The Womb – Poems on Mother , Father , Children , Parenthood – Volume 1 by Nikhil Parekh - HTML preview

11. WHEN I WAS A CHILD 

When I was a child I thought of devouring immaculate chunks of white butter,

Today I contemplated the price before purchasing monetary gifts for pleasure. 

When I was a child I clambered up tall trees; to pluck nutritious fruit,

Today I pondered on the various ramifications; which could possibly occur when the farmer caught me red handed. 

When I was a child I played vociferously in mud; making inarticulate cakes of cow dung plaster,

Today I refrained from going near wet land; on the flimsy grounds of having my trousers coated with obnoxious dirt. 

When I was a child I got up early in the morning; relishing cool air while walking towards school,

Today I woke up with startled jerks; with darkness fully camouflaged in the sun; to rush in a jiffy towards office. 

When I was a child I played for incessant hours in the evening with my cluster of friends, Today I retired in front of the television screen; with a glass of cold beverage; at the onset of twilight. 

When I was a child I demonstrated a plethora of emotions when profoundly agitated, Today I had risen to holistic degrees of self control; scrutinizing my mistakes before I cried. 

When I was a child I took the supreme liberty of hiding amongst a fleet of guests arriving at our dwelling,

Today I audaciously shook hands with the same; conversed for indefatigable hours with them on matters of common parlance. 

When I was a child I voraciously read a battalion of thrilling mysteries,

Today I completely engulfed myself in deciphering; intricate quotes of the stock market. 

When I was a child I listened to my elders with rapt attention and intense enthusiasm,

Today I chalked policies of my own; implementing them with loads of fortified conviction. 

When I was a child; beads of sweat dribbled down my nape after witnessing a ghastly scene from the movie,

Today I didn't budge an inch from my seat; after sighting the same; as I knew it was fictitious. 

When I was a child I had no hesitation asking for money from my ancestors,

Today I felt thoroughly abashed; asking them to gratify my distinctly penurious state. 

When I was a child I chortled into pools of uninhibited laughter; at someone awkwardly dressed,

Today I emitted out sly smiles; in order that the individual didn't feel humiliating and bad. 

When I was a child I hardly had time to think about the vagaries of mystical world, Today I spent hours pondering on a jugglery of consequences that would unleash; if I wasn't careful. 

When I was a child I thought the most onerous thing existing was to study,

Today I felt that it was the process of earning; that was the most cumbersome of them all. 

When I was a child; those were the times I was oblivious to reality; solely living in a world of tailor made fantasy,

While today I had crossed the realms of maturity; acclimatized to the harsh reality; and desperately wished I was that unscrupulous child once again.