Shri Divyanshu Shekhar 

(Young author Shri Divyanshu Shekhar writes poems, stories, plays and scripts in Hindi and English. His first collection of poems  “Zindagi – ek chalchitra” was published in May 2017 and first English Novel “Too Close – Too Far” in December 2018. Today we present his poem “Fair wasn’t fair “.)

☆ Fair wasn’t fair ☆

A kid and an adult went to a fair and my good luck, I was also there.

Kid was cute like a teddy bear while adult was looking fit and fair.

There were swings, which were trying to make everyone feel that you also have wings.

Kid didn’t try due to the fear of height while adult didn’t try due to backbite.

Kid tasted foods irrespective to the diet while adult was counting someone unhygienic bites.

Kid shouted and laughed while adult just smiled.

Kid had everything to act while adult had nothing to react.

Kid looked all the things with possibilities while adult watched all those with responsibilities.

Kid’s expenditure was hundred percent while adult couldn’t spend a single cent.

I tried to talk with them individually but my bad luck, they both returned simultaneously.

I observed both but a doubt in my mind is still active, was fair a noun or just an adjective?

© Divyanshu Shekhar

Ms Neelam Saxena Chandra

(We reproduce this poem taken from the famous poetry collection ‘Winter Shall Fade’ that finds a place in Limca Book of Records for being the first book co-authored by a mother-daughter duo (Ms. Neelam Saxena Chandra ji and Ms Simran Chandra ji ) published by Omji Publishers.) 

Amazon Link: ‘Winter Shall Fade’

☆ Dreams ☆

I embrace my dreams

Just like the moon

Embraces the moonlight

Or the veil of night

Embraces the stars.

I fall in love with them

Little by little

And they come to me

Bit by bit

Kissing me

Hugging me

Skimming me,

As if drizzling upon me

And covering me with affection,

Percolating like fragrance

All over my being

And singing

Some happy numbers.

Keep dreaming

For

The relationship

Between dreams and self

Is the most fulfilling…

© Ms Neelam Saxena Chandra and Ms. Simran Chandra, Pune 

Ms Neelam Saxena Chandra

(We present Ms. Neelam Saxena Chandra ji‘s thought provoking poem based on the mythological character King Parikshit’s Karma and Dharma.)

☆ The end of King Parikshit ☆

By a snake bite cursed to die

King Parikshit, in a tall tower locks

Isolated from subjects, children and wives

Paces in his room, unable to talk

Petrified he is, does not eat or sleep

Finally his curse, to everyone reveals

Every inlet to the tower is guarded

No slithering Naga should come to kill

On the seventh day, the famished Parikshit

Disgustedly, darts into a fruit

Hidden inside is a little worm

Which transforms into a serpent’s suit

Takshaka is the name

Its deadly fangs into Parikshit’s skin sinks

Spreads rapidly the venom

And soon breathes his last, the king

Destiny can never change

The fate of a pauper or royale

Providence decides whatever is deserved

Karma and dharma are inevitable

© Ms Neelam Saxena Chandra, Pune 

Ms Neelam Saxena Chandra

☆ An Ode to Ravana ☆

(We present Ms. Neelam Saxena Chandra ji‘s thought provoking poem based on the mythological character Ravana.)

O Ravana! I bow to you!

With your sword’s might

And your valour’s mysticism,

You could have forced Sita for anything,

And yet, to treat her with respect you opted,

Gave her a choice to decide

And venerated her “No”!

O Ravana! So different you were!

It’s just that the times were also atypical

And despite the innocence of Sita,

Chastised she was,

Even by her husband own,

And, to live a life in exile, forced-

People blamed you for her condition,

No one impugned Ram!

O Ravana! How happy I would be

To see you come back to earth now!

The land, in tatters lies,

And women are not respected anymore-

Her “No” is most often not treated as a “No”

And no one honours her now by asking

If she desires something!

© Ms Neelam Saxena Chandra, Pune 

Ms Neelam Saxena Chandra

☆ My Dreams ☆

(“My Dreams” is one of the best poems of Ms. Neelam Saxena Chandra’ji which not only inspires you, but motivates too to struggle for fulfillment of your dreams. When I look back the journey of e-abhivyakti it always gives me a positive message. Thanks Ms Neelam ji to motivate me to continue the journey of life too.)

My Dreams

I am a gusty wind that darts
Merrily at its own pace;
I do not stop for joyous detours,
My fiery dreams I chase…

I am not a merry moon,
Waxing and waning at pleasure;
I am the fierceness of the sun
That has no time for leisure…

How can I lazily lie?
Halting is prohibited by my soul!
Life is bizarre and short
And horizons are my goal…

My own target posts
I keep stretching and expanding;
After all, existence is an ellipsis
If you know to struggle, it keeps enlarging…

© Ms Neelam Saxena Chandra, Pune 

Ms Neelam Saxena Chandra

☆ To Meera ☆

( Ms. Neelam Saxena Chandra’ji succeeded to break illusion of Meera of so called Kaliyug.  If one can understand, it is a great message for woman.  Always pray almighty God Krishna but, don’t wait for him to solve your problems. Only you have to solve your problems. The great poem with great message for everyone.) 

Wake up Meera!

If someone sends you a basket

With cobra

And names it as a basket of flowers,

It won’t turn into a Krishna’s idol,

A cobra it shall remain!

Wake up Meera!

If you are delivered a cup of poison

Stating that it is nectar,

Even if you offer it to Krishna,

Poison it shall remain

And you shall die!

Wake up Meera!

If you jump in a river,

There shall be no Krishna

To make you float;

And drowning shall be your destiny!

Wake up Meera!

Learn to survive on your own!

Miracles don’t happen,

And no one comes to save anyone-

Seeing this ruthless, frigid and unsentimental world,

Even the Krishnas have disappeared;

You have to learn to swim

And cross oceans of life!

© Ms Neelam Saxena Chandra, Pune 

Ms Neelam Saxena Chandra

☆ Thoughts in my pocket  ☆

(We present this amazingly scripted poem by Ms. Neelam Saxena Chandra’ ji.  This amazing poem on thoughts has an amazing control on thoughts too. I salute Ms. Neelam ji  to pen down such a beautiful poem for which sky is the limit.)

With a few thoughts in my pocket

I wandered over the hills and vales;

Wondering how to stitch them together

And in a pretty poetry interlace…

I tossed some of the thoughts in the air

And held them in my hands once again;

With the fragrance of the milieu

A beautiful aroma was embedded in them…

I weaved the thoughts one by one

On a needle, just like a wool soft;

Their beauty swelled manifold

And in happiness they rocked…

I dipped the thoughts in colourful dyes,

They became colourful and merry too;

In the magnificent canvas of life,

They like delighted birds cooed…

I made some syrup of gur and sugar

And submerged them in the liquid;

My thoughts became sugar-coated and sweet

They drooled in tranquillity and were placid…

And then, I played scrabble with them,

And placed them randomly on the board;

My thoughts now formed a lovely poetry,

And in ecstasy, over the skies soared…

© Ms Neelam Saxena Chandra, Pune 

Ms Neelam Saxena Chandra

☆ Fear of Future ☆

(Ms. Neelam Saxena Chandra’s  poem “Fear of Future”  is amazing.  Feeling of an unborn child in a foetus can be only imagined and felt by a women author.  Truly, as a gentleman author I can only honour the  feelings of a women.)

Embedded in the womb of time,

The foetus of an unborn child stretched its feet;

It kicked and growled and roared,

Tremendous energy existed in the frame petite!

It troubled the mom by playing mischief,

Now and then it would kick the womb’s wall;

As if that was not enough

It would move around violently like a football!

Pestered by the waywardness of the foetus,

The desolate mother would wail tears;

Perturbed by its tricks and guiles,

The pitiful mother would shiver with fears!

An illegitimate and unwanted child it was,

The mother knew not how to abort it;

Her nervousness kept multiplying every moment,

And her forlorn tummy grew bit by bit!

The foetus was nothing but the fear of the future

And though it didn’t exist, it hounded the body,

Let not anxiety and phobias torture your heart,

Live the present with happiness and glee!

Ms Neelam Saxena Chandra

☆ Bequest ☆

(Ms. Neelam Saxena Chandra’s  poem “Bequest”  will definitely compel you to think that how dark night and dark side of life follows like a ghost for whole life, particularly in dark.  Still, I find a silent message to struggle with present for the future.)

So peaceful was her life,

The sea provided her a peaceful calm;

The waves were lovely and soothing

Having a composed charm…

Suddenly it was dark

The albatross shrieked;

There were wild tremors

Jeopardy reeked…

Life changed for her

In the fraction of a second,

There was water and water

And then everything blackened…

The enchanting sea

Engulfed her near and dear ones;

The waves which had been tranquil erstwhile

Suddenly became destructive like dragons…

As she was helplessly watching the destruction,

There was a loud uproar-

One particular large wave jumped at her

And she was dragged ashore…

The harbour waves kept

Pushing and pulling her;

But she kept holding on

Like a providential survivor…

Although she could endure and live on,

She still feels hapless and sad-

Her near and dear ones

Have left for the other world and are dead…

The sea has given her a bequest

She does not want to remember at all;

The waves: they still come and go

But she no more listens to their call…

The ghosts of the past

Shall live on with her forever;

Life shall normalize and she may forget it in the daylight

But the silent night shall make her remember it forever…

© Ms Neelam Saxena Chandra

Ms Neelam Saxena Chandra

☆ Woman ☆

(Ms. Neelam Saxena Chandra’s  poem “Woman”  will definitely compel you to think not only “woman’s emotions” but “Woman Power” too.  Amazingly scripted.)

Everyone thought that I am a breeze

Flowing gently over hills and vales,

Regaling all those who come my way,

Revitalizing those whose heart ails.

Air, that I am, I have various shapes

And the tender breeze was just one form;

When time summons me to rise,

My own strength I outperform.

Stronger and stronger I blow and blow

Stirring all those who come my way;

Affection does win me over anytime

But arrogance makes me harder sway.

The more the hostility, the more my outburst,

My anger then assumes the form of tempest;

Crushing everything that comes in my path,

Submerging the vast cities and the forests…

I am a woman

The way you perceive me, a reflection you shall see;

If you love and admire me, I shall be a gentle breeze,

If you downcast me, I shall rise like a phoenix!

© Ms Neelam Saxena Chandra