Slumdogs
We are the children of time
That big round clock
Arms like arrows
Not a minute to be wasted
In this precious cycle
Of ambition
We succeed
While hearts bleed
Yet we go on and on.
Growing up isn't tough
Mature before puberty
Nature versus nurture
A mind like ours is never a child
We are born fighters
Running full speed
Living the modern life 24*7.
Childhood was no fairytale
Education only for the male
Running the household
Responsibility of the female.
Every mark mattered
Couldn't afford to fail
We had dreams to go to Yale
Lopsided economies of scale.
Never heard a nursery rhyme
Anything but calculus was a crime
Professors of arts and humanities
Never earned a dime.
Peter Pan a fantasy
Charlie's chocolates a forbidden ecstacy
Mowgli a triviality
Winnie the Pooh served no practicality.
Industrious (child) laborers like us
Live in a world of reality
Where domestic violence is a commonality
Amidst high infant mortality.
Basic necessities are scarce
All the money gobbled up
By the fatty Babu's of
Our royal municipality.
Nasty neighborhood to live in
Mass murders ain't a confidentiality
Mafia's rewarded for their masculinity
No individuality
Fear of homosexuality.
Dreaming dreams do no harm
Waking up punched in the stomach
Not aided by an alarm
Learning to shoot a gun before ABC
My basti had no dearth of firearm
Attracting pity is our only charm.
Working day and night
50 rupees a month
One meal a day
Is our only right
Reading by the moonlight
Whenever free
If caught dozing off
Whipped brutally by the underdog
A terrible affright
No FIRs for our measly plight
To get out of that clumsy area
Is a dream a come true
But every Chotu
Doesn't have a happy ending.
When you are but a mule
A tiny part of a big racket
Any wrong move
And you are smashed like a bee
Slammed like a fist
Held in a cage
Anything but flying free.
Gaining independence is rare
Thinking of freedom a dare
Every chaiwala ain't no
Slumdog millionaire.
Copyright © Priyanka Chugh | Year Posted 2019
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