Poetry the great balalncing act

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Diversity
The great balancing act
Penned by Dr. Srinivasa Raghavan, Developmental Pediatrician
Before I trusted my feet,
I trusted my hands.
One reached here,
One reached there.
Between the two,
I found balance.
The family clapped.
None of us knew
It was practice for life.
Books and bats.
Dreams and marks.
Passion and profession.
One hand reached.
The other held back.
Then came work.
A living to earn.
A life to live.
The two seldom shook hands.
Then came love.
A mother who raised me.
A wife who chose me.
I stood between them,
Calling it peace.
Then came children.
School fees.
Bedtime stories.
Parents' needs.
Tomorrow's hopes.
Somewhere along the way,
My own dreams
Learned to wait quietly.
Today I see you.
Arms stretched
Between two branches.
Not climbing.
Not falling.
Just holding.
And I smiled.
Because I know that posture.
One hand grips duty.
The other, desire.
The body trembles.
The face does not.
Not free to leap.
Not climbing higher.
Just hanging on.
Not letting go.
Perhaps this is all we've ever mastered—
The great balancing act.
While the wind still knows your name
Penned by: Dr. Srinivasa Raghavan, Developmental Pediatrician
A tender leaf,
new to the branch,
looked down
at a brown leaf
being swept along the earth.
Only yesterday,
it had danced in the sun,
fed the ancient tree,
and sung with the wind.
Today,
it was dry,
trampled by strangers,
carried away
without a name.
The little leaf
lifted its face
towards the sky.
"Tell me, O God—
What is the meaning of life?
Why bloom,
if we must wither?
Why serve,
if we are forgotten?"
The wind paused,
then whispered
through the branches—
"Little leaf,
you mistake
the ending
for the story.
The purpose was never
to cling forever,
nor to be remembered.
It was to drink the rain,
welcome the sun,
dance with the breeze,
offer your shade,
and rejoice
that you were alive.
The tree,
the seasons,
the roles you play—
they are only the music.
Your joy in being
is the dance.
Dance well,
for every life
is but a dance
before the autumn.
One day,
you too
will loosen
from this branch.
Do not fear that day.
Fear only
the days
you forgot to dance.
The deepest meaning of life
is not to understand it—
but to rustle joyfully
while the wind
still knows your name."