I Switched On The Lights…wish I didn’t!

Roshni was a brave girl; poverty, pain and her problems made her brave,

A life in the slums amidst unknown ‘predators’ is what her parents gave.

But, she still believed in chasing her ‘dreams’,

And, she would surely reach there with her determination, it seems.

She was not afraid of anything, ‘almost’ anything, but ‘the light’,

Which had brought forth so many harsh truths, she had to fight.

When she was ten, blazing lights took her father away,

When, a police van with flashing ‘lights’ chased and killed him without a say.

They said, he was a thief, a liar and a criminal,

But, she had known her father to be the most honest individual.

She thought monsters will find her too if she switched on the lights,

She would rather be in the dark, even after the fall of the night.

By the time she was twelve, she started hating ‘the lights’ all the more,

When one night, she saw a man on top of her mother, as she pushed open the door.

She wished she had not switched on ‘the lights’,

That made her see such a painful, shameful and the darkest of sights.

At fourteen, a place called the ‘red light’ area became her new home,

How she hated the shimmering lights and the flesh trading clones.

She loved her time in the school with teachers, friends and books,

She started to believe that ‘the lights’ can also have nicer looks.

Everybody told her that light was good and that it removes the dark,

But, alas, they didn’t know ‘the lights’ that stabbed her heart with the gravest of marks.

One day, she was coming back from her friend’s house, all happy and bright,

When two men started following her, even though there was enough light.

She increased her pace, but they were catching onto her fast,

She started running but she could sense as if she was chased by her past.

Soon, the night started to unfurl her dark curtain,

She came into a dark alley, which was deserted for certain.

She stormed into a small, old building and hid herself in a room,

As she heard the footsteps getting closer and would reach her soon.

She hid there in the dark, as she felt the presence of the hungry sharks,

But, after sometime, she heard the steps recede and fade away in the dark.

She came out and was so relieved that they were gone,

She reached for ‘the lights’ and managed to switch them on,

She wanted to run fast and hug her mother tight,

And tell her how darkness helped her and so did ‘the light’.

But, in front of her was the ugly face of perverts, who came back as ‘the lights’ were on,

They threw her back into the room and kept her there till it was dawn.

It was light everywhere, but a darkness filled her life,

She wished, “Only if I had not switched on the lights”.

She lay there, broken and shattered, with so much light around,

But, ‘the lights’ had put an end to Roshni’s dreams, which will never ever be found.