1 Chapter 1

"What if ignorance is truly bliss

And is the elusive path to heaven.

What if not having thoughts is bliss,

And overthinking, the path to pain?

If I did not know that I deserve respect

Would I be angry when I'm disrespected?

If I did not know the definition of perfect,

Seeing the imperfect me, would I be disheartened?

Unaware that I am, in fact, bound in chains

Would I crave the sweet nectar of freedom?

Unaware that I'm living on discarded remains

Would I madly desire to be the queen of a kingdom?

Would it be better if I didn't have a conscience

And these myriad nagging thoughts inside my head

So that I'd never feel anger, guilt, yearning or defiance

And sleep with an illusive silence inside my head?"

Radhika re-read the poem that she'd just penned down. Would it be good enough for the lyrics of a song?

It does have a nice rhyme to it, though....

"Radhika?" She suddenly heard her mother say as she walked into the room which she shared with two of her siblings. She shut the notebook with a snap and attempted to hide it under her bed but....

"Are you trying to read and write AGAIN? How many times will you bring shame upon us?" Her mother whispered angrily. She said the word "read and write" as if it were the deadly plague. "Come and clean the veranda, and after that, take a bath and wear some nice clothes. The boy's family is coming today, and I'll NOT tolerate it if you let them find fault with you." Saying so, her mother stormed out of the room.

Phew, Radhika hadn't expected that. It was 4:30 AM and her mother usually woke up at least an hour later. Must've been the stress of the boy's family coming to "see" her, she thought,a long suffering sigh escaping her lips. Anyways, that marked the end of her "me" time, as she liked to call it, the time when she could let her imagination soar in the clear skies, when she could let her mind bask in the stories of great kings and villainous traitors, paupers who became rich, tycoons who lost their wealth in a day, bold and beautiful women who seemed to be a world away- and many, many more.

She gathered her sari and got up. She had to clean the veranda and make herself "presentable"( her lips curled in disgust at the word), for now.