We are damaged goods.

 We are one broken generation.

We are Icarus' offsprings,

Flying too high;

Too near the sun.

Hence we drop down on the ground;

We fall,

Without a dull thud,

Without blood.

We fall,

With a million meteors

Accompanying us on our doomed journey,

Making it appear beautiful

To the people looking up at the sky;

Ignorant of the number of deaths

It requires

To create something so beautiful.

We are a generation of dreamers.

We never break from our slumber

Even though the world is screaming

At our ears,

"Too sensitive!"

"Too honest!"

"Too brave!"

Yes, we are a bit too much

Of everything

Normal people can't take in

And will never understand.

We are too real.

We are a generation of artists.

Each one of us

Is art itself;

And the artist too.

We have never believed 

We couldn't be both.

We are mad;

We are wild;

We are living,

Making this wretched life count;

One breath at a time.

We owe it

To the million chances

We have given ourselves

After gulping down pills;

And slashing wrists.

We deserve every bit 

Of this life;

However sad it is.

We are a generation

That has more to give

Than grainy monochrome photos,

That people mindlessly scroll through.

We give pictures to captions;

And not otherwise.

We shout;

We spill;

We rant.

We cannot compromise,

Because our conservative households

Want us to.

We are voices

That will scream

Until we are heard.

We are a generation of the dark.

Dark thoughts;

Darker souls.

We spill ink

In place of blood,

On blank pages.

We are made of busy days;

And suffocating nights.

We struggle with every bit

Of waking up in the morning,

But don't let the world know

That we'd hoped of not making it

through the night.

We hide;

But with SOS signs;

If anyone would just care

To look for them

In the depths of our eyes.

They scream;

"HELP!"

We are a generation of lovers,

Waiting to be serenaded;

To be cared for;

when we can't do that

For ourselves.

We hope a lot

And that's one of the reasons

For our misery.

We keep our eyes open,

But we do trust a lot.

And when hopelessness visits us,

In the form of heartbreaks

Or betrayal,

That is not quite a pretty sight.

But we are a generation of believers.

We think we can move mountains

And change the course of rivers.

We think the world will change;

For the better.

So we sit,

And wait

For the day

When we'd start feeling alright.

Till then,

We appear as a generation

Of Admirers.

We look at pretty skies

And compose imaginary verses.

We try to shape our mess

And pose for group pictures

We are anxious people

We are too good

For this bad world.

But that's the catch;

We know there are others;

Just like us,

Waiting to be recognized

From a distance.

We live on;

In hope of meeting the one

Who would see us for us

And pass a knowing smile

"You too?"

"Yeah, me too."

Image: Pinterest

Books that shaped me: 01

There are a few books that stay with you; they transform you. No matter how much you try to pen down your thoughts on them, you fail because you don't understand what would do justice to the story and the storytelling. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini is one such book for me. It is a book that I'd always come back to; each time, gaining a new perspective towards it. 

I was recommended this book by my roommate back in 2017. And 2 years later, I decided to pick this up for reading. It took me the longest time to finish this book. I could have read this book in two days but I chose to read it slowly because a beautiful book like this needs to be given some time.

What can I say that has already not been said about this beautiful, beautiful piece of art! Every line, every chapter and every story that I came across in here is something I'll cherish forever. It is so full of pain that it made me cry for hours at a stretch. 

It is a coming of age story of two Afghani women, Mariam and Laila, both struggling with their identity as a woman in such a harsh society. Even though Mariam and Laila are the wives of the same man, they don't actually hate each other. It is their friendship that shines and it made me believe that women aren't sworn nemeses of each other. It brilliantly portrays how two women, belonging from vastly different backgrounds, come down to suffer the same fate in a country that doesn't respect their existence. It is their journey through loss, dejection and poverty in a war stricken Afghanistan.

I don't think there are many books out there that portray pain and love in such a vivid way. The plot is so gripping that you can't not be affected by the stories which have been interconnected in such a beautiful way. Hence I choose not to review this book. This goes straight to my 'highly recommended' list because I have no negative remark on this; nobody could possibly criticize negatively on this book.

I personally related more to Laila for some reason. I don't have any hard feelings against Mariam and I can't possibly compare their stories because each one is equally painful but somewhere, deep down, the rebellious spirit of Laila created a very strong impact on me. 

What Mariam went through throughout the novel is another aspect I'd like to discuss about. I can't imagine the amount of love she had in her even though she never really did receive love in her life. This book is a beautiful ode to Mariam's journey from being an innocent child to a woman who gave her all when it came down to love and friendship.

At the end of the novel, all I can think of is the fact that the world needs more women like Laila and Mariam.

Also, I'd like to credit this book for making me learn some really beautiful Farsi words, one of which has become my favourite.

Hamshira is the Indo-Arabic term that means Sister and I am in love with the term for no reason. I just love it and I have no explanation for it.

A Thousand Splendid Suns is a timeless piece and every woman should read this. It would tear you apart but in the end you'll find a new hope and a new outlook towards life. This book feeds the soul and makes one a better person. That is what I feel.

Note to readers: That's the end of my appreciative blabber on Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns.I wish everyone reads and appreciates it in the same way I did.

:)