My Father’s Suggestions Poem by Raja Basu

“Be practical, otherwise you will never survive in this world, dear! ”
This is what my father keeps telling me, while I successfully pretend to hear.

This is a tough world, and I should not have too much emotion
Because then I will have lots of pain, this is my father’s opinion.

I have to be practical and sometimes even rude
Otherwise everybody will trample me under his or her foot.

I can sacrifice my interests, but not beyond a certain limit
Because then there is this possibility that people will consider me to be very timid.

I must see that people can not take undue advantage of my modesty
Because exploiting the modest people is something for which people are always thirsty.

These are what my dear father always keeps suggesting to his son
Suggestions that are actually the results of my father’s perception (about this world) .

“How selfish! ” One might think about my father
Not surprising if somebody feels so, I will say it is expected rather.

But sorry, I do not find anything wrong in my father’s being so overtly practical
As I know how badly this world treats the people who are soft and emotional.

It is a tough world, where there is no value for human sentiments and emotion
Being practical in this world is not a choice, but a pure compulsion.