Passion…unbridled

I am among those with a strong conviction

That storytelling can change the world, by incorporating facts into fiction

When a captivating story is narrated to a receptive audience

It can have profound and lasting influence..

*

Let stories belonging to far-flung lands

Get wider platforms so more people understand

The unique challenges that their inhabitants face

Learn how stories are tied to the geopolitics of each place

*

Hearing stories from people of diverse backgrounds has been shown to build

Empathy in all of us, in the age of AI a much needed skill

No voice should be suppressed, no story prevented from being narrated

Through books, art, theater, every story should have a chance to be celebrated

*

From the epic of Gilgamesh to contemporary fiction

Where would we be without our inherent predilection

To narrate stories- therefore we must continue

To tell them in every genre, flavor and hue

We walk outside, listening to podcasts

Without looking at our phones, we do not last

Longer than a few minutes in a waiting room

Boredom like a threatening cloud looms

Any time we are left alone with our thoughts

We want to fill each time gap at all costs

*

We fill our days with tasks, scrolls and distraction

With our devices we have near constant interaction

Thus no mental pause we allow ourselves to get

In our daily lives we leave no space to hit reset

There is no time to think, reflect or clarity gain

Because we view boredom with such disdain

*

We need to relearn to be comfortable

With getting bored, learn to be able

To sit with our thoughts, without feeling the urge

To fill each minute, to constantly look for an adrenaline surge

*

As a parting thought, William Henry Davies I quote

(Because I’ve finally understood these lines learnt by rote)

What is this life if full of care

We have no time to stand and stare

To the world a scripted facade you present

What people see is the face that represents

The societal expectations that you’ve imbibed

Your authentic self you cleverly hide

You modulate your tone, you show

The right amount of vulnerability, you know

Which stories should be told and how

You curate your demeanor to allow

People to accept you in their fold

You shape yourself in a performative mold

*

There is wisdom in donning that mask

Navigating complex social landscapes is no easy task

The mask you have worn is protective gear

But your true self lies beneath that veneer

It longs to be visible, to breathe freely

If you removed your mask, what would you see?

*

Reclaim that authentic self for you

Give the world a glimpse of the real, vulnerable you

Let go of performance, and embrace

The power of your unvarnished face

I’ve always had a lot to say

But over time I have moved away

From expressing my unfiltered opinions without care

Because I cannot be subtle, I am aware

That my opinions come across as being too strong

They tend to rub people in ways that are wrong

In the contemporary divided society the less I say

The better it may be for my wellbeing anyway

*

Here’s the dilemma- in limiting my expression

I’ve also stopped forming my own impression

Of various issues that I observe around me

In other words, I have stopped thinking independently..

*

Therefore I must express myself, but caution exercise

If I lost my voice, I would lose my ability to analyze

I would lose my ability to think independently

And that is not someone I want to be

There are many problems that need to be fixed

There are wasteful practices that need to be nixed

There are flawed processes needing correction

There are many areas of imperfection

That I can point out, I can propose

Solutions to improve all those..

*

But if I try to get my point across

I sound like I’m complaining, I am at a loss

Regarding how to reframe my constructive criticism such

That it does not sound like criticism very much

I just want to improve the workflow without

Pointing fingers at anyone or singling them out

More often than not, someone gets offended anyway

By taking as a personal affront what I have to say

*

If I am too cautious in my word choice

My point gets diluted, and my voice

Gets drowned out by other, louder ones

What I want to accomplish never gets done

*

The end result is that I do not challenge the status quo

I vent my frustration, then learn to go with the flow

Once in a while I get an opportunity rare

To express my opinion and publicly share

What I want to change, why, and how

I seize upon these opportunities to allow

My (constructive) suggestions to be heard

Without trying to sugarcoat my words

I’d love to think that age has had no effect on my mind

But every day, unmistakable signs of aging I find…

*

One of the most distressing signs of aging for me

Is my dwindling patience and increasing inability

To read long books-despite being a reader prolific

To shorter, up to 300 pages long books I now try to stick

In the past I used to dive without hesitation

Into thousand-page long books, but now I am filled with trepidation

Each time I encounter a thick, wordy book

For larger print and thinner spines I now look

*

Wistfully I remember the days when “War and Peace” seemed

Appropriately long for a transcontinental trip, I would have deemed

Anything shorter inadequate for a journey that was long

I was a fast reader, my ability to pay attention was strong

These days I feel accomplished if I can focus my attention

On a book beyond half an hour, despite my best intentions

*

One of the most anticipated books of this year

I have selected from the library, but I fear

At 400 pages in fine print, it would be

Challenging to read cover to cover for me..

But having penned this verse, the least I can do

Is read a book similar in length to those I used to

Conventional norms have told me to constantly hurry

The concept is drilled down so deep in me that I worry

About taking more time than needed, and being left behind

The world is a never-ending race in my mind

*

The culture of hurry was wearing me out

I needed to slow down, without a doubt

But since throughout my life I had hustled

Slowing down required flexing new muscles..

*

Serendipitously I discovered an interest in art

And that was for slowing down a great start

Art cannot be created in a hurry, I realized

When I slowed down to observe and create, to my surprise

The urge to rush through completely went away

I lost track of time, immersed in art that day

*

The world tells you to hurry, art tells you to slow down

Art is the antithesis of hustle culture, I’ve found

Age is just a number, this statement has gained popularity

But the older I get, the fuzzier that number gets for me

*

During periods of rest and relaxation

While indulging in activities of recreation

I feel younger by ten or fifteen years

But that illusion immediately disappears

When I get back to the daily grind

When joint pains and diminishing energy levels remind

Me that I am progressing quite fast

Towards old age, the semblance of youth cannot last

Then there are days when my profession

Necessitates some degree of sleep deprivation

When I have not had a good night’s sleep

A positive outlook about my age is hard to keep

I feel older by two decades or more

My mental faculties feel sluggish, my muscles feels sore

*

The age that I perceive is a number with variation wide

I feel young at heart, yet I am afraid deep inside

That I may not have enough years left to realize

All the dreams that I had visualized

Unpredictability makes me nervous and uncomfortable

When things are uncertain I am unable

To wait, watch, relax, go with the flow

That everything is under control, I want to know..

*

Over the last few years, far from predictable life has been

I should have learnt to deal with roadblocks previously unseen

Instead I am more risk-averse, I have no intention

Of moving towards an unknown direction

A boring, stable life is what I now crave

Where everything in a predictable fashion behaves

*

Viruses, weather, economy-all display

Varying levels of unpredictability these days

Whether I like it or not, I have to embrace

Uncertainty in life, in order to face

Adverse circumstances as they appear

I need to overcome my limiting fears..

*

From my past ventures let me derive inspiration

Uncertainty was at the front and center of immigration

And yet I navigated the unpredictable process

With hope and courage, to achieve success

*

In the face of uncertainty let me stand

Unfazed, undeterred, able to withstand

Any challenge that comes my way

The future was not meant to be predictable anyway

I am not a particularly responsible citizen in many ways

But I do contemplate my carbon footprint these days..

*

I live in an affluent part of the world and consume

More resources than people in many other countries, I presume

Many disposable items I use just for convenience

I use plastic freely despite its toxic omnipresence

I drive a car to commute to work and back-

Looks like I need some reasonable hacks

To reduce my carbon footprint that is quite wide

I am embarrassed by habits in which I used to take pride..

*

I am learning to reduce, recycle and reuse

While shopping, pre-owned goods I try to choose

When organizations and businesses I endorse

Greenwashing from true sustainable growth I try to parse

But I still consume much more than I need

Reducing my carbon footprint is a work in progress indeed..

Marketing tactics do not target your wallet, instead,

They target your wounds- this statement I recently read

It caught my attention being eerily true

While at the same time being tragic too..

*

The deep insecurities you have internalized

The myriad ways in which you have been made to realize

That you are flawed- all of your vulnerabilities

Are exploited freely by many industries

*

Therefore before you give into the temptation to buy

A product that appeals to your emotions, you should try

To see where the messaging behind the product leads

You do not want to fall into the trap cleverly laid for people like you indeed

The message is designed to keep you feeling insecure

But it is in your own hands to ensure

That you spend your money using reason as a guide

Identifying your emotions and keeping them aside

Every woman around me seems to be

More poised, more polished, more confident than me

It seems other women have cracked the code of success

At juggling various responsibilities with minimal stress

While above water I can barely keep my head

On the same water, other women effortlessly seem to tread..

*

I really would like to be a fly on the wall

And observe how some women do it all

How they multi-task without missing a beat

How they accomplish the nearly impossible feat

Of maintaining between work and home a balance delicate

What can I learn from them, and incorporate

In my life so that I do not feel stretched thin like I do

Maybe I can learn to be a superwoman too…

*

Into the rabbit hole of comparison as I keep sinking

My inner voice challenges my line of thinking-

Why do I believe others have figured it out

Why do my own capability I doubt

Just by looking at the highlight reels others display

When I do the same on social media anyway?

*

Let me reach out to my friends (offline)

Have honest conversations with them and find

if there are tips and tricks that can be shared

Amongst ourselves so that we are better prepared

To take on the real challenges that we face

In real life, not in the illusory social media space