Sweet 2021

Sweet 2021,

You presented to me a shooting star. Glinting, blinding, brisk and swift. Then, withdrew it, conspiring to save it for later.

You gave me, at your onset, sunshine and rainbows, flowers and flamingos, poetry and flourishing meadows. Then, in one swish wiped it all away, at your end, with floods and droughts, hurricanes and volcanoes. Traitor.

You swept the dirt off my feet. Freed my burdened shoulders. Then, laddened me with sacks of chores, arduous, bulkier and greater.

Be that as it may,

As you beckon your heir apparent to follow up,

Alongside your rainy days, fallouts and fiascoes,

You enlightened me. Lit my waning flame of creativity and insight. Turned my follies into lessons, insecurities into accomplishments.

You showed me the strenuous and fatiguing facets of a day and urged me to battle my way through. Taught me that no form of entreaties would ever persuade them to relent.

You made me wail in pain, pine for love, envy the fortunate, regret my words. But, all said and done, you made me cherish what I had, smile at my little triumphs, laugh at my own jokes, and look back at the bygone day with content.

And so,

As you beckon your heir apparent to follow up,

I hope again, for a healthier year for the unhealthy.

A lovelier year for the unloved.

A stronger year for the weaker.

A welcoming year for the snubbed.

A better year for all of us.

~ Riddhi Chakraborty

Notes: A letter to the year gone by.