Skip to main content

Promise

 


She promised me she would wait at the other side, 

Convinced me they won't touch her, 

Because she is one of them. 

But on the other side, I cannot find her, 

Except for the ring that lies, dipped in soil. 

We came all this way, for the ring, 

How irrelevant has our love turned out to be for her people? 

She said it was the ring she saved for me, 

And made it for me, the day she came out, 

As eternal love served by the lines on the ring,

She has become my eternal anguish. 

I search for her everywhere, 

Even her people, who think I have bewitched her, 

Acts indifferent, the ones who saw her for the last time. 

I know you have made her disappear to a realm, 

Where I cannot bewitch her. 

But I cannot offer you that promise. 

I have lost track of time, 

She was always the courageous one, 

To stand beside me, 

And assured me fight in this war together, 

But she left my hand, 

To fight alone, with a ring of eternal lines. 

And her people, who betrayed her say "this is not love", 

But I don't have anything to prove to you, 

Except for my worn out and hunger deprived body, 

For which you will claim a sickness. 

She is my Achilles heel, 

And if Thetis had any idea of her son's fate, 

She would have dipped his heels too, 

And if I had any idea of her fate, 

I would not have let her face the monsters alone. 

For a moment, I let her go to fight the war alone, 

Thinking there would not be a war, 

But I promise her, I will fight this war

For her, 

Holding her invisible hands somewhere out there. 


A. C

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Love in the age of checklists: A critical review of Materialists

  Celine Song ’s  Materialists  (2025) is a modern-day romantic comedy produced by  A24 , starring  Dakota Johnson ,  Chris Evans and  Pedro Pascal . Released in cinemas in June 2025, the film became one of the year’s highly anticipated movies after its glossy trailer premiere with  Phlottila’s cover  of  Madonna’s  Material Girl  as a backdrop, with the hope of experiencing a conflicting love triangle. But underneath its glittering surface lies a deeper, sobering reflection on romance, quid pro quo relationships, and the loneliness offered by contemporary urban life. Similar to her feature debut,  Past Lives ,  Song investigates how individual desire confronts societal norms, but this time through the workings of modern matchmaking. Dakota Johnson in  Materialists . Image: IMDb  The narrative revolves around Lucy (Dakota Johnson), a high-end professional matchmaker who sees marriage as a business deal betwe...

Of mothers, sarees and their grief

Mothers are often presented as the epitome of love in movies. The struggles, sacrifices and the quiet tiredness they carry are praised, even placed on a pedestal. But we rarely talk about their grief, the grief of unlived lives. Have you ever thought about the lives of these mothers before marriage and motherhood? Before all the giving began? So often, clad in their sarees, mothers cook and smile, clean and laugh. But is that all they ever wanted? Do they carry the weight of the shadows of their unlived lives? Many do, though they may never say it aloud. And they leave it behind for the happiness of the ones they love. I often feel that when they wipe sweat from their brows with the edge of their sarees, they catch the glimpse of their hidden grief. The loneliness and the neglect they receive, they tuck it away, fold it into the pleats of their sarees and smile again. Some may have once wanted to be doctors, teachers, dancers, writers, travellers. And even in their happiest moments, th...

Laapataa Ladies aka Ladies Lost in Patriarchy

Kiran Rao’s “Laapataa Ladies” is a social satire that offers entertainment as well as empowerment. The movie humorously portrays the grave realities of a patriarchal society with the help of a simple story and background. As the name and the trailer suggested, it revolves around two newly married brides who get lost on the way to their in-laws’ home. While Jaya, whom Deepak accidentally brings home instead of his wife Phool, seizes this opportunity to follow her dream, Phool undergoes profound personal growth during the time. This period shows multiple women discovering themselves. Some learn to do things that they love for themselves while others learn to explore and embrace their talents.  Even though Jaya and Phool are two contradictory characters, they are both equally victims of patriarchal conditioning. While Jaya is ready to break and act against all the norms of society from the very beginning by uttering the name of her husband to everyone’s disbelief, Phool learns to do t...