is not home without you. This city loses its special meaning and charm for me without you.
My first friend, person, my best friend, soul sister, girlfriend, whatever the fancy terms maybe,
Mriganka Chawla, I’m at a loss of words to try and explain to you how much you mean to me and how much I miss you. Get here soon please. I miss you I miss you , i miss you
My best regards and lots of love
Yours Truly,
Hina Yadav <3
Missing you in our yellow blanket.

Saturday 19 March 2016

Batting them away like a ball- They are we!


He was born like her
For the initial years
They all found it ‘Oh so adorable!’
Gradually while trying to accept who she is,
The eyebrows frowned
The reality struck
The stigma began
It was no longer ‘Oh so adorable’
But rather, deplorable
Freedom of expression?
Right to life?
This was his expression,
This was her life
But the eyeballs,
The whispers,
The gossips,
They made it tough
But he nevertheless went on through to the her
And now as she walks with pride
Taking all the remarks in her stride
Like a ball and bats them away!
Away from the stadium that is her life and dignity
Preserving her stadium,
She is you
He is me
They are we!


Monday 14 March 2016

Gods’ Handiwork

She struts around in the society
Pretending as if it’s all so dreamy
Little do these unknown faces know
She feels perplexed about how to be himself
When one fine day she decides to be him
But now the world around him is perplexed
Is it her or is it him?
They distance themselves
Ignorant of the existence
Changing the topics and cringing
Not able to fathom the change
But can’t you see
They breathe the same, eat the same,
They feel and bleed the same
They are changed, yes
But just like you.
They are humans
Humans with who changed
But humans nevertheless.
Humans- Gods’ very own special handiwork.