What a long-lasting affair?
What a long wait for her?
She has been chasing me
Ever since I was a boy
Perhaps she liked my daring even then
Dangling from rocks
Diving into a raging river naked
To flirt with her
Even when I didn’t know swimming.
During my youth
She knew she had got me
On many an occasion
When I was careless, reckless
But, only nearly
I flirted, she came closer
I never wanted to capitulate totally
But, now that I am confessing
I might as well tell all.
The fact is, being a woman
She too flirted with me
Knowing I was going to marry
Another woman; she didn’t care
On that night, when next morning
My wife was going to join me
I was drunk and I drove my bike
And she sat as pillion
Clutching and feeling me everywhere.
As some sense came into me
And more because I was married
I started keeping distance
Barely acknowledging her presence
Even when I could see her from a distance
And anyone could have seen me
In her bewitching eyes
Waiting to get me
Waiting to hold me in her arms.
I became more careful
More artful about hiding our affair
She was forever in my heart
In my conscious mind
When I retired, she again came closer
I will get you, she whispered publicly
She was as young as when
I was a little boy
And I was the one who had become old.
How long can I resist her?
Her love has grown, but, mine
Mine has nearly died
I don’t flirt with her anymore
I want to run away from her
To a quiet, secluded place
Where she can’t find me
I admire her patience, though
A lifelong wait to have me.
A number of times she’s beckoned me
I too am adamant not to give in
She has everything ready
The flowers, the music, the feast
But can’t she sense, though she’s young
She is not even half as adorable
As when I flirted with her in my youth?
Can’t she sense I don’t
Want to be hers anymore?
Doesn’t she know
I don’t want her anymore?
I love my wife, my kids
My family, my friends
And she doesn’t even fit in
All daring has left me now
I even cross the road
When the walk light is green
I don’t want her anymore.
Shouldn’t she too abandon
The plans to wed me?
Knowing I have become a good guy
Brushing my teeth, twice a day
Taking my pills regularly
Shunning all excitement and evil stuff
For the good of my heart.
Look for someone else, my love
I actually want to live.
Sir, flirting with that dangerous woman is sine-qua-non for a life lived well and full. And in any case finally that dangerous woman would certainly make us all fall for her charms.
True Sundeep. And, for us in the armed forces, especially our soldiers at the borders, she flirts shamelessly. One particular one, Vikram Batra, actually taught her a lesson whilst she openly flirted with him in Kargil. He fell to her at the age of 25 years only but then, as we all know, it was she who was put to shame.
She may have been a shameless and persistent flirt but our HERO’s imperious response – “yeh dil maange more” would have stunned her.
I was waiting for you to bring that out Sundeep! That’s why I cleverly put up a stanza in my poem regarding wife and kids and hence not flirting with her as much as I did when I was young and single like Vikram Batra. Now, I brush my teeth twice a day, take my pills regularly and cross the road when the WALK sign is green!
Fantastic.
Thank you
Eventually all of us have to succumb to her…man or woman!
Yes indeed we have to Mads. She only teaches us that we should embrace her only once and embrace life throughout.