A Letter to Broken Promises

To Broken Promises, 

There was a time when I believed that promises are meant to be kept. I was under the impression that when people promise something, they do it with the kernel of their existence. They mean every word they say with the intention of retaining it. I believed human beings are defined by the promises they make and keep. 

It has been only a few years when I realized that promises are nothing but shallow words, said in order to fool or extract something from you. They are governed by the fickleness of the human mind and they have nothing to do with the human heart. Once the realization dawned on me, I could count the number of broken promises and strangely, feel no resentment towards the people who broke them. 

Something that is governed by the mind, has no chance of permanence. Isn't it? And so, my dear broken promises, I hold no bitterness towards you. You made me comprehend why memories always weigh more than promises. Although this is not a letter to memories, I must tell you that had you not been there, human beings wouldn't have clung to their suitcase of memories like a homeless person who has lost everything in a calamity. 

Being a writer, I deal with words every single day. I play and romance with words when I am putting them on paper. But while talking to a person, I take care not to use words frivolously. I believe if you truly love and care for someone, there won't be the need of making promises vocally. You can do that in your heart and try your best to keep it. 

Dear broken promises, you taught me to use words in all conscience. You taught me to look beyond words and peep into the intentions concealed beneath the words. You helped me understand that some things break, not because they are fragile, but because they are already broken from the first minute, the only difference is that the cracks have been cleverly camouflaged. 

And finally, it's because of you I believe in living in the moment. Just like seasonal changes, human intentions keep changing and with that, the promises they had made once. I would never let you take the life out of me; instead, I would let good memories fill the hole that you puncture in my heart. 

Thank you for making me wiser, stronger and more compassionate!

From, 

A girl who no longer believes in promises

A Letter to Poetry

Dear Poetry, 
     
           If you wouldn't have been there in my life, I would have probably gone insane. Yes, I might have survived even then, but living would surely be difficult. The emotional and deep person that I am, it's hard to find someone who understands me or values my emotions. But I have found you and so, no regrets.

           You are the one who calm my 3 am tears and help me find beauty in chaos. You help me make sense of my overwhelming emotions. You convince me that pain and separation can be romantic too, just like togetherness. You help me look beyond the ordinary. You make me feel life is hard but interesting as there is so much to write about.

            I was reminiscing the day I fell in love with you. I think I was ten. I took part in the elocution competition in school, where I was told to recite "The Hero" by Rabindranath Tagore. It was a long poem and at first, I was annoyed that I had to memorize it. But then slowly, I started enjoying reading the poem. I still remember those opening lines "Mother, let us imagine we are travelling, and passing through a strange and dangerous country". 

        That poem had built my confidence then and inspired me to be brave. Back then, I didn't know that I will have no choice apart from being brave in life. I was not born strong, but life sculpted me to be as strong as a warrior in order to survive. And you have been inspiring me all the way to be brave, kind and never give up on dreams.

         When I tasted pain, one after the other as I grew up, you became my source of solace. It's in your arms I could reconstruct myself. I like the fact that it's always so easy to bare my heart out, by using a metaphor. I could express everything, and yet not reveal anything. And when people read my poems and relate to them, it makes me euphoric. 

            The best thing is you connect me to people I love deeply. No matter whether they are with me in the present moment, I can always reach out to them through you. You help me dwell in the parallel universe, where I am with my soulmate. You help me relive the moments I had spent with my mother and grandmother. You nourish and water the love in my heart, not letting it perish. You capture the hope in my heart, not letting it fly away.

          Whenever I feel overwhelmed with the injustice happening around me, I can always calm my raging thoughts in your embrace. I wonder had I not found you, how would I have been able to control my rage, pain and fear?

          My dear poetry, I will be indebted to you forever. You add so much meaning to the simple, mundane things of life. You make life an enigma and nature a magician. No wonder I fall in your love every time I read some mesmerizing poem or write a poem to soothe my heart. 


         Thank you for giving me the chance to love you wholeheartedly in this lifetime. And I hope, you love me too. 

                                                                                         ~A poet

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Letter to Her! Say No to Domestic Violence

Dear Smriti,

                 You might not know me very well. Apart from passing a smile when we coincidentally bump into each other at the nearby grocery shop, we haven’t had any conversations. I am the girl who stays with her dad beside your house. Now, you might be wondering why I am writing this letter to you. Well, I hesitated at first, but couldn’t stop myself from reaching out to you. A woman’s heart compelled me to do so. I would plead you to read the letter till the end.

                I still remember the day when you got married to Rajdeep, my neighbor. You looked beautiful with that striking smile and the glow of happiness on your face. When I met you at your reception and congratulated you, I could see a vibrant, happy woman who wants to live life according to her own terms. But within a few months of your wedding, I could see the smile on your face gradually fading. I could often hear your sobs and sometimes shrieks at midnight. 

              When I wake up in the morning every day at 6 am and do my yoga, I can see you cooking in the kitchen and then getting ready for work. Sometimes, I wonder how many hours do you manage to sleep. When I watch television at the end of a tiring day, I can see you again in the kitchen preparing dinner. The maid of our house used to work in your house too. When I asked her why she is not working at your place, she said that your father-in-law has told her they don’t need her anymore.

                To say that I was shocked that day will be an understatement. I couldn’t fathom how anyone can treat a family member in this way. I used to wonder why you don’t realize that you don’t get any time to rest the entire day. Why don’t you protest? Sleeping after 1 am and waking up before 5 am is not healthy. Moreover, you have your office every day. I wanted to ask you these questions whenever I met you at the grocery store, but somehow I hesitated as I did not want to interfere in your family matters.

               But the incidents after your miscarriage enraged me to the core, and therefore, I am writing this letter, shedding my inhibitions. I did not even know that you were expecting due to the tremendous amount of work that you do every day. I couldn’t see any changes in your lifestyle to understand that a new life is blooming within you. Then all of a sudden, one day at 10 pm, I could hear you wailing and whimpering. You were taken to the hospital. 

               Two days later, I learned that you had a miscarriage. From that day onwards, I can hear you getting tormented by your husband and in-laws. Although I can’t see exactly how they are treating you, your inconsolable sobs and wails every night tell me your story. I can hear your husband shouting at you when you refuse to stop crying. And then again in the morning, I see you cooking in the kitchen and then rushing to work. I also saw some cigarette burns on your arm when I met you at the grocery shop last time.

              My dear girl, I don’t know why you are choosing to live such a hellish life every single day. I can only tell you that it is not right to tolerate domestic violence of any kind, whatever the reason may be. The person who tolerates injustice is equally at fault as the person who commits injustice. If you become a mother of a daughter, have you ever thought what kind of a life your daughter will get? She will see her mother tolerating injustice every single day and believe that this is how it should be. Do you want your daughter to suffer in silence like you all her life? 

              You are a special person sent to this earth for a purpose. Do not embrace a life where people treat you worse than a doormat. Search for your light within, gather the courage, speak up and rise above your pain. Your beautiful eyes are not meant to shed a thousand tears every night. They are meant for seeing this beautiful world. Take a stand against the injustice.

               Today, when you take a stand, you will not only fight for yourself, but also for the thousands of women who are frightened to take a stand against domestic violence. And if you need my help, just know that I am always there for you ready to help you. But today, you need to help yourself and then everything will get better. I can assure you that all your wounds will get healed, only if you take a step to save yourself today. I hope this poem of mine can motivate you to some extent:

Dear girl, stop!

Don’t do that to yourself

A couple of people might be cruel to you

You don’t need to be cruel to yourself;

Look away from the arduous wounds

Don’t pinch or touch them

Let them be;

Have faith in the greatest healer, Time

The scars will evaporate like magic

You won’t even understand how and when.

Embrace yourself today!

Embrace life with all your love

Breathe, smile, live!

Let the positive energy flow into your heart

Drop the baggage that robs you of life.

You are stronger than your wounds

Your life is much bigger than your pain;

Have faith in the greatest healer, Time

Embrace yourself today!

Embrace life with all your love

Breathe, smile, live!

Love and light,

A woman who believes in your strength,

Purba

Note: The incidents mentioned in the letter #ALetterToHer are largely drawn from real life and is slightly fictional. I have changed the names to protect privacy.

Meena Kandasamy's latest novel When I Hit You is a chronicle of an abusive marriage and the celebration of the power of art. I would love to read this novel as it is a courageous take on traditional wedlock in modern India. The incidents in the book are inspired from the real scenario in the country. 

Dear beautiful women, let your soul shine bright!

Most of my stories and poems are inspired by the women that I see regularly around me. Today’s women know their mind and are aware of their rights. They know the world is as much theirs as it is of men. They are aware of their talent, intelligence, and potential. At the same time, they are proud of having a loving heart and a compassionate soul.

I get inspired when I see a woman raising her voice against any injustice taking place with her or around her. I feel proud when I see women empowering each other. To all the wonderful women achievers, whether women filmmakers, writers, artists, doctors or lawyers, I salute you for bringing your authentic self to this world.

And to all the unsung women who are fighting their battles to fulfill their dreams, I salute you for your courage and resilience.

I feel blessed to be a woman because a woman is a nurturer, lover and fighter rolled into one. The best thing is that today, we have got the world listening to what we are saying. Therefore, we should take control of our lives and do something beautiful that we can be proud of. 

Dear beautiful women,

Let's make a promise this Women's Day to honor our individuality and identity. 
Let's not give a single soul the power to dim our light and remove that smile from our face. Let's take pride in our little quirks, loud giggles, overwhelming emotions and the sweet imperfections. Because they make us who we are. 

Let's uplift women who are less privileged than us and get inspired by the ones who live life on their own terms. 

Let kindness be our lyrics and love be our music as we, women, have the capability to love unconditionally. Let's promise to never compromise on our individuality and beliefs because the world needs our light, our authentic self.

Let your soul shine brighter than ever. Happy Women's Day!

Love, 

A woman who looks up to you

Dear Zindagi, I love you!

Dear Zindagi,

First of all, I want to give you a big hug because no matter how much I have complained and whined, you have always embraced me with all my flaws. I love you!

Everyday, you give me reasons to be happy, make me feel myriad emotions and teach me something new. Yes, there are nights when I suffer so much that I start hating you and think that you are ugly, but you don’t give up on me. You again paint my face with a smile the next morning, bless me with love, plant hope in my heart and sprinkle dreams in my eyes.  

You have shown me that there can be beauty in ugliness, peace in cauldron and hope in despair, only if we have the eyes to see it. You have taught me that one can never run short of reasons to be happy. Living every moment to the fullest and making beautiful memories is the ticket to perennial happiness. 

You are the wisest teacher ever. I learnt from you that sadness is not my enemy. It is also a friend, just like happiness. Without sadness, happiness will lose all its meaning. You are really complicated and perhaps that’s why it took me more than two decades to understand you properly. 

That day, I was looking at a beautiful rainbow from the hills when it struck me that you are just like that. You are composed of several colors which make you look so beautiful. Happiness, sadness, love, fear, peace, anger and compassion are some of your colors that together make you so beautiful.

When my mother passed away, I thought you didn’t love me. When my grandmother got cancer, I thought you didn’t love me. When I was a lonely introvert in my high school days with not a single person willing to talk to me, I thought you didn’t love me. When I got betrayed, I thought you didn’t love me. When my heart got broken again and again into a million pieces, I thought you never loved me. 

Oh dear! I was so wrong. You brought wrong people in my life so that I understand who the right people are. You gave me superficial friends so that I recognize who my best friend is. You showed me how painful loneliness is so that I don’t give loneliness to anyone in return. You gave me the best father in the world who never made me feel my mother's absence. I can always find my mother in him. You gave me such a lovely grandmother who fought and survived the battle with cancer so that she can raise me up.  

Every scar that you have given me, I found a note of wisdom in it years later. Your way of loving is really unique. I have slowly started understanding your love. And yes, how can I forget the surprise gifts that you gave me in the form of miracles, be it soul companions or my calling? You have given me people with whom I could feel a direct soul connection and realize that magic exists.

Discovering that writing is my calling has brought me closer to myself. I have found a best friend in me. Writing has helped me unwrap the gift of solitude. I don't fear loneliness anymore. Now, I can clothe my emotions in beautiful words and put them on paper.

Loving deeply without fear, crying my heart out without any inhibition, pouring kindness in every act, smiling from the bottom of my heart are some of the most valuable things that I have learnt from you. But my favorite lesson is that I should always be true to myself and never lie to myself. I know I took a long time to learn this simple lesson. Do you think I am a bad student? Well, you see I am trying to improve every day.

I can feel your warm hug when the wind pampers my hair and the waves tickle my feet. I can also feel your hug in the smell of roses, the melody of songs, the aroma of home-cooked food and the magic of words.

Thank you so much for all the lessons. Thank you for being so patient with this student of yours. Thank you for all the hugs.

And also thank you for the wounds where you left behind your note of wisdom. 

#DearZindagi, I am so much in love with you!

Here’s a poem that I have written on you long back. Hope you like it.

People often yell and wail

‘Life! Why do you give pain?

They forget the euphoric moments

They lament, shout and complain.

Life never complains

It embraces both the tears and the smiles

That people throw in its bosom

It endures, teaches, enlightens.

Life is wiser than people

It tries to speak in innumerable ways;

The ones who listen to its tales

Savor every slice of it till death.

Love and Hugs, 

~Purba Chakraborty

I am writing a letter to life for the #DearZindagi activity at BlogAdda