They say love makes you fly
defying the gravity.
But, love has been partial
I'm falling in pieces to the ground.
I break in the quiet
I don't find the point in noise when you won't return.
I'm waiting for you but
you haven't even started the search for me.
Our souls are one, forced to two halves
due to human bodily limitations.
This is why you feel this unexplainable
longing and grief within.
My heart hasn't handled all this love very well
It gets heavy and spills into my palms.
And slips from between my fingers.
My heart, my body, my diary, my room, the floor,
Everything is painted in red from my love for you.
You see the mess when love's not given a space
to be expressed and understood?
If you still let it be,
This city too will gradually turn red, my love.

-

ಅವರು ನಿನ್ನನ್ನು ದೂರ ತಳ್ಳಿದರೆ
ನಿನ್ನದು ಏನು ಕೆಟ್ಟಿತು?

ಅವರು ನಿನ್ನನ್ನು ಹಂಗಿಸಿದರೆ
ನಿನ್ನದು ಏನು ಕೆಟ್ಟಿತು?

ಅವರು ನಿನಗೆ ಎಲ್ಲವೂ ಅಸಾಧ್ಯ ಎಂದರೆ
ನಿನ್ನದು ಏನು ಕೆಟ್ಟಿತು?

ಅವರು ಮಾತಾಡಿದ್ದು ಅವರಿಗೇ ಇರಲಿ
ಅವರ ಪಾಪ ಅವರಿಗೇ ಸುತ್ತಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವುದು

ಅವರ ಮಾತು ಅವರಿಗೇ ಉಡುಗೊರೆಯಂತೆ
ಹಿಂದಿರುಗಿಸಿ ಬಿಡು

ನೀ ಚಿಂತೆ ಬಿಡು, ನೀ ಚಿಂತೆ ಬಿಡು.

-

ಸರಿ ತಪ್ಪಿನ ನಡುವೆ
ಸರಿಯನ್ನೇ ಆರಿಸೆ ಮನಸೇ ನೀನು

ಬೆಳಕು ಕತ್ತಲಿನ ನಡುವೆ
ಬೆಳಕನ್ನೇ ಆರಿಸೆ ಮನಸೇ ನೀನು

ಸತ್ಯ ಮಿತ್ಯದ ನಡುವೆ
ಸತ್ಯವನ್ನೇ ಆರಿಸೆ ಮನಸೇ ನೀನು

ಕುಗ್ಗಬೇಡ ಮನಸೇ
ನೀ ಕುಗ್ಗಬೇಡ ಎಂದಿಗೂ.

-

ಕಲಿತೆ ಕಲಿತೆ
ಬಹಳ ಕಲಿತೆ

ದೋಣಿ ಇಲ್ಲದೆ
ದಡವನ್ನು ತಲುಪಲು ಕಲಿತೆ

ಮಳೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಹರುಷದಿಂದ
ಕುಣಿಯಲು ಕಲಿತೆ

ಯೋಚನೆ ಇಲ್ಲದೆ
ಶಾಂತಿಯಿಂದ ಕೂರಲು ಕಲಿತೆ

ಕಳೆದು ಹೋದ ಪ್ರೀತಿಯನ್ನು
ಕಣ್ಣೀರಿಲ್ಲದೆ ನೆನೆಯಲು ಕಲಿತೆ

ನಂಬಿಕೆ ದ್ರೋಹ ಮಾಡಿದ ಎಲ್ಲರನ್ನೂ
ದೂರ ತಳ್ಳಲು ಕಲಿತೆ

ಜೀವನದ ಪ್ರತಿ ತಿರುವಿನಲ್ಲೂ
ಹೊಸ ಪಾಠವನ್ನು ಕಲಿತೆ

ಅಮ್ಮ ಹೇಳಿದ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಮಾತುಗಳು
ನಿಜ ಎಂದು ಅರಿತೆ

ಜೀವನ ಪಾಠ ಕಲಿಸುವ ರೀತಿಯನ್ನು
ಕಂಡು ಹಿಡಿದೆ ಎಂದು ಮುಗುಳ್ನಕ್ಕೆ.

-

'Him' I say
'Oh him, I've forgotten him'
The moon just states
'He loves the colour purple'
I respond,
'No, you are wrong.
He loves green and blue'.
'His eyes are coffee brown'
'No' I say sharply
With the efficiency of a painter
'His eyes are ebony black'
'You've forgotten him, isn't it?'
My moon laughs and I become mute.
Meekly, I say,
'I never wanted to love him'
My moon looking at me sad
And being filled with grief enough
For a lifetime,
He says,
'I promise you,
I'll bring him to you.
Not just for a day
But for all the lifetimes to come.
Until then, I won't show up,
When you both are together.
The day I show up will be the day
you both are going to start
a beautiful neverending journey together'.
I try hard to smile,
I fail
And go to sleep.
My moon too, vanishes.

-

Busy city streets,
Night lamps,
Vehicle headlights,
Pretty food carts,
Irritating work days and
Hardworking parents.
Days on the verge of breaking
Due to this heaviness;
Nights coming to the rescue
Peace settling in.
Tiring life,
Indeed it is.

-

People may promise you the stars, the ocean, the sky, the universe but ultimately they leave you to drown in the madness of love. But you've to get back up, slowly swim, start to fly and catch those stars all on your own flight.

-

When you've only seen
women being trampled
and doubted upon,
At home and in the society
since childhood,
Mistreated in all ways possible,
You tell yourself
You don't deserve this.
You tell her
She doesn't deserve this.
You pull her up,
You get up along with her.
You tell her to break this,
You don't let it continue with you.
You fly, dive and run
All according to your heart's desire.
And you tell them out there,
You won't bend your head in shame
Just because you are a woman.

-

I thank you
And everybody else:
Who mocked me,
Who left me,
Who broke me.
It is because of all of you
I'm standing here:
Unshakeable,
Undeterred.
You might've failed to notice
But I've grown strong.
I've fallen in love with this being.
I would never want another
To validate my existence.
I know I'm enough.
I know I'm beautiful
With all these scars.
I know I'm beautiful
With this soft heart.
I know I'm beautiful
With everything that makes me.

-

I have trouble sleeping.
I have not known the remedy.
I still remember
Him telling me
'Imagine a butterfly...'
You already know this story.
But how do I tell him
Where the butterfly took me
When I can't even tell him
Simple details about my day.
And how do I tell him
The butterfly fluttering its wings
Enthusiastically
Waited for me
While I waited for him.
And how do I tell him
That the butterfly got exhausted waiting
And that's why
It returned to him.
Finally how do I tell him
That I'm still having trouble sleeping
And now I write about him
And our butterfly.

-