Give me your hand
Let me take you twenty years back;
Can you see that scared child,
locked inside a dark room
as punishment for being disobedient?
She is shaking in fear
with the stern belief that
she has to always please others
in order to be accepted.
Take her in your arms,
Sing a lullaby to comfort her
Let her know she will be safe
She will learn to protect her
She will conquer every darkness
There is nothing to fear.
Give me your hand
Let me take you ten years back;
Yes there she is, the doe-eyed girl
Ridiculed by her school teacher
for being an introvert
Bullied by her classmates
for not being able to fit-in.
Her eyes rain tears of rejection
She wonders if this will be her life's fashion.
Hold her hand
Wipe her tears
Tell her she will grow
into a beautiful, confident woman
and conquer many mountains
She will learn to stand up her herself
without losing her kindness and grace.
Give me your hand
Let me now take you seven years back;
Can you see her countenance
marked by a profound agony?
She has experienced loss of a loved one
at the cruel hands of death
Her life seems to have lost all meaning
She is terrified of losing people.
In that fear, she is building iron gates
in front of her loving heart;
She wants to distance herself from all
so that she never has to taste the pain twice.
Give her a warm embrace
Let her cry her heart out
Let her tears melt away those
iron gates that she had built;
Now, tell her how life is a full circle
Whatever goes away returns back
The same book in a new cover
The same words in a new tune.
She has nothing to fear
Life will always reward her with
new hello after a painful goodbye.
The little five-year old,
The doe-eyed teenager
The melancholic young woman
They all live within you.
You nurture them daily
with pearls of wisdom
and kind, assuring words of love;
No matter what the past has been,
They are happy and peaceful today
Coexisting in your heart with harmony.
-Purba Chakraborty
