Shail mourns the unfortunate demise of the Ahmedabad aircraft crash passengers, reflects upon on the ethics regarding child influencers and reviews a Bangalore based company that transforms core rubbish into fine furniture exclusively for Different Truths.

Flash flight disaster

What does one do but despair
when the engine is pulled
full throttle
but, life refuses to function?
Who to blame
when an aircraft goes aflame-
fate, pilot, manufacturing defect
or, sabotage ensuring a cruel end?
One moment, all was well.
The next, nothing left to dwell.
Lives with full potential
suddenly snuffed out for what?
People in the medical hostel,
death hurtling towards them
at full speed; all part paster
of a gruesome mass karmic disaster.
No technology error free.
No life immortal.
To all the families mourning their loss
a prayer for the loved ones lost.

Child influencers walking the path of child labour

Remember cute childish faces
you see in Instagram, other media?
How joyous they make you feel?
But, how ethical is the deal?
Kidfluencers, on the rise
promoting products, generating income
through media. Would it amount
to child labour without legal sanction?
A social media business for parents
and the kids. None worrying about
what the future holds for exploitation
via money-making grids.

Unsafe, unhealthy, having it all
before time only serving to falter,
to take the adult path of satiating
want before value.
Laws are needed for children
who need to be fed
with education that seeks
to inform, bringing in child reform.

SAFEReCYCLER – an end to rubbish

What a purpose in life
to transform filth rife
into wood-like, usable products!
What a splendid way for a recycled by-product.
A Bengaluru based company, unWOOd,
it uses what cannot be thrashed away.
It recycles what is discarded even after
recycling, transforming into pleasant furniture.
Now, children in villages get benches
to sit on, not the cold floor.
Trees are being saved.
Rubbish cast away.

References:

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/plane-crashes-in-ahmedabads-meghani-
area/articleshow/121798487.cms

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10551-025-05953-7

https://thebetterindia.com/447741/plastic-waste-bench-startup-unwood-saves-
trees/amp/?utm_campaign=fullarticle&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=inshorts

Shail Raghuvanshi

Shail Raghuvanshi is a poet, freelance journalist, copyeditor, voice actor, and artist with 30 years of experience in various media. She has worked as the Cultural Correspondent for India’s first integrated media company, PLUS Channel, and has written course material for Madurai Kamaraj University’s Post Graduate Programme in Advertising and Public Relations. She has also been a coach of Communicative English. She has published poems, short stories, and articles in leading magazines and anthologies.