Tag: Poem

Posted in Poem

Silence Of The Skin

Posted on by Ruchi Bhardwaj

Recently I had a chance to collaborate with Smriti Gautam on a project with subject that we share a mutual interest for- women and the overpowering emotions.

Here is a glimpse of a very strong emotion- insecurity, that women face often and how they deal with it or choose to live with it.

Artworks by Smriti Gautam

A birth mark that looks a lil’ uncanny
A beauty spot in place revealing which feels funny
Scars from the everyday battle called life
Etched on my skin is my story.
Gazing at the color-
The pensive pigments and frivolous freckles
I see myself from a stranger’s eyes
The eyes with a shattering voice caging me in notions of beauty
Peeping at the mirror- I stand, I quiver, I introspect
A narrative of glory was written only to be trapped in qualms of unfortunate desire
Alas! I cover most of it-
Forging a smile attempting to embrace silence of my skin.

Days, weeks, months and years pass
I question who am I-
I discover many talents and some experiences worth tooting
Only. If only, I had the courage to stand tall with no fear of those wretched eyes and unkind voices
Alas! I stand covering myself in a piece of cloth constantly feeling naked.
The day I break away from the chains of being wanted
The moment I learn to savour my unconventional beauty
That day shall my skin recite the glorious tale of “becoming”
Till then I’ll stumble upon zones beyond comfort wishing to nurture who I am.

A big thanks to Smriti Gautam and all the lovely ladies who shared a piece of themselves and their stories with us.

Posted in Poem

I Now Sleep Well

Posted on by Ruchi Bhardwaj

After ages of tossing and turning on wrong side of an empty bed
Asking myself questions about the world, the crises and vividly my own existence
I lay awake- no more; battling the torments of purposelessness
I lay naked with a blanket of thoughts keeping me warm to spend a peaceful night
No man beside- just tomorrow’s ordeals to make me feel alive.

As the sun rise- I shall embrace new beginnings with dawn
I shall set foot for my journey-
I know of directions, destination yet being anticipated.
After a day’s hardwork- I’ll smile for trying
The food will taste sweeter with flavors of progress
I shall then sleep well- visited by dreams brimming with meaning
Might be nightmares; just a little kind-
For my body shall lay too dog-tired to pay any heed.

Posted in Poem

Why Do We Love?

Posted on by Ruchi Bhardwaj

Exhausted by one, traumatized by another
People are fickle yet they love each other
Are we desperate, needy and alone?
Wait, let’s not set that undertone.

We act fierce; irony- in the interest of life so farce
But isn’t it healing when a friend sees your scars?
People are annoying- with those quarrels and bickering
But isn’t it cozy when a parent listens to your qualms?

People bring drama- chaos muddled in heaps
But why does it hurt when a beloved weeps?
We wish we had never known someone
But why do we tear up to see them leave for a distant land?

Happy curious excited astonished envious, wrath fear sadness confusion jealousy
Emotions too twisted to decipher
Not as layered as a person
Yet here we attempt to unravel each other.

In times of uncertainty
My thoughts being naive- they brim with curiosity
Maybe, maybe I feel and might I even understand
Still- can someone answer my question in words that are clear
Here again I ask- ‘ why is it that we love’?

Posted in People, Poem

A Meal So Scrumptious

Posted on by Ruchi Bhardwaj
Image source: The Japan Times

Not one not two- there stood a queue never-ending
Each one splendid with joy
Holding a spot for the friend beloved-
For a gathering dressed down- a little too rugged
Ushering the loved ones gleaming with joy
What was the occasion! I could only wonder as a passerby.

Curiosity led me to the front of the line
Whilst I heard the intense remarks of a day being gracious
Oh to my surprise! It was a celebration
Oh to my dismay! An ill served meal was the occasion .
Hungry stomachs and tired hearts were being fed
But what happens to the day that comes next?

Coins scarcely managed for a day of survival
Shall now be kept aside for a daughter’s dowry dragged till the law-approved age
Or even better saved for a son’s education
Empowering him to work at a humble position in an office barely fancy-
An upgrade worth aspiring from the startling slums!
With dreams being fuelled- indeed, the meal was scrumptious.

Posted in Poem

I Am Not Superstitious, Touchwood.

Posted on by Ruchi Bhardwaj

Flip flip flop flop, flip and a flop-
The flip-flops on the floor went on quite a toss
Nothing unusual just a pair lying upside down on the floor
As I stare at them trying to decode where all have they been
Appears a friend rushing, she slaps her own face-
A reflex to deviate the quarrel that shall follow
I smirk at the peace bearer for missing out on her lessons in science.

The diva in me stood awake one night
Before dinner I proceed to paint my nails pretty from pale
Cutting them in the right shape- I dare not compromise on the tiny streak of glamour
Click! I cut them off-
Appears my mother horrified, she banters about the disrespect-
A fear masked in the name of disobedience
I pity the tradition for not evolving with time.

Are you afraid of them too?
I asked my grandmother looking at the cat that just passed by
She stood in silence for a while
As I noticed the color black
Appear her words calling the creature demonic-
Waiting to escape the years of bad luck
I sympathize with the feline for the misconstructed symbolism.

I share the day’s details with a man of wisdom
Seeking logic behind actions
Too proud as the one being rational
Bragging about the mind boggling progressions
Appears the thought I shouldn’t have let out-
“I am not superstitious, touchwood”.

Posted in People, Poem

A Family Reunion

Posted on by Ruchi Bhardwaj
Image source: Unknown

Alas! I can’t paint a soiree
With Victorian costumes and gestures that speak of grandiose
The year being twenty-twenty-one,
It’s just four people; and three screens.
Living in time zones with different days and nights
Measuring distance in kilometers- and also miles
Each day they try to stay together
Haha- to no surprise failing miserably.
But tonight it is special
The siblings laugh at their usual banters-
For they have learnt to put away the dullness quite adroitly,
The mother asks them to come back home just like each day-
Not for too long; may be just a visit till new memories are created for her to hold on
But tonight it’s the father who imparts new and the unknown
He sheds a tear of joy
And reveals that he stands tall with pride, acknowledging the two kids who try to now be adults
May be, it is the empty glass of whiskey beside the vacant dinner table
The two children: unaware, awkward and shy-
Gleam for a moment with joy- untill they return to their usual banters and frivolous complaints
The year being twenty-twenty-one
It’s just four people; and three screens-
And a million emotions that timidly scream.

Posted in Poem

As The Age Goes By

Posted on by Ruchi Bhardwaj

Victim of gadgets and networks
Funny, how we think of flowers, trees and birds chirping-
A foliage from mountains and waves from unknown seas drift right across the bittersweet memory lane
Days pass by-
A few with new learnings
A few with breath afresh
A few with just breaths.

Meaning or none; Feelings or some
Time- it doesn’t cease
From bud- to flower- to withered remnants all lost in blink of an eye
We try to heal from “wounds of actions”
Only to find ourselves etched with “scars of experience”
Creations once brimming with youth
Narrations now by voices forever tired
A medley of gallantry: no, I am not certain
A hum of survival: a lullaby before I say the final goodbye.

Posted in Artwork, Poem

Memories I Wish Weren’t Mine

Posted on by Ruchi Bhardwaj

Have you ever been in memories?
No, not in love- that in itself is a bitter ball game
But in memories of someone not for a day or two-
Somehow, managing to take heed for an eternity
Not the same forever
A picture- new and vivid being painted each time
One morning, a flicker of the first kiss
Another night, all the reasons why you walked away
An evening filled with contemplation of who’s, what’s and why’s
A noon in remembrance of all promises made with fingers crossed and heart set free
A dusk of those absurd fairy lights with giggles and laughter
A dawn of tears when we couldn’t stand each other.
Do you ever stop by in someone’s dream?
In nightmares hurting them;
A little more dramatic than reality,
In day dreams- as stories that were never lived.
Do you know? Do you realise?
Somehow I wish they weren’t just mine.

Artwork- Akash Patwal; Poem- Ruchi Bhardwaj.

Posted in Experience, People, Poem

A Man Sleeping On The Road

Posted on by Ruchi Bhardwaj

Wasn’t a morning, neither a night
It was just a noon- a time nobody cares to write with pride
That is when I met him
Rather a glance while he was at rest.
A beggar, a thief or just another vagrant-
Simply I do not know.
I saw a man that just ‘another afternoon’-
A man sleeping on the road,
The penchant for pain was obvious
Hence, I stood there in awe and wonder
No alcohol, just a dirty pillow beneath his dreams
An ugly torn quilt atoning the crimes of that winter wind.
I looked and looked; It was more than a while
Tucked in during the day time
A tiny wound let his head hurt
Did anyone sing him a lullaby?
Did anyone, anyone kiss him good night?
When ire of his destiny started knocking at the door of my empathy-
That is when I decide to get past

I saw the man
Now a chilly night
He still was tucked in, sleeping sound
I stepped towards him
That is when derision mocked life
He still was at rest, but now in peace .

-Ruchi Bhardwaj

Posted in Doodles, Experience, Poem

The House In The Village

Posted on by Ruchi Bhardwaj

After years of dodging; every occasion with a more bitter excuse
Finally came a day when somehow the visit just couldn’t be refused
From far away, that house in village stood still and tall
Now haunted with lifelessness
On inside did it suddenly grow small?
Or was it the memory of it that brimmed with grandeur?
The windows creak
The walls reek
Spiders smile weaving a trap of nostalgia
The garden once full of roses and lemons is now musty;
Haunted by emptiness somehow braved through my grandmother’s beliefs-
Evident by the statue of Shiva I remembered since I could remember;
Survived lessons from my cousins teaching me to play games-
While I stood there being timid, young and shy.

Monkeys in the yard
My aunt’s smirky remarks
Talking to uncles altogether a hurdle-
I knew I never would fit in there,
Now affirmed.
Yet the lullaby from past lingered longer
Singing to me of a wish why did I let go so easy-
So early at an age so tender!
Alas! Now it is too late to return
Only reminscence, what hath been done cannot be undone.