DECEPTION

Plastic smiles

Almost real.

Put on faces ,

Dubiously plural .

Mask at ease

Habitual habitat .

Face pack packed

Fast like quick glue.

Duped by veiled warmness ,

Merely a veneer .

While Cold shrewdness

Their  Permanent residence .

Naiveté failing to probe

Perceptions  being short sighted

Becoming pathetic prey

To pseudo goodness

Ignorance bliss?

Innocence pays?

In this world ?

Not any more !!

STAND IN ……

                             STAND BY…..

Auditorium packed

Show to begin

First gong sounded

Crowds await …

Tension at back stage

Director  red in anger

‘Heroine ‘s not come ‘

Subdued whispers heard audibly .

Inconspicuous  was she

One of secondary characters

She attired for  dance sequence

Suddenly picked out ‘you ‘

Play the role ‘ heroine ‘

Stunned - mouth a-gaped

Am I the right person?

Doubtful her stammers  unnoticed .

‘You fill the gap .!

You can do it !’

Voices of exhortations

Fall upon pleasant ears .

Eyes lit  hearts soar up

Like  a newly lit hearth

‘Am I not  outdated ?

What if I fail ?’

Questions teem to tumble

Registering no answers .

Pushed on to stage

Performance begins !

Life s cherished dream come true !

She becomes the heroine !

Three hours she breathed ,

She talked ,she walked ,

She danced, she lived :

A complete heroine !

Along with the protagonist

Giving all her best

Drama draws to an end

Curtains pulled down

Amidst thunderous applauses

People make their exit .

Hardly it seeped in

She tripping on heels

Felt like flying to the skies

When  a hush falls.

Heroine ‘s  come !!

After a few heated exchanges

Apologies mutually accepted

Sighs of relief from all quarters .

She relegated to back ground

As a  faded back drop

Like Use and throw stuff

She ‘s  now forgotten.

Next show due in an hour

Director ‘s authoritative voice heard

Hero smugly smiles at heroine

She  could not miss it !

Nor could she believe her eyes!

Realization dawned

On her stupefied senses

She a mere stand –in

To fill up a place

Now asked to stand –by

To make a quiet exit.

Taking steps she returns

Back to where she belonged

Her place ..

Her undisputable place .