How do you know? - by Thushara Ann Mathew

Count your blessings, they said.

But what if you were never blessed at all?

Everything around you is always falling apart.

You often wonder, couldn’t you just restart?

Running from pillar to post, you try to make it work,

But everyone thinks you’re just a jerk.

Count your blessings, they said.

How do you really know if you’re blessed?

How do you know anything at all?

You pull yourself up, only to fall again.

You have no energy to even complain.

Looking into the mirror, all you see is an empty wall.

You pick up your phone, but who do you really call?

Count your blessings, they said.

Blessed are the ones who find true love.

What is life really without love?

Do you ever think about that?

Or are you just going to let it pass?



Count your blessings, they said.

Sometimes, all you want to do is just run away,

But somehow you only make it to the highway.

Your head is everywhere,

Yet somehow, it feels like you’re nowhere.



Count your blessings, they said.

Even on days that you dread.

Vultures - by Thushara Ann Mathew

They just watched her, with their evil eyes.

As she screamed for help, they just watched her.

While her clothes were getting torn apart, they just watched her.

Even when they pinned her hands down, they just watched her.

Tears flowing down her cheeks, she cried in pain, and they just watched her.

They watched her, with their evil eyes.

While she tried to fight her way through, they just stood there and watched her.

Her body was now extremely tired, she pleaded with them, but they just stood there and watched her.

They pulled her hair off from the scalp, they just stood there and watched her.

Blood gushed down her face, but they just stood there and watched her.

They watched her, with their evil eyes.

Covered in blood now, every inch of her body hurt. It hurt like she was stabbed a thousand times.

She tried to get up, but fell hard on her back.

She could barely move now. She just lay there, crying in pain.

She begged for them to extend a helping hand, but they just continued to watch her.

They watched her in pain. They watched her suffer. They watched her, waiting for her to die.

They watched her, with their evil eyes.

BROKEN - by Thushara Ann Mathew

How broken are we

Does it ever make you wonder?

Wings that don’t seem to spread anymore

Feet that once used to chase dreams

And a heart that craved to see rainbows everyday.

All gone in a jiffy.

Remember the days, when you found happiness in the most simple things

And today nothing seems to make you smile, not even the kings.

Tears roll down your cheeks as you think of the past,

Time flew by so fast.

How broken are we.

Walking down the park, you look around at the trees

Fall was around the corner

And you couldn’t help wonder

But compare your life to them trees

Nothing is permanent, you think

Nothing is permenant, you repeat in your head.

How broken are we

Does it ever make you wonder?

You don’t know what you want

You get things that you can’t even flaunt.

You are so confused now

You just want to get through all this somehow.

But can you?

Does it ever make you wonder,

How broken we are.

Happy Independence Day? Really?

As we are all set and ready to celebrate India’s 78th Independence Day, we all have only one question in our head - How Independent and safe are women in India today?

We did free ourselves from the clutches of the British, but what about from the clutches of these monsters? 78 years later too, our women are still living in constant fear. Why? Till when should we live in fear? When are we actually going to gain freedom?

12 years have passed by since one of the most horrific rape cases that stunned the entire nation - the infamous Nirbhaya case. “Nirbhaya” is supposed to mean fearless, right? Then how come even after 12 years we’re living in constant fear? How come even after 12 years, nothing has changed? How come even after 12 years we are still not independent or free?

Today, I understand why parents don’t want to give birth to and raise a girl child. India is not for girls, not for women.

She will be snatched away by monsters. She will be beaten, her eyes will be gauged out, her CV arms & legs will brutally burnt and her private parts will be attacked. She will be brutally raped & murdered. And nobody will do anything.

There will be more Nirbhaya’s and doctors, everyday. Because you know what?

India is not for women.

🅶🆁🅸🅴🅵 🆂🅴🆁🅸🅴🆂

Dada's Little Girl

Dear Dada, 

Everyday seems tougher without you.

Everything will always revolve around you.

No other pain seems anywhere close to what we are feeling when you left us. 

No smile is warmer than yours Dada.

When people talk about you, 

we know how much of an 

impact you have left in their minds.

And that is what keeps us going.

We now talk about you, 

without tearing up like before. 

We want to talk about you, everyday. 

We want to celebrate you, just 

how you are supposed to be celebrated. 

Every family member remembers you as the most wonderful human being ever. 

If any of us could be anywhere 

close to what you were, 

we'd consider ourselves lucky. 

I hope you're in a better place today. 

I really wish you're. Because 

you deserve nothing less, my angel. 

I hope you're looking down

 at all of us dear Dada. 

Love you Dada. 

Chandini - The Moon Child

Oh dear child, let that smile never fade away.

May that innocence in your eyes stay the same.

Smile away my child, because now you're far away from the cruel world.

You're far away from the clutches of the hungry wolf.

You're far far away, in a world of peace and happiness, away from all the pain and tears.

 

The kidnapping & murder of 5 year old Chandini has sent shockwaves all across India. The daughter of migrant labourers from Bihar, Chandini was kidnapped by another migrant labourer from Assam. After a missing complaint was filed, an unsuccessful search was launched. However, unfortunately her bruised and lifeless body was found a day later, in a sack. 

This opens so many questions. This unlocks so many fears. From the easy at which drugs are available today to why there was no proper search earlier to will girls ever be safe in our country, the questions pile up one after the other. 

Not at home or outside, girls aren't safe anywhere in this cruel world. Maybe that's why many people prefer having boys over girls. Now it all makes sense.