My Mother's Kitchen

                               

Fruity smell, highly fumed,

Flames on, smell adorns,

Chopping sound, spices abound,

A place which seems to me like hell

that I sometimes feel to yell.

Awaken from sleep, room filled with a sweet essence,

causing a tickle in my nose,

I could feel her presence,

Someone so dear, generous and loving,

Trying her hands out

Where else but her own kitchen.

She cooked my favourite dish,

My watering mouth, demanding for more,

her wonderful dishes are a perfect cure that

I wish the plate never ends.

What makes her food so delectable and 

surprising me with every bit filled in my mouth,

I don't know!

Perhaps not just the flavours, but her love for us,

her pure heart and soul, all blended in one,

makes for the taste.

She being clad in a white apron, 

desperately tries to merge all colours,

making her food look more wholesome and refined,

I sometimes title her a 'mom chef',

Her role being so divine.

Your dishes I would cherish throughout,

All that earns you a name,

My dear mother.

I wish that my strong aversion towards kitchen

turns into an inclination,

With you as my inspiration.

My mother.

It is the love for your food that drives me even closer;

But with you as my hearty companion, 

why would my dreams vault for a closure, 

with your hands always shaping my thoughts as boulders!

- Shivani Priyam

                                                                                   

The New Women: Technological Hysteria

Hi pals! I guess you don't know me. But I can call myself an earnest writer duly inspired by the changing environment in a not so changing societal set-up. Any of us not appeased by the wonders of Science must be labeled.. so to say. But don't you worry. I am not going to dictate a long essay on the advantages of Science, for sure. Instead, I would like you to ponder upon the ways technocratic compulsions have brought forth, not only in the lives of the tech giants but an ordinary individual in a common environmental setting. Neither of us can deny the large and proliferating yet distinct roles women are to play in consonance with their counterparts in a modern complex society.

Though I may not sound pleasant to the 'selective' few who are overshadowed with their false prejudices and egocentric views, but the reality itself is evident enough. From the later Vedic Age to the present era, women have changed their status from mere sufferers to ardent workers. They have slowly creeped into the domains previously occupied by men. Using education as a tool, they have shaped themselves up as a stronger identity. From serving the borders to regulating the traffic; from successful cardiac surgeons to eminent scientists and engineers, they have shone in every aspect. Women being self portrayals of beauty and elegance have excelled in their brains too. Now it seems that it's no longer the beauty which is solely appreciated but beauty with a wonderful mind and unflagging enthusiasm is the one which is credible. Valid enough??

Now, let us have an example of an entrepreneurial setting where women have undoubtedly displayed their excellent management skills and effective coping mechanisms. From the top rung CEOs to bank managers, they have made sense of the economic parameters and monetary policies required to flag up the growth. As microbiologists, they have made extensive research on the phenomena of life. As scientists, they have made headway to Mars!! Quite evident.

Looking at their private and professional lives, they are multiple runners caught in the web of 'role-conflict' as a caretaker on one hand and a manager on the other. Yet their profound duties seem unending. On the flip-side of it is the wide held discrepancy between the salaries and perks paid to women as compared to their male counterparts in certain organized and unorganized sectors. This is the grim reality which women still have to bear the brunt of. Gender inequality, to be precise, is like a cancerous tissue which in-spite of repeated treatments reveals itself in small yet visible ways. To a selective few, who are unwilling to reprimand and amend, authenticating the basis of women as 'secondary beings' seem to be desirable in their eyes. They take pride in their masculine valor and are unhesitatingly ahead of hurling negative comments with the intention to cool and deaden the high spirits of women who want to act as 'change-makers'.

But the real test of strength lies not in the ability to conquer using muscle power, but in the ability to use one's wisdom and virtues in a required way. Now, is it not wondrous that even after seventy-three long years of our Independence, it is here we stood up in granting equal rights and adequate behavior to our women? A lot has changed, of course, but women throughout the world are still vying for equal treatment. Their capabilities need to be undoubted and support strengthened to pull them towards even higher levels, acceptable, right??

As true educators and knowledge-seekers, we ought to realise the fact that genetically and biologically, a female foetus has a better chance of survival at birth owing to high resistance and considering their mental abilities and IQ levels they are not unmatched as compared to the males. In fact, they possess higher tolerance levels and management skills too!!

A true fact. Indeed!

So, it is completely upon us to decide about the true space of women, whether limit them to the domain of fantasies and lustful desires or in a bigger role which they have assigned for themselves.

Now, I think I have created enough credulous beings to debate upon this and willfully, they are ready to go by the notion.


-Shivani Priyam

Birdie O dear birdie!

                                       Birdie O dear birdie!

Cloudless sky,boundless ocean,
Brimming waters in a grim summer,
With roads hollow and lands laid fallow,

People all in haste,with no winds in good taste,

Came a little birdie in search of a shade.

Little did she know her wings to be clipped by a spade..

Trapped in a tall structure with no nurture for 

the poor little creature,

Out she came in search of a shade,

Little did she know her wings to be clipped by a spade..

With houses looming large and big cars strewn up in garage,

With no mercy for the little birdie;

For once she trapped cannot come back,

With glasses sheen and windows clean,

Trapped is the way for a little being.

With no gleam in her eyes,

She cries for her rescue nice,

She looked large, out of the fine glass,

The limitless sky is for what she only wry,

And her only rescue went futile,

Out and out she sang a song of lament,

With the claimants caring only for their older parent,

No one could hear the wonderful song;

She ought to be saved, before it turns too late..

But finally she tries and could escape into 

the limitless sky.

But who are we to care,

For it is only our woes we share,

Little birdie can no longer be glared,

As above she went never to come back again,

And the tall structure laid harmless,

Standing with full delight,

but not for once to hear the birdie's plight!!

- Shivani Priyam

The Dog Ways

                   The Dog Ways

Curvy streets, shanty lanes,

Green trees and the freezing breeze,

Houses wreck at a sudden stretch,

Hills atop but doors never knocked,

Was a place far-far away.

Sounds of rustling leaves,

But no bustling streets;

Once a place so unoccupied,

Seems like a deserted hut,

With roads rarely trot by,

Sounds of howling dogs heard nearby.

With a pale skin and an empty stomach,

Hunger gleaming in the eyes,

Is there no one to hear the dog cries?

Laying astray all day, avenging death,

The dogs are to be pitied upon,

As there is no one for them to care on.

The rich settled in big bungalows,

Are never to hear their cries,

For food available in plenty and for them to survive,

Why would they ever wry?

Somebody passing by, dropped a bit of bread,

And there ran the hungry dogs,

Quarreling for a piece,

Thus tittering all small bits.

Perhaps they have not got a word to speak,

But they too have an air to breathe.

So should we not even once,

Have a look and serve these poor creatures?

For objects found to be abound,

And money enough to be spent,

A bit will not cost you much,

To care for these creatures as such,

and it is finally for we to judge!

- Shivani Priyam

      

Gear Up!

Gear Up ! Go Educate Your Girl Child,

As gentle as a dove,
As pure as an ocean.
Girls are a bounty,
A precious gift from God.
Look into the scene at the hospital,
A tiny little being is brought into life,
For all to invite.
But look at the family’s expression,
It’s one of shock and dejection.
The little one grows up,
She grows to become a wonderful  lady,
Her eyes full of dreams and hopes,
To reach high and thus, touch the sky.
But the reality is dreadful,
That one just can’t imagine.
Opportunity catches hold of those who rush,
But her beautiful dreams are spoilt and crushed,
She gets trapped in between heaven and hell,
How awful it feels,
When you can’t even freshly breathe?

Are the parents to be blamed or the staunch patriarchal mindset to be cursed?
We don't really know!  But our society needs to grow,
and come out of sheer despondency.
Think over it;
As clearly evident, girls can really achieve the big.
She could become the next Kiran Bedi,
Or turn up the next Iron Lady.
If provided opportunity, she would glow and shine,
Thus punishing the evil and all wrong mind.

-Shivani Priyam.

Across the Border

Have you ever been across the border?

See how the clouds in blue surrounding the sky,

The lusty green trees waving high,

See the beautiful mountains adorning the land,

And the breeze flowing by, breaking all strands.

The nature fills us with joy,

Thus anyone would enjoy.

But the opposite is yet to come,

The dark clouds ravaged the sky,

There are wild creatures living by,

Showing the voracity for human life,

Being satisfied only by killing all lives.

I wonder how a land can be so cruel,

The terror spreading awful beings, being so gruesome.

The nation being the worst enemies, and

the poor soldiers suffering the attacks,

Dying for their nation’s sake,

To make us smile and embrace! 

Now, one can no longer enjoy the beauty of the land,

As the raucous cries and precious bloods are spilled along the sand.

Aren't these bloods need to be praised, as a precious human life is crushed by a spade;

Should wars and violence gain ultimate momentum

lest the dead turn into phantoms?

One has rightly said;

 It takes a lot of time to construct,

But it takes just a minute to destroy and destruct!

“Let us stand together

  To fight against terror

 and  spread grace through our prayers"

-Shivani Priyam

Shades of Nature

                                                                       Shades of Nature

Opening my eyes,
When I realized,
Nature does nothing in vain.
The fresh breeze refreshes the veins, 
And cures all our pains.
The lusty green trees born to embrace,
The tiny saplings are God’s grace.
In the fields I could see the men working and toiling hard all day,
In the hope of turning wealthy someday.
Tiny toddlers playing with toys,
In the midst of all noise.
Oh, then the alarm rang,
when suddenly my mind went blank
looking out of my window
My eyes couldn’t bear the truth.
The nature and the trees were nowhere around,
It was the buildings that all surround and the harsh honking sound,
Where did the flowers and trees go?
Uh! It was just a dream!
The hectic life abounds us,
People are just in a rush to earn fast bucks.
Can someone really slow down the mad rat race,
Or stop the pace?
Or have sometime to cheer and to embrace.
But my dear friends this is the ultimate reality
Of the human race.

-Shivani Priyam