With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility…

Indira Mishra

The Hope Fairy has done her magic again…! She’s waved her wand and given the world a Barack Obama.

Tall, dark and charismatic, he now holds the throbbing pulse of the world as the 44th President of America and the first African – American one at that. It is indeed, a great occasion, not only for American but also the whole world. Finally, the world has woken up and paid heed to humanism rather than remaining in the clutches of racism.

‘Obama’ in Swahili means ‘The Blessed One’. And the world hopes he turns out to be true to his name. His inaugural speech on 20th Jan 09 seems to have created waves around the globe. What remains to be seen is how well he keeps his word and surpasses his predecessors. Although it’s still early days to decide the effectiveness of the Obama regime, one cannot help but keep one’s fingers and toes crossed and hope for better times ahead under his reign.

Being the president of a super-power like America is no small feat. And cleaning up the mess the world is currently in will prove to be a Herculean task in itself. The twin demons – global economic recession and the terror situations loom menacingly, hankering for immediate world-wide attention. Issues regarding the environment and natural resources need to be resolved in a viable manner. And these are only some of the threats the world faces today.

Having been brought to power in such dire times, Barack Obama has taken on multiple challenges upon himself. Not only has he got to prove his efficiency as the American president but also as a leader whom the whole world can turn to for guidance and support at dire times such as these.

Makes us ponder upon Spiderman’s maxim, doesn’t it? “With great power comes great responsibility…”

Woes Of A Candy Wrapper

Indira Mishra

Bright and shiny, a multicoloured alien,
Forgotten, on the roadside I lie.
Trodden upon by a million feet,
Under an endless, apathetic sky.

I don’t think I was made to be ignored,
I was designed to catch the eye,
(At least that’s what the ad-men had intended!)
To seduce the occasional passerby.

The day they brought me into the world
Full of good cheer I’d been.
Packed in a jar with my little fellow beings
I’d hoped desperately to be seen.

By and by with each passing day,
I’d see the whole world go by,
When yet another of my friend would be taken,
Frustrated, all I could do was sigh.

Longing for the day when I’d be summoned,
Dreaming sweet, candy-filled dreams
Of being cherished and loved all life long.
(But I was grossly mistaken; now it seems).

Then, at last, on one fine, sun-lit day,
A pretty little girl came along.
She gazed wide-eyed, at the large candy-jar
And I gazed back, with a prayer strong.

She smiled a little dimpled smile
When she held me in her little palm.
Basking in her smile and her awe-struck gaze,
I thought I could come to no harm.

Unfurling me in all innocent haste,
She tucked the candy between her teeth.
And without as much as a downward glance,
She left me lying heartbroken, at her feet.

O how naïve I’d been to hope against hope
That I’d be as dear as the candy within,
All my dreams had been brutally crushed
And my belief in life, worn thin.

Ever since, I’ve forever been trampled upon,
And blown by the wind everywhere.
The dust, over time, has dulled my sheen.
As I lie under a merciless sun’s glare.

They say this world is a beautiful place
Where all things glitter and glow.
But for me life has ceased to shimmer
In a mad world, heaped in sorrow.

Where have I come from, where shall I end up?
These queries trouble me no more.
This unending existence is all that I have,
Doomed until eternity, I know.