Moderation

Take me to a place

With not so much sun

Let the warmth flow

In moderation.

These sounds so shrill

Though a sign of life

Their notes so high

Like a piercing quill.

Let the music churn the wind

into a sonorous blow,

not the clamour,

but the calm,

resounding echo.

Where passions subside

And serenity glows

Where spirits roam

In the higher realms,

Leaving the mundane

Far, far below.

Dr. Toolika Rani

Squadron Leader (Dr) Toolika Rani is an ex-Indian Air Force Officer, Mountaineer (Everest Climber), International Motivational Speaker (TEDx), Author, a bilingual poet, and Assistant Professor of History. She has authored 06 books, titled, ‘Beyond That Wall: Redemption on Everest’, ‘Sherpas of Solukhumbu: History and Evolution’, two Hindi poetry books, ‘Dayron ke Bahar’ and ‘Hasratein’, collection of her English poems, ‘The Song of the Sky’, and has compiled an international anthology of poems on Himalaya, ‘The Mountain Was Abuzz’.  She was the G-20 Brand Ambassador of Higher Education Department, Uttar Pradesh government in 2023.