Neelam Saxena Chandra (Towards Visibility)

Neelam Saxena Chandra

RHYMING WITH LIFE 

Disability in body

Is certainly better than disability of mind!

Though body is disabled by arthritis in many ways,

My mind, full of enthusiasm, flows

Like tides in a river, taking away the 

Moss and lichen that often restricts. 

I am slowly discovering the power 

Of the mind, inch by inch. 

It carries the balloons of my desires

High up in the skies, they swing on the rainbows,

Never to stop. They simply soar. 

Sitting on one of the clouds that I adore,

I write. It’s meditation. It further sharpens

My imagination, my desire and my actions.

Ah! I have never felt so enthusiastic before!

Shooing away the people who want me to be restricted

Has been the biggest achievement,

For I have found peace in my rhymes and verses.

Now, I have even let the verses be free,

Unchained from the nuances of rhyming!

A lagoon you become.

Beautiful. Picturesque. A painter’s delight.

But you are locked, 

Can’t let your flow mix.

In short, you get rotten. 

Others may not find the foul smell,

You do!

In the veins of your heart!

Your thoughts long

To mix with the vast ocean 

Of unexplored territories-

Fighting the dangers,

Absorbing the salinity,

Becoming the waves and moving

Around the world,

Touching and wetting the banks with happiness;

But you can’t.

You are meant to remain a lagoon.

Beautiful. Picturesque. A painter’s delight.

I walk in the garden,

Which used to smile at me when I would visit it

Just when I came to this dream city of Mumbai;

However, neither does it look enchanting anymore,

Not do I seem enthusiastic.

It’s just a routine I am following –

Counting my steps and heart points

To stay fit.

After all, it’s too humid.

Maybe, the garden is also not yet completely dry, only dull;

Since it’s optimistic that happiness will return

And bathe it with flowers. 

Isn’t optimism in every situation a great attitude?

For me, thoughts are also dry,

Eyes are wet due to departures,

And yet, this optimism in my veins

Keeps flowing with my blood,

Rejuvenating every time it passes through 

The chambers of my heart!

Maybe, days will change for me too!

***

Neelam Saxena Chandra has authored 6 novels and 9 short story collections 39 poetry collections and 15 childrens’ books to her credit She is a bilingual writer, writing in English and Hindi. She holds a record with the Limca Book of Records 2015 for being the Author having the highest number of publications in a year in English and Hindi She has won II prize in a poetry contest organized by American Embassy and in a National poetry contest organized by Poetry Council of India 2016. She has received Sohanlal Dwivedi Puraskar for children’s literature by Maharashtra state Hindi Sahitya Akademi for the year 2018, Premchand award by Ministry of Railways Rabindranath Tagore International Poetry award Soninder Samman, Freedom award by Radio city for Lyrics along with other awards and honors She was listed in Forbes as one among 78  most popular authors in the country in 2014.

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Setu, September 2023 :: Towards Visibility