^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ This poem is self translated version of my Hindi language poem titled " अपराधबोध" published in pratilipi (Feb. 2019) Can be read through the link ==>> https://bit.ly/2l4MIXz ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Today all of Sudden, I do remember again The time that has elapsed since long The bygone lovely childhood The yesterday that has passed The good old childhood friends. I do remember some blurred faces whose names, I couldn't recall
I do remember my teachers Still in the same look and form I remember their scolding I remember happiness on their faces I even remember their angry faces Their orders to stand up on the bench Their punishment to pose as a rooster
I do remember now The essence of their teachings I followed all their teachings But I had to suffer a lot So, I packed them all tied them in a knot And thrown them all into the trash can.
This is not an allegation against my teachers That their teachings are not valuable But, I discovered, I was not capable To follow their valuable teachings. In this modern era of practicality There is no respect for human values Human values have been deteriorated Due to changing definitions of the words The whole dictionary has changed.
I admit I have committed crime against my teachers Since I left the righteous path shown by them And followed another easy path on my own But what else could I have done? I had no power to change the present era - I alone do not have the courage to be an era-rebel So, I gave up the right path and followed another one
But may be, inspite of this my teacher may forgive me But can I forgive myself? No! Not at alI, I don't have this right After getting pardon from my teacher The gravity of my crime doesn't decreases
So by the way if my teachers pardon me Even then, I can't be free From the guilt I must have to live Bit by bit, Suffocatingly This will be my punishment Yes, this will be my punishment.
Sometime or the other, Everybody feels guilty. Do You????