An evening in the metropolitan city-
Skyscrapers garlanded by lights;
pomp and show everywhere
People are busy, chasing their dreams
Ready to buy happiness,through their riches
Neon-lights keep blinking like fireflies;
the night barely sleeps
From the ocean of lights emerge three pairs of lifeless eyes
belonging to silhouettes
Clad in rags, lying on the pavement
under the boundless skies
Frail faces with expressionless eyes
looked gloomier in darkness;
bigger pair of eyes looked morose
while the smallest appeared to be almost lifeless;
only the slightest movement in those little limbs
Made it possible to infer
"It actually was a toddler"
Vivid skies were conspicuously visible-
Yet, neither was El-Dorado in dreams
Nor was there a future
in those tired set of eyes
even when they were wide open.
□
The Faded Monsoon
'O' God ! let it rain
I've nothing to fear
Neither am I a land-owner
Nor do I have a courtyard
The only thing that worries me;
My plastic roofed, four-walled space
Trickles, just to keep us awake
Whatever remains of my house
Which is now flooded to its brim
Paradoxical irony of fate smiles
As there is no water to quench our thirst !
Rainy season or season of diseases?
Poverty stricken pockets: penniless
Kalidasa's 'Meghdoota' does exist
Indeed: in folklores and literature
Prevailing miseries and the clouds
Portray to perfection our dampened spirits
Souls loathe the rainbow
Seven colors do not depict eternal bliss
But a dark spectrum of anxiety-filled tomorrow
Compounded by sufferings of my children
Absence of expensive medicines
Only mother's night-vigil and sacred prayers
Even He fails to lullaby my atrocious fortune
When my faded monsoon breaks into rainy season
□
Vandana Sahai, born on 29th November, holds an M. Sc. in Zoology. She is a versatile writer whose work spans stories, poems, ghazals, haiku, satire, articles, and children’s literature. Her notable publications include the haiku collection Boond Boond Pratibimb (over four hundred haikus) and the short‑story anthology Bhookh Ke Genes. Two further books are forthcoming. Her writing has appeared in prominent magazines such as Aajkal, Gagananchal, Bhasha Spandan and in national dailies like Dainik Jagran, Dainik Bhaskar, Hindustan, Jansatta. Many of her stories and poems have been translated into languages including Nepali, Bengali, Rajasthani, Gujarati, Maithili, Punjabi, and Marathi, and broadcast on All India Radio, Nagpur. Some ghazals have been performed by artists on YouTube. She has been honoured by literary bodies like Nirdaliya Publication Group, Vidarbh Hindi Sahitya Sammelan, and Laghukatha Shodh Kendra Samiti. Her book Bhookh Ke Genes received a literary grant from the Maharashtra State Hindi Sahitya Academy.
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