(Nargis Mathur inaugurates our young voices section with this thought-provoking poem.)
You look, but don’t see,
The opportunities that are free.
No money, no cost,
but what does that matter?
because these days everything is about the dollars.
New car, new phone, new product to sell,
new pic to post and the likes as well.
But do you ever look at the love and care,
that comes not from consumption,
and is extremely rare?
It’s not a task, you have to achieve,
but simply an embrace,
of things that are free.
Like friendship and laughter,
secrets and time.
Time spent on loving the ones you hold dear,
for there is a little voice in your ear
that tells you to do so
but you just push it away,
and take a video in slow mo
then show all your friends,
and post it on Instagram with a caption that makes no sense.
And then come the likes and followers
who adore,
the you that is selfish and ready to ignore,
the little things in life
that will never come twice.
Our community is long gone,
as is the unity we once had,
we are all on our own,
our own players, alone.
That idea of a team has long decayed,
and now how will our mindsets be swayed?
For now we are addicted,
to things that have been inflicted
upon us by companies and apps,
brands and social media.
This gets quite tedious,
and monotonous, at that,
because we don’t enjoy
the little things in life that we have.
So now, dear person,
put down the phone,
on which you’re reading this teenager’s poem.
You can choose to go be the person who cares,
who brings back the community,
and all things related to unity.
Or you can just press the home button,
then open Snapchat, and send streaks
to people just like you,
who have no care in the world
of enjoying and cherishing
the little things in life.
Nargis Mathur*
(This poem first appeared on Kids Spirit, a non profit online magazine by and for youth.)
* Nargis is 11 years old and in grade 7 at Riverside School in Ahmedabad, India. She loves reading, soccer, badminton, basketball, waveboarding, swimming and theater arts (especially drama).
This poem reminds me of long walks and conversations with dear friends, shared meals and the joy of getting lost in a good book.
This poem by Nargis pushed me back into my childhood days, those long sittings of bedtime story telling with grandma, swimming in the village pond with my friends and sharing raw mangoes with siblings. Life has been constantly losing its lively fragrance and nothing but buying new stuffs have been left with our young children as the most important pleasure. I am spell bound with this young poet’ s imagination, spontaneity and crafting of the poem. Wishing Nargis a very long and productive creative journey ahead.
Hiranmayee, I’m sure Nargis will love to hear this comment from an award winning poet. I’m so glad that you two have connected through the threads of your mutual creativity.
The need to disconnect from social media and to live more offline
The need to celebrate with talks
and not by posting on a timeline
All this and more she beautifully conveys
Coming from a 12 year old, the poem deserves much praise 🙂