Seventeen Years

A little pink dressed doll,
Three tiny steps, a stumble, a fall.
A frown, tears, a toothless smile,
Holding onto her hand all the while.
Before I knew it had begun,
My life's train had started to run.
Started on a journey unknown,
With people I loved or sometimes alone.


Stations came and stations went,
As I began to realize what she had meant
When she whispered words of wisdom into my ear-
Taught me to be honest, brave, not to fear.
And thus had begun a journey, seventeen years long,
Now I stand still to speculate the right, the wrong.


The first few years of crying before school,
Pretending to be aliens, playing the fool.
The monotonous hum of ' Twinkle twinkle'-
Makes me smile now, makes my forehead crinkle.
Then the world of blackboards n desks,
Which I began to love,
Her serene smile - as fresh as a dove.
The smell of chalk- dust lingered on,
And ink pot blues made us move on.
A passenger on the 'Childhood Mail',
I learnt to succeed and to fail.

With teenage years came broken hearts,
Tears galore and poisoned darts.
Some true friends stuck till the end,
Now we're seventeen,
Here the road divides and bends.
Frenzied discussions over cups of coffee,
Fighting with my brother for that lone toffee.
The years gone by make me smile,I feel content- satisfied.

Mixed feelings grip me now,
As I am yet to embark on another journey,
Into a world of 'why' and 'how'.
I walk down a lane - new, unknown,
Saying goodbye and casting a last look,

On the receding carriage of my childhood.