Sheepishly I recall the bygone days of adolescence

And trasparent deceptions practised on unsuspecting elders

To find a way through the inricate sringent rules of adults

Bending discipline to our convenience with harmless white lies

I remember those moments of decades back as if it were but yesterday

How I fooled , I cheated to meet my selfish ends

Those lies about conviently aching stomachs on Mondays

Tales of concocted maladies for incomplete homework

When I read novel sitting on the toilet seat
Hiding novelswithin boring books of college

Pretending to sllep and reading stories in torch light

Gossiping for hours when parents were gone, with my cousin

Or with friends on the landline phone

And slipping in softly as the doorbell rang

To pick up abook and pretend to read

Watching the TV by openning the window and turning the set

Stealing cakes, cookies ,sweets from the locked fridge

By openning it with a knife’s blade inserted in the keyhole

Stealing berries and mangoes from unguarded orchards

Going off to sleep on mornings when woken to study

Stories of accidents and traffic jams spun

When late at a friend’s place lost in chatter

Eating forbidden ice candies and chocolates with money

Squirreled away on the sly away from mom’s prying eyes

When going out at night through the window

Making the bed with a pillowed person lost in sleep

When asking for permission to go on picnics

Telling names of all book worms cottoned on

By Dad to obtain his acceptance and approval

When late for school signing letter’s in Dad’s name

Oh! the list is endless, my mischief unlimited

It just suffices to reveal some examples

And to always remember them in my heart

Reminding me of my own rebellious adolescence

As I lay down the strict norms for posterity to adhere to

Or when a rule is broken and the culprit caught

May these memories make me

Benign and lenient in my judgement of youth’s follies…