Rose-Coloured Glasses

Stepped out to get what my mother asked,

and saw the usual crowd distanced and masked.

The empty streets haunted me and did tell

How selfishly humanity had further down fell.

Reminisced how isolated we all had become,

And how the days we squandered, and still wished for some.

Yet some others like me had found hope in their nest;

Revived their old hobbies or something they did best.

Dusted the house and wiped it clean throughout,

Smiled at what I'd accomplished, feeling ever proud.

Ventured into baking, made palate cleansers too,

Being a little helping hand, I understood others' value.

This time has been difficult but we're all in it together.

Rich or poor, we're birds of the same feather.

A chance to reflect on myself, to look forward to the day,

When we would celebrate our freedom like a giant birthday

- Chinmayee Kulkarni

Insecure Butterfly

She saw what she always wanted
but chose to keep her hand away
For she feared the hiding shadows
that put misfortune in her way

Would leap out from their hideout
and sabotage what little she had
For they thought her undeserving
of the cheerfulness she grabbed.

One step away from a perfect
and peaceful life she could have-
Sat at the bottom of the deep well
where she could hear mockery and laughs.

Did all of this for what,
just the security of her smile?
But has she noticed at all
that it has been a long while?

Eons since she was carefree,
Ages since sat without a frown;
Winters falling over her and
making her deep under the snow drown.

Clouds of worries float over
and down with weight are her shoulders;
She knows that they don't exist
but compulsively shoves the boulders.

Needs one chance at being normal
an opportunity to draw a breath-
To let the butterfly flutter her wings
away from the burden they were beneath.

How that happens she doesn't now
while she tries her best to
not think of her caterpillar days 
and just find a way to get through

This arduous journey they call life
that crushes one from within.
Because this can't be the worst she says 
if she's survived through thick and thin
                                                                           -Chinmayee Kulkarni

Silver Bracelet

Sticky fingers wiped the last of what remained in the small Tupperware box and my eyes opened after enjoying the delicious trance of the jackfruit jam, made by the Masterchef, ammamma. Ah, Ammamma, I missed her so much! She was what I always looked for in my grandmothers, found it partly and satiated my thirst with the portion of love I had; if I were to describe her, I would say she's motherly and cute. A small frame and wrinkled hands that possessed the taste of heaven and a smile full of love that was proud of me.
 
She wasn't my own grandmother but she took care of me like I was her grandchild; a bond stronger than a lifetime formed in a fast two weeks. The reason I say fast is that it was unfairly quick, too much of a good thing is bad they say and hence with much ado, I said goodbye to her.

It was vacation time and a big milestone in my life was completed, I wanted to squander all my days for which I found a place to do at her home; late nights and later mornings but she had no complaints, every morning she'd come with a warm cup of bournvita and greet cheerfully, sweeter than a morning with birds chirping. I received so much of warmth from her but hardly any of it was verbal; Ammamma spoke Malayalam with a dab of English but we never really needed these material mediums to build upon our relationship.

Speaking of material objects, we have recently developed small storage cards that can hold enormous amounts of data but it isn't new, we always have certain objects that store infinite memories of a dear one; I have a silver bracelet which, in each twist, stores the essence of Ammamma.