I know we are in the middle of our mid-sems and you might be thinking it is probably not the right time for me to be wasting time sharing my views on an arbit high school poem by an arbit poet (thats right, today's post is about a poem I remembered for no apparent reason), but I feel like going ahead anyway.
We had a poem in our syllabus in high school that I cannot recollect the name of for now, but remember the meaning the poet was trying to convey thanks to a vivid description by my then English teacher. It describes a conversation between a man and his son, well technically he is the one speaking and the son is the one doing all the listening but lets call it a conversation. The father is sad to see his son smile sincerely at things that impresses him as he walks down a road. He's happy that his son can smile at things without a worry in the world but sad at the same time for he cannot do the same as he has social obligations, etiquette and what not forcing him to smile at things which do not even faintly arouse a smile in him. He is sad that he has to wear a different mask everytime he is out socialising, out working, out doing something or the other that does not involve him being alone. He is sad that he is not one of those few people who benignly smile at situations where he is forced to put on a mask, a smile on his face to hide his true feelings. Well, the poem ends on a happy note when the father after walking for a while the father actually smiles without faking it when he sees his son smile when he holds his hand. I realise the full implication of the poem now and actually empathise with the father. I am consciously trying to avoid being that way and making good progress too. I only wish everyone else does the same.