Bound By Time Poem by Kiran Pillai

I never understood time very well.
In school, exams were race against time.
Life itself was examinations till youth.
Everything was a time bound examination.

"5 minutes more" - so shouts the teacher
Always running after the last minutes
To earn two more marks of glory.
Now I hate time that ticks away.

Life was dependent on exams we could pass.
I got my first job, because I could pass a test.
Again a time bound test. These jobs bound me.
If there were no time and no exams... what then?

The everyday life and every identity
Is a result of exams we raced against time.
Deadlines is a thing at work these days.
Everything is racing against time.

I want to slow down now and look outside.
I want to look outside the window at tree outside.
We don't have time for such a thing. Do we?
One day this time bound body will die. What then?

Time is everything in this material world.
"3 hours to Kochi". "Flight at 10 AM". Time!
"I am 14 years old". Again time. Why time?
Are we bound in this time bound structure?

What if we never looked at time?
There won't be a Sunday or a holiday.
How will we measure work that was done?
How will we know when to eat and sleep?

Everything is so time bound now.
I want freedom from this binding today.
Freedom "today". Again time bound!
Can't think of anything beyond time.

Are we slaves to this time bound system?
Is everything so dependent on time?
Why do we always rush? Why all this chaos?
Do we need to get back from the time train?