Discipline to the fore: A poem by Julian Sujendran

  Strict adherence to ethics was the watchword of the past. 
  Ethics that stood,  the tests of the past. 
  I searched for a meaning of life, but all I experienced was strife.
  Yet I was passive and at all times submissive.
  I was trained all my life, never to be aggressive.
  Despite the limitations, I learned to be progressive.

  And I grew up, I knew, that no force could shake me up.
  And I grew up, I was certain, I could carry myself up.
  And I grew up, at times, on the sly, for the morales expected were high.
  I grew up when my parents were in slumber.
  I grew up, so as not to put their dreams asunder.
  I grew up, lending credence to their allegiance.

  For it was a test of endurance, trained to have forbearance.
  I was resigned to my lot, all my luxuries forgot.
  At times, I sincerely wish that I had fought.
  But my inner voice told me I had better not.
  I now stand lost and forlorn, my heart pierced with a thorn.
  But consoled I can say, for I was trained that way.