Denied all nature's beauties
Deprived of all simple joys
Condemned to hear cell phone beeps
Instead of chirping of birds
Surrounded by plastic flowers and wall papers
(No place to grow plants)
Forbidden to open the windows
(Room is air-conditioned and so much dust outside)
Never get a chance to walk
( Who wants to walk? Roads are filthy)
Go to school in an auto packed like sardines
Or run for an over-crowded bus
No time to play
(Where is the ground anyway?)
Glued to TV sets
(Multiple channels offering maddening stuff)
Or else buried in books
( Lots of homework, weekly tests, competetive exams)
Sagging shoulders (thanks to bookloads)
Sunken cheeks (no time to eat breakfast)
Or bulging bellies (junk food does the trick)
But no healthy muscle
Never learn music or art
Except gyrating to pop or rap
No conversational skills
Out to dominate and bully
Or cow down peevishly
Know no values other than money
Read no classics nor poems
Seek petty thrills in birthday bashes
And once -in-a-while picnic parties
(Hyderabad) (September 07, '09)
Then how is it that an urban child, you(I suppose so) , write such beautiful poetry...? nice reading
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
a shift in priorities and attitudes has taken away the simple joys of childhood..very well expressed.... please read and rate my short 'innocent dead' 'a proverb wasted' 'a love that never spoke'