You missed meeting me on May 7 in 2010,
You're one special memory among my men.
I rang you up before that accident,
And I knew not that I would fall then.
But you were depressed,
I looked to cheer you up addressed.
You were too gloomy,
You refused to accompany me.
I met with that accident,
And the rest is a historical dent.
The education system,
Me and you it did stem.
You found your calling,
Switched to highschool tuting.
I parried forward,
Kept crawling.
Though you gave up on your graduation,
I parried forward,
Yes, I carried my graduation forward.
A Bachelor of Technology degree takes 4 years,
I took 6, but it's fine, it's fine.
I'm proud of myself for not giving up,
When even bright students like you quit.
You kept your parents in the dark,
Never told them your true marks until they found it out by themselves.
Buddy, you could've just told me instead of quitting on it,
I could've made you study and work on yourself.
Look at me,
Just look at me.
I completed my B.Tech Biotechnology degree,
Instead of giving up even when my mother was not sure.
The whole world thought I could not complete my graduation,
But I even went to graduate school and obtained a postgraduate degree.
After I met with that accident, people suggested my parents,
To help set up a small shop for me to support my life beyond them.
But I never gave up,
I never gave up.
I can visualize Death waiting for me by my ICU bedside,
And I can also see it in anguish after getting defeated by my resilience.
Although I failed to obtain a PhD as COVID made me change my plans,
I bounced back in full glory and tasted worldly success.
I cracked not just one competitive recruitment exam,
But I cleared as many as 4 of them.
Now, old friend, I'm happy where you're headed to with your splendid performance at your coaching effort, yes, I respect your decision,
But you used to be smarter than I was at school.
We sang together,
Yes we did.
I played the guitar & sang,
You played the keyboard & sang more melodiously.
Oh, I remember what happened when we covered a popular song,
The Bollywood song is called “To Phir Aao.”
I started playing the riff,
“Tede-dede, Tede-dede,
Tede-dede, Tedede-Tede,”
But then your mobile went off,
“Ting-ding-ding, Tiding-ting,
Ting-ding-ding, Ting-tidingting.”
We had just begun it along my rhythm guitars & Digitech Effects Processor's electronic drums sampler on my Marshal amplifier,
You were prepared to start singing in your melodious voice,
But your phone started to ring as soon as we began.
Still we continued the recording after you rejected the call,
So, brother, did you forget the lesson we both taught ourselves?
Let the world be on fire,
Let it distract you as much as it wants to spend its ire.
I never gave up on my bachelor's degree,
I even went on to get my postgraduate degree,
I could've even achieved a PhD title,
But the COVID19 pandemic made me change my plans.
But bro, why did you forget the lesson so soon?
Anyway, let bygones be bygones.
Now if someone comments that you couldn't complete the graduation you started at a top University,
I tell them that you're happy doing something that pays you well,
You have completed a B.Sc in Math, and an M.Sc too,
Now you are doing your B.Ed,
And you're happily married to a charming woman.
My HP Poem #1959
©Atul Kaushal
