This heartfelt poem is a gentle message sent across time—a reflection from the present self to a 100-year-old future self.
Through simple rhymes and tender questions, it explores dreams, love, resilience, and hope, reminding us that the choices we make today shape the person we become tomorrow.
Letter to My 100-Year-Old Self
Hello dear self, so wise, so old,
A hundred years of stories told.
From Kolkata’s breeze and monsoon sky,
I send this note as time goes by.
Did we chase dreams we held so tight?
Did books and poems come to light?
Did colors bloom from brush and hand,
Like painted hopes we once had planned?
Did peace grow strong across the land?
Did love and laughter gently stand?
Though losses came like passing sea,
I hope they shaped you tenderly.
So keep our spark, let kindness stay,
Let courage guide you on your way.
If you still smile, then I can see—
You lived our life so proudly free.
(Vijay Verma)
www.retiredkalam.com
My book is now available on Amazon. You can find it here:
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Categories: kavita
Retiredकलम 
I love where you describe your purpose so beautifully by talking about your writing and art but truly loving happiness in the end.
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What a beautiful and tender reflection this is! Verma ji, your poem “Letter to My 100-Year-Old Self” carries such gentle wisdom within its simple lines. The way you weave Kolkata’s monsoon breeze into a message across time creates an intimate bridge between present and future.
Those questions you ask—about dreams blooming like painted hopes, about peace growing strong across the land—they resonate deeply. There’s something so touching about wondering whether the person you become will recognize the dreams you once held.
The imagery of losses coming “like passing sea” is particularly lovely—suggesting both the inevitability of waves and their temporary nature, how they “shape you tenderly” rather than break you.
And that closing stanza is pure grace: “If you still smile, then I can see— / You lived our life so proudly free.” It’s a beautiful reminder that the choices we make today, the kindness we nurture, the spark we protect—these are the gifts we send forward to our future selves.
Thank you for sharing this gentle, hopeful piece. It made me pause and think about my own hundred-year-old self somewhere in the distance. 🙏
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very nice .
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