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The poet speaks of how her mother in law had taken as a son a baby orphaned in a disaster, despite having lost everything herself - now the poet's husband!
The poet speaks of how her mother in law had taken as a son a baby orphaned in a disaster, despite having lost everything herself – now the poet’s husband!
All seemed lost, her world desolate Benumbed, she watched, as her fate Twisted in a downward spiral Into the abyss of misery; almost surreal Was the way her life’s foundations were shaken Every shred of normalcy had from her been taken Leaving her stuck in a state of limbo No silver lining in sight, no place to go In a state of shock she spent several days The world around her clouded in a haze… So wrapped was she in her grief she had not realized This was a disaster where everyone around her had died…
She was shaken out of her shell-shocked stupor By a faint cry from somewhere around her Louder it grew, evolving into a lusty wail Of an infant; she forced herself up to follow the trail A baby she found; miraculously unharmed Lying on the rubble, his face red and warm She picked him up, he looked up at her In eager anticipation for someone to douse his hunger
She was brought back to reality from listlessness Self-preservation emerged from some deep recess She knew the safety of the infant she had to ensure She had to gather all strength to endure The ravages of fate in the wake of this disaster With a single aim in mind- to be the protector Of this innocent life; she had to venture out To seek help, she knew that without a doubt She walked for miles with the hungry infant Fearing he would collapse at any instant Until she met some rescuers who had by then Given up hopes of finding live men or women At the verge of physical exhaustion were the duo Her determination to keep the child safe had made her go Thus far, only to realize that fate had taken away Similarly, her family and the child’s parents that day As she realized this, she had an epiphany Making her decide to adopt that child legally She had not wanted children, she thought ruefully In her previous life, but now she was attached to this baby truthfully
She started her life from scratch, bent, not broken Facing flashbacks of the disaster, recurring demons What gave her strength was her beautiful boy Raising him brought to her infinitesimal joy She brought him up as a fine young lad Never made excuses for the tragedy that she had Survived, never repeated her story of resilience Until in their lives I made an appearance When she welcomed me in her fold as a daughter-in-law She told me her unembellished story, leaving me in awe I have for her strength respect immense She is a hero when seen from my lens!
Published here earlier.
Image source: pixabay
I am a woman, a physician, a mother and an aspiring writer rolled into one. I write about various aspects of my life, and my preferred form of writing is poetry (or rhyming verses). read more...
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UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
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