Hariom Tripathi

A Man Strong and Disciplined.

He reminisces of when he was a child,

Oh! so young, Oh! so bright.

When everything was easy,

And yet hard for him.

 

When life had nothing but happiness to offer,

And yet he cried and became for everyone a bother.

When there was nothing but friends,

And yet everyone had the friendship promise trends.

When there was no work but only play,

Let there be no homework he prayed.

 

In a joint family he and his cousins were spoilt a lot,

But father and uncle balanced the scale with the punishments they got.

While the scales were always balanced,

His elder cousin sisters taught them discipline without any consent.

 

Now like everyone he is racing for wealth,

Does not matter by day by day his dwindling health.

The pile of stress has taken shape of a mountain,

And the reality of life stuck like a bloodstain.

 

Who was once a boy has grown into a man,

Cunning, greedy and not so innocent.

Kindness has been sucked out dry and the eyes that no more cry.

Now the man hides the scars that adulthood gave,

For showing pain will make him weak and no one will save.

Be a man strong and disciplined.

Don’t cry like girls and you have to provide for the family, on him was pinned.

 

Now that man became a machine acquiring wealth,

And everyone says you do not have time your family or your health.

In the dark, alone like an injured beast,

The man licks his wounds and wonders.

What did I do wrong to receive those words,

Was I not a man strong enough and disciplined, he ponders.

 

Again he reminisces of when he was a kid,

Thinking all that is same is his mother and he will soon pay her a visit.

Suddenly a tear drops out of his eyes,

Hiding his pain in the dark the bawling man wonders,

Am I wise?

But his fathers words comes to his mind,

“Son never show pain for it is a weakness and the world is not kind”.

Wiping his tears the man goes back to his family showing as if he was just bruised,

Telling the tales of his childhood to his children with a happy face to see them amused.