Waiting

I am waiting

for what I don’t know.

Good times?

Or is it you

I’m waiting for!

We are all waiting

for hard times to be over

for darkness to end;

like Godard’s tout va bien,

waiting for Godot

we are Didi of today,

without Gogo.

We are waiting

for the Sun, who's on his own

to wake us up

to lead us into light;

the star shines bright

as it were

despite gloomy clouds

all alone.

Happy Independence Day

Happy Independence Day
to all my countrymen,

to the young and the old,

the weak and the bold

to all men, women,
transgender and children,

to the poor and the rich,
in this land of bliss!

May my country flourish
to bring about peace
in the minds and the hearts
of all brothers and sisters!

Our land is unique and special
from where the world has learnt
the importance of being inclusive
for in India we truly believe
in ‘Sarve bhavantu sukhinah
Sarve Santu Niramayah’1
and in ‘Atithi debo bhavah’!2

Let us salute our soldiers
martyred and living
selflessly sacrificing
thanks to whom year after year
we live here to say
Happy Independence Day!

Note:

Meaning of the slokas

1 May all be happy and healthy

May all be free from diseases

May no one suffer in anyway

2 Guests are Gods and Goddesses in disguise

The parrot

I glanced at the parrot
perched on the top of a tree
chirping away, to me
it sounded like ‘change’, ‘change’
strange, because at other times
I hear just a simple ‘hey’!

I hear a cow moo
a dog woof
a kitten mew
all in chorus singing
in my ears
telling me the days are few
fleeting away in years
I need to move
begin anew.

Did I want to hear this
from all of them?
Else how are they all
speaking the same
language!
In different tongues
telling me past is behind
it could be unfair, unkind
but it’s over for good and far too done;
to be back now, in the winsome game
I need to shift, I need to change!

Suddenly I hear their ‘hi there’ again
up and about now, I seem to be free
from this notorious invisible chain
like a parrot in a cage trying in vain
to break free and relearn the art
to speak its mind, to talk from the heart
suddenly these callings help me regain
myself, I enjoy the light breathing fresh air
I’m back on track, present and fair
like the grinning parrot perched,
on the top of a tree!

Every single day

Every morn baptizes me

with dewdrops

every daybreak

as far as I can see

be-sprinkles me

recharges me with care and concern

through the rays of the soft sun.

Everyday has a new dawn

every single day I am reborn.

Every morn fills my heart

with the mantra

of the chirping wings

every daybreak

purifies my ears

as I hear the rivers

chant and sing.

Everyday has a new dawn

every single day I am reborn.

The whole world is a place

whom I worship and pray

as I wander here with grace

rebirth on earth happens;

in wonder I live in it
with every little beat,

every single day.

Everyday has a new dawn

every single day I am reborn.

Engaging game

I have nothing more to take

not anything, from anyone,

I have opened with care, the deadly door.

At ease and wide, I won it here now,

by giving more and more.

A light came to me for my own little sake

showed me the way, told me how

I can make it work without being a fake.

With it I was playing hide and seek

I was trying all my wild antics

it hugged me all over, pumped up my heart

ran into my ears and said, I can also restart

working, enjoying every moment

sharing, learning from my environment;

that no to expectations, yes to acceptance

is the key to hidden happiness.

O this is such a tough exercise

from childhood I learnt

to expect, as a matter of right

but I will try, I will rise

like the stars and the flowing rivers

every part of the surrounding nature

this nature to give is in me for sure

it’s buried inside me, under years of the yore.

I will uncover my true self

learning from the teacher, without any pelf

like the lovely light, angelic air, winsome water

energizing earth, enriching us for thousands of years

I am here too only to give

diseases will wither, with all their dotty grieves

bliss will surface, miseries leave

for as long as I breathe, as long as I live.

Let me try this over and over again

the light’s there with me in this engaging game.

Deconstruction

What if my lines
could lie
on the borders
where men, women in uniform
standing awake as a norm
awaiting orders
to shoot and kill
would my lines heal?

What if my lines
my humblest of thoughts
travel in the minds of leaders
and make them see
in a moment of ecstasy
the inane insanity
of using weapons
on living beings!

What if my lines
went straight into the hearts
of millions
and with them traveled into
the lexicon
shifted the old definition
of soldiers fighting
with soldiers with weapons
what if it meant
not dying for the country
but living for it
safeguarding, protecting
nature
working in tandem with each other?

It will not happen.
It will not happen.
I am attached to a sentiment
I am full of ego
that’s why ‘what if my lines’
appears before everything else;
it’s also a race without kindness or grace
I am unable to mellow
down, for I want to wear the
charming crown.

Am I then warring with other lines
worrying too much on how they write
do I then use my writing as a weapon
if I do, I cannot see a weaponless world.
As long as I fight for my written words
my heavy wings cannot lift the bard
for the sake of what I said before
let ego not remain in me anymore.

Not because of what I write,
but standing for
what is true and really right
let the leaders use the soldiers
not to kill other brothers and sisters
but to heal the world and the bountiful nature.

I never looked at me
sitting with an invisible weapon,
writing for the sake of
winning a competition!
It’s the same power craving for attention.
I redefine the soldier lying in me
now writing only to enjoy and learn,
to be at ease, to set me free.

The purpose

For as long as I live
I will write my lines
on what I believe
as true
for me, if not for you.
I will work on them, refine
them afresh, anew
on those patient leaves
my tears will fall like the dew
smiles will paint in various rainbow hues
my thoughts will rise and fall in horizon
lie on the space
with charm and grace
they will chatter and blather
babble and jabber
on those tolerant pages;
with them
my thoughts will talk non-stop
from nineteen to the dozen.

Unread

Each leaf that falls,
on which I write

is a story in itself;

from the way it stands

on the ground
wanders around

you could tell,

if it's heavy with words

or simply light and sound,
if it has failed

going to heaven

through hell.

Each leaf that falls
on which I write

has a story to tell;

it's falling on the stage

like a tired footfall

sitting underneath a tree

a passerby who
in between taking rest
held the fleeting leaf

with the hands
covering the face
with kindness or rage
so one could feel

the leaf
its unsung agony;

but you overlook it all

over it you write your own

stories, with an impending tone

it absorbs your lines
lies
on the bed

brown and unread.

Their game

Mind, meandering

with the moon,
in a rainy afternoon.
Both unheard, unseen
wet within the scene.

‘I love you’… a tune all of a sudden
in a low voice, almost hidden
disappeared, dearly drained
‘please don’t come out in the sun
we are condemned in the dark
until we witness night to be fun
sky’s beating the old drum, hark!’

‘Oh don’t go! Don’t go!
I have scores of chores to do,
mind doesn’t listen to me you know
there they’re out again now?
Their game begins anew.’

The invincible

Since long those people
have become invisible
they left the orbit
long ago, but it’s the habit
that still wages war
against them
creates a mayhem
inside, still-born thoughts
burn to be born
make me forlorn
hatred and anger
bread and butter
energizes the Scar
that blocks and blots
the invisible people
remain and ruin
they become invincible.

Since long those people
have gone
they won
I lost, I accept defeat
from then on
light on my feet
I rise above the ground
Stars in me
heal the scars
harmoniously glow
all there is becomes a bliss
because I let them go.

I bless those friends
let them win, I make amends
I let them grow, my journey begins
as light as it should
those stubborn people
leave me for real
leave me for good.