She finds herself

Standing in the long forgotten bylanes

The one where the misty roads are surrounded by trees

With a line of vehicles parked on either side

Where when the night breaks into morning twilight

One tiny ray of light seeps in through the leaves

And suddenly the hustle of the streets takes over the silence

She re-lives those slow moments,

Savoring in the memories of

People sipping tea while reading newspapers,

Children walking hurriedly towards their school

Office goers rushing towards the station

Opening of shutters of small kirana stores

The whiff of sauted onions from a nearby eatery

And many other mundane life moments

Which are too easy to miss otherwise

But it's when the day turns to night

And stars lit up the entire sky

That's when the day really comes alive

People rush to the streets with their families

Some to shop and some to spend quality time

Her heart brims with happines at this sight

Which she often finds difficult to explain

The celebrations flow like magic in the air

And in these moments

She tries to find a piece of herself

Which she lost long-time ago

Somewhere between the night and the dawn

As the brightest light pulls us to abyss

And life slips away into darkness

Maybe we will find

There is a world beyond the nothingness

Where there are no rules to bind us

Where our soul is free and happiness prevails

Where we find meaning to our life

And purpose of our existence

Where we discover joy and eternal sunshine

And the flowers bloom on either side

Where there is no wrong and right to decide

And our brokenness heals as light flows inside

Where we realise our hustle has finally paid off

And we will finally find ourselves and our true home

The journey from life to death will come a full circle

But until then like the black hole and bottomless pit

It will be glorified

Call it Hell or Heaven or maybe afterlife!

Let me tell you all about

The places to visit 

The mountains to climb

The bridges to cross

The rivers to dive

And the houses to build

But if I tell you that

How will you find

the beauty of the roads less travelled;

the rivers that drown you;

And mountains that crush you

How will you find 

the houses that are all brick and stones

And bridges which collapse at every fall

How will you learn 

Not every mountain needs to be climbed

And some bridges need to be burnt on time

How will you realise

That you are brave enough to survive

For you are your own sunshine!

Do you remember how a sip of cold water 

satisfied your thirst on a sultry summer afternoon

Do you remember how the warmth of winter sun 

embraced you while you enjoyed your siesta

Do you remember how the pleasant petrichor 

just before the rain filled you with glee

Do you remember those lazy Sundays

that were all about spending time with your loved ones

Do you remember the days 

when life was not about the checklists

but about the experiences

when you didn't have to rush through things

but could actually savour the moment

All of this now seems like memories of a distant past

which even though stirs up unsaid emotions inside

Yet we continue with our race, thinking we have got 

enough 'tomorrows' to enjoy life

And before we realise life slips away like grains of sand

For there is no tomorrow to race against time

Them

When they met each other

They had fire in their bellies and dreams in their eyes

Like every other youngster chasing the stars in the sky

Over the time they realised

The weight of expectations is too heavy for mankind

Life in a bubble, surrounded by darkness

Everyday spent hoping for a ray of light

Like the lost travelers in this journey of life

They were searching for their Northern star

Their eyes twinkled when light consumed them

The bubble had burst 

And they found home in each other for one last time

Before they fade away forever

To a place where sky falls down and world ceases to exist