FAILURE HURTS

It is certainly some nightmare

That wants you to be aware

That you surely need to stop and stare

The small things of life layer by layer.

It's like getting a terrible electric shock.

You know you have something but unable to rock.

It's arduous to tread the new path block by block

When you feel that everyone is there to mock.

It is a pus that bestows an unbearable pain.

Day by day it simply becomes hard to regain

The sanity that is required to peacefully sustain

In this worldly realm and to have less strain.

It is as if some vehicle rashly runs into you.

And you are dead before you think to do

Something so that your life may continue.

Alas! There is hardly anyone at your rescue.

It is as if you are suffering from deep burns within.

You constantly feel that you have committed some sin.

You surrender yourself to your traumatic chagrin.

Gradually, this becomes your so-called daily routine.

I know the above comparisons seem eerie.

But truly failures fall on us like a catastrophe.

It never matters whether we are free or busy

To accept these failures in life's journey.

People may say," Failures are stepping stones to success."

But they will be the first ones to laugh at your helplessness.

And if perchance some day you progress,

They will again blow their fife of "Failures ...to success".

But listening such quotes hardly matters

When the courage within deeply shatters

And our reputation simply gets in tatters.

Failure makes us forget our manners.

I am not here to preach some thought

About failures, seclusion or becoming rot.

We all have our own failure to think about

And our own ways to remove the failure blot.

And those who have been lucky enough

That they never faced any failure so rough.

For them, I say," Salute to you but don't rebuff

Those failures who have experienced so tough.

Who knows one day you may need their advice?

You never know when life may give a surprise.

You have your own brain to self-analyse.

It's just that failure hurts and not all failures are unwise."

---------------------------------------------------------©Radhika Gupta(August 23,2018)

THE TRAIN AND ME ( 1 )

That day was about the train and me.

My mind completely went awry.

I didn't think what would follow next.

I didn't know what would be the best.

"DREAMS". Oh! I had forgotten them.

Was it some sort of absenteeism?

Maybe I was right and maybe not.

I looked calm but my mind did shout.

It was compelling for exploring more.

But I was destined to land at platform number four.

What if I had chosen not to land there?

What if I had decided to move elsewhere?

It would have been a new adventure.

Maybe not with much pleasure or splendour.

At least I would have been free.

Away from what all expect from me.

Away from parameters of success and failure.

Away from faces that just seem familiar.

But plans shifted when I looked outside the window.

There was a peacock dancing as if saying "Hello".

It was surrounded with greenery and babies.

But the young ones were of some other species.

Any other peacock was not to be seen.

My senses were indulged in observing this scene.

The peacock was alone in a way yet comfortable.

Unlike my mind, it was absolutely stable.

It was cherishing the present moment and dancing

As if teaching me the art of self-romancing.

It's not bad to be unique or judged everywhere.

Neither it's bad to wish for a change of air.

Life's train will keep on moving with certain halts.

On our journey, we may face some jolts.

What matters the most is rejoicing like that peacock.

Even if we are unable to rock or suffering from a shock.

Haha! To fulfil our duties when we can't think any more,

It's sometimes better to land at platform number four.

---------------------------------------------------------©Radhika Gupta(August 19,2018)

STRANGER TURNED CHAT FRIEND

I chatted with a stranger that day.

Was it a mistake that I did?

I don't know what came over me that day.

I still think I was completely stupid.

Earlier, I had some principles.

I broke them on my own.

Though they were my own rules

Yet they were simply blown.

It was absolutely strange for me

That I was doing something like that.

Some intellectuals will probably say,

"What's a big deal in having a normal chat?"

Well! When something is done for the first time,

Things are certainly different for the doer.

Moreover, he was totally unknown.

For me, he was just a stranger.

Now, don't look at me with contempt and scorn

For chatting with someone whom I never knew.

Even if for once in a lifetime, at that moment,

I wholeheartedly wanted to commit a mistake too.

Haha! My whole life has been a rule-dictionary.

I was surely a good rule-following girl.

I still don't know if it was the goodness in me

Or some obscure fear of a high level.

Fear was somewhat less.

It was respect for elders that I had.

For any dreary mistake of mine,

I didn't want them to get mad or sad.

So, I decided to restrain my playfulness

To avoid the company of bad children.

But somewhere deep inside my pure soul,

There was always a whimsical child hidden.

I devoted myself just to my studies

To stay away from futile distractions.

Anything else hardly mattered to me.

I was far away from fashion or shitty attractions.

Oh!When you get habitual of repeating something,

You tend to become what you practice.

My face and personality seemed sombre.

I turned into a good con artist, I guess.

Now, when I ponder upon those vague chats,

I don't see them as some horrible mistake.

But, always at the back of my mind,

The memories of past incessantly ache.

This stranger seems a good friend now.

I hope this friendship never changes.

I don't expect anything else from him.

I hope he respects friendship's ranges.

God forbid if he fails in keeping this friendship,

I will consider it to be my first jolly mistake.

I know I will be dejected and forlorn for a while.

At least I will be content for not being fake.

I won't be meeting this stranger ever in my life

For it was one of my conditions to be his friend.

I genuinely don't wish for any chaos anymore.

I am happy being just a "STRANGER TURNED CHAT FRIEND".

--------------------------------------------------------------------------©Radhika Gupta(August 5,2018)