THE PRICE OF FREEDOM

PICTURE CREDITS:- SHREYA CHANDRA


THE BARS WON'T LET ME SEE THE  SKY,

ITS BLUR,HOW IT FEELS TO FLY?

ITS NUMB,NO MORE PAIN IN MY WINGS,

THESE BARS,SLACKENED ALL THE STRINGS.

FOR A PENNY,THEY COME AND TAKE ME,

IS THIS THE PRICE FOR ME TO NOT BE FREE??

I HEARD THESE WINGS WERE PAINTED BY GOD,

BUT NOW THEY LOOK FADED AND ODD.

THE SPARKLE IN EYES IS SUDDENLY DIM.

EVERY TIME I TRIED ,BOUNCED BACK BY THE RIM......

THE GAME OF COLOURS....

MAA..WHAT IS BLACK? WHY DOES IT MATTER SO MUCH THAT MY FRIEND SARAH IS NOT AS FAIR AS I AM ? TODAY ONE OF MY CLASSMATES WAS TEASING HER AS "KAALI" WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? TEN YEARS OLD SARANGA STARTED TO BOMBARD QUESTIONS AT HER MOTHER AS SOON AS SHE RETURNED HOME FROM SCHOOL.SHE HAD BEEN WAITING WHOLE DAY WITH THE PUZZLE IN HER MIND.  MOTHER DID NOT FIND MUCH DEPTH IN HER QUESTIONS SHE CLEARLY ANSWERED "BETA , BLACK IS NOT AS BEAUTIFUL AS WHITE THAT IS THE REASON YOU ARE MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN YOUR FRIEND. SARANGA GOT CONFUSED AND IT DID NOT TAKE HER A SECOND TO ASK THE NEXT QUESTION "BUT MAA YOU TOLD ME THE STORY OF THE PRINCE ,THE TALL DARK AND HANDSOME PRINCE , DIDNT YOU? THEN IF THE PRINCE CAN BE DARK WHY NOT THE PRINCESS WHY DOES SHE HAS TO BE FAIR ?" MOTHER DID NOT KNOW THE ANSWER TO HER TEN YEAR OLD DAUGHTER  SHE NEVER REALISED WHAT SEED OF RACISM WAS SHE PLANTING IN HER DAUGHTER'S MIND. SO SHE  DIVERTED THE TOPIC BY TELLING SARANGA TO GO AND CHANGE .

BUT SARANGA,S QUESTIONS WERE STILL LEFT UNANSWERED .NEXT DAY SHE RETURNED HOME ,SAD. HER MOTHER QUESTIONED ABOUT HER MOOD.SARANGA TOLD THAT SARAH WAS PUT AT THE LAST ROW IN HER DANCE PERFORMACE ,ALTHOUGH SHE WAS A FABULOUS DANCER AND NOW SHE COULD NOT DANCE WITH HER FRIEND BY HER SIDE BECAUSE SHE WAS PUT TOO FAR FROM HER. MOTHER TRIED TO CONSOLE HER  BY TELLING THAT SHE WAS FAIR THAT IS THE REASON SHE WAS PUT IN THE FIRST ROW AND SARAH WAS PUT IN THE LAST 'IT IS JUST LIKE CHESS HONEY BLACK AND WHITE BOTH ARE PRESENT BUT THE GAME IS STARTED BY THE WHITE ONE JUST AS IN CAROM THE WHITE COIN HAS 20 POINTS AND THE BLACK ONE HAS TEN." NOW SARANGA'S MIND STARTED TO GET CONFUSED .HER INNOCENT MIND COULD NOT UNDERSTAND THE PLAY OF BLACK AND WHITE.SHE DID NOT UNDERSTAND THE THEORY OF CHESS HER MOTHER GAVE HER . SHE SAID ONLY ONE SENTENCE AND HER MOTHER COULD NOT SPEAK FURTHER, "BUT MOM THEN WHY DID YOU BRING ME COLOURED MARBLES FOR MY BIRTHDAY ,WHY NOT CHESS OR CAROM?"

WE NEVER UNDERSTAND WHAT WE HAVE BEEN INCULCATING SINCE OUR CHILDHOOD.WHILE WE WERE TOLD STORIES OF BEAUTIFUL FAIR PRINCESSES WHEN WE WERE TOLD THAT BLACK IS THE COLOUR OF FILTH AND DIRT AND WHITE WAS THE  PURE COLOUR. OUR MINDS HAVE BEEN STEREOTYPED WITH BLACK AS THE COLOUR OF DEVIL AND WHITE OF THE ANGEL.

ME? YES I AM COLOURED. I HAVE THE RED COLOUR OF LOVE ,THE PURPLE COLOUR  OF POETRYAND ROYALTY, THE PINK COLOUR OF 

JOY ,THE YELLOW COLOUR OF ENERGY, GREEN OF PATIENCE, BLUE OF ZEAL AND YES I HAVE A RAINBOW INSIDE ME......