The girl waddles clumsily in her bright red frock
Intent on staying ahead of her ageing mother
Who tries her best to race her down the sidewalk.
Her matching dupatta is draped dutifully ‘round her face
And she tucks it in carefully before outrunning her sister in a race
Hands on her knees, she gasps for the fresh morning air
And laughs as she looks behind, tucking back her hair
Ahead of all now, she runs to the garden
And picks the first rose for ‘her’ Janardhana
Her eyes scrutinize the roses and she plucks another
Only the most fragrant one for her favourite, Damodara
The travellers she left behind finally catch up
And she restlessly looks for the freshest roses in the shrubs
“Mahadeva…Mangalmurti and Maheshwari
Two more for Maatangi and Mahabali”
Putting the prudently chosen wealth in her dupatta
She now walks to the temple with a hop and smile
“Faith is the reason for all the good and jubile.”
~
Her faith has thwarted as years had to depart
Yet the garden has remained the same
Only the roses have been torn apart.
The memories of a distant time have been callously replaced
Some she’s taken care to forget, others time has erased.
Skies have grown darker and the people beneath, estranged
Her thoughts revolve on a different axis; she has changed.
The roses have been substituted with the notes of ten
Adulation has been replaced with much derision
Maybe rationality has taken over her emotionality
Mayhap she is just a victim of time and sensibility.
She knows not what is more despicable-
The deeds of religious men
Or the way they preach morality after acts unforgivable
Claiming their superiority and blaming others’ mediocrity
Are these the men of that supreme authority?
When you’ve lost your substance and sacrificed your soul
How can you live or love when you’re an entity no more?
Her stupor breaks; a beggar calls her in voice so coarse,
“No, not the prasad give me money or bear Shiva’s curse.”
Taking the prudently earned wealth out of her purse
She now walks from temple with a complacent smile
“Faith is the reason for all the sinful and vile.”
The Arrow of Time 