I Wish to be a Child; All Life

I wish I had remained

A child all Life

Not knowing what

This world is outside.

I never knew

What it meant to be

A Hindu, Dalit, Buddha or Jain.

I never knew

What it meant to be

A Christian, Islam, Sikh or Jew.

For me Christmas was the time

To get gifts from Santa

Diwali was the time

To burst crackers and have halwa

 Eid was the time to have

Biriyani and Sarbath

And it was fun, full of life

I wish I had remained

A child all life.

I used to smile and smile all time

Never knew there were

Occasions to smile

Now when I see my smile in a mirror

I wonder where I lost it

And got this wrong one there

Now when I think of

My marriage and children

I first think whether my spouse

Is my caste and religion

Going for a job or for studies

I think more of

The reservation I enjoy

Days of Joy I would never see again

It’s the life of separation

Looming large and again

In the midst

Of all impossibilities of life

I wished I had remained

A child all life

Not knowing what

This world is outside.

- VINEETH MOHANDAS