The tale of a lost fort

All paths to me now stand erased
By the touch of age, i am but dead
But once i was a place alive
To which every path once lead.

I was a citadel of strength
On a lofty mountain crowned
And now i am hollow within
As the echoes of time resound.

My walls remnants of a past
Of the glorious tales once told
As now i lay in ruins forever
Lost, desolate and cold.

A centre of great fortune once
I held a city pristine
My fame spread far and wide

Upon a mountain, sublime.

All but memories last

And they too shall fade away

As I am the last to recollect

Those good old days.

I outlived my many kings

I withstood War's abuse

I await now my end at last

To nothing my walls reduced.

I lay on barren earth
But once i overlooked heaven
I had my time once
And hope for it again.

Everything has a story to tell
So listen to my tale
And if you hope to find me
Do discover my missing trail.

Twins- A special bond!

    We were twins who were born in a family of overachievers. If one ever took a look at our family, that person would realize the worst kinds of haunting inadequacies to plague one's life. 
  
                 Yep my family's achievements were that awesome!

 And since birth is the first lottery that one wins or loses in life, i couldn't judge as to whether i had won or lost. The minute we were born, the expectations started piling and we were expected to be great. Well it did prove right in her case.
    Out of the two of us, she was the leader and took the initiative. She wasn't even eight months when she had started her shaky yet steady baby steps on a path that would take her places. By the age of two,she was reading advanced text and was achieving feats that children twice her age could not even dream of. As for me, i took my time learning things the average way at the average speed. By the age of ten, she wasn't only acknowledged as the most brilliant in her age group but was a rising threat to the brilliant in the older age groups. Co-curricular and curricular were fields in our school were not even considered worth tackling for her. She simply excelled in them. And i took my time mingling amongst the ordinary children that we were watching her drift away further.
    I would at times notice how my parents unconsciously avert their gazes from me and try to focus on things far more 'pressing' for them. No matter what i did, i was no match to the genes that had awakened in her but chose to sleep within me or simply did not consider me worth worth passing on to. 'Look there goes your sister!' and 'You are HER TWIN BROTHER! were two things that i had heard more than my own name. This continued despite us going off to different universities. Huuhhh! well you get the message.
    As events unfolded, in no time all the shelves in our house were filled with her trophies and there were new showcases being made to accommodate further. And finally came an event that would rid me of being in her shadow for a good four years. She had won a scholarship that allowed her to study in a premier foreign institute of her choice. I was brimming with joy not for her but that the pain of our physical proximity was going to end. Her university had organised a grand farewell ceremony to which we were obviously invited.
     Hours after listing her achievements, the host finally asked her to come on stage and accept an award. This was met with a loud applause. As she stood on stage, the host asked her to speak a little on how she felt at that moment. Those words would never leave me for the rest of my life.
      Her eyes searched the massive crowd and finally rested on the spot where we sat. She pointed at us and said. 'THERE IS MY BROTHER! MY TWIN BROTHER! The first person i ever saw was him. I have spent my time from my mother's womb to here with him and all the way like the twins we are we walked shoulder to shoulder. Now its really sad that i have to leave and i have dedicated many things to my family. But today i dedicate this very most cherished moment in our life to him. A bond between siblings is no doubt special but the bond between twins is something else. Our bond is is so special that it makes us extraordinarily special and for that i want to thank him. Thank him for the joy and thank him for the opportunity he gave me for being his sister. So BIG BRO this is for You! 
     My eyes never left her for she made me realize that it wasn't our genes that made us who we were but our bonds. And our bond made me very special. I would never be able to put that special feeling in words however hard i tried!

     
      

I am the Rag picker!

I pick up what other's dispose
I roam mounds that always grow
I eye my gain from what one throws
I am the Rag Picker!

On my shoulders, my trusty sack
Always seen in tattered rags
Armed with a long stick
I try to sell what i pick.

I search for useful waste
Things one dumps with great distaste
Consumerism and its changing trends
In a junk pile the outdated ends

You have seen me on tracks and on roads
But you care not for my loads
For my presence hardly in your mind
Nor the waste that you left behind.

I fend for my very own
For a community servant i am not
I ain't here on my free will
Or to clean up for those little snots!

Who thought that the litter one spread
Could be the lifeblood of someone else
So let another clean up instead
For another's very unruly mess!

Blame around so liberally thrown
Along with the waste disowned
We react not till the waste grows
It is the Government's fault and not one's own.

So as long as you want, litter on
Till all known space is gone
But wherever you dump, I'll be there
Taking on my rightful share.
For I pick up what others dispose
And when will it stop one does not know
But it is good for me I suppose
For I AM THE RAG PICKER!


Rag Pickers of India - Kamat's Potpourri