Category: Poems
Siblings
Born out of the same womb
Love flowed unrestricted
People swore by their companionship
Then, greed and selfishness walked in
Disguised in human attire
Slowly creating a divide between unsuspecting siblings
Tearing them apart
Alas! They never wished to be parted
But that’s how the traitors chose to write their destinies
Two new-born nations…
And a future filled with hatred and disharmony
Part they finally did
Amid lot of blood shed
And slaying of innocent souls
Who went into the oblivion
Screaming WHY????
Time passed by
The hatred between them only grew more intense
That they were siblings at some point
Seems to be all but a big joke
Selfishness and greed are now more powerful now
They continue to use their human disguise
Only that now there are numerous of them
Who try to thwart every feeble attempt at peace
Depriving the siblings any chance of reconciliation
Blood spills even today
But now it is random and sporadic
While one sibling loses a smart army man
Who was eagerly waiting to see his new-born
The other sibling loses a loving brother
Who had been lured into so-called terrorism
As both siblings watch death and pain around them
Numerous innocent souls are still screaming WHY!
A very short love story
Blood red, bold and beautiful
She stood out amongst others
The glistening dew drop
So much in love
Longed to stay on
Yet it knew at the next touch
It would have to let her go
So it decided to pour out all the love
That existed in that moment
Before it became another of her vanquished admirer!!!
Today, let me be me!
Today, let me not be a mother
Worried about my kids’ future
Let me not be a wife
Ensuring the tiffin is right
Let me not be a friend
Launching yet another meet-up plan
Let me not be an employee
Scurrying to meet the never-ending deadline
Let me not be an employer
Supervising every employee’s demeanour
Let me not be a hobby enthusiast
Diligently off to every interesting class
Let me not be a health freak
Hitting the gym with a winning streak
Let me not be a perfectionist
Looking out to straighten the almost-straightened
Let me not be….
Today, let me be me!
Today, allow me to be myself
Allow me to hug and sit down quietly
Allow me to catch up with myself
And have that long-due conversation
Allow me to be just me.
Re-Connecting
2008!
A year where I connected
With the world, like never before
Found long lost friends
And sometimes even love
It was magical
When people liked and commented
On my Facebook posts
Or when they generously retweeted
My 140-characters the most
It filled me with pleasure to
Know the country my friend was visiting
Or to watch my favourite niece’s christening
Oh! My God! Chintu – the timid boy of our school
I never thought he would bike it to the mountains!
Wow, Wow, and Wow!
Fierce emotion-filled praises would surge forth
With everyone painting their own exotic stories
Pictures and videos splashed across
Giving me a peep into numerous lives
Even as I allowed them a peep into mine
Years passed by…
My habit of hurriedly uploading my status
Or sharing those unique captures
Only became stronger
Social Media was now my life’s anchor
And this looked true for others
As I found myself constantly pondering
Over their musings-views-and-‘perfect lives’ candour
While I marveled at all these
I was also beginning to get weary!!!
Weary of shouting
Weary of admiring
Weary of building my larger-than-life persona
2018!
My posts are almost nil
My albums are silent
With few stray likes and comments
I still maintain my feeble connect
But to all those who matter
I am in constant touch
Not through posts, comments or likes
But through phone calls, visits and lovely chats over chai
I still admire
The creation of Facebook and Twitter
That changed the world
But my world remains unchanged
My family, relatives and friends
With whom I have re-connected
And with whom in the most humane way
My life is now engaged!
Just you and me
Just you and me
And the wintry sun
Silence envelops the otherwise beautiful ambience
There is lot to be said
Yet nothing said
The difference between us that has grown
Interrupting every word that struggles to be born
My inner self waits…
So do I
To understand why we have grown apart
Why we can no longer think alike
Leading to turmoil and confusion
The silence continues till evening sun bestows
You and me
And the evening sun
Lot has been said
With both of us having heard none.
A birth
The pain was unbearable
She let go, allowed herself to float in the pool of agony
A moment later, a cry – the sweetest one could have ever heard
At the same time, a flood of water flowed
Erasing all the pain; ushering in happiness
After all, a life has just been delivered
Thoughts unleashed: A tribute to Independence Day
As I retired on the eve of 65th Independence Day, I wrote a small prayer –
“Give me freedom Lord
From this insane world
Today, I celebrate India’s independence
But am still bound
By the chains of desire that this material world bestows
Give me freedom Lord
When I still realize its true meaning
For later it may be too late
As I succumb to inebriations
And start appreciating the imprisoned freedom around me.”
I was not very happy with this prayer because it sounded like a loud cry of distress. And I hate being distressed 🙂
But when I woke up today and flipped through the newspapers, I felt jubilant.
The Times of India had given the readers an exclusive peep into their August 15, 1947 coverage of Independence Day.
The headline read – Birth of India’s freedom and went on to speak about how Bombay was in a frenzied festive mood, how the entire Delhi kept awake to witness the historic event of ushering in the freedom of India at the hour of midnight.
Somehow, one gets transported to that era – people were actually celebrating independence despite the grim facts that India’s economy was not worth talking about, 90% of the population was illiterate, there was fear of corruption and anarchy everywhere. In a column, Dr S. Radhakrishnan had made an appeal that every Indian at this hour should pledge himself to purge the society of corruption and intolerance. Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru’s message contained snippets of the huge responsibility that lay on infant India’s shoulders to survive and gain a foothold as an independent nation.
What is the difference between now and then? Today too, we are equally worried about various issues that India is mired with – be it rising inflation, bloating corruption, or unexplainable terrorism. The worries now and then seem to be on similar lines, except for its varying degrees.
But today I feel, as human nature goes, we have grown so used to the idea of freedom that it no longer appeals to us. We are constantly striving for something better, in the process giving negative sentiments a larger than life image. Can’t we for once look at just the “freedom” like they did years ago and be jubilant about it? Can’t we look at only the positives for once?
With this thought, as I flipped Mint, I came across an article by Anil Padmanabhan, where he writes about five reasons to be positive about India. Here is a gist of what he has to say about the India today:
a) India has still maintained its democratic framework
b) Sixty percent of India’s population is below 35 years. This means our future representatives of modern India, who come with no colonial baggage unlike our previous generation, is more equipped to exploit the opportunities of rapid economic growth.
c) India is undergoing an amazing social change. Today, employment pattern has become a lot more representative of the entire country. Our colleagues at work places today are not from just urban areas, but come from all parts of India and even foreign countries. This is going to bring in lot of creativity and bonding among people, among nations in the future.
d) Every passing crisis – be it terror strikes or corruption – are making Indians incredibly resilient. They bounce back to normalcy every time a crisis takes place. Here, Anil is focusing on the resilience bit and not justifying anyone’s role – be it the government’s or people responsible for the crises.
e) Corruption may be rife but Anil claims it involves a minority group, while the majority is those who go about life and work in a quiet diligent manner. This majority will eventually prevail.
Now, these are some reasons to be positive. If Anil can point out five reasons, I am sure each one of us can come up with five reasons to feel positive about India, to feel proud to be an Indian.
With this, I change my prayer,
“Give me freedom Lord
From my insane despairing thoughts
Give me wisdom Lord
To choose positives over negatives
Give me power Lord
To appreciate what I have today
And not long for illusions trapped in the future
Give me strength Lord
To be happy and gay
And to be proud of everything that is there
Amen.
A humble prayer
Give me freedom Lord
From this insane world
Today, I celebrate India’s independence
But am still bound
By the chains of desire that this material world bestows
Give me freedom Lord
When I still realize its true meaning
For later it may be too late
As I succumb to inebriations
And start appreciating the imprisoned freedom around me.
Confusion
A lonely summer afternoon
The scorching heat
Caracoling the dreams of a beggar
Who lay deep in slumber
I continue along the path
To embrace moments
Woebegone moments?
Yet there is a smile on my lips
Fighting the tears that threaten
To carnage it at any moment
As I approach a world waiting to be painted
What is it that I covet for?
Bygone grey moments
Or woebegone moments still in womb.
I am confused.
Words!
Imprisoned words
Tries to break free
The lump in the throat stops them
You cannot escape, my friends
The outcome will be too much to bear
The mind hurries after them
No, don’t let yourselves loose
The outcome will be disastrous
The words look around
Catching everyone’s pleading eyes
Suddenly, the heart speaks
Release them, let them free
Happiness writ large on their faces
The words run to freedom
In minutes, they are out as confessions
The heart looks on
Their freedom has done nothing
To reduce its agonizing pain
Smiling sadly, it slowly walks
Into the prison of uncertainity.