String Theory

Strings. So much of life is in these strings!

Separating from a cord, the first breath breathed.

Interpreting tension in reigns as parental commands, a childhood instinct controlled.

Getting a 'rakhi' tied, a promise renewed.

Exchanging bands, a friendship reassured. [5]
Tying a 'kalava' from a puja, a religion embraced.
Making new knots and undoing old ones, a superstition continued.

Struggling like an animal on a leich, in captivity toiled.

Dancing like puppets on a string, an authoritarian obeyed.

Soaring high like kites on strings, a passionate dream pursued. [10]

Cutting a ribbon, an endeavor inaugurated. 

Abstaining from 'no-strings-attached' sort of relationships, a self worth realized.

Merely stringing and unstringing instruments in hesitation, a conversation deferred. 

'Tying the knot', a lifetime committed,

Wearing beads on a string to manifest that commitment, a trust instilled, [15]
And winding a spool around a tree out of that trust, a tradition sustained.

Passing along life's secret code on molecular strings, a parenthood dawned.

'Tying loose ends' before we 'leave this place', an unexamined life reflected upon.

Strings. So much of life is in these strings! [20]

In tangling and getting tangled in mortal quandaries, 

In resolving dilemmas like knots in neglected hair,

In trust, the kind of trust -

   a gymnast has on her Mallakhamb rope,

   a dangling spider has on its silky string, [25]

In hope -
   that not all 'strings' start and end in our two hands
   but that there is someone at the 'other' end -
a parent, a sibling, a friend, a God, a belief, 
a boss, a dream, a milestone, a life partner [30] 

Some like colorful embroidery decorating the fabric of life,
Others weaving into our midnight's slumber, plucking strings of unrest;
but each one making it worthwhile to hold on patiently to all those STRINGS!

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Notes:
non-Indians - [4] look up Rakshbandhan & [6] Kalava
[13] comes from Tagore's poem Waiting

       "The song I came to sing  

remains unsung to this day.  

I have spent my days in stringing  

and in unstringing my instrument. "
[14-16] An Indian marriage/related customs...

   [15] beads on a string = 'MangaLasutra' (मंगळसूत्र/தாலி) in case you didn't catch that.

   [16] alluding to the Maharashtrian vat-purnima custom

[17] DNA, of course.

[24] Malla-khamb - link for your viewing pleasure (& for me to reminisce my childhood!!)

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I'm sure you can think of many more strings - tangible ones from computer science, physics, medicine, music, and many more philosophical ones. Try contributing in a format consistent with parts of the poetry, when time permits (?!) Better yet, what is your definition of a String? :P
Any comments/critique welcome :-) Thanks for reading!