Before the storm,
We realise the things we’ll lose,
Not those we have.

Fragility can be vulnerability,
Fragility can be hope.
A hope to break in the storm
And to be a part of it indefinitely.

The post The Calm appeared first on The Teenager Today.

Dear Shivani,

You are missing your aunt a lot. It is quite evident that she meant the world to you, and you are still grieving her loss.

Someone shared a beautiful way of looking at it… just as water changes state, the same way we also change state — from physical to spirit. She just cannot be seen, yet she is with you. She is alive in your heart, your thoughts, and your memories. Honour her memory by creating a little shrine or space with her picture. Keep flowers and light a diya for as long as you wish to. Spend a moment of gratitude and love with her each day and thank her for her presence in your life.

She was like a mother to you, and like all mothers, she would have wanted you to become successful in whatever you do. So, take her blessings and then sit to study. Each day, take one step forward to achieve the dreams she would have wanted you to achieve. You know that she loved you, understood you, and wished you well. So, recall all the advice she may have given you and use that as a guide to move forward. Know that she is present — like a guru, a guardian angel — with you always.

The post I think about her and feel like crying appeared first on The Teenager Today.

The post Goodbye appeared first on The Teenager Today.

(A little boy’s perception of a terrorist attack in his city)

In this big world of adults, observing with my big round eyes,
Mum said we are bound by love and friendship and live together as allies.
I wonder what had struck the people, as they with their strange gear,
Are causing people to fall asleep and I see all the faces full of fear.

Last night I heard a loud sound which put you to sleep,
I wonder if it was from those strange machines that these people keep.
You let out a scream and your eyes slowly closed,
Later I saw you sleeping among the big crowd, just like I supposed.

It’s like all these people who sleep with their bodies lying still on the bare ground,
Dream of a better world which is yet to be found.
I hope they don’t take too long, as I miss my mum who herself among the big crowd,
Lay without a little shift or the tiniest sound.

Mum, it’s strange to see you sleep without you holding me close to your chest,
And away from your arms, I feel like a bird that has lost its nest.
I hear that sound every now and then, the loud sound which put you to sleep,
I wonder if it’s those strange men, adding more people to the heap.

The uniformed men have now brought you to me but you’re still not awake,
Even after my loudest call and my strongest shake.
I think you’re still dreaming and knitting a better world just like you promised,
And with another loud sound and a bright flash, I was left to complete darkness.

Published in the June 2017 issue of The Teenager Today.

The post Darkness appeared first on The Teenager Today.

I felt stabbed to death by his hands.
Suddenly all of it had changed so much.
My love was unconditional, no demands,
But for him it was nothing important.

I knew I was playing a game I would lose.
But my love would win.
He turned away because I was truthful,
In a world where pretense thrives.

I let go of him,
For you cannot make the wild eat grass.
I let go of him,
For I knew I’d had enough.

He thought I would be broke,
Alas! What a joke.
He thought I would crumble
But I straightened myself out.
For forests burn, walls shake, lives shatter,
Yet all mends…

Published in the November 2016 issue of The Teenager Today.

The post I lost him appeared first on The Teenager Today.

Posted by:
Manisha Agarwal (15)
DPS, Agra

You think I lost you all at once? No. I lost you in little tatters and fragments. Every moment your starry eyes gazed at her as if she was a plethora of perfection, you drifted a little. The way sand seeps through the gaps between your fingers, the place where my fingers were once entwined. Every moment when you told me how happy she makes you, I knew you were walking away, every step of your feet deafening me. I was incapacitated to do anything. I told you how happy I was for you. For you, I was, for myself, I wasn’t.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” color=”#d3d9ce” class=”rblog” ]All I can do now is to listen to you rant about how much you love her. But stupid boy, I wish you knew what love felt like.[/perfectpullquote]

I remember the day when you told me you had desperately fallen in love with her and I abruptly hung up on you, you asked why. Well, ask my tear-stained pillows. I remember when you told me that you saw oceans with hidden treasures in my blue eyes, now you see enchanting forests in her green ones. I’d give up anything to go back to that time when we swayed to the rhythm of our favourite songs under the moonlight. But now you gift her CDs with the same songs. Our songs.

All I can do now is to listen to you rant about how much you love her. But stupid boy, I wish you knew what love felt like.

I wish you knew how my love for you felt like.

I wish…

This article has been published in the October 2016 issue of The Teenager Today.

The post Shallow thoughts appeared first on The Teenager Today.