The Big World Poem by Ravinder Kumar Soni

I had a tough childhood.
My limits prescribed were narrow,
I did not dare to find
Where to the road from my house led.
Only I knew
Towards the North,
I could reach my school,
Across the Pycrofts Road,
Past the Indian Bank branch
On the Big Street
A little distance away
From the Parthasarthi Koil,
And to the South,
To the Vivekananda College,
(Next to the Ramakrishna Mission)
Where I studied after completing school.
I could not venture any further
Except to the Marina Beach in the East
Accompanied by Hamid and Shanmuga
And the New College in the West
Where Ibrahim studied.
It was a closely-knit world,
The big world was not for me.
It opened up after I left Chennai.