Showing posts with label prison. Show all posts
Showing posts with label prison. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Verse Libre From A Prison

Every time one runs...
runs from something,
towards something else,
leaves behind what once he called 'home'.

A home, at times, a prison for many.
To escape, to run.

Far away into the distance,
to turn over a new leaf, to start a story afresh.
Stories stitched into a tapestry-
gathering tatters some from here and some from there;
stories that shackles hold and forbidden told
held together with stitches running bold.
Man runs; a man made to run.

An abode for a while, a menage perhaps (?!)
or a space for a bit to relax.
The farther he runs, the more the pain
with shackles that restrain.
Yet, man runs.

Alas! he runs into a sanctuary green
serene and sound it only seems.
A prison in its own making far away from home,
a glorious grain of a story retold,
thoughts of another prison just enfolds.
Man runs.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Prison Walls


This was a shot I framed a while ago during one of my visits to a prison in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu. The Superintendent was showing me around this (thankfully) unused, depleted part of an old British structure where I came upon this interesting wall outside one of the cells. As usual, aroused by the ruins and in seeing the enigma of perfection in imperfection and upon pondering what this possibly could have been, I was told that this used to be one of the many "isolation chambers" in that block, which was said to be used to break the deadliest, hardest and the crookedest crooks. The metal slide like thing you see open (click on the picture for a clearer view) used to be the space through which food was pushed inside for the person held within (mostly freedom fighters). Think when the White Man said "isolation", he meant 'no-human-contact-whatsoever.' Isolation, today, is supposed to be the deadliest of human torture/punishment in the civilized world and is often considered worse than hanging. Talk about the power of loneliness to kill! 
Anyways, cool picture right?!