A Princess in Love and Shadows

“Who shall hear my cries?
Who shall hear my mad laughs?
The empty halls promised to a princess,
Or the pillars that bleakly protect me.

The sringaar of my face stays like a mask,
To not show the agony I bear within,
My anklets make noise,
To remind him that I still live.

The promises of love,
the vows of marriage,
do they mean nothing in front of dharma,
is Righteousness a God or an asura in disguise meant to torment many just for sake of one?

My name makes me an enchantress,
To enchant the bravest with the wisdom of rasas,
A single look from my doe-like eyes to keep them in prison of my heart,
Yet I remain confined in my own heart,
Enchanted in his love, an irony of mine.

Sunayana’s daughter am I,
and now the putri in the land of Sun.
But what does this honor, this name means,
When I myself am without meaning.

Ask me, if I have seen love.
I will say I heard his tale of crossing the Sarayu river from the insides of my chamber.

Following his idols like a devout,
with folded hands like Surdas for Krishn,
like Kalidasa for Maa Kali,
but who shall I follow, the devout of the devotee himself.

Years pass and so do seasons,
I wait for his sight,
like hope in Kalyuga,
like light in depths of ocean
and love within broken heart.

The flower garlands lay shrivelled,
The mehndi of my hands just as new,
Waiting to fill his face in my hands,
and let him see his bride after ages.

Even in the sleep I pleaded Gods to give me,
so he can protect his Gods,
I find no rest, just shards of glass pricking my heart,
the glasses I broke in my restlessness.

For love goes to Sarayu just to return –
I have told Gods this a million times,
Or I shall bring Gods and him to this palace myself.”

– Words spoken by Urmila when Lakshman went with Siya-Rama for their exile in forest. The young bride waited patiently for years. But this poem shows her passionate version, her love being the central aspect of her character. Literature has often taken Urmila as a side character and this makes her a character that could be explored in mesmerizing ways in newer works. This poem is, my experimentation with the poetic style that ancient Indian poets used and the free verse modern poetry is known for.

– Sarthak Paliwal

THE EVENING HAS JUST SET

“Let me tell you a secret, kids”

Said the young storyteller,

“The evening has just set,

And all of you must listen, specially you Miss!

 

I know you have lived a long day,

Burdened by promises of ages

And expectations that chained you to a gate,

That has been rusted for ages.

 

I know your heart is weary,

And mind distressed after knowing

That all your child-like wishes were mere dreams,

And reality a broken carrier, picking upon those dreams.

 

I know that the sun has set

And you wish to see the moon

For it is a relief from all your pain,

As no happiness is soon going to rain.

  

But look, the evening has just set

And the redness of your heart lies in sky.

Don’t be shy the way sun is hiding,

Let’s sit, stranger, and live for a little more while.

 

Let’s be away from promises

And all your pain may vanish.

Like this redness being swallowed by darkness,

Let our gaze melt into the sky.

 

I know, kids, you are waiting for some secret,

But this secret, you already know,

Look around and find some love

For the evening has just set”.

-SARTHAK PALIWAL