The waiting will soon be over.
Our flight will shortly be announced.
We will be on board in a while.
Our journey to the distant land is beginning.
My dream it had always been,
to visit London, the birth place of poets,
novelists, and other great people
who are part of my intellectual and aesthetic world.
Ever since I began reading,
it was my cherished dream
to learn and master English.
It might have been engendered by the behaviour
of my cousins who showed off their English speaking prowess
at annual family reunions, mocking their country bred,
simple counterparts including me who was sensitive
and conscious of their conceits and shallowness.
They laughed at people speaking
to each other or to their parents
in the foreign language they thought they alone understood.
Papa and grandma understood everything.
They had good education and vast reading,
good enough to keep a distance and not to interfere,
letting the vain ones wade their way in their fake paradise.
We were schooled before we began school
by our father and grandmother.
They guided us to our dreams.
Learning English was one of those,
though teaching it was never on the agenda.
Our learning eventually led us to teaching.
Both of us, my brother and I chose the same path.
I don’t believe in flaunting one’s skills, let alone linguistic.
The vanity and foolishness required for any such enterprise
get steadily decreased as one’s vista of learning broadens.
The land that shaped our destinies,
moulded our lives, gave shape to our fantasies,
seem much closer now that we are at the airport
and our flight is ready.
We start off with the hope that this visit will
enrich and empower us.
Anyway we have come a long way.
Our flight will shortly be announced.
We will be on board in a while.
Our journey to the distant land is beginning.
My dream it had always been,
to visit London, the birth place of poets,
novelists, and other great people
who are part of my intellectual and aesthetic world.
Ever since I began reading,
it was my cherished dream
to learn and master English.
It might have been engendered by the behaviour
of my cousins who showed off their English speaking prowess
at annual family reunions, mocking their country bred,
simple counterparts including me who was sensitive
and conscious of their conceits and shallowness.
They laughed at people speaking
to each other or to their parents
in the foreign language they thought they alone understood.
Papa and grandma understood everything.
They had good education and vast reading,
good enough to keep a distance and not to interfere,
letting the vain ones wade their way in their fake paradise.
We were schooled before we began school
by our father and grandmother.
They guided us to our dreams.
Learning English was one of those,
though teaching it was never on the agenda.
Our learning eventually led us to teaching.
Both of us, my brother and I chose the same path.
I don’t believe in flaunting one’s skills, let alone linguistic.
The vanity and foolishness required for any such enterprise
get steadily decreased as one’s vista of learning broadens.
The land that shaped our destinies,
moulded our lives, gave shape to our fantasies,
seem much closer now that we are at the airport
and our flight is ready.
We start off with the hope that this visit will
enrich and empower us.
Anyway we have come a long way.
Picture courtesy: http://creativewriting.ie/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/prompt-7.jpg
4 comments:
Very good work. Like the strong narrative here.
Thank you. I mean to sharpen the skill. Encouragement surely helps.
very inspiring, nice flow of thoughts and words
Thanks Archana for reading my poem and commenting on it. It certainly encourages and reassures me.
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