Thursday 10 December 2009

What's right



I wake up and smell the coffee
Ready, the newspaper, reading glasses
I reach out, my right hand trembles
My left hand supports

It is difficult, I touch the glasses
Difficult to grip, to hold
I get it close to my face, and I maneuver
My face fits it perfectly

Now the cup of coffee
The plate rattles, coffee spills onto my shirt
A sip, two sips, and more
The right one does it well

The morning over, the lunch, a stroll
Cricket, tennis, the evening news on television
The world, changes each day
If only the remote would stay still

Month end, I am the man, I pay
A pen, the chequebook, I dread
Each month, a worse tremble, a worse signature
Yet, the scribble pleases me in a childlike way

My wife, my children with theirs
An outing, a picnic, a wedding
That little voice within, “I hope I can be steady”
But they love, she loves, I live

Doctors help, fail, no real cure
Nerves berserk, no control
But, I’m a whiz, I quiz, I reason, I debate
So what if the right one’s gone a little wrong


Dedicated to my grandma (dadi) who passed away and my grandpa (nana) who’s the ‘mental mathematics’ whiz. Parkinson’s really squeezes out a lot of confidence from within. There is no complete cure, and the small things we do each day becomes a feat for them. Tying the naada of a pajama, shoelaces, brushing teeth, combing hair.....


But I love them, the way she was and the way he is.

11 comments:

Sharmila Dasgupta said...

a profoundly touching piece of writing from a very sensible, sensitive and loving grand daughter...I am proud of you..:)

garam masala said...

So am I Shreya!!for thinking out of heart and penning out of intellect!!

Adi said...

really touching.......and gets the message across effectively!! great work! :)

blank_confusion said...

Thanks everyone! :)

Anonymous said...

I don't know you at all, I stumbled onto your blog through another friend of mine, but seriously you're one of the best poets whose works I've read...

blank_confusion said...

@Arvind- Thank you so much! :).. I'm just trying my hand at poetry..

and your comment means a lot to me :)

(You must be from NITT, I'm sure..looking at your blogroll, so you might be knowing abhishek madan)

Anonymous said...

Wow! Amazing. What this feels like, I hope you never know, but you sure captured the very essence of it.
And you put it much much better than I could ever have, having been diagnosed with a very similar disease in the first year of college.
It really saps your self confidence, especially in a home where you've been taught since u learnt to write, that a good handwriting is... Well, there can't be anything more important!

Best wishes

Kaleidoscope said...

very touching, sensitive & matured writing shreya......so proud of u!

Dishman said...

Very touching Shreya. Very touching!!

blank_confusion said...

@ Nishad- :)

Anonymous said...

... the verse left me blank for a while.