A JACK

At a secondary school cricket match
Stately I swore to be a Tendulkar,
Buoyed by tremendous cheer of my batch
And theirs showering of imperial honour
When I got a five-wicket winning haul
By the seam and swing of a tennis ball;

On the evening of a festive new year
When I lifted the coveted first prize
With a romantic Aashiqui number
And got a trophy of the Filmfare size,
I vow'd to be a more famous singer
Over the fame of 'Kumar Sanu's Junior';

Deifying the teachers with a high regard,
And deep reverence for Radhakrishnan
The day when the country's each learning yard
Had the nation fall in benediction,
I bent to be a teacher of the brand
To win medals from the President's hand;

Once at a city science exhibition
I envied a school boy's 'Eyerinator',
And forward scientific innovation
That imploded me for a sci-fi achiever;
Goaded by the whim of a narcissist,
I set for being a radical scientist;

Yet one day, I started off my study
And much to riddance from sufferings, saw
Dreadful local 'gundas' in 'hathkadi'
Being herded at awful 'Thanedar's law;
Thence I idolised in me a police officer
To neatly grind the bones of each offender;

Again one day a youth I saw Border
And got my heart stolen by sheer depiction
Of patriotic fervour of each soldier
Bravely fighting to protect our nation,
Then with tribute and tears for martyrdom
I heaved my oath to don the uniform...

But one after another every surge
Has run into the mouth of menopause,
And languishing I a non-achiever
Through drudgery of a hopeless juggler :
All owing to swinger's whimsical knack,
All in the futility of being a Jack.

                                 -- N P Samal