‘Ek Boond’ is a poem in Hindi that has stuck with me since my schooldays. Even in those days, I liked it though I never properly could have understood its poignant subtext. The whole imagery of an unsure, nervous and jittery raindrop caught in self doubt while leaving her home in the clouds, was and is still one of the most evocative texts I have chanced upon. Little wonder then that the ‘Ek Boond’ not only found home in a waiting pearl shell but also in my heart and mind.

And as I age and increasingly have to uncomfortable decisions in my life that engineer the flutter of butterflies in my tummy, I keep returning to the lines etched by Ayodhya Singh Upadhyaya ‘Hariaudh’. His ‘Ek Boond’ gives me hope and assurance that in spite of all the odds and the quirks of fate, there is someone up out there, probably up above, looking after us and helping us out, like sending a gust of wind to push our Boond into the shell, where she eventually turned into a pearl.

Today, again as I venture out of my comfort zone and into the world unknown, I can’t help but remember the nervous and jittery raindrop that too had ventured out of her comfy home in the clouds. Hopefully, there is a shell out there waiting for me, like it was for her. Hopefully!!!

Here is the text of poem: Continue reading …