words that matter.

The wind was not cold but cold enough to put “the college” hoodie on all of us. We continued walking towards night canteen. I had a tough choice ahead double cheese Maggi or BBC (dish at our night canteen).   Meanwhile a scent kept distracting my decision making. So I sniffed around and it was him. I looked into his eyes only to see him chuckling.   The next one year in campus carried this brand’s fragrance in its air. A year back, I met a friend. He had a peculiar smell coming from his shirt. Since he was a good friend. I decided to be brutally honest with him. He couldn’t agree to the fact that the smell was pathetic. The reason being back in his college a girl told him he smells great. She even asked if he had custom made perfume for him.   I know what she was doing. My friend took it rather seriously. Anyways I have convinced him but still once in a blue moon he thinks she really meant it. I guess this could be the only reason why men’s section have overtaken...

Dined well, Dined what? These days when I pick my phone to order food. It gets me thinking how convenient ordering and eating has become. I can track my food at every instance, but if you think deep. We have no idea where the food is coming from, we have no idea where it was grown, what pesticides and fertilizers were used. The tracking which was so easy, in reality was not that easy.   Remember, scanning all the shelves of supermarket and then picking up the perfect healthy packaged food. We think it is healthy because the packaging screams healthy. Have you ever looked at each ingredient and bought that without even understanding what these ingredients are? I have done that, multiple times.   When you look at ingredients section, you see words like permitted preservatives, artificial flavouring added. Then there are some big chemical names, of what I recall weren’t present in my chemistry textbook. Do we know what they really mean? How will they affect us? At that...

Lucky you!                I had a long day at work. I go back home turn on the TV and they talk. They talk about war, unemployment, naxalism, corruption and poverty. Such a sad world!  I don’t have to carry the weight of the world on my shoulders. I possibly don’t have time to think about 1 billion people who might have to sleep hungry tonight. I deserve a hot delicious meal after a tiring day like this. We have created institutions and governments who promise to fight the battle on our behalf. One such institution which I adored was World Bank.   They define “extreme poverty” as living on less than $1.90 per person per day. Don’t worry, they are equipped to fight this battle. This is their millennium development goal.   One of the way, they tell us, we have to open up our markets believe in free enterprise and welcome capitalism. They say capitalism is the cure, it pulled millions of peop...

Today, this moment is quite perfect! And if you ask me to describe how I feel. I would probably put it like this. I am driving the best car mankind has ever made. At front seat i have Don McLean singing for me. I have Eric Clapton at the back seat with guitar. I look out of window to feel the wind gushing through my face. The earthy scent after the rain is mesmerising me.  The pluviophile inside is loving the drizzle. Lush green mountains are spanning through horizon. Sun is hiding behind shapeless clouds. It's quite perfect! The bags that weighed me down just fell on the road. This time i didn't pull over to pick them again. Looks like I have hit the awaited highway! The ride has a meaning only known to me and those who can decrypt my songs. There is peace in my heart All that I am losing and finding in this ride. What an adventurous ride it has been uphill, downhill and uphill again. I would lie if I were to say I was not scared. The people I pulled ov...

Where time precedes everything, everyone! Where no one cares about where you come from, All that matters is where you are going. Where emotions fell little short, And buildings went a little too tall Where there was less of judgement, More of realisations.  Where we all run and run faster, Than mind processes and heart pumps. Where the lights are bright, Brighter than eyes could take Where the highway leads nowhere. Somewhere, only if you enjoy the ride Where all I know about you, Is you are a dream chaser! It’s the sweet, sweaty smell of hope It’s the smell of salt in the air It’s the smell of shrines and temples! It’s the feeling of standing on the tallest building With the wind gushing against, With the thrill of making it big! A city drenched in emotions A city that turns illusions into reality A city that thrives on vada pav A city that lets you be!          ...

The enigma that you are, You will never fit anywhere and that’s your beauty! The hunger that you are, You will never stop anywhere and that’s your drive! The imagination that you are, You will carry your canvas everywhere and that’s your power!

Crowned The day she felt his touch, She felt their shallowness. For every time he lied, His touch said it all. He would crave for her body, And not her stories. She was broken yet so enough, He was unable to carry it. She was the warmest place he knew, She hoped someday he would be the same. She was too much shine to go unnoticed, Tenderness and strength all in one So he entered with a plan. When all the belittling didn’t work, And she still talked about the miracles. He felt less of a man with her. Darling, do not shrink Girl, go and grow You are in the process of being crowned In exchange of the venom he left.

 Lines choke her heart as she doesn’t know where he started and how they began. She remembered their conversation, with every pause that he took she felt a little more drawn to him. She was a drizzle and he was a hurricane, what they had could never be explained. Whatever element her soul was made of his was utterly different. Her soul would want a sneak peek into his soul to unravel the irrationality of her emotions. Her rules had been the same over the years, with him around she just played with the heart. They were half-heartedly fighting for something they could have but sanity made them choose not to!    They were fighting for them, for the one last time. His eyes could keep her alive for another century, how she chose to look away.  Life moved on. She would smile thinking they still breathe in the same world! As she wishes him good bye, deep down she prays their paths to cross again.  She will bury her soul, a soul which adamantly...

Into the rain she stepped To hide the tears To hide the tears. For she could not say For what he would never know. The smell of her man, Diffused in the rain Lingered as she wandered. Unlike rain, She was afraid of falling. For he would be gone She would be lone. She was a drizzle He was a hurricane And all they had was a thunder. The rain will know Their incomplete story. She will drench herself To wash away him from her. As he walks away, Ignorant as always. Into the rain she stepped To hide the tears To hide the tears.                                         

For You For  you wanted to climb the hills And she wanted to live by the sea. For you were a mystery And knew all her story. For you were a questionnaire And she was a bunch of answers. For when you looked into her eyes, Her heart would whisper What the mind could not decipher. For she knew the vulnerability Of falling freely. For she will keep the lights dingy, And you will never see her eyes gloomy. For you would think she never cared, How good veronica pretended? For all that you cover Its time you uncover For the last time Before you walk away Let her see the real you Engross in the real you And, detach from the real you.                                                              Prerna Mishra 

Dear Veronica, only if the chaos, inside you sleeps. only if the bawl, inside you calms. only if  your judgmental eyes, loses its scrutiny. only if you unfasten, what chokes the vent. will you unwrap, the real you. The heart will blindly seek, for what it has set for let it be, set it free veronica! for you were born to soar!                                                       Prerna Mishra

Destined to Sojourn And I know you will leave.. For you are destined to sojourn The dark tunnel that I travel, With inmates that I wander, Sullen rubrics all over the the wall. And I feel you Like the fresh breeze, In the summer afternoon. Like a guiding light, In the dusky bridge. Like a known, In unknown. Some odd day, I wonder I seek I beseech To unravel you. And I quit I quit to unravel you. I embrace to cherish, Your ephemerality.                                                                                                                   Prerna Mishra 

ONE Plethora of plans Divers desires One dream Polychromatic perceptions Various versions One truth Assorted acquaintances A few friends One love Umpteen undone Recherché reasons One life Fifteen fiascos Two triumphs One lesson

Veronica, try and teach me someday!  Come back veronica I miss the real you. You as I see today, an untrue mortal! The girl who was on her voyage, voyage of dreams, has deferred her dreams and changed her route.  I cry, all night but you never answer my questions. Why do you lie to yourself, veronica?  You were different; you carried a heart that wished change! On the way you changed, you are now just a part of crowd. Money reigns supremacy, buy peace if you can veronica, buy for me too! Ooh veronica, I am at loss of words, I see you depart from yourself. How I wish, you could still listen to your calling! You could stand against the treacherous world but you chose to adjourn it. Veronica, I hope with all that worldly pleasure you have, you also have a good night sleep. Buy good decisions veronica, you need them. May be you are right veronica, this is the way you will find yourself again, for the final time without an iota of doubt. It is only after elimination t...

Girl, Go & Grow She chose the burning road, the different air, the puzzle that no one dares! I hear the reason they throw at you- “girls can’t”, “get back home”, “time up”. I know the reason you tell yourself. I don’t feel your pain but your passion roars telling its story. She crawls, walks, runs, falls, but refuses to stop. She embraces the pain. That girl goes and grows through pain. Friends, she doesn’t have them. she knew it would be a deserted path. Ordinary girl, no extraordinary skill set, but dreams. She runs forward, detaching herself from this breed. Breaking the chains, she reaches out to new horizon. Through that sceptic glasses, the world would never see the real her. Of all the persons, I met on earth. She is the craziest of the bunch. She is restless and persistent She is weak and strong She is frightened and is fighting. I watch her on battle field, to find whose reason will win, to know how long hope kept her heart beating, to feel he...

Through glitzy aisle                                                                Prerna Mishra Ooh! Yes I see it, Confounded and stupefied. I see the passion, That got lost, Staggers through glitzy aisle. I implore, not all Just a quarter of it, For sorority. For I am scared of this race Who says “nuclear weapons for peace”! Who believes earth will soak all, All its treacherous deeds! Who says “freedom”! But will decimate In the name of Religion and gender. Who feels the heat Albeit, says “what climate change”? Who disdains at blight of poverty Rationalizing it as “fate”! Yes I see it, Confounded and stupefied As it staggers...

It’s just us….                                                                                                               Prerna Mishra From the fear of losing, from the fear of being laughed at, from the fear of rising higher than acquaintances. Today burn this, for it does not allow me to walk with me. I have had good days and bad days. I have had questions at the end of the day no body answered. I have cried among deaf people and smiled among blind people. Mondays I let the problem win over and other days I won. Walking with nothing that is my, yet I felt everything is for me. Travelling with closed eyes seemed an overwhelming idea to me. Let me never acknowledge what has gone wrong, there...

Clap for me Mr. celebrity                                                                           Prerna Mishra  Reality shows, thank you. No not you big boss, this is for shows like India’s got talent, Indian idol, Dance India dance and shows like this.  Glued to bed, totally in control of idiot box.  A bunch of kids who said, they don’t have money to buy clothes and so painted their body for the performance. Many don’t go to school saying ‘ hasiyat nai hai hamare’. I waited to see the act and was awe-struck. They were flying, yes they were!       Now as the three celebrities stand and clap, kids have tears in their eyes. They have a big yes from judges. And, I think to myself now people around them will rate these kids as talented, if they...

Beautiful is not always stable… Beautiful and as I say this word, something must strike your mind. Be it nature, love, family and friends. what makes these things beautiful are that they are forever. Beauty as I thought is pleasing, soothing, mesmerizing and of course stable.  As I try and delve this feeling of beautiful. I find myself hanging in the sky. All things I thought to be beautiful have changed. I remember how badly I wanted some things in my life to stay just the same forever, but it changed. Everything changed. All the time I connected these two words beauty and stability, I thought this is it! ooh such a naive I was! Stability is a lie. Nothing is stable. I am changing, the syllabus in my school is changing, relationship status is changing, and even the mountains are shifting. Perhaps no body is at rest. Confused, I realized only change is constant.  This acceptance was hard!  For a girl, who has changed her school every 5 years, ma...

Blow the trumpet Let it not be dust in the wind, When I look back. Thou speak in clichés Fiddling with violin. How shalt thou appraise? Tears and smile. For astray eyes Are after, Trumpet it can blow out deafening. Shimmering lights, Enclosed the pastures. Lights born out of Papers will fade away. Search, struggle and shout It’s not over until I win.