High hopes

High hopes
Originally uploaded by Soumo-Let there be light

The grass was greener
The light was brighter
With friends surrounded
The nights of wonder

....Pink Floyd...

Yes it is the high hopes that are keeping me alive. I have tried to visualize them. The shapes are not clear, the boundaries have not been well defined, and they try to speak softly, more of a whisper at the back of my grey cell. Every time i have asked them to be louder, i want them to be clearer…like a crystal. But just like the shadow of my inner self they end up mocking me, teasing me, i could not decipher the sarcasm beyond their grinning face and i let them munch on my soul.

I become restless, like the passenger getting late for the last train, like the hawkers trying their best to sell off their inventory before the light turns green at the traffic signal, like the prostitute waving the flag of her last symbol of womanhood and yet failing to stretch that piece of fabric to her daughter's feet.

I guess the time is running out, my action still defiant, not ready to sink in with the pre-programmed mechanism of my central nervous system. He is still dictating terms, i have pleaded so many times, helplessly, desperately, trying to find a way out, to get hold of that last breath before sinking. But he is not ready to listen, he starts projecting some faces, some hypothetical illusions of years to come by, inundated with illusionary diagrams and pie charts of its own kind.

It’s high time they need to sort out within themselves; the count of my heartbeat has already given an indication of its number of counts remaining, if not well nourished. It is not meant to beat for some other futile purpose. I am scared, time is running out. That’s why i nowadays bribe my grey cells to seize from their functional work, i get some little space, for some time i can fool around with my system, l can manage to block those unnerving whispers, i can manage to withhold those beams of illusionary projection, because i create my own moments. I inject little doses of dreams in them, the dreams which were mine,the ones i always wanted to be louder and bigger. For a change, they do not laugh at me, on my questionable capabilities.

The grass becomes greener, not the one i have left, but the one yet to be grown…with high hopes.

A tale of two princesses

A tale of two princesses
Originally uploaded by Soumo-Let there be light

The first time I opened my eyes, I saw a palace, that had made place for a mammoth sized cradle , that I was lying in.I listened to the hum of traffic outside and smelt burnt charcoal. My mother,the queen of the palace was busy feeding my older sister while there was food cooking somewhere nearby. And there were people all around, busying themselves to cater to my needs. I believed, life had been generous to me.
The years went by and I grew up to be pretty. My sister and my mother would dote on me all the time. Everything else felt the same,apart from the house that tended to get less and less accommodating for the members of our family .My sister and me waited to go to school. But somehow the wait kept stretching to tumble on a new year everytime. I grew out of my clothes ,which would take a while to get replaced. Sometimes,I would even sleep empty stomach at night and I’d wondered how had everything changed for the worse over time .
My palace,as it happens, is the slum of Jogeswari ,where I stay with my sister and mother.My father had left us for some unknown reason, and to keep our livelihood, my mother sweeps roads and clears dustbins. I have given up the wait ,of going to a school. I am more concerned for our daily bread and butter and I don’t mind begging for it at times.My sister and me wear some old clothes,my mother gets from work and we are always jubilient whenever she does.
I look at the cars whooshing by and rich men and women in pretty clothes and jewellery.I have stopped pondering much over it.Life is different for different people,my mother says. We make a happy family in our own way.This is a tale of us,the two princesses of a world, a bit different than yours.

(This wonderful piece has been written by my friend Urmi. When I saw this photo, taken a while back, this certain thought of two princesses came to my mind spontaneously. She took it over from me and created this palace of thought with her vivid and thought provoking imagination. The result is just what you read.
Have a good day my friend and do not forget to thank all mighty for whatever you have today)