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Morsels and Missiles

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  You aim to kill hope in the land where prophets played, Yet the silent cries of people scream the aftermath of atrocities witnessed by those half-slayed. The hunger gnaws like an unwelcomed relentless guest, A childless mother is left with empty plates and trembling unrest. Now serving – morsels of bullets with crumbs of pain, In Gaza missiles have ended lives buried deep under a cemetery - cold and plain. Eyes once bright, now dim with agony and fear, With every inaction of ours, in Palestine – the death draws towards children a bit more near. The scent of martyrs’ loom with a taste of dust, Innocent lives waiting for peace and food – are left with no one to trust. As the world watches and yet turns their eyes away, A generation has been wiped off to cherish the joy of life in a matter of a day. Starving kids and old men wait and die in chaotic aid line, I hope their souls are nourished in the heavens as they together dine. The oppressors throw bombs ...
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Not your lavender

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I blossomed in a land far away, Soon uprooted, they tilted the soil out of my way.  I screamed to them  - I am a wildflower meant to stay under the sky, Yet they trampled me and left me there to die.  I sang the saddest sonnets to tell them: I am not your lavender!  I am not your lavender, Don’t pluck me at your will, Find me in the meadows, not in the vases left to kill. I own my purple hue, I remain untouched; I will shine anew. My fragrance won’t waft to smooth you with a gentle breeze, I will light up like sapphires mounted on mighty pine trees.  I am untamed, don’t crown me in tangles, But I won’t mind accompanying the scars swirling around my wrist with bangles. I am not your lavender, I am wild and free. Not yours to claim, It’s a shame you can’t see.  I will grow against the odds, And live by the will of the lord.  I break free from your vase.  It’s time I closed your case.  I am not your lavender, Let me whisper this and surrender. I...
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The Cubicles of Life

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  I am starting this article nearly a month after my wedding. It’s November and I am really trying to find my voice or my point of view. I always find writing on blank sheets easier than telling things outright to people. I wish I could just talk about things to people. Why do I romanticize letting narrative cook in my head and then weave stories out of it? Okay, so here goes my narrative of how the lens has changed for me as a married woman! Moving to a new city after marriage sounds exciting – (and scary as well). Maybe moving to a new city anytime in your life is scary. Married or not. But – I feel – doing so being single is a good kinda scary. You are allowed to make mistakes. The mistakes that become your lessons or the stories that your future self will be proud to reminisce. Hang on. But it can apply to your married life as well. The jitters of how it started and how it will go. While the what-ifs clog your mind with nervousness and fear, all those emotions will culminate in...
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Apocalypse: a love story

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  I spend my days in mindless chain-of-thoughts in the hope of brewing some compelling story. But sadly – most of the time, I end up fixing my reality instead. I try to change the endings of each encounter I ever had or will have with people I have either lost or am afraid to lose. Thank god, my dreams give me hope that my subconscious is still good at sewing fiction. So, today I bring to you excerpts from a dream – I woke up in the middle of exactly when the clock was about to strike two in the dead of night. I have a strong urge to note this dream down in my dream journal before I lose it to mindless mundane days or fuzzy sleepless nights. (Yes, I have a dream journal.) Here goes… It was the end of the world; at least it felt like that to me. Or maybe it was one of those abandoned sets of a sci-fi movie where destruction had taken over, and the plot was waiting for some miraculous recovery twist. Vaguely eying one ruin after the other, I knew I was maneuvering myself in...
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Absentia: A memoir of time by Shuja Tasleem

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Black was a memory of time... Of time spent longing to hold your hand, Until the fear of watching it slip away hovered over! Black was a memory of time... Of moments that were livelier than life, I never lived before, Until I realized this is all I can have of and with you: a moment! Black was a memory of time... Of eyes that were just the kaleidoscope of hopes and dreams, Until you taught me they had a language of their own! Black was a memory of time... Of being with you, I don't know for how long, Until I will watch it fade away into grays and die out into whites! Black was a memory of time... Of remembering, I had you and keep having you, Until the moment, that feels like life will end in the hope to find another! Black was a memory of time... Of places and silences that I shared with you, Until it was too late to not find you everywhere around! Black was a memory of time... Of your touch leaving ink stains on my skin, Until I found myself holding on to you in my words! Black w...
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Six steps to conquer your life!

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Life is just like an array of cuisines; full of flavors – sometimes spicy, sour and sometimes sweet as well.  And to relish every flavor, we let a dish simmer for hours on a low flame and sometimes put it for overnight refrigeration as well. And  just like any cuisine, our life is also filled with different experiences (read flavors).  Thus,  embracing every experience - both good and bad - that life puts us through is equally important to bring out the best of us; be it lessons learned from our mistakes or aiming to strive for more after tasting success.  There are days in our life when we feel cold and blue, while on others, we just shine like the Sun. If simply put, life gives us both good as well as bad experiences. But, many of us struggle with negative life experiences, mostly. We are engrossed in disempowering feeling, that life throws at us, so much that we fail to appreciate all the good things we are bestowed with. To list a few struggles of life...
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COVID-19: Dictating a New World Order!

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Gone are the days when we used to shake hands. Something enough to believe how a tiny virus has successfully enforced a new world order into action! These are – without a doubt – the hardest times that we as a global community are facing together since the second world war. But, remember, this too shall pass. The only important point worth holding on - would be the lessons that we will take with us; if we survive. By now, we all are well acquainted with the terms like “Quarantine”, “Self-isolation”, and “Social distancing”. And being a hopeless romantic, I had to take a gig at one of my favorites, currently floating lingos – “Quarantine”, which still is making rounds virtually as this deadly Coronavirus continues to pave its way across the globe. Quarantine Love: "Love is an evil enchantress!”, she said. He disagreed, "Isolation is the worse, my love!", he retorted. "Isolation kills. It haunts you. It aches you in the places you don't even know exis...
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