Skip to Main Content
UCQ

Creative Writing

Living life out of habit

I have fallen into the habit of living
And in this habit of living life
If it is the rainy season
Then in the habit of living
It will rain
If I forget my umbrella
Then in the habit of living life
I keep forgetting my umbrella
And getting wet
When lightning flashes
Then lightning flashes
 
This habit of living, rising, sitting, working
Collecting the vast past from little bits of the future
And yet the future is still so vast
 
Then, doubting if there is a God, I say
Make me a good human being
And make everyone happy
 
Thereupon, from absolutely nowhere
Appears a flood of sorrow, breaking habit
As if a dam of sorrow burst right here in the neighbourhood
And that one straw of happiness that doesn’t drown
Surfaces as a smile
On a face full of sorrow
 
It does not let me drown, nor the neighbourhood
And when lightning flashes
Then lightning flashes
 
In the darkness, lit by lightning flashes
Steadying myself, I take one step forward
And in this habit of living life
When I die
Then someone will say maybe I am not dead
But I will still be dead
It will be raining
So in this habit of living life
It will be raining
And after dying,
In the habit of living life,
I will forget my umbrella.

-    Vinod Kumar Shukla
      Translated by Mohini Gupta