Malaise- Ijjya Priyadarshini

Things have changed from what they've been.

And my pain of repentance is in the world unseen.

My fascinations once brought me glee,

But now lost, they've left me full of apathy.

And now, like a lonely lover, I lament.

The choices I made yesterday, I repent.

I feel like I'm in a state of stupor.

My whole being, pervaded by a dreamy languor.

Time wears on, 

It ticked away.

I tried catching up-

But I was led astray.

And since came the despondency, it's slowly creeping by,

Wickedly sneers at me, the Grim with its scythe.

Moments ago, my future was in sight,

Like the strongest allotrope of carbon—all clear and so very bright!

Though, now that I look at what lies ahead,

All I can see is gloom and murk.

Through memory lane, when I stride,

The yore of glory, I hark back to with pride.

I feel satiated; I feel gratified.

I reckoned the damage to be minor

Figured I might spare a glare-

Oh, wasn't that a grave error?

Poor pride had been stripped bare.

At myself, 

this made me fret.

"Guillotine me", I thought.

Just rip off my head!

If there's one thing I fear, I fear oblivion.

And of my laxity, I predict repercussions.

Recklessness has robbed me-

I'm now doomed to be forgotten.

I've now become "a part of the crowd."

With a spurious smile, my wounds, I shroud.

I long to start all over again-

But that's just a whim.

A whim-

It's all in vain...

And there's no one, no one but myself to blame.

There are people who, for the moment, make me forget

All my pain and regret

But clearly, they too expect!

Can't unsee those eyes, glutted with hope...

But me? All I do is mope.

Help me, dear Lord! I'm stranded-

Stranded in a world of chaos and confusion,

Drowning the youth into

What do they call it? Depression?

And every night, I struggle to sleep.

I lay in bed

With nothing to do

Just lay in bed.

Staring at the ceiling

It's as dark as my world and as blank as my mind.

I wonder where life has brought me.

It makes me pretty uneasy—my malaise

It makes it really hard to breathe.

It fills my heart with anxiety.

And leaves the night bereft of sleep.

Leaves the night bereft of sleep.

I'm a Nurse- Tripty Sahai

I'm a nurse, I have to be strong!

"I'm your nurse today how are you feeling now? "

A human with hidden emotions,

looking after people, caring for them.

Anything happens, I'll be there

The pain you feel, I feel it too.

Tears in your eyes are in mine too.

A girl looked at me held my hands

"Please save my mother", she said

I stood there still and cold

when I imagined myself in her place.

I'm a nurse, I have to be strong!

So, I consoled her, " It's gonna be okay. "

Just another day my senior yelled,

"Have you not learned anything yet! "

When I tried to ask something.

Feeling dumb, my hands shivered,

losing all the confidence I had.

Just when I started to hold up,

"Zero clinical experience" she whispered

But, I'm a nurse.

I have to be strong and I will be

Even if it means wiping tears in sideroom

Walk out like nothing happened.

Holding my held up I'll be asking again,

"How are you feeling now? "

MY BEAUTIFUL STORY THAT NEVER LIVED🩶- Pradhiksha . R. B

Two worlds, two lives;

one dead and one alive.

Hoping we could align in some dimension,

in a pace where everything is slow, and

in a space where everything is true,

just so, with the comma, we can continue.

or

It could rather be a surrealistic genjutsu,

where being alive is a bane;

And all I want is to hear your name,

just to feel as if I'm sane.

After all, it's all in my head,

with a question followed in the end.

"Did I give anything in your life that you can cherish or is it too late?"

'Cause you are my best friend that I ever had,

who loved me even when I hate.

I believe you are the green to my black,

And when the hue doesn't make sense or

that ever did subsist,

all I could see is a tint of you that exists,

and the tint of me that ceased to exist.

With every silence I sit with and

every sigh that I try to skip,

It all talks about you,

And all I wanna say is "I MISS YOU".

Fire, rain and ashes- Varsha Gandla

Unknown; for years,

You've set fire to my pyre.

Unaware; I breathed it all in

And now I exhale ashes.

They pile around me. Never ceasing.

Yet, an unquenchable rage burns

deep in my lungs to the bones.

How do I soothe it?

Hopeless,

I raged at the sky

And it rained pain.

To soothe me or to drown me?

Now you accuse me of getting lost.

But, where are you searching for me?

In my melting bones or drifting ashes?

I am dark and scattered.

A sinking ship that's struck by the lightning.

It is hard to recognise me,

But if you must,

Find me before I vanish.

But you will not.

Cause, this is endless.

And you are ever the same.

The Tale Untold- Nandhana SG

Huh?

You want to say something?

I can’t hear you dear

That’s okay, let’s try again

We’ve got time, relax!

(A song permeates the silence)

“Say it out loud,

shout it until your throat is sore

till every part of your body and soul remembers

why you loathed your childhood.

Don’t stop your wailing heart,

don’t just stand there and whisper

Screech till the devil’s ears shatter

-The one who thinks you’ll stay silent

-The one who thinks it’ll die with you

Don’t hold back any more tears,

let them free from bondage

scream till you get it all out

every single detail, all of it

the innocence,

the realization,

the burial,

the ignorance

the hate,

the pain,

the fear and

the acceptance of

all those tears you never showed.

In a game of hide and seek

You poor child!

You didn’t know there was no seeker

you were just a child,

nobody believed you back then

nobody saw your bloody memories

So howl like there’s nothing to lose.

Now that you are a fierce adult

ask the world your questions,

hammer into their moronic brains

that you were just a child,

that you deserved to be protected,

that your glasses should’ve been rose tinted,

not bloodstained,

and that you didn’t ask to be brought

into this grotesque world.

Too young to know devils were people

who touched you as they wished

you had no choice in any of it

not back then, but now?

The little child’s all grown up

Well, Why are you still mumbling?

This moment is yours

yell as loud as you can

let the world shudder in shame

that they made a dire mistake

But, you

You don’t have to be sorry dear,

you should never be,

you were just a child

It wasn’t your fault”

(The song fades into a deep breath)

Are you ready to speak ?

“Yes.”

‘एक औरत की ज़ुबानी’- Harshita Yadav

ट्रिगर चेतावनी: यह कविता महिलाओं के ख़िलाफ़ होते उत्पीड़न और शोषण के ऊपर निर्धारित है।

‘एक औरत की ज़ुबानी’....

बेटी, पोती, बहन, बीवी, बहु, भाभी, माँ, सास, दादी, नानी

अपनी खुद की पहचान भूलकर,

हर पल एक नयी पहचान मैंने दिल से है मानी

लेकिन फिर भी,

तूने अपनी हदें ना जानी

हमेशा की तूने अपनी मनमानी।

क्या बच्ची, क्या लड़की, हर औरत ने दी है तुझको क़ुर्बानी !!

आख़िर क्यूँ… तूने मेरी क़ीमत ना पहचानी ?

आख़िर क्यूँ तूने मेरी क़दर ना जानी ?

काश तूने एक बार सोचा होता,

काश तुझे भी वो दर्द हुआ होता।

ओह...मगर कहते हैं कि मर्द को तो दर्द नहीं होता,

ये बात तो तूने बराबर जानी,

मगर तू कैसे भूल गया कि

तुझे इस दुनिया में लाने वाली भी थी एक जनानी !

फिर कैसे पहुँचायी तूने एक औरत और उसके सम्मान को हानि ?

कैसे तूने अपनी निगाहें अपनी बच्ची जैसी पर तानी ?

कैसे की तूने अपनी बहन से छेड़खानी ?

क्या कभी सोचा है तूने कि तेरे इन आँखों से किए गए हमारे शरीर के स्कैन ने

हमारी रूह को है कितनी ठेस पहुँचायी,

हर उस पल में हमें खुद से है कितनी घिन्न आयी।

तेरी एक छूअन ने

हमारे दिल में एक ऐसी आग लगायी,

जिसमें मैं खुद ही जलकर, अपनी आत्मा की राख को

अपने आंसुओं की गंगा में बहा आयी।

मगर फिर भी तुझे ज़रा भी लाझ न आयी।

हम्म..हम्म

पता है क्यूँ..?

क्यूँकि हर बार तूने अपनी करतूत हमारे ओढ़ने-पहन्ने, चलने, व बोलने के ढंग की ओट में है छानी,

पर क्यूँ...

क्या तेरा हाथ रुक गया था..?

जब थी वो घूँघट में छिपी एक नारी !!

जब बोली वो तुझसे मीठी वाणी

उसका बढ़ावा समझ, कर गया तू उससे शैतानी !!

अगर इतना ही था तू आग्यकारी

तो क्यूँ नहीं रुका जब की उसने आनाकानी ?

आख़िर तेरी इज़्ज़त पे है आँच आनी,

अगर उसने तेरी बात ना मानी।

क्यूँ...

वो कोई चीज़ है क्या जिसकी करके लाया था तू ख़रीदारी ?

सात फेरों ने बनाया है तुझे उसका साथी,

फिर क्यूँ समझता है तू उसे अपने पैरों की माटी।

बराबरी की इज़्ज़त और प्यार की हक़दार है वो,

तेरी बीवी है, नाकी तेरी कोई क़र्ज़दार है वो।

तू कहता है कि तुझे प्यार है उससे..अच्छा..? फिर कैसे कहा तूने ...”मैं लूँगा तुझसे बदला...अब पड़ेगी मुझे तू तड़पानी”

क्यूँ...

तेरी इज़्ज़त इज़्ज़त, उसकी इज़्ज़त दरिया का पानी !!

और कोई नहीं बल्कि ये समाज ही है इनकी सोच को बढ़ावा देने वाला,

हमें घरों में बंद करके, इनको सड़कों पे खुला छोड़ने वाला।

अरे छोड़ो ये दक़ियानूसी तरीक़े,

और सिखाओ अपने होनहार लड़कों को कुछ सलीके;

क्यूँकि ऐसी कोई जगह नहीं जहां इनके गंदे विचारों ने हमें जकड़ ना रखा हो,

अरे ऐसी कोई जगह नहीं जहां हमारे सम्मान को इन्होंने कचोट ना रखा हो ।

अरे बस करो अब,

ना हैं वो कोई राजा, ना हम उनकी रानी;

हमारे कपड़ों की लम्बाई की जगह,

पड़ेगी इनकी सोच की लम्बाई बढ़ानी।

आख़िर कब तक हम कहते रहेंगे इनकी हरकतों को बचकानी ?

कब तक पड़ेगी इनकी ग़लतियों पर हमें मार खानी ?

आख़िर कब तक चलेगी इनकी ये प्रेमकहानी ?

अब बस....

इनकी गंदी सोच को हमें है लगाम लगानी,

पड़ेगी हमें अपने अंदर की शक्ति जगानी;

जब हमारी कोई गलती ही नहीं,

तो क्यूँ किसी से इनकी करतूत छुपानी।

बहुत हुआ अब !!!

सुन ले ए- मर्द..., रोक ले अपना ये दिमाग़ तूफ़ानी,

यहीं पर पड़ेगी तुझे तेरे कर्मों की सजा चुकानी;

क्यूँकि...

अगर उस औरत ने है ठानी,

तो वो ले लेगी रूप मर्दानी,

और बदल डालेगी तेरी कहानी !

बदल डालेगी तेरी कहानी !

9 महीने अपने रक्त से तुझे सींचने वाली को ना धितकार तू,

हर साल तुझे अपना रक्षक समझकर राखी बांधने वाली को ना फटकार तू,

अपना सब कुछ छोड़कर, तेरे वंश को चलाने वाली को ना मार तू।

मत भूल, हर मोड़ पर खड़ी औरत में वही क़ुर्बानी, वही आत्मा बस्ती है,

बस और कुछ नहीं तो, सबको को उन्ही इज़्ज़त भरी नज़रों से देख तू ।

तू कर इज़्ज़त, मिलेगा तुझे दोगुना सम्मान,

तू कर बेज़्ज़त, मिलेगा तुझे चौगुना इंतेकाम।

हाँ है मेरा आँचल कोमल,

मगर उसके अंदर पनपती चिंगारी भी जानले तू;

अपने अंदर एक ज़िंदगी पालती हूँ मैं,

मुझे ना ललकार रे तू

मुझे ना ललकार रे तू ।।

धन्यवाद आप सभी को मेरी कविता को अपना क़ीमती समय देने के लिए।

वारसा (देणगी)- Seemran Sankpal

लाभला आपल्याला किती अनोखा वारसा

आज काल त्याचा विचार नाही होत फारसा

संस्कृती जोपासणे कर्तव्य आपले

सौभाग्य आहे जे आपण जपले

सणासुदीची पहा हि पहाट

पुरणपोळी चा हा थाट माट

रांगोळी ने सजते अंगण

शृंगाराने खुलते स्त्रीपण

वारसा हा ओझं ना मानावा

दडल्या यात कित्येक भावना

थोऱ्या मोठ्यांची देणगी जणू

आभार आपण त्यांचे मानू

पवित्रता ती प्रेमळ संवादाची

परिवारांच्या जिव्हाळ्याची

सन्मानाचा टिकवा वारसा

स्वाभिमान असे नाजूक जसा आरसा

नव्या जुन्या पिढीचा सुखद संवाद

नेतील वारसा पुढे एकसाथ

विसर ना पडो कधी

हे कळावं नाव्या पिढींना आधी

हा असा मिळाला अनमोल ठेवा

आभार तुझे खूप खूप देवा

पिढ्यान पिढ्या बदलल्या तरी

वारसा जपला जावा घरो घरी.

Monthly visiting train - Sakshi Dagade

Monthly visiting train

Hello, monthly visiting train

You give me freaking pain

Those 5 day are worse than being into the hell

You bleed shading off my endrometrium

Me freaking restless endure mood swings,cramps feeling alone

You don't let me relax,even on my own bed

I can't peacefully eat my favourite dish that my mom has made

everytime we meet I use to confront

It feels just HUH! not meeting you for 2-3 months

But excuse me not more than that haa..

Otherwise harmonal imbalance will pop the pimples up

those cramps are just like punching well soaked dough

Those tampons, pads, menstrual cups are damn irritating

Being in crowd with you is a great deal

Always scare of those gossips when it leaks up leaving my dress bloody

streatch marks don't even let me wear my favourite short dress ,buddy

What to eat? What to wear? Where to sit?....all these freaking questions creat a mess

Every time you hurt me the same no more no less

You get me off that 'papa ki pari' wala confidence

I Always want to lessen your period of residence

Sometimes i wish either to be 50+ soon

Or my overies to prune

Gloomy Night- Abhijeeta Mahant

On a gloomy night , as I looked up in the sky

many thoughts lingered in my mind,

the paths I didn't take and the path I took in my life.

now and then, past and present,

the thought of future had always me shaken.

right and wrongs,

love and thorns,

I entered a new dimensional form

wondered if, I was ever right?

and all the things came to my sight.

Like a player reaching his goal

I wanted to fill my soul.

with all the right experiences,

making all the right choices,

like a player dodging a foul,

I wanted to be as wise as an owl

and somehow I knew it

for someday, yellow card has to show

to give oneself a room to grow,

and for someday there is no need to show,

to sit for a while for a thunderous glow.

gazing at the stars,

feeling the light,

something has made my heart quiet

but my mind was still at it despite,

wondered , am I right this time?

I closed my eyes,

played the rewind

for so much had happened

I re-lived all that for a second,

remembered my every choices

and listened to my inner voices,

and for the last time,

l looked up on that gloomy night

and then I know there is no wrong and right.

Coffee Table- Astha

people people people

at the coffee table.

the memory of a memory

of a once forgotten dream

comes to me again

in a stab of relief.

what if it was lost

like the people that are gone,

whose faces float beyond

air wrinkled with fragrant steam?

but the coffee goes cold

and without tricks of light,

i see people i know

(people who will go

and come back in happy stabs).

Towards A Calm Abyss- Sumedha Bhaduri

Let the stars shine before I sleep,

Let the moon smile in the night deep,

Let the tranquility end all the chaos,

Let me know if you know the odds.

Adoring the airglow in the sky,

I forget that some moments are a lie.

Closing my eyes for a dream false,

Hoping it gives me happiness all.

Tired of keeping the lies alive,

My heart ponders in a deep dive.

Capturing the fireflies in the night dark,

To give this life a happy spark.

While trying to get out of an enigmatic wood,

I discover the truths misunderstood.

Realizing healing to be the ultimate bliss,

I am moving towards a calm abyss.

Butterfly - Ankita Kar

Gently evolving inside;

Preparing itself for the outside world.

A moth at first,

Patience is tested

For the journey from –

An ordinary to a charmer.

Maturing inside its hideaway,

Before flying with its rainbow wings.

Diffidence and uncertainty;

Ceases its fashion like an iron chain

Forbidding its success.

Then determination and passion takes over –

It emerges as the most confident and beautiful like no other,

To enjoy its freedom.

Intezaar- Shruti Gupta

इंतिज़ार

कभी कभी मंज़िल इंतिज़ार कराती है

हमसे मिलने मे थोड़ा ज्यादा वक्त लगाती है

इस इंतिज़ार के क्षण मे खुद से भरोसा खोता है

सपना अधूरा रहने का डर सा होता है

कभी आखें रोती है, कभी हिम्मत टूट जाती है

पर फिर खुद को खड़ा करने की बारी आती है

इंतिज़ार के क्षण मे थोड़ा ज्यादा लड़

ईश्वर तेरे साथ है इस बात पर भरोसा कर

कभी कभी वक्त सही नही होता है

क्योंकि अपने राही का इंतिज़ार तो मंज़िल को भी होता है

Freedom of India- Suraj Pal Singh

For the freedom of India, People fought together; They too taught a lesson, To live unite and gather.

Either Sikh,Budh, Muslim ,

May be Hindu or Christian;

Don't fight with each other,

On the name of religion . God has never said, To handle the sword; We are all Indians, Infact love is God.

Having finished all quarrels,

Come forward you all;

And live entirely with peace,

India is made for all.

( Suraj Pal Singh)

'Adna'

UNSPOKEN TEARS- FAREEDAPH HAMZA

Hide hide hide

hide your side

nevertheless your emotions

until it sheds

insist you to compress

when you starts to express

they will miss the one you were

if that's real, then why

they all shade themselves

come out of shades

that out of fades

be you

who stand for you

light yourself and

let them know what real

Divide and Rule(s)- Breanna Fernandes

Meet the oil and water of academics; language and math,

For if you ace this one then you certainly can't ace that,

You could be the jack of all trades and their master too,

And yet you wouldn't be able to solve this bittersweet hullabaloo

Who made these rules I wonder? Can I meet the headmaster?

Or do I have to read through another one of Wren's rules?

Or worse still if I had to open a book with formulae that spelt disaster,

And find the answer hidden in a book written by fools

Now what about me you ask, dear reader,

Which side of the spectrum do I lean toward?

I still don't know if I hate one and love the other,

But there's someone within stopping me from finding out; a coward

I paint words against paper for hours together,

And etch numbers on books with my feeble hands,

I read essays and measure statistics simultaneously, thinking that I'm clever,

And ready myself in this battle to take a stand

At last, I try to swallow the bitter truth,

When my marks appear before me,

For in language I score a brilliant ninety-four

While in math, a lowly thirty

My Rainbow Poem- Pallavi Suri

The jaundiced faces

-Powdered and blushed-

Eat tangerines,

suck coconut from a straw.

And the sky with its cataract eyes

Looks upon the spectacle,

Pukes and flushes-

Into the septic tank, goes the rainbow.

"They say my soul will be taken away,

For I am godless,

I say take it,

I don't feel it anyways."

The girl in a skirt with fake blue eyes,

Left her spectacles at home.

And men with myopic sight,

Wait for the wind to blow.

The stiff chapels with their perfumed candles-

Wrapped in violet silks and shawls,

Masturbate on other's confessions,

Soften their lust on little souls.

"But they say their god would disallow me,

And send me back here,

There was no hell, I was so sure,

I was living in one before."

Lean bodies surviving on greens,

Laugh at plump foes,

Pricked each day by thorns,

They were gifted a matching blood red rose.

The thumbless joker on the stage,

He wears an indigo coat.

STOP LAUGHING AT HIS RED NOSE!

STOP FEEDING YOUR EMPTY HOLES!

Someone go…

Eat his cherry of a nose…

Kiss him,

Lick the colours off his pose.

"Sorry! My poem got burnt,

In fragments, charcoaled.

I was busy elsewhere,

Trying to catch in a net, my soul."

(The poem uses the symbolism of colours to present a running commentary on social and cultural issues.

Breakfast in bed- Laurette Dkhar

Please don't bring me breakfast in bed

unless my body is languishing and broken far beyond the breakfast table's reach. Let me walk, even hobble to it. Let me collaborate with gravity, neither defying it nor defeated by it.

If i could run to it i would pick up my legs pick up the pace pick up your mood. Let me wake up to a ground that will hold me steady even if my world is spinning. Walls that will wait for me to find my balance. An earth that springs with life.

Let me walk while I can.

Let me stride across the earth leaving it with the memory of my footsteps

of my weight on its body. Let me be light for as long as I can be. For as long as my lungs can propel me forward. For as long as I can lift off and soar, let me.

I would consider myself lucky to have partaken in a meal,

and gotten up from the table with a full heart and a full stomach, when really

it shouldn’t require any luck to have either.

The Soul of The Flute - Anisha Kalra

His flute-stand awaits someone,

on the corner of the busy road.

Stretching its flutes, like a firecracker

slowly emitting its sparkling sparks.

One of its sparks falls in his hand,

He, the flute player, holds it to his lips,

breathing fresh life into his 'bansuri',

sending his blows to awaken me.

I open my eyes and stretch my arms.

Stepping out of my bed,

I hold my notes by their arms,

and summon the tunes wandering somewhere.

Holding my notes and tunes in my arms,

I splash out of the holes,

Spilling them all outside and yet,

holding some inside.

I step into the old but new world,

When I see her approaching,

holding a backpack of anxieties

held together by some responsibilities.

My eyes walk towards her,

Examining her moist eyes

And her brown hair,

which rest over her shoulders.

I obambulate around her,

trying to take her bag off.

She senses me perhaps,

and tightens her grip on the bag.

I dive into her ears,

looking for some path,

through her red arteries,

to her red heart.

I step; I stop.

She loosens her grip,

On the strap of the bag,

She, most reluctantly, was holding.

I crawl and crawl, slowly.

I crawl and fall, suddenly.

I scan the place around,

and smile, finding my destination.

There, in her heart, I danced.

I danced, I danced my heart out.

Moving my feet, twisting my fingers,

I danced, I danced without any care.

I listened; she said- to the flute player,

"Your art has a duende."

And I feel something heavy,

being thrown away, forever.

I chuckle, repeating her words in my way,

"I have a duende."

And I leave a part of me in her,

For her to be a duende herself.

THE PRETTY ENOUGH PARADOX - Tanisha Jain

"If I looked perfect, they'd never leave me,"

Was all I ever understood .

I didn't know if I was right,

But no one ever told me I was wrong,

Because they always said I was pretty,

Just not pretty enough.

starved and cried,

Compared and cared,

Weighed and waited,

Suffered and continued,

Until the voices said I looked fine.

I got the attention,

I got the chase,

got the validation,

got the pity love,

And when I finally thought I was perfect,

I was even got left on.

Then I saw how

The one that loved my body perfect,

Would never love my heart right,

So I ate till I choked,

Binged till I puked,

Until the voices mirrored "show skin get love."

shopped and thrown,

Uncomfortable but worn,

Hidden until seen,

Craved until sought,

And again the voices bargained "to get love is to give body."

Stuck between

Pleasure and pain,

Moans and screams,

Hunger and pills,

She was

Choked but never killed,

Satisfied but never enough,

Dead and alive,

Until finally

The voices called her pretty,

And left.

The voices left,

But every mirror reminded her she was pretty,

But only pretty enough to get attention.

Every bed reminded her she was pretty,

But only pretty enough to get laid.

Every door reminded her she was pretty,

But not pretty enough to stay with,

And every scar reminded her that she was pretty,

But just not pretty ENOUGH.