Searching- A saga ✔

12- The war I fought

You have seen the War of Bharata,

Where Pandavas won over Kauravas,

But I'll tell you,

I've seen the war too,

At our Board exam centre,

The brave wielder of Gandiva,

Fell to his knees,

Seeing the array of his kinsmen,

Stacked up against him,

And I felt my knees go out too,

When I beheld the legion of teachers,

And parents and friends and invigilators.

Partha said he couldn't lift his bow ,

against his own family.

And here, I was not having,

The courage to tell mine,

That I too could not,

Fight when they had expectations.

The third born Pandava,

Felt his years- long training leave him,

And I felt my answers and derivations,

Getting erased from my brain.

That was a war in which blood was spilt,

On the sacred sands of kurukshetra,

Ofcourse it was sacred,

For there was born Bhagavad Gita.

But I'll tell you something.

My battle is not any different,

Here ink is spilt on the sacred

Papers of knowledge.

Just as the battle begun with the

Sound of your beloved

Paanchajanya,

Here it began with the yell of bells.

Just as it was to finish with the dip of sun,

Here it was the time limit of three hours.

My mother said Pandavas won

Only because of you,

So how do I win this battle

If not for you?

Despite all these parallels,

Something is missing from my battle,

That which was present in

 The greatest Kurukshetra battle,

You.

You sang to Phalgun when he didn't want to fight,

You sang to him and gave him hope,

To not give up,

You showed him your epitomal form,

The Vishwaroop,

But where are you

In my exam hall?

When I freak out of my wits,

I don't see you even in your

Diminutive form,

Yes.

I do know you are omnipresent,

But seeing you in person,

Is a different level of experience,

Altogether...

But why?

Why not sing for me?

I don't want eighteen chapters,

Nor seven hundred quadruplets,

All I want is a simple note.

And a smile.

Just to keep me sane throughout,

That unnecessary battle,

So that I'll not be broken by pressure.

Just a smile.

More than enough.

For me.