Shishukunj

O, Mother

Is death a gift?
Wrapped in a wrapper of succor
My body, a debilitated victim to the ire of time
My breath, ablaze in the flames of emphatic impediment
To my kind, a heartbeat is the sound of eons of throe
The rain caresses the bleeding orifice of my mouth
It pulls me down, attempting to drown me
It dexterously envelops my tears
A perfunctory snicker escapes my mouth
As these enervated eyes of mine regard the pitter-patter of disgruntled raindrops
Who are filled with the culpability and dysphoria they tried to wash away

My sanity questions my existence
The ideation of death never sounded alien to me
Closer to a utopian conquest I long to conquer
It sprints away from me, into the grim alleyways of this dystopian society
These shards of glass engraved in my chest
Reflect the somber and true shades of the cataclysm I was doomed to be born in
Long-lived I, but not long enough to embrace the taste of life
O Mother, define life for me
For I believe it to be the attenuated line which rips me away from my death
For me, life is the inability to cherish the flavor of death
Death, the cessation of it all
From the throbbing of my pulse to the shedding of my tears
The beginning of their story was the end of mine
Oh, the bittersweet taste of this debacle is not ubiquitous for all
But my muffled cries now seemed to have been heard
As I lose sight of the imminent and the account of a formidable antecedent
Come take hold of me, O Mother

Your shining star is falling
Leaving behind a misty trail of a blurry past and evaporating teardrops in the forlorn sky
—
They say life is a winsome voyage filled with glee and incredulities
But for me, they were torn away by the savage hurricanes hurling at the orders of an infuriated hour
The reminiscence of precedent ordeals further gashed the cavernous wounds I never knew I sustained
Of what I have known of this wretchedness that goes by the name of life
Tears have replaced words in every account I have etched with blood
The price of joy has been remorse and poignancy beyond the grasp of time
Treachery composed the ones I treasured
Illusions strangled my hopes tattered
Justice was the sandy horizon the oceans of my somnolent eyes could never seek to meet
If I go by what they have to say to define life
My one, it is your beauty that I shall illustrate on the empty voids of my canvas
Never say you have grown to despise your reflection
For it is what makes me a part of you
And you, the reward of my disenchanted destiny
Of what I have been told, shooting stars grant every wish
But will I be granted what I yearn for shall I ask for the star not to fall?
My galaxy unwinds itself in your eyes, my beloved
In you, I see my transformed self
Just as indignant, staring back at me
Your smile bears the dainty flowers that refurbish the rough ruins of my uneven domain
The isolated sky of my life prizes your saccharine presence
It is the play of the universes, etched by the stars
So, who are we to blame?
I am a petty character in this arduous skit, fated to adore death more than life
But how many times should I die before I die?
Death is life personified for me.

The thought of death is the mellifluous lullaby that comforted me when fortune gave up on me
But dare I not sing it for you
As I curse the stars for belittling me with a fate
Where I must see you die!
As you close your eyes, some part of me screams to never let you go
But the other, unsurprisingly, wishes upon you so the absence of a life equipped with malaise
My world disintegrates and falls apart
As you leave me behind
To tour the unexplored infinity above the skies
I embrace death, yet again
As I caress your eyes close
Now, destitute and despondent
My hands, bloodied, lose clutch of your lifeless body
A time of two deaths, the discovery of two bodies
One breathless and the other breathing
Both departed souls move on
To excavate the secrets of the colossal stars and diverse galaxies
Aspiring to find the one that deemed their fates to be
Life after death and death before life.

Limitless

Think deeper than the ocean,
Higher than the sky
The “What ifs..” are unlimited
Only if you try.

Imagine everything in your will power
and meet it face to face
because imagination you can say,
is everyone’s grace.

Imagination is LIMITLESS ,
Unstoppable its pace
It can make the smallest thing
into a big historical case.

The Way I Wish To Bloom

You don’t rush the flowers to bloom
You don’t dictate their colour
Or command the shape they must take
The number of petals they must bear
The texture or patterns they ought to wear

And yet, when they bloom in their own unhurried time
You admire their beauty, breathe in their fragrance, let them stir your soul.
You long to possess them, to make them your own
To weave them into your hair and showcase their beauty to the world.

You wait so patiently, gently and without demand
Embracing their essence, holding them dearly
And adoring whatever they choose to offer.

I envy those flowers…
The grace of acceptance they are shown
The time they are granted to unfold
The freedom they are given
To design their own way of blooming.

Oh, to be able to bloom like a flower!

Burning

I watch as she cries
Eyes all red, she is burning from inside

So beautiful and bright she used to be
Sunshine in everyone’s life
So warm and pleasant to feel

I watched her
As he slowly and cruelly changed her
He, who is the black thundercloud blocking her light
he made her cold
And left her all alone,

The only heat now she feels
Is the burn of hurt and defeat,

I was a child
Who watched him ignite
Her soul
Which burns now

I still am a child
Who sits next to her
Clueless and hopeless
Of what is to be done
Frightened to lose her,
To see him change her to ashes now.

Tamia

Is this joy?
Because I think it might kill me.
Shall I compare you with wild nights of Sydney?
Lividness, betrayal and happiness, all that at once.
No Sydney is in order.
But you were a whole new disorder.
Last scene of awe
That ended this organised flaw
Was the blissful unforgettable night.
One that everyone saw.
You came like a dream I didn’t expect,
A little too wrong, a little too perfect.
With every smile, you broke a rule,
Taught my heart in a different school.
You weren’t peace, but you felt so right,
Like stars that shine in the middle of night.
You were a storm I never flew through.

A Flight For The Goal

Life is full of learning, fun and experience. When an opportunity to learn presents itself, we should take advantage of it. We are blessed with a school where we can learn, play and improve our skill. The school I study in is the best school in the city. It provides many opportunities to excel in the present and in the future.

Let me talk about the Summer Internship programme which prepares the students to choose their subject or their career in future. Several students are not quite sure about what they want to pursue as a career and which stream they should opt for in Class XI. On the other hand, students of Classes XI and XII, having chosen a stream already, doubt if they have made the right choice.

Further at this stage, they are also not very clear about what a particular profession actually entails. They are lured by images of successful professionals with little idea of their journey towards the pinnacle.

It is with this in mind that the school announced an Internship programme of 2 weeks to give experience and clarity to the students. To ensure seriousness of purpose, the students were required to deposit a cheque of Rs 10000/- which would be returned if the student’s attendance in the internship was 100%. Else, the money would be donated in charity.

This opportunity was not only for gaining knowledge or for choosing a stream. It was also meant to ensure that students fruitfully utilize their summer vacations as well as to gain confidence to engage in a field which they think is their call.

My sister took up the internship for the Architecture programme. She went to Manish Kumat Design Cell under the mentorship of Mr. Manish Kumat, Architect. The duration of the internship was May 06 to May 20, 2025 from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm. A Google form had to be filled at the end of each day. Phones were allowed but kept on silent mode.

Here is a brief description of what happened each day:

1st day – An Interactive session with Manish sir followed by an office visit and explanation about green building, an Architecture brief including one on various softwares used. Students also gained knowledge about Architecture Colleges.

2nd day – The students were taught steps involved in designing based on the client requirement. The designing involves exploring the concept given by a client as per their wish and requirement. The students got to study various plans and site documentation. They even tried their hand at making a conceptual drawing.

3rd day – Students learnt about different styles of architecture like classical, modern, gothic, etc. A brief about sectional study of a building and also elevation planning was given. What students found most fascinating was looking at 3 D effect of a design/plan that is how a building looks from different angles.

4th day – Students were introduced to sustainable building that is the optimum use of technology and development to prevent harming the environment. This included recycling, green building and use of plants.

5th day – The students were given an insight into the concept of vastu. They learnt that direction, climate, surrounding plot are important factors for construction of any project whether commercial or residential. At the end, a drawing session was conducted testing team work and creativity of the teams.

Day 6 was a holiday.

7th day – The concept of row – column design in architecture was explained. The difference of architecture and interior designing in a room’s elevation planning was explained. An overview of the principle of ergonomics and ethonomics in interior designing was given.

8th day – Detailed information about structural design was given to the students. An overview of material used and also the importance of working plan while construction was explained. Along with learning how the dimensions of each segment of the project is determined, the students also got to learn about the use of AutoCAD programme.

9th day – The students got to interact with the Civil and site team. They got to understand how estimates are made and also saw material samples.

10th day – The students were given the task of creating a piece of sketching by converting any object around them into a new and different depiction. This activity tested their creativity and drawing skills to design a unique sketch.

11th day – A site that was under construction was visited.

12th day – The students visited a constructed site for understanding Interior Designing. They were shown three houses in which two were of different architecture plans as well as interior designing. They observed the planning of different rooms as per the client needs, vastu, ventilation and site area. They were told where the material was procured from. While some material came from Gujarat and Rajasthan, some was procured from China as well. Smart technology was also used in electrification and for operation of curtains.

On the last day another interactive session was held with Mr Manish Kumat. He gave the students an appraisal of the previous 12 days as well as certificates of participation. The students conveyed their thanks for the exceptional guidance and the knowledge about the work of an architecture professional.

This internship was a fantastic initiative by the school and has to be appreciated. The session was successful, memorable and a valuable learning experience for all students.