SINDHU VIJAYAN

 

SINDHU VIJAYAN

 

Solitude 1

 

So many hours,

I stared unblinking against all hopes,

As if looking alone can make them appear,

The double-blue ticks on my mobile,

An acknowledgement of today’s existence!

 

I am not afraid to be alone, but I am, scared of loneliness.

What am I an alien, to be self-contained and self- satisfied?

How good is that?

Why were we created in teeming multitudes then?

 

I never felt alone in nature’s company.

But among the civilized man, I do,

With his characteristic callousness and cold-heartedness,

When he says, take care of yourself!

Everybody is lonely.

 

No, they are not…the planets are not,

The moon and stars are not,

The Gods are not… the grass is not,

Not even the animals are alone!

Imagine the deer telling the lion,

Take care of yourself!

I may not be around everytime.

Imagine him, eating the grass!

 

The sky talks to the land and sea, in the far horizon;

The rivers flow in unmasked glee, in conversation with all that she passes by,

In all her varied forms and moods,

As she speeds to her destination, the ocean;

 

The clouds schedule with the mountains,

As to when and where to download its impatient passengers!

Tell me, which emperor smiled, while reigning his stone-studded throne for long,

Ask him if he would not rather swap it, and witness him confirming the fable.

 

And you, man, ask me to be alone?

What am I, a pumice stone?

My only companions …the shadows, the lady bug out of nowhere,

The glowworms lighting up my nights…or just my woes?

 

Solitude 2

 

The monotonous drone of the fan soothes,

Should I call it  ‘mother’?

 

I falter and hold on to the wall,

Should I call it ‘father’?

 

The softly swaying curtains, in the dark, offer their rustle-talk,

Should I call them my friends?

 

The cool air of the first light of dawn,

When day has yet not left her sleep, is exquisite!

Should   I call it ‘lover’?

 

My world of hushed shadows and silences,

No mirage!

 

For, in my existence of distances and solitude,

By far, you seem easy and near.

 

Someday my hugs will reach me,

Someday I will feel I lived.

 

SINDHU VIJAYAN

 

SINDHU VIJAYAN (RamMohan) Born and brought up in the Capital city of Trivandrum - Kerala. Married to a meritorious IT professional and mother of one girl. Possess a fairly decent aesthetic and literary sense. Have read Malayalam, English literature and French. Master’s degree in English Language and Literature - Government College for Women, Trivandrum. A Post Graduate Diploma in Journalism - Xavier Institute of Communication, Mumbai. A Certificate in French Language Communication - Alliance Française de Trivandrum. A short tryst with Journalism as a Reporter - New Indian Express daily, Trivandrum edition. Was part of a Theatre Workshop by a French Comedienne that also included a drama performance in the ‘appartment theatre’ genre. Twelve years of association with L'école Chempaka - a school in Trivandrum - in the capacities as a language teacher of Malayalam, French, Creative English, and Editor of the school magazine for seven issues. Participated in 'Kavitha' - an initiative of by the late Malayalam poet Ayyappa Panicker including women poets. Have written poetry - mostly musings on life's experiences in English, Hindi Edited short story and poetry compilations - English & Malayalam Currently, a freelance creative writer and translator.