THE JOINT FAMILY

   

You complain of the melee,

Scores of people, under a single family!

Guarding ancient relics,

Reviving doctrines, long forgone.

Yet you hold in your heart,

A hope was long forlorn!

That you will be free,

Just what you want to be!

You vow one day to leave,

As you think, you’re locked in a prison-

One, full of feudal rules!

And dreaming about your freedom,

You feel this is only for fools!

To be struck up in the past,

When the world’s future is so vast,

To be forced to be entrapped-

You think this is a ploy.

Even though, you know in your heart,

That the elders wish you only joy!

But you fear, they’ll flood you,

 With old forgotten thoughts,

To live in the past and brood,

It is a bug that they have caught!

They’ll make you walk,

With your back to the future,

‘Cause, they don’t know,

 The dreams, which you nurture!

And though you’re blinded,

To the wisdom, of the ages!

I pray, there is no torture,

In listening, to these sages!

‘Cause, you don’t, yet, know,

And when you realize it,

It’ll come as a blow;

You don’t know, now, about you, they fret,

For you to be caught,

In miseries, all-encompassing net!

You think yourself to be wise,

Don’t forget they have ‘sharper eyes’,

And see how your ignorance sighs,

‘Cause you still want to bid goodbye!

You feel they are a weight on your heart,

This old principles-you certainly want to part.

But before you cast away all that’s old,

Look carefully, you’ll find they are gold!

You’ll fall surely,

If you move forward’s,

Without stopping to learn,

The lessons, while moving onwards,

Which, only they can teach.

And to hear the morals,

Which only they can preach!

Remember your family is the umbrella,

That protects you from life’s cruel rain.

And even while you run away,

For some petty gain,

Stop; listen to your hearts refrain!

Listen to your soul,

And you’ll know why they did so.

Why they did not let you go,

‘Cause in their hearts, they couldn’t see your woe.

They only gifted your knowledge,

To discern good from evil,

And let you, your life enjoy.

This, their only motive; this, their only ploy!

For living life, they knew,

It was not akin to playing with a toy!

So look and think deeply,

And you’ll soon see,

That is life’s mad, pandemonium: sea,

The “family” is where you need to be,

‘Cause here you can be,

 Secure, safe and the freest!

I