I stood there, amidst the rain
Amidst the flags, amidst the words
Amidst the thousands, amidst everything
Wondering where the feelings are

I searched it in the flags
I looked for it in the words
I sought for it in people
Still ******* find them

I did find relief though
Realising that they are not alive
Because for what they fought to raise(the tricolour)
Is being held by a machine

The sad part is
We couldn't fullfill that one promise
The promise of keeping our flag raising
Not by machines but by our efforts

As I stepped outside and looked on the corrupted road
I saw crushed flags I saw crushed hope
A man buying the tricolour from a child
I saw a struggling childhood, I saw a struggling independence
In the midst of all this, I saw a struggling independence

Why does failure always win the race against hope, success?

Failures are like taste buds
You need them to taste success
So enjoy them, savour them
Learn and move on
The more failures you have
Sweeter will be success's taste
And this is why it is said that
It's failures you own and success you taste
Hope its as sweet for as it was for me.

Frost had two
But I have three roads
He reached his destination too
Mine will just take me to more endless roads
Which road should I choose?

In the end
He wanted to reach his home
I have aspirations of others to be fulfilled
Humanities, Commerce or Science
What is it that the heart wants?

Don’t know what to fear more
The millions beside me,
The blood under my foot
Or that pit after every foot
Is it all a meaningless test?

I close my eyes
Imagining what it would be like to walk on each road
After walking on all three, I can conclude two things
The ‘ups’ they told us about they lied
And funny thing, “they” are the one’s digging the pits

But this caught my eye
As I was opening the eyelids
I saw something behind a grove
Maybe, maybe, a fourth road?
It’s a fourth road.

Keeping the eyes closed, I began walking
It was tough to go through and it took some convincing
But finally I’m on this road
I see no crowd, no pit and no blood
Is this road even real?

Everything here seems easy and interesting
And all of a sudden I am not walking anymore
I am sprinting
I am sprinting and there’s nothing to stop me
And I finally see it

What you ask? I see myself
I see myself in a new world
A world in which I feel happy and everyone’s happy
In which instead of digging they’re building bridges instead of pushing, they’re holding hands
I ask out loud, in what world is this possible?

Came the answer
Where education is free for all till they want to study
Hence no reservations, no fear
No competition and everyone’s happy
I admired and smiled

I asked my final question
‘What happened to the three roads?’
‘Destroyed’‘How, why, so many questions?’
‘A poem’ echoed the air, a quote then answered every question of mine
“Words turn into action and action into results”

A push came, my eyes opened and realized
That I’m just a 16 year old student
Who’s clueless and scared about his future and
In a hope that he can go that simpler past
When 'what to eat' was the only thing to worry about.