Whispering Shadow

Aliya (see picture) is one of the sharpest and most hardworking students of my class. She is an exceptional leader. Above all, she is tenacious and raises her bar every time we require her to. Considering how most parents are in Shivaji Nagar, I had assumed her parents would be well educated to have trained not only Aliya but also their other two daughters well. I had assumed that they would be financially well off to afford education for all their three daughters in private schools or colleges. My visit to her house today proved me wrong. I had never visited Aliya's house because I always prioritized other parents over Aliya's  considering her parents' and her own investment in her education was high. I was at Mehfooz's house when he told me that Aliya lives in the neighbourhood. I told him to take me to her house after I had met his parents. He took me down the pathway to the street bordering the garbage dumping ground, which is  the largest in Mumbai. The stenc...

एक ज़िन्दगी है जीने के लिए  फिर डर डर के बिताये क्यूँ ? कई रास्तें हैं चलने के लिए  गलत राह पे समय गवाएं क्यूँ? आज दिल की आवाज़  सुनों,  कल शोर और भी होगा। आज नए ख्वाब बुनों, कल ज़िम्मेदारी का भोज भी होगा। अन्धकार है बहुत दुनिया में हर एक लौ अमूल्य है  खुद को उज्जवल किये बिना  तेरे अस्तित्व का क्या मूल्य है?. हम सबको एक दिन राक बनकर  मिट्टी में मिल जाना है। फिर आग में जलने से क्यूँ डरना  जब मरने से पहले मोक्ष पाना है? PS: This is the first Hindi post on my blog. I don't remember whether I even wrote in Hindi after school. Having shared a Hindi poem with my friend led to a conversation in Hindi verses, which became the inspiration for the rest of this poem. In retrospect, I think when it comes to writing poetry, Hindi is a much better language than English - inherently poetic.