Crime Scene Investigation

Skipping meals in the mess, sleeping all day long,

Withdrawing in the hostel room, socializing seems so wrong.  

I can't concentrate on my studies, my marks have taken a nosedive,

I'm drowning myself in alcohol, hoping to stay, afloat and alive. 

'Let me not be a burden' , ' It would be great if I could sleep and never wake', 

I start distributing dear things to friends, Wills and deeds I start to make. 

'I feel ashamed' , 'I feel guilty', ' I feel hopeless' , ' I feel trapped',

After many agonizing nights, I'm peaceful, as if all things I have neatly wrapped. 

 

One moment I am sad and crying, the next I am angry as hell,

All day I worry or dwell on past, and miss some classes as well.  

If you observed closely enough, you'll see me twitching with pain, 

But you think of me as an attention hog, so you don't look again.  

That the situation has become unbearable, I've dropped enough hints, 

If you still allow me to die by suicide, all over my body would be your fingerprints.

From Ideas To Inaction

Be it a failure, or a rejection, when pain becomes too much,

How to escape this dismal life, I start thinking as such.

The pain can be even physical, like a chronic or terminal disease,

It could be a feeling that I am a burden, have to other people's pain ease.   

Be it a defeat or feeling entrapped, when the last sliver of hope is gone, 

I better give up and stop fighting - are the thoughts I feed to this powerless pawn.

There may be light at the end of the tunnel, I am myopic, and without glasses, 

The sweetness of life has been drained from me, what is left is dark molasses.

I can endure excruciating pain, can live for eons without hope, 

It's when they join hands to limit life, that I start searching for a rope. 

By nature impulsive and risk taking,  desensitized by friends dying left and right, 

I'm moving from ideas to action quickly, please remove all means from sight.

Just in time I remember, I'm connected with you and a purpose that is high, 

That you'll miss me when I'm gone, is reason enough, not to die.

Thwarted

The sense of autonomy, that I'm an author of my life,

When taken away, cuts deep like a knife.

All I do is governed, by parents, or society's diktat,  

I feel hopeless and constrained, like a blind maze's rat. 

 

The sense of mastery,  that I can make happen stuff,

When not exercised daily, makes me feel like a bluff. 

When I can't move forward, make progress at will,

I feel helpless, give up easily, don't go for the kill. 

The sense of relatedness, that I belong to this earth,

When not reciprocated by others- can kill all mirth.

When I'm isolated and alienated, without anyone to care, 

I feel worthless like crap, and in the dark abyss stare.     

Hopeless, helpless, worthless, you can easily write me off, 

Just satisfy my Basic Psychological Needs, and see how quickly I takeoff.

The Gen Z

They've grown up in the digital world, are difficult to wean, from the net,

To be 'woke', 'socially responsible', 'gender neutral', are their topics pet.  

Comfortable with @mentions and #tags, they carry activism on their sleeves, 

Fighting on-ground injustices and lies, with their snapchats and tweets.

 

The generation that talks openly, about periods and sex,

Throws away the cloak of mystery, is open to the max. 

They talk about their mental health, how they've been anxious and depressed,

Eager to take help when needed, not suffering by remaining stressed. 

Insecure about how they'll make a living, yet not caring two hoots.

Who they are underneath is important, than wearing ties and suits. 

Purpose and passion comes first, when they hustle its not for money, but love, 

They expect their employers to be values driven, and care about environment, over and above. 

 

Generations have come and gone, on the Gen Z our hopes we pin, 

We might have given up in despair, whereas they have just begun. 

 

Letting Them Play

Let the children play freely, no adults involved,

Toddlers hunting and gathering, that's how we evolved. 

Pretend play is good, rough-and-tumble even better, 

Both develop life skills, mental former, physical latter. 

 

Let them make the rules, let them falter and rise, 

Let them indulge because they want to, not for appreciation or prize. 

They'll slowly develop a sense, they have control over one's life,  

Wont feel pressured by parents, or the promises of the afterlife. 

Let them take risks, be there, to put them back on their feet,

Lets prepare both the road and the child- in this case lets halfway meet. 

They'll slowly get a sense, they can successfully wade through life,

Feeling supported by others, take both ups and downs in their stride.

If you insist, I'll let him play, away from my prying eyes, 

That he'll be happy, adjusted and resilient- better not be lies. 

Bidding Adieu

Celebrations galore, that come to a screeching halt, 

For a moment I feel human, then back to being robot.  

I go through the motions, the rest of the year,

The spring returns to feet, when Bappa's B'day is near. 

Dancing with joy, as we bring Him to home,

Establishing Him in the idol, taking Him on loan,

For 10 days He's ours, enough to make us get  attached,

On 11th day we have to part - He's in water dispatched. 

The one who comes, has to necessarily go, 

Even if He's mighty Ganesha- it has to be so. 

Some Gods may be immortal, He's like you and me,

On His departure I cry like a child, and He drowns in the sea.

Some think its a religious festival, others treat it as a social event,

To me its a spiritual awakening- that we are tenants whose tenure does end.

The Walk Group

We walk daily, not all in slick shape; yet more committed, would be difficult to find - 

- We never miss out on the Saturday breakfast - we show no mercy, to the Bakras we're not kind.

 Walking at a leisurely pace, but discussions hot- ranging from politics, to the daily grind,  

Despite our expert insights and world class solutions, the world hasn't changed- never mind. 

To join our group, you need to know current affairs, or at least be willing to listen about present landscape,

The fees for joining - sponsoring a breakfast- from this there's no respite, you just cant escape.

You must have expertise, in laughing at jokes, that may verge towards being slightly off-veg,

You must post on the WA group item numbers, and be willing and ready to pull each others leg.  

The camaraderie is great, the bonding good, the walk is just a nice pretext, 

We help each other through thick and thin- are ready to put the friendships to test.

What common things we have, what brings us close, I sometimes wonder and secretly muse, 

A common thread running - we are not here for a reason - not looking for, each other to use.    

Chance has thrown us together, choice wants us to make it great,  

A simple bond of walking and talking, and making best of our common fate.