A song unsung

Way too small, way too light, 
Like a little feather floating against the winds' might. 
Out too soon to face the wrath of the world, 
When rather he'd be in the womb safe and curled. 


Why did he hurry, he doesn't understand 
Impatience maybe, a will to withstand. 
His existence, a question, unanswered remains, 
Striving for life as his faint breathing strains. 


A fleet of white rush trying to revive, letting the air rush in, 
A firm mind, yet a frail heart beating within. 
He squeals and cries realizing his mistake. 
Out too early leaving his life at stake. 


A warm tear falls on him from the soft eyes above, 
A short stint of life, a creation of love, 
In his mothers' arms he drifts into an endless sleep 
Like an unsown seed yet to reap. 


Warm tears trickle down her cheek, 
Slowly making its way right from the peak. 
All her dreams in a moment crashing away, 
Conveying to all what no words could say. 


Her beautiful song remained unsung....

Footprints

They led,

deep into the woods,
dark and beckoning.
Thatched cottage
at the far distance,
a lamp, dim and flickering.
The air still damp,
from a storm’s end.
Sludge, moss and green foliage,
the footprints, beneath
just barely visible.
Fear gripped the edge
of my pounding heart
thundering like a drumroll
in the stillness of the dark.
The cold sweat
framed the sides of my face.
Gasps, short and quick
with every forefoot
increasing its pace.
My trembling fingers
reached for the rusted handle…

The devilish eyes,
devoured her every move,
waiting for that moment
to rip out her soul…

MISSING, read the news
Many a day later
No trace, no witnesses,
Plenty of rumours & muse
Meanwhile,
prints of her fingers,
on the rusty handle.
The air reeking of blood,
deep in the wood, lingers.

I bottled up the sea & sky

I bottled up the sea and sky,

an enchantment cast upon my eye.
I held the bottle close to my chest,
some jealous eye steal it from me, lest.

Hazy reddish orange hue,
lazy clouds strewn across the blue.
Against the glassy edge the waves lashed,
foaming lather, bubbles as it repeatedly crashed.

In its magic, I was swallowed.
The lashing waves, my mind followed.
The spray and scent of the sea,
was all that I ever wanted to see.

I sat like a madman in possession,
with no sense of time or emotion.
My grey beard, trailing down to the floor,
my ears deaf to the knocks on my door.

‘Fool! It’s not all yours’, he said.
Like a thunderbolt, his voice, jolted my head,
‘too long you have sat, selfish with that bottle
an entire life wasted at its throttle’.

When overcome by desires,
you lose that which is real.
Your existence in an imaginary world,
static, sublime and surreal.

He upturned my bottle,
letting the sea and sky flow,
filling the entire world
with a mesmerizing glow.

He turned, smiled at me and said,

‘Child, now you will see all the difference,
a life, only then fulfilled, hence’…

Soul Sounds

The deathly silence hangs like moisture in the air.
Its' presence, not felt but in-evidently there.
The solitude scintillates a spark somewhere deep within,
piercing through my transparency, my flesh, my skin.
And the world around me lights up by this minuscule spark

radiating in all glory, with an ironical clarity.
Things i thought were not meant to be
were now lost in the non existent shadows of my previous self.

NTU, A Way of Life

University life is the time when each one of us is technically a grown up but still a small step away from becoming financially independent and having a lot of responsibilities. It is an adept combination of fun filled school life and the more disciplined work life, quite nicely sandwiched between the two.

Nanyang Technological University is much more than just a university to me. It is my identity, my home, where I entered driven by my ambition and dreams, met with a lot of pitfalls, learnt to cope with it and move forward without looking back. Now, in my third year, when I reflect back, a lot of memories flash past. The initial denial phase of homesickness, then starting to adapt myself to the new lifestyle, lacking the seriousness and having a more playful attitude to my new found freedom, a consequential lousy GPA, all together marked my first year. Second year unleashed itself thrusting on my face the importance of ECA, yes, extra-curricular activities in capitals. The first few weeks of ‘squatting’ and feeling similar to an illegal immigrant, the more specialized curriculum, the futile attempts in being cool and not nerdy, falling in love, tasting the first ripples of being in a relationship, immersing in culinary experiments, working harder and more seriously but still not enough, and before I knew it I landed up in third year. With all this experience, I have finally mastered what not to do in NTU, and trust me, it is quite an achievement.

Every small experience, however insignificant has something to convey, something to teach.  Most of the learning actually happens outside the classroom. Being in Aerospace engineering, one of the more challenging courses in NTU, self-study is extremely essential. To look up into reference books to clarify foggy concepts taught in class, to be regular in assignments, to never attempt without understanding, to always ask why, to always take a step further brings us  a step closer to setting everything straight, something which I haven’t paid too much attention to all through schooling. And that which matters the most, is to never give up. As a person, NTU has made me a tougher nut to crack in the emotional angle and a more level headed person who takes everything that comes their way as it is, giving me a more neutral perspective rather than swinging between extremes of joy and sadness.

I gradually trudge towards the day I get a B.Eng. sitting heavily and proudly after my name, it reminds me that it will not be just a degree, but four years’ worth of reminiscences, the sweat and turmoil, all etched into those two initials. 

Dark Bends, Dead Ends

There I stood, beside a frozen lake

An unexplained fear, a remote ache

An irony of white enveloping the darkness of my mind,

The icy chill trying to suck away the little warmth left behind.

The frost pierced my skin,

like pointy needles on a soft cushion.

The numbness wrapping around me like an armour,

Unfathomable, strong and silver.

All of a sudden everything seemed less human.

The love, my life, a purpose, all forgotten.

Surreal, sublime and subtle the world appeared.

Not one thing did matter, no love, no hatred.

Invincible I felt, with my new found weaponry.

Neither thought nor emotion evading against me.

A monster, not ashamed, unabashed, into, I transformed.

A stone hearted splendour, neither living nor dead.

And the sun did rise, not too bright, not too mellow.

Reflecting from the snow, blinding, warm and yellow.

Melting away the armour I had painstakingly created.

The blood pulsating through my veins, leaving me liberated.

'And the shadow of the day, embraced the world in grey.' - Linkin Park

An Eternal Company, A Pair Meant To Be

She, a dusky doe eyed beauty,
One glance, wiping away with it all the sanity
The beholder, lost in her cascading black curls,
The whites of the jasmine peeping amidst the swirls,
Like a cluster of stars, in the blackness of the galaxy
An enchantment cast upon him, a nymph, so heavenly.

And he, no less a Greek Godly resemblance,
The twinkle in his eye, so mischievous, yet dosed with innocence,
A nose so sharp, seeming sculpted to perfection
But her sight, made him wonder if this was reality or a faction of his imagination

And so began this love story
With its sinusoids of joy, pain & futuristic mystery.
Together, was their strength, such a formidable pair
facing every challenge and obstacle, without despair.

It could have all been by chance, destiny, maybe,
Two halves, separately, but together, a whole, meant to be.
A relation that stands strong, fed by some inner strength within.
Not time, tide, distance or compromise could have broken.

An eternal and divine relation,
In its 25th year of celebration !

A dedication for my parent's wedding anniversary.