This poem depicts a relationship shared between a mother and his son. The poem will take you through 5 different stages of their relationship and one mother’s eternal love for his son.

The first paragraph talks about their relationship when the child is in his mother’s womb. The second paragraph describes the life of a mother getting changed in terms of her priorities. The third paragraph talks about the relationship getting changed when her son is a grown up teenager. The fourth paragraph talks about a mother remembering her son while he is away. The fifth paragraph, well, I will let you think about that on your own.

Kicking around in her womb,

eyes close and without a wound,

Sleeping in and tickling out,

Smiling in and blushing loud.

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Jovial tears dropping down,

Looking at those colour brown,

Caring for that gentle frown, and,

Acting like a serious clown.

Yesteryear’s queen turned photographer,

Once only a wife, turned someone else’s life.

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Embryo shouting when turned seed,

wondering why does she pay heed?

Soon realizing what she needs,

It’s either the embryo or the seed.

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Mr.Seed gone away,

to a land far away.

Walking down by the bay,

It’s him she thinks, all the way.

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Sleeping finally on burning fire,

She still smiles.

My son is successful now, she thought.

Maybe that is why, he didn’t have the time.

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Freedom is a word which means: the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint.  It holds dear to all of us. As kids, when we learnt our lessons on independence, we were told that our country first kissed the soul of freedom on  15^th August 1947. A day when the lives of our ancestors  changed forever, and was hoped it changed for good. I remember, as a kid, the only time I took part in any dancing activity, was when I danced on the tunes of “Ae vatan, ae vatan, humko teri kasam”. At that time, I didn’t know the meaning of any word of that song, but I cared about it. I cared about taking care of the song because my teachers told me it was like caring for my own country. And, today, when I know the meaning of each and every word of that song, I feel that we, as India’s countrymen, have stopped caring about it. For us, it’s just another song.

Today is not just another day. And, yes, today is not only Sunday. Today is a special day in the history of our country. It’s a day when 3 individuals, Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Raj Guru and Sukhdev, laughed at their own demise 83 years before. It’s a day to be proud of. It’s a day to understand that the freedom which we have today is not because we are lucky enough to get it, it’s because someone fought for it, someone died for it. Freedom, as simple as it sounds, is hard to achieve. And, someone provided it to us not because he/she didn’t have a choice, it’s because they wanted us to live in a country we could call our home.

Bhagat Singh is a Shaheed to most of us. But, when I asked a guy of  the same age as mine who lives right next door to me, he asked me if he lives nearby. This is Bhagat Singh for him. No wonder, he’s a revolutionary terrorist, and thus not a Shaheed, for our Central Government too.

But, today , I will tell you Bhagat Singh’s views on some issues which I believe everybody should know, quoting from the texts of the book, “INDIA’S STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE”.

“Bhagat Singh, born in 1907 and a nephew of the famous revolutionary Ajit Singh, was a giant of an intellectual. A voracious reader, he was one of the most well read of the political leaders of the time”

“In the assembly bomb case, Bhagat Singh told the court:’ ‘’Revolution,” dosen’t necessary involve sanguinary strife, nor is there any place in it for individual vendetta(individual heroism). It’s not the cult of the bomb and pistol. By “Revolution”, we mean that the present order of things, which is based on manifest injustice, must change”. In his letter from jail, he wrote: “The peasants have to liberate themselves not only from the foreign yoke but also from that of landlords and capitalists”. He said that the struggle in India would continue so long as “a handful of exploiters go on exploiting the labour of common people for their own ends. It matters little whether these exploiters are purely British, or British and Indians in alliance, or purely Indians”.

Bhagat Singh also saw the importance of freeing the people from the mental bondage of religion and superstition. In his article, ‘Why I am an atheist’, he subjected religion and religious philosophy to a scathing critique. He wrote, “Any man who stands for progress has to criticise, disbelieve and challenge every item of the old faith”.

The 2 most important views of Bhagat Singh were written above. The latter of the above made me wonder that if someone hadn’t challenged the old age systems like that of Sati, Jauhar, etc, we might still be having those in our society today, and we might still be saying, “Chalta hai. India me esa hi hota hai”. We would have accepted it as our tradition. This a small example of how our life would be without challenging the old systems which we feel are undermining the relationship of a human with another human.

We, as citizens of this country, should understand that the freedom in which we live today is not god-gifted to us. It has been given to us so that we could respect it and we could protect it for our future generations. It’s a liability that we should be proud to be made care takers of.

In the end, I should just say that, “”Ghodi pe to sab chadh jate hai, desh ke lie jaan sirf kuch hi dete hai”.Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Raj Guru were the special ones!

“She must be somewhere here”, Pranav thought.

“I need to find her. I need to see her for one last time before she goes back to Mumbai. “

Today is the day when the love of Pranav’s life is going back to Mumbai after her semesters break is over. And she isn’t coming back for another 6 months.

“Priya, where are you?” he called her.

“I am standing right here Pranav. Why don’t you come? I want to see you. Please come na.”

Pranav wondered in irritated amazement and thought where the hell she is. He has visited the Delhi Railway station quite often and he could not understand why he is not able to see her even when the station is at its quietest possible.

(It is 4 A.M in the morning and Pranav, after travelling the length and breadth of the platform a record 4 times in 4 minutes, seemed to lose his cool when the phone rang)

“Where are you Pranav? Tell me if you do not want to meet me? I will not say anything and just go.”

In the span of this conversation, Pranav recalled the hard ordeal he had to go through to come visit her at the station. He had to make a pillow arrangement on his bed so that he seemed asleep to his mother who was sleeping right next to him. Also, he had to push his scooter a fair distance to make sure that nobody came to know that he is gone at 3:50 in the morning. Also, he drove at almost 100 km/hr to reach the station just in time.

He wanted to tell all of this to Priya, but he managed to say something totally different.

“Baby, of course I want to meet you. I am sorry. Now, please tell me exactly where you are? And on which platform?”

“I am standing right at the footsteps of the bridge that separates the 2 platforms. How many times do I need to tell you the same thing? I think you are not even on the station and you do not want to meet me either.”

(There is a very interesting fact about love. It has no place for reasoning. When you are in love, you cannot apply logic to most of the things. And when you are in a situation when you just have 5 minutes before a final goodbye, logic is hard to come.)

The situation was going out of control. Pranav was standing right at the footsteps of the bridge where Priya was supposed to be present too.

“I am standing right where you told me you are but I can’t see you. I have been running on the platform for the last 5 minutes and I see no sign of you. “

“Pranav, please go back. I think we are not destined to meet for one last time.”

In the course of this conversation, Pranav suddenly found himself moving upwards on the stairs and in no time he was at the top of the bridge from where he could see the whole station.

“I see you Pranav.” Priya shouted.

Suddenly her voice seemed new and fresh. All of a sudden she seemed alive.

“I told you that I am right at the footsteps. Why don’t you listen to me? Now come down from the stairs please. “

Now, Pranav started to come down from the stairs, as told, but still there was no sign of her. He was getting impatient.

“I still can’t find you”, he said.

“Come back to the bridge again.” she said.

“Ok.”

“I can see you again.”

Suddenly something dawned on Pranav. He realized that he might be searching on the wrong platform. So, he went down on other side of the bridge.

(You see, they both were at the footsteps of the bridge but on different platforms. Pranav was searching on Platform 1 while Priya was at Platform 2)

“There she is”, Pranav smiled.

“If you would have told me that you are at Platform 2, things would have been easier Priya.”

“You never asked me Pranav.”

Pranav knew that he had asked her. But he knew that doesn’t matter now. What matters is right in front of his eyes. They both could see each other now. But, Priya was not alone. Her parents, other girls who were going with her, and the parents of those girls were also present there.

Pranav was hiding behind the tree on the station and he was looking at her continuously. Priya wanted to, but she couldn’t.  He was acting as if he was talking on the phone just to be safe. His phone rang.

“I love you.” she said in a voice that could melt ice even in a snow storm.

“Wow. How do you look so beautiful even at this time?”

“I said I love you Pranav.”

“I love you too babe.”

(The train is approaching to the station. It is coming closer and closer. The engine is making huge amount of noise. But, the connection between two hearts is making its own sound. A sound that is unheard but is always in the air)

“I need to go”

“I know.”

Pranav could see her board the train. After adjusting herself in the cabin with other girls, she came out for a final goodbye. She was standing on the door with other girls. He could see her eyes filled with water.

There was a complete chaos on the station, but there was complete silence in the eyes of both of them. They just looked at each other and understood everything. They were now one in their own world.

(The train finally started to drift away. The moment had come)

Pranav could not see her now but he knew he had found something today. And he couldn’t wait any longer to call and tell her.

“You looked different today.” he said.

“What?”

“You looked like my wife today.”

Woman, a term used to coin a female human, definitely does not mean “woo-man”. She is a mother, a sister, a daughter, a wife, a friend and more importantly, she is human. In today’s world though, she’s Nirbhaya too.
Whatever you give a woman, she is going to multiply it. If you give her a sperm, she will give you a baby. If you give her a house, she will give you a home.If you give her your respect, she will give you her life. If you give her liberty, she will give you her love but if you give her any wrong, she will give you a whole lot of smashing.

The journey of being a woman in INDIA-

She is born. She is happy. But, her family wanted a son. She didn’t know it now, for she is just a child. She craves for her father’s lap, but silently acknowledges when her father’s lap is occupied by her own little brother, for she is told that she is a good sister. Now, she goes to school, but not the same as her brothers’, for she is told that it involves a lot of money and she is a good daughter. Now, she is a little grown up, but is told not to wear a skirt, for she is told that she is a good girl. She is stared shamelessly by an unknown, but she is told to remain silent, for she is a timid character. Now, she enters her womanhood, and is told to leave her home and get married to someone she don’t really know. She is now a wife, and no longer a daughter, for she is told that it is her destiny. She now feels a kick in her womb, and her whole world changes. She is now a mother. She spent her whole life feeding her children her own meal, but at the winter of her life, she has her eyes stuck on the door of the hospital waiting for that last meal from them. A meal that can let her eyes shut down. But that meal never came.Facing all this, there she is, strong and shining like a diamond!

Woman- An eternal smile.

 Having to occupy so many roles throughout her endearing journey, she never complains and she never lets her smile fade away. Not only does she smiles throughout, she endures, and smiles. A world without her smile is like a body with no heart. That is the beauty of being her. Knowing the reality of the world in which she lives in, still managing that smile is a brave thing to do. It is a thing only some could do and it is definitely a thing no man can do.

Women- Strength Personified.

When we see a woman, we generally picture her crying over small issues say, for example, watching  an emotional movie. But, the very fact of her crying does not make her timid. In fact, it makes her even stronger due to the fact that she does not pretend to be someone she is not. Not everyone can do that.
She might be enduring the pain this world is giving her, but when she decides to raise her voice, the whole world listens She is a single mother, and a proud one too. She is a little overweight but she is always inspirational.

In the end, little things like her grace, care, temper, compassion, and even unpredictible emotions at time, all
of it makes her more beautiful. And, to be the one to bring a new life into this world, makes her beauty unparalleled.

Nobody should try to limit the things a woman could or should do. What we need today is not giving woman a special status, but giving her the liberty to explore those limitations. That’s all she needs.
So, in the starting the, question was, “What is the beauty of being a woman?”. In the end, it should rather be, “Is there any beauty without a woman?”

Written by-Naman Bansal.