You when saw the light of day
it was midnight for me

We walked the same path at different times
again and again never to meet

Experiencing the warmth of love
when I felt it so close

You were recluse to it
shutdown was what you chose

The pain which was common we felt together
only to drift when it was gone

Remembering me in illness but
with no feelings of love and care

You wanted me as a possession
not getting that I am the wind that flows

While I needed to be cherished
not preserved and locked
I am not a stone but a wild flower

Now when I look at it
all those years gone by
Did we really forget
May be it is best to leave it untouched
But did we really forget

…

Papia Sengupta teaches in the Centre for Political Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University and my research interests are language and education, gender, multiculturalism, minority rights, decolonising knowledge. She is the author of Language as Identity in Colonial India: Policies and Politics (2018) and Critical Sites of Inclusion in Higher Education in India (2022). Dr. Sengupta has published in reputed national and international journals including Economic and Political Weekly, Geoforum, International Journal on Diversity, Social Action, International Journal of Multilingualism and Droit et Cultures.