The Soulmates

They clung to each other,
the boy hiding the girl
trying to protect her,
from the stones being hurled at them.

The stormy sea roared below,
lightning thundered the night sky ,
darkness seemed to swallow them.
They stood on the cliff,
while the mob surrounded them.

The villagers  shouted and jeered
“Jump you wretched ones, jump!!”
“How dare you defy the social norms,
you are not meant to be together”.

They looked each other
and smiled, pitying the villagers
“Alas!! They don’t know love,
they don’t know they have wings”
and then they jumped,
not to fall but to fly .

The way things were

A response to the Daily Prompt …..   Let It Be

A restaurant that removed your favorite item from the menu, a bad cover of a great song… Write a post about something that should’ve been left untouched, but wasn’t.Why was the original better?


My mother often talks about how things were when she was a child . The glimmer that I see in her eyes at that moment leaves me wondering if the era of modernisation has really done us any good when it comes to humanity , to compassion or have we all completely forgotten our roots . Do we need to go back and learn the lessons of solidarity from our elders?????

She grew up in a joint family and being landlords they resided in havelis that spread over acres of land. During festivals neighbour cum relatives vied with each other  , each one of them putting up his best decorations. Festive processions , gatherings , music and dance used to go on for the whole night .They had ample time on their hands to go knocking at the neighbour’s door, to sit together and discuss all that mattered, to find out if others are doing well too . There was a sense of unity , a feeling that you are secure ,that someone other than your close ones looks out for you too.

A lot has changed now …..modernisation happened …people moved to towns forsaking their roots in search of better lives.But the question is, are we happy or more content with our lives than the people back then or have the multiple deadlines and desires left us with no space to think of someone else.

The centuries old  havelis now lie in ruins. Most of them have been replaced by new constructions. But among the few that are left ,you can still see the detailed architecture ,the hand-painted ceilings the beautifully carved window frames and doors. The havelis still tell their magnificent story of wonderful times when a colony was not one of families but a family itself.