If

 

If I bared my heart 

What would you do?

If I told you it was crystal

Would you break it too?

If I said I have been acting

I'm not as strong as I look

If this introvert shell is drama 

That my very nature, you mistook

If I shared my past, would you judge

Would you think I lie?

If I said I'm a bit complicated

Would you never try

If I said I live in a dream,

Will you wake me tomorrow?

If I ask to rest my head

A sweet comfort to borrow

If I said my life was a bit derailed

And only you could get it back on track.

If I confessed that I love you

Would you love me back?

Niharika Prasad

इश्क़

 

क्या किसी से इश्क़ तभी करते हो  

जब वह उसे लौटा सके?

क्या आपका इश्क़ एक शर्त पर टिका है ?

वह करे, तभी आप करे ?

इश्क़ में शर्त क्या?

जो एक धोके से ख़फ़ा

क्यों न उसे आज माफ़ कर दे 

जिसने दिल तोड़ा था कभी 

जिसके कारण आँखें नम हुई थी 

और इश्क़ से भरोसा उठा था तभी 

क्यूंकि उसकी गलती से बड़ा 

इश्क़ तो आपका ही सही 

और अगर वो इश्क़ था सच्चा  

तो फिर अफ़सोस ही नहीं 

क्या उसके बाद, इश्क़ ही नहीं करोगे?

अकेले अकेले ही गम सहते रहोगे?

अकेले रह, खुद से प्यार हो जाता है 

ऐसा कह, मन खुद को बहलाता है 

पर अकेले सिर्फ प्यार किया जा सकता है 

हाँ प्यार; 

पर इश्क़ नहीं 

निहारिका प्रसाद 

I Just Feign

 

I wish you would never ask me how I am,

Because the reply would be a lie

A lie to shield some hidden pain,

That I would mumble, without meeting your eye

Once the loudest voice in the room,

Now hunts for a desolate corner

With a desire to merge with the shadows,

That voice, now a silent mourner

Even though exposed to broader thinking,

Open minds of a liberated city life

My soul belongs to a small town,

And mixed thoughts of a bitter cold strife

Where a woman when, stripped of her identity,

As a mother, daughter or wife

Ripping off the last bit of respect,

Societal norms represent a knife

Don't ask me about my dreams

Because a woman must bury them

And replace her desires with someone else's

Nipping hers off from the stem

I must hide the dark truths of the past

As uttering them scares me again

Maybe too outrageous to be believed

So when you ask me, I just feign.

Niharika Prasad