One Life And A million And One Challenges. Poem by Anjali V S

I Remember…

I remember how I slept in my history class,
I remember how I abhorred math class,
I remember how I was curious in science class,
I remember how emotional I was in literature class,
I remember how clumsy I was in lab hours.
I remember breaking a Pipette and Burette.
I remember always being late to class.
I remember how I absconded seeing my principal
in the class corridor.
I remember being ridiculed for eating my lunch with spoon.
I remember how I was called The Serious Person in the Class.
I remember all my funny names that you called me.
I remember the greeting card you gave me.
I remember being someone's Christmas friend.
I remember fighting with my father.
I remember getting beaten by my parents.
I remember how I bunked the March Past
acting as if I was on my period.
I remember how I repelled going school.
I remember how I frolicked with my cousins.
I remember my grandfather's tree underneath
I spent my downtime, relaxing, growing, telling stories…
I remember all my teacher's (the good ones and the bad one's) .
I remember being asked to stand outside the class
for not listening to my class teacher.
I remember wanting to move out of my village.
I remember making my first speech on a social issue at my college.
I remember how anxious and jittery I felt back then.
I remember thinking about my future
blossoming like a late bloomer.
I remember floating like a hyacinth without a direction.
I remember being misunderstood by the people I loved once.
I remember being called a bad girl for my bad behaviour.
I remember being at Delhi.
I remember being called a prostitute. I remember acting weird.
I remember when prayers did not work in favour of me.
I remember those sleepless nights where I burnt the midnight oil.
I remember being named myself a Laggard.
I remember my gay friend who treated me like shit.
I remember being cheated and betrayed like Caesar.
I remember staring at the same roof feeling empty.
I remember how my clothes tore while I travelled.
I remember how I felt victimized by my friends.
I remember those scheming Soorpanaka's and lusty Ravana's.
I remember how people lost trust in me.
I remember how I became an invalid like Gregor Samsa.
I remember how I was striped naked just like fallen Germania.
I remember how Blue Whale took many lives.
I remember going to hospital.
I remember feeling guilty for betraying him.
I remember being Yudhishthira having lost the game.
I remember feeling like Icarus.
I remember when our PM banned notes out of the blue.
I remember how I stood at the ATM patiently to withdraw money.
I remember how I stared at the 10 ‘O' clock plant from my coaching center
I remember being hit by extreme sadness.
I remember how I wept watching "Under the Greenwood Tree."
I remember wanting to kill my parents.
I remember for not having motivation to live.
I remember hallucinating in the classroom.
I remember being the other in the classroom.
I remember being scolded by my teacher for
bringing chick pea for her in the middle of the class.
I remember how I maintained virtual friends.
I remember living with my void inside.
I remember her who gifted me a handmade greeting card.
I remember being asked which caste I belong to.
I remember being told there is one God.
I remember how I filled my cup by myself.
I remember how I covered all my guilt inside
my giggles and laughter.
I remember going to a yoga class being told by my father
that yoga can cure HIV - AIDS.
I remember wanting to do mass killing.
I remember being helpless and stressed with no exit.
I remember reading Bhagavat Gita.
I remember reading the poem Brahma.
I remember my astrologist stating I will face delays
in everything and anything.
I remember being told by an IAS officer cum Astrologer
that I have a bright future.
I remember just like Priyanka Chopra in the movie Fashion.
I remember the #Metoo movement like a tide of the sea.
I remember how I cannot be that old carefree me.
I remember when I realized that I was literally and figuratively stuck in a rut.
I remember how I mourned the death of my old me.
Now I can quote confidently what Shakespeare said about life.
"Life is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing."