She
She is poise, she is grace,
She who faces adversity in the face.
She who reaches for the sky, yet,
She who is made to cry.
She who is your first nurturer and teacher,
She who always spurs you on.
She is your friend, philosopher and guide,
She takes everything in her stride.
She is you and you and you out here,
She is every woman out there.
She who holds up half the sky,
She is a woman, who holds her head high!.
This poem was inspired by the incredibly noisy neighbourhood I live in Mumbai. In my last trip, I realised, compared to Singapore, my home was super noisy and it took me a couple of days to push that noise to the back, but it was quite a difficult few days. Then coming back to Singapore, the silence also took some time to get used to!
The Sounds of Home
The sounds start early,
As the birds begin to wake up in the tree;
The ringing of the bell of the milkman,
The shouts of the newspaper man,
This is how we wake-up in good old Mumbai.
Then the real noisy business of the day starts their cries,
The children coming to the school next door,
Their voices eager and ready to soar,
The college students who congregate in the lane below;
Whiling their time between classes, ebb and flow.
Then of course, who can forget,
The noise of vehicles, that drive past like a jet,
This not including the general cacophony of sounds;
Like the cawing crows and vendors in the background,
These are the sounds that define my neighbourhood,
These are the sounds of my childhood,
All day, from morning to night, there is a steady stream of competing sounds,
Till they fade away from your consciousness as the noise resounds.
It’s only when you come back after a while,
You realise that your beloved city, your loved isle,
Is actually quite noisy, but you care not a tome,
You love it anyway, coz, these are the sounds of home!
I sit among the cacophony of sounds
Yet alone, as if out of bounds
People around me, happy and gay
But in my mind, are shades of grey
The happiness that I see around me
Makes me want to move away and flee
A weight on my mind, bring to mind memories blind
Those which are twined to become confined
I yearn for the moments when I can be alone
Away from everything, to get into the zone
To be alone, to be by myself
For that’s when I can hear myself think
To decide on next steps, to bring me from the brink
I want, nay need the space to be free
To ponder, to feel and to brood
Me and my solitude…
The absence of sound is silence
But is golden silence brilliant?
Away from the daily hustle and bustle
To be able to commune with nature and mull
Over the different things you want to think and do
Especially when your mind is in a funk and blue
Then the silence helps you clear your mind
Tells you what to do next and get you out of the bind
Then silence is the wisdom, the truth and the fragrance
That which soothes your soul and gives you balance
These words were inspired during BB’s thread ceremony when realisation suddenly hit me that both BB & GG are all grown up and almost adults.
When you were born….
When you were born, you fit in the crook of my hands;
Today, I need to look up to meet your glance.
When you were born you needed me for everything;
Today, you are young adults, finding your own way in everything.
When you were born, I was your entire world;
Today, you are finding your own way in the world.
When you were born, I waited eagerly for you to take your first steps;
Today, I am both excited and sad that soon you will mark your footsteps in the world.
When you were born, you were my babies;
Today, you are still my babies, to love and to cherish.
Memories and Such 
