top of page

iqraar | shipika

sitting by the window in a bookshop

one of her favourite windows in the city

it looked out onto its busiest people

yellow taxis, white ones too, and many more people

the drizzle helped calm everything down,

more than it already was, be it a monday or sunday

the streets here are always the same

busy, but never in a rush

the streets tell a story, each of these people tell one too

and our lead character, the one sitting by the window

loved stories too, specially her own

but it's a broken story, inspiring for a few

because they would never know the whole story

her only dream, being that she wanted fame, glory

or at least that's what she portrayed, but deep down

way below the shallowness, and the fakeness

a dream, a dream to be alone, sustainable and accepted

that's the story we will tell today, she and I

fight, and might - lost, and found

denied, and then accepted.


starting to type for the thousandth time,

she stopped to take a sip from her cup of tea

and in the cup, she saw a story, of people, children

that's how her life has always been,

one might call distracted, i feel it was interesting

there's no boring moment in a life like this

where everybody is a story, everything a story

and where there's no story, her beautiful mind takes over

to build one, a story of thrill and drama,

or romance and fame, something - anything.

now that the protagonist in our cup of tea had died,

in a car accident because a helicopter crashed into it,

while his wife drove it, a falling spoon, few tables away

broke her stance, and she returned to her book

her mind dreamt, and saw the story

way faster than her hands typed them

that was a very frustrating issue for her,

anyway she always slowed down her mind

to keep up with the hands, but this made her lose interest

her biggest hindrance, in life - herself.


she denied herself the fame she preached,

by lying about what she wanted most, solitude.

there isn't too much to do, and she has a brilliant mind

but she does so much, which doesn't require her.

she stops herself, because they might not like it

she drinks tea, and eats jalebi with them when alone -

but at the same time, in daylight,

she sips Earl Grey with cookies -

she hasn't broken yet free.




bottom of page