Rhythmic Rhymes

 There's a little bit of me lost somewhere, The one who found joy in smallest things, Cried due to silly little reasons, And laughed the next second with a tickle. There's a little bit of me lost somewhere, The one who was an innocent packet, Easily taken in by the stupidest pranks, Annoyingly curious about every little thing. There's a little bit of me lost somewhere, The one whose eyes sparkled with mischief, Put passionate energy in work and hobbies, And with love and belief in herself drove it. There's a little bit of me lost somewhere, And all love, confidence, smile is gone with it, And the small little losses seem to have taken away, The essence and joy of life within.

Ever wondered what it must be like to be a Volcano With all the lava of emotions bubbling inside of you Finding a way to release it somehow Yet not quite succeeding, it all keeps boiling in, Sometimes for months, sometimes years It looks so normal from the outside, so calm Not till someone actually gathers courage to come closer and take a peek Will they see the intensity of the hurt, anger, fear, frustration "It's a dormant Volcano", they say "Been that way for years...it's as if it's dead now" The lava bubbles, boils with all the rage left inside It's going to need just that one push, that last straw, that tipping point For the sleeping Volcano to wake up and erupt and destroy Those around or itself at times Or maybe just go underground for a while Creating a deceptively calming perception again!

Yesterday you were talking for hours on call Today he is hospitalised, struggling to breath, Last month you both were taking selfies together, Today you are garlanding her framed photo, Till a few days ago you had a complete laughing happy family Today nobody from your family is left anymore, The people with whom you have lived your entire life, Your kids, your parents, your spouse, your friends, You cant even see them one last time, no last rites, Covid is taking the life out of relationships, Life has become unpredictable, live in the moment, Easy to say, difficult to follow, When people around are dying like flies, So many people you know are now lifeless names, It is a business of fear they say, Business of Covid, of death, of politics A game of numbers, forged data, statistics, Increasing, decreasing, getting analyzed for news, You know who is not statistics? My mother, my husband, my sister, my child, A million voices in the population cried!

As the clock strikes 11 she hits the bed, Tired and drowsy but sleep eludes her, As it did last night and the nights before that, Weary and eyes shut yet wide awake, Not knowing if tomorrow would be any different, Better she wishes but worse she fears, Wanting to hold tight her loved ones, Like that pillow she is clutching onto now, In an attempt to keep those close to her safe, Tears dried up long back, weeping is only internal, The suffocating fear keeps her tossing and turning, It's midnight, 1, 2 she knows not, Half asleep, half awake for hours, Then restless sleep overpowers her till the morning alarm, And she wakes up tired to fight another day.

Our country is burning, literally everyday, Millions are struggling, suffocating, grieving, For themselves, their families, their friends, Each day brings in so many new stories of pain. The war this time is not fought at the borders, Where army navy lay down their lives while fending off enemies, Somewhere far off, by someone unknown, Where it hardly stirs emotions in millions for long. The war is in our society, our families, our homes, Fought by the brave doctors and health workers we know, They have given us lifelines multiple times, This time they are risking their own lives as well. And the impact is reaching almost each person, Physically and emotionally touching all lives, And the worst part is that the storm may pass one day, But it will leave millions of our people scarred for life.

Negativity has worn the mask of Covid, Being positive is no longer good, Those infected are no longer just numbers, They have names and faces of people we know. Negativity has worn the mask of News, Newspaper and channels blaring all day long, Death, struggle, grief of millions of people, Everything around seems to be utter chaos. Negativity has worn the mask of media, WhatsApp, Insta, FB, Twitter nothing spared, All sources of relaxation have become emotionally taxing, Day to day issues have become too petty to be cared. Negativity has worn the mask of Fear, Of Covid, of isolation, of separation, of death, This time it seems more prominent and a lot stronger, It ravages hearts and souls subconsciously somewhere. Negativity itself is a mask, It hides all the positives, blessings and humanity, And u wish it could be removed as easily as the ones we wear, But this one seems to be staying on indefinitely.

I see the sun setting over the horizon, And the birds are flying home, A few people moving about the society campus, And rest is eerie, deafening silence. The 14 day exile I have been thrown into, With the silent empty house growing onto me, Forced to deal with all my thoughts and memories of happier days, Trying to drown my mind in chaos of work, movies, series and chats. It's strange how in the chaotic world, All that we long for are few moments of peace, Now there is too much peace around me,  And my heart and mind in total chaos. Covid as an illness seems to me more than physical, It's a test of emotional and mental strength, Forces you to deal with your own demons, your own company, And see if you give in to its magnitude or come out stronger in the challenge.

Sometimes I miss that innocence, bachpan wala, Although the increased maturity makes me proud, I miss the simplicity of things, the small joys, Though it is fun to think and talk of deeper, philosophical things. I love my independence, my freedom, But I miss the warmth of my family around, Getting exposed to new people, places, experiences is nice, Yet my heart yearns for that secure ghar wala feeling. A trade-off, compromise, a balancing act, Whatever the term you choose to use, But life never lets you have everything you want at once, Kyunki kuch paane ke liye kuch khona bhi toh padta hai!