Rhythmic Rhymes

All lights were dimmed around the house, All except those twinkly starlights, And the warm glow of that lantern fluttering in the window, A solitary lamp remained burning, It's wick flaring up as it neared it's end, All around is cool, breezy & quiet, Interrupted occasionally by the chirp of a night worm, Sometimes a steady conversation flowed, Intermittently and in whispers, Small titbits about daily mundane incidents, Juicy gossips about some people in the know, Cherished childhood memories refreshed, Some of them for the umpteenth time, Some random jokes, some soft laughter, Some long pauses in between, no awkward ones, Just some people enjoying the moment, The vibe and the company of loved ones, Abruptly a new topic of discussion starts, And the pattern continues for quite some time. Eventually sleep overpowers someone, One by one they retire to their rooms, eyelids drooping, A solo being stays back in the room, Soaking in the light, the warmth, the feel, Then she goes ...

When did life get so complicated? Then we would meet multiple times a year, Vacations stretched endlessly, As we played, travelled, laughed, cried & fought together; Today we live separated by miles, oceans & continents, Connected irregularly through chats & video calls, Grappling to match time zones for even one call together.   When did life get so different? It seems just yesterday when we were fighting over little things, Teasing & troubling each other at every opportunity, Yet imploring our parents for just one more day together; Today the fights have ceased, who has the time? And no matter how much we plead, The flights won’t yield, refusing even the slightest delay for our sake.   How did life change in the blink of an eye? How often we would head out to meet each other for every little occasion, Spend time giggling in a corner over silly things, Share small secrets that would seem so important at that time; Today ...

It's an era of validations & stamps of approvals Of self-worth measured by likes, shares & comments Of life moments getting captured into social media posts with long captions Only to be forgotten a week, 10 days or a month later Buried among some other posts trying to show what a happening life we lead I'm guilty of this too Guilty of turning photos capturing priceless memories into posts of validation for approvals Guilty of writing long captions for posts without having enjoyed the moment because I had to take a picture for the 'gram Guilty of forgetting what the picture should actually show Moments spent years ago on trips with family, with wide smiles & a scenic background  Birthdays of us as kids, cutting cake & eating chips Pictures telling stories of moments years ago stirring up emotions from the past Emotions that can never be captured into those images yet never be forgotten like our social media posts Emotions of meeting our loved ones after year...