wild lie

in the wild life
endless independence
there is fun in abundance
then there is strife
when to wild winds collide
they stir up a hurricane
or a small scale typhoon
causing only destruction
if at the wrong place

Sharmishtha basu
31 .1.11

independence

It’s the essence
The living breath
The must of every life.
Not an achievement
It’s just the start
Of building a life
On this foundation
Brick by brick
Stone by stone.
Not for me or you- for everyone.

It’s not for only me
It’s for all of us
A life of dignity
A life of light
A life of full plate
A life of covered body
Covered dignity
And a cover above our heads
Against sun, rain, storm.
Not for me or you- for everyone.

How can I say I am free, happy?
When my brother is in chain
My sister is abused
My mother cries tears of blood?
When the sound of their heavy chains
Keep ringing in my ears
As I lie in my velvet bed sleepless
Staring at the ceiling!
Their cries penetrate those walls
I have built around my heart.

How can I feel satiated, full?
When my brother’s child
Cries for a single piece of bread
When my sister’s son
Goes to work in brick kiln
While mine go to oxford and Cambridge
Theirs don’t even get a chance to read.
Is it the independence I seek?
Is this the fulfillment of my life?
Then where is brotherhood of man?

Sharmishtha basu
15.08.10
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true independence 18.09.10
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independence means
food clothe and shelter
for all
dignity to live
dignity to die
not for me and you
for every one
liberty is not property
of privileged ones
its for one and all
each and every soul

Sharmishtha basu
18.09.10

Bully society?

Surfing through the movies page
A couple of promos got me
A gorgeous, dark, young girl
Was staring up at me, tears in eyes
“Why is everyone rejecting me for my skin?”

Next one was a perfect beauty,
Have rarely seen such a gorgeous dame,
This one was marble white in colour.
But… she too had tears in her eyes
“Why a barren woman is denied dignity?”

I felt like telling them, and their sisters
Who give away themselves too cheaply
Feeling overwhelmed that someone is an angel
Noble, kind beyond words to accept them
For they are dark skinned/ugly or barren.

The society doesnot decides your position,
Most of you are enough capable
Of forcing the society to treat you with dignity
It’s the scared, little girl inside you
That stops you, not the bully society.

owning a loved one..

Once there was a little girl, full of innocent charm
Who chased butterflies in gardens, green fields
In her childish ecstassy, her eyes brimmed
with dreams of catching colours in her little palm.

So many times she used to catch them
Those winged, lovely dreams
In her innocent desire to own them she
Used to keep them in crystal jars

Her little heart used to break the next morn
When she used to see them lying
In the floor without the soul, just the tiny bodies
The little girl used to break down in tears of pain.

One day her mother saw her crying
Strings of pearl rolling down rosy cheeks.
Knowing the reason she gently hugged her,
and told her we cant own every thing we love

“Child, there are free spirits, not meant for chains.
Spirits like them are most beautiful ones
Everyone craves to own them as their own
But they wither away at the touch of chains.”

“My darling daughter, if you truly love some one,
hope what is best for him, what keeps him out of harm.
Don’t force your desire on him, let him fly to blue heaven
Let him live, love, relish and nurture his freedom.”

Celebration of womanhood

After passing almost forty years in India as a woman, I really have started to believe that women are not much welcome in this country. If they go by the rulebooks of the society she has to face one set of problems and if that woman has her own existence, personality and lifestyle she has to face another set of problems.

I belong to the latter category, so I can share my view, ever since my childhood I was head strong about independence, I believed in living life according to my own terms and conditions, of course, I lived a life which according to my eyes was honest, well mannered, pure and justified. But not to others I guess, so they kept on pointing me out that I am wrong and the society is right, till the date I turned a deaf ear to them, and after seeing the condition of the obedient disciples I am happy about my decisions, my observations say only one thing, just the colour and shape of the chain changes, the society just wants to wear women chain they select them to wear. It will be finalized by a bunch of people how you will walk, how you will talk, what will you eat, drink, who will you mix with, a bunch of people who don’t care about your pain and happiness, your existence and non existence. No matter whether you have been obedient or disobedient, they wont be around you when you need them, but they will always be around to point out your mistakes or brand your normal behaviour as mistake. So I think I was smart being disobedient. Because by being disobedient I am atleast enjoying my independence and the joys related to it.

When I first learnt to ride a bicycle, all eyebrows shot up, I had wanderlust, I just loved to ride my bicycle every morning for miles, now, that’s not appropriate for young ladies of small town, hence I used to hear cat calls, then there was another provocation from my end, I used to wear jeans, and learnt karate, so, I had a bunch of admirers who were pretty confused about my gender and used to call me a man dressing up as a woman because I dared to trespass in their so called territorry. The third and final provocation was the decision of staying single, this is the decision which I have earned most dearly, the type of remarks I have heard or harassments I have been through have made me even more happier that I have chosen to stay independent, and have not let people drag me into a relationship with some one who doesnot respects a woman as a human being.

After reaching the point, when no remark can make much impact on me, I feel amused, amused about the obsession of human beings in controlling other people’s live. Why do people do that I will never understand, because I always believed in independence. But one thing is for sure, I do respect middle class women who have the courage of standing their ground and facing the wrath of the society. By joining odd professions, by living their own honest but independent lifestyle. The confidence on their face makes me happy, they are achieving for some thing which we initiated.