Self-reliant

As I walk

I notice interesting things

With curiosity

From distance, I saw a dad

And his two small daughters

Elder was riding her small cycle

In front of their shop

While the younger one watched

Her sister riding the cycle

It was evening

It was time for tuitions

Dad started his bike

I thought he was going to drop the elder one

At her tuition center on bike

He placed her bag on his bike

But he just took his younger girl

And made her sit comfortably at the front

And he moved slowly

I saw the elder girl riding her cycle

Following him slowly

I realized that he was just

Giving her the confidence

To ride her cycle along that road

So that

She will be able to ride one day alone

To her tuition home

Without escort of her dad

It is quite interesting

As I’ve seen many parents

Always taking their daughters to places

And never letting them to travel alone

That deprives them valuable experience

Of becoming self reliant

As they have to wait for parents or siblings

Even to take them to their friend’s home

One can say it’s not safe to travel alone

For them

But then, nowhere is safe for anyone

Only with opportunities to do things alone

We get to understand our frailties

Then from experience, we become courageous

And in adverse conditions

Courageous people never buck down

They will try to find a way out of tricky situations

I feel we should protect kids

But we should give them confidence

To be self-reliant

As when they grow up, they have to face life

And this big damn bad world on their own

We can’t have them scared then

By over protecting them now

As it can make them too dependent

And it will just keep parents worried

Even when they are grown up

Feeling that they haven’t travelled alone before

Just let the beautiful angels

Learn to be self-reliant

You will see them facing life boldly and succeeding

I wrote this poem after being inspired by a dad i saw on road,who lead his daughter to her class.It's important that girls are given confidence to be self-reliant right from childhood.It will help them to face life in a better manner.

Gold: The fortune metal

Gold 

It shines pretty

It makes women go crazy

Young or old

With one breath, they love it

They want to wear it wherever possible

It’s a symbol of pride and status

Even when silver, pearls, platinum, diamonds

Made their shining presence in the market

Gold is a medium to show some attitude

When some others have stunning designs

It makes them jealous

But it makes them passionate

To get a stylish and costly piece of jewelry

To show their beauty with its glow

At times

It’s price breaks their hearts

Yet they chase it to buy

And keep as safe investment

Here in Kerala

There are more jewelers’  shops

Than utility shops

There are streets with glamorous array of

Glittering showrooms that lure

Keralite women with all kind of offers

Watch the local channels

You will find more gold ads than food ads

With pretty young girls showcasing

All the brilliant artistic craftworks

Created by unknown skilled men

Who melt this metal and shape it to

Unbelievable masterpieces

Here gold gets into the life of a baby

On 28^th day

To commemorate the birth

And to officially baptize the birth

By wounding a gold hiplet on baby

By the dad

In presence of relatives and friends

For girl kids it’s just the start

As there is a painful welcome

To continue the journey

On the ear piercing ceremony

They officially gets their first ear rings

Then further, they get more gold

Depending on the wishes of parents

As they get into teenage

And transform into women

They get more gold

Chains, bangles, anklets

And mothers start buying jewels

Anticipating their daughters marriages

Which are years away

As nobody can predict prices in future

When they reach the age of marriage

The bargaining starts

The handsome guys not only need dowry

But also good collection of gold as well

In order to marry their daughters

Parents arrange gold as much as they can

Those who don’t have money

They will borrow or sell land

But they won’t take risk of leaving gold

Parents see gold as investment for their daughters

In their married life

Groom and relatives see it as source

To get money in urgency

On wedding day

Keralite girls drape themselves with costly saris

Then garnishes them with

Countless gold jewels, which weighs a lot

Yeah if see a jewelry model in a bride

It is an understatement

The grooms get their fair share of gold

And happily weds their brides

By tying a costly gold chain on their necks

Amidst the whistles of women

And shower of flowers from the audience

But the journey of gold continues

When new life starts

For buying land or vehicle or for paying back the debts

The gold is taken away from the girls

By their in-laws

Some guys even marries off their sisters

Using their wives gold

Some might keep it safe in bank lockers

And the countless relatives who need money

Will keep visiting to borrow the jewels

To give as collateral for getting loans

Over the years those girls gold reserves

Get depleted

But those who get into rich families

Will be lucky to get more gold

As their spouses, show their love towards them

By buying costly jewels

Some girls continue their quest for gold

Blackmailing their husbands

Yeah it’s a costly gift for many to present

But for a happy marital life

They make sacrifices

But the fascination for gold remains alive

From generations to generations

As mothers gives their gold to their daughters

It’s more amazing that

We don’t have gold mines in this state

But you bring gold from any part of the world

You will find a buyer here

Obsession for gold isn’t limited to women

Thieves know about the passion of women

For gold

And they know where to look for gold

They loot wedding houses

They loot jewel showrooms

They loot gold lockers

As there are buyers for even stolen gold

Gold economy thrives here

With the spending power of people

Assisted by the cash from gulf and other countries

Where countless keralite work and save money

Gold is a safe asset for many
Banks give loans to buy gold
Private financiers give money by taking gold 
Squeezing money as much as possible
People here will afford loss of money
But will try to retrieve their beloved gold 
By paying over the odds
If not they will be sad 
Forgetting the fact that 
Their urgency was met by the money they got
When it mattered 
That too after paying interests for long
sometimes more than the amount they owe
This is gold's own country

where it is a fortune metal

With status next to god 

This poem is totally inspired by the lifestlye in my state.I always wondered why there is lot of obsession for  gold.As i observed closely,i found that it's a part of culture here.This madness for gold will remain for long long time unless women turn towards diamond or someother glittering metals.

Azeeb Girl: Bored forever

I found a chirpy girl

With an image of a small girl

With hat on her lovely hair

On a online community

Always indulged in counting

In a game, count one to ten

I thought it’s a kid

She is quite a grown up girl

Yet still kiddish

Watching shin-Chan always

With the passion of a small kid

Goes to college

To bunk her classes

Or feels too lazy to go

And remains at home

Loves talking with friends

All the time

So cute that she got many admirers

Always confused

What to do in life

I wondered

How someone can get so much bored

But knowing her for years

I learned, it’s quite natural!

With no hobbies

With no interest in any kind of activities

The funny talks keep her going

Chitchatting for hours as if never ends

I wish at least she learn how to dream

Loves pranking on friends

Talks less but asks a lot

For her nothing is as cool

As hanging out with friends

And sipping on her favorite juices

I wonder when will this girl grow up !

A sweet Azeeb

Always flowing around like an angel

Trying to spread happiness

A devout friend for many

This poem is for and about my friend Areej.She wanted to see if i can write a poetry on her.Hope that she liked it.  

Green

Green
It’s everywhere to see

In grass

In leaves

In water

In vegetables

Green

It’s the color of nature

It’s the symbol of serenity

It’s the attire of prosperity

It’s holy color for many

It’s there in the flags

Green

It’s the embodiment of purity

A source for clean life

An inspiring color to paint

Those who embrace it

Nature is close to their heart

Green

It covers Hills and valleys

Shades the mountains

And make them romantic

Green

A beauty to enjoy

Through the eyes of morning sun

Joyous spirit to paste on faces

During Holi

Green

Without it, this world will look soulless

This poem is written for  kidoo sister Saumya.She asked me if i can write a poem on green for her.

Birthday

Dad

This day

Without your smile

Without your greeting

Without your arrival

With a cake

It’s incomplete

I count it now

As years without your presence

No new wish to fulfill

As I still wish, what you expect me to do

Without you

I am still a kid

Refusing to grow up

Though my beard grew up

I am waiting for that day

When I will get back with you

I will celebrate that day

As my birthday

Nightmares

I don’t see dreams anymore

I see only nightmares

Ever since, you left me

Alone in this world

I am scared to lie on bed

Unless I am that sleepy

As all I think is about you

When I lay alone

As you was my only support

I wasn’t able to sleep many a days

As your memories refused me to get away

And left me in tears

Felt guilty that, I wasn’t able to save you

As you closed your eyes, for the last time

After gasping for the last breath of air

In a desperate attempt to survive

But shores of safety of hospital

Was little too far

By the time, I got a vehicle to take you there

You left me for a new world

I saw you struggling for survival

Many a night

In different scenarios

Where I kept running

In search of avenues to save you

Never once, I succeeded

As I struggled for long,

My friend taught me meditation

Somehow, I caught some sleep there after

Every night

Then trained myself to tire my soul

To get good sleep

But once in a while

I wake up shocked

Seeing another nightmare 

A Crow in the rain

It’s monsoon time here

Rain clouds have built their kingdom in the sky

Chilly winds have started their wild swings

Slight drizzle made those waving coconut trees

Look pretty as newlywed bride

As I watched them through my window

I saw a lonely crow sitting calmly

On the top of tilted roof of a neighborhood house

The roof made of well-woven coconut leaves

Always bear a nostalgic style

In the middle of a concrete jungle

It’s rare to see a crow drenching in rain

So I wondered, why is it sitting there patiently

Is it struggling to fly!

Did it lose its way!

Once in a while, it waved its wings

To drain away the water from its body

And its ash colored neck took a weary look

Just like a hunk having a funky hairstyle

Then I saw a flock of rain insects

Flying from the backside of that house

And my new friend had its eye on them

Just like any predator, so sharp and so focused

Rose very slow making less noise

It snatched one fly with its beak

Without sitting back, it snatched some more

Then took rest for a while

And waited for some more preys

Seeing the bravery of this friend

Some crows flew towards the roof

They sat on it keeping a distance

It reminded me of a row in my school assembly

Without any in fights

They took their fiefdoms to hunt

Rain didn’t deter their quest

As hunger dominated their will

After they finished their decent lunch

They flew away to find shades to rest

As the rain started withdrawing from the scene

The image of my lonesome friend in my mind

Made me wonder

Why I didn’t capture it’s snap!