When he sneaked out of ⁣⁣
his privileged palace⁣⁣ life
the prince learned misery ⁣⁣
for the first time⁣⁣
Aloof and alone ⁣⁣
unbridled thoughts came flooding⁣⁣
that compelled him to run away⁣⁣
away from his wife⁣⁣
away from his just conceived nameless son ⁣⁣
away from his past self⁣⁣
all for the search ⁣⁣
all for seeking ⁣⁣
the truth of misery or ⁣⁣
the beginning of suffering⁣⁣
⁣⁣
Alone in the forest⁣⁣
he suffered⁣⁣
Alone with his thoughts⁣⁣
he suffered ⁣⁣
when suddenly⁣⁣
all the voices of the past⁣⁣
and the faces of the loved ones⁣⁣
and the rivers and the stars⁣⁣
merged into one stream of thought ⁣⁣
but all time happens at the same time⁣⁣
and unbeknownst to him⁣⁣
his unwanted son was born late⁣⁣
just at the moment his father⁣⁣
discovered the answer to misery
and the answer to infinity⁣⁣
⁣⁣
Seven years had passed⁣⁣
since the search had begun⁣⁣
and the renunciant returned⁣⁣
to the alternate life, he is living
in another time, in another realm⁣⁣
But over here ⁣⁣
he could think, he could wait and he could fast⁣⁣
He knew all the answers⁣⁣
to all the questions ⁣⁣
but what he did not know was ⁣⁣
the name of his son⁣⁣
He had conquered misery on his return⁣⁣
so it was poetic justice when he learned
the name of his son was Rāhula⁣⁣
or the conqueror of all miseries

NaPoWriMo Day 14: Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem that delves into the meaning of your first or last name. 

Since childhood, I had disliked my name since it was quite common. All of its association was with SRK and rightly so as saying ‘Rahul naam toh suna hi hoga’ disarmed people in my first meeting with them. Then I realised the origins of my name and Rahul being Gautama Siddhartha or Buddha’s son and that gave me a newer perspective on how multi-faceted the meanings of our name can be as I read different stories of Buddha and Rahula.

It was a cathartic experience to write this poem. A bit daunting at the start but hope you like this take on the prompt where I only delve deep into my first name. Some dramatic leeway has been taken here so please don’t treat this as factual. Thank you for your time!