GOLD

GOLD, the young woman's envy...

GOLD, a young man's pride...

GOLD, a goldsmith's craft…

GOLD, a scientist's metal....

GOLD, the miner's means of livelihood…

GOLD, a common man's dream…

GOLD, a thief's desire…

GOLD,  god’s ornament…

Of what use my men is your GOLD, to a saint like me??

Gulab jamoon

The sweet stall held its nose high;
right in front of our school..

The fragrance rose tantalizingly drawing my vision to a throbbing crowd;

Continuously varying in the density of content of their eager faces..

I used to stand there on the lane..

Fill the vacuum of my huge stomach with the aroma..

leave, Contented by looking at the smile

of a old man munching his plate.. 

With only half an anna in my pocket..

the prospect of a tiring walk back home..

Fifteen kilometers I would continue my romance with a round sweet tasty

gulab jamoon

Walking through unkempt roads lost in my thoughts,

I would wait for my birthday each year

to share a gulab jamoon with seven of my brothers...

SHE was gone...

On a starry night the lonely lad gazed up at the sky,

Staring at the magic on the velvet above...

The pleasant night,the warm winds and
the rumble of the calm ocean...

Gazing up at the cosmos above,he thought of her...

In all her poetic radiance in a white overflowing gown,
with a green pendant slung across her attire...

She walked slowly on the sandy beach below,like an angel on a dark night...

Like a breath of fresh air to dying heart...

He ran to her but she was gone...

All that he saw was a boat far far away and its white sail fluttering in the winds..

She was gone,all but a figment of his imagination...

He trudged back,silently cursing himself

On the warm sandy bed,he slept that night,

Dreaming of her...

Painting her portraits on a street in Paris,

wearing the same white gown,

Smiling in peace playing with a puppy on the street...

With each stroke of his brush,
she broke open the locked chambers of his heart,

Each heartbeat now a christendo...
as he but finished her portrait...

All that was left was her eyes to complete her imagery...

His dream of one true love...

the angry sun bore upon his eyes,he tore open his eyes

She was gone,she was gone...

D sun had risen...

IF.....

If books could read and ladders could climb...

If horses could fly and Death would die.....

If water was thirsty and Time grew bored of its punctuality...

If light grew fond of darkness...

If gold filled our bellies and Gods cursed our hearts...

If thoughts had weight,truth had sinned...

If destiny was written on our heads and dreams could sleep...

If wealth was free,health gifted in sleep

If if if if if if if,

If human were humane,
if compassion be the only divine...

If only trees grew in the air...
if only
If books could read and ladders could climb...

If horses could fly and Death would die.....

KARGIL

Each time the postman came by the road I ran to the window
and waited for a post to arrive from you...

As he marched away from home, i rested relieved...

With thoughts of dread, i would open your letters,
describing your adventures atop the hills of the mighty Himalayas,
carrying your gun,donning army colours,

Proudly bearing the INDIAN insignia...

Tears of joy pride and love overflow in bounds,
son I pray each second that you reach home safe again...

I've dreamed of you my son,
yesterday...

returning home victorious in war

Today on your birthday, I offered my prayers to the lords above us..
I look beyond the window anticipating your letter...
 

The phone rings...

Announcing that my son is a martyr...

MAY BE...

I write this poem drunk in the sweet nectar of your smile,

Drowning in the ocean of my desperation...

                I do not know if its love,
                   but d mere scent of your name lingering at the corridors
                         of my heart jump up in joy ,unbound unhindered

Every day I wait for a reply for my letter,

I wonder if the words of yours in reply were lost 
when a gust of jealous wind blew away your feelings for this lost heart..
may be just may be it shall arrive tomorrow...

May be 
just may be your too short of words to sing of this crazy fanatic...

               In this forever loop of maybe,

                 I sleep this night humming a tune romantic,thinking of you...

Maybe I already know you shall  never return my letter,

May be I just wanna feel my heart dancing in joy,

Maybe I am just a hopeless romantic in prayer of a miracle...

THE VAMPIRE....

He sat there tethered ,

still Sleeping without a care in the world,

His innocence written all over his face...

I stood above his dungeon,

Free to enjoy the freedom of the world,

The faint trickle of rain,
the blessings of the sun were all mine...

Each fortnight on a moonless night,i would unleash him,

He would hug me, his overflowing frame crushing me with pure love,

With a soul wrenching cry he would howl at the sky,

Jump into d unknown darkness and disappear...

He played with the trees,The night bats,

Enjoying the bliss of darkness...

When the sun gently came for his daily rendezvous, he would wake me up, wipe my tears
and bring his hands to welcome the chain...

He slept on my lap,sung of his happy times in the forests.

The innocence of his laughter,the earnestness of his smile,

His dark eyes irradiating love...

My eyes closed pretending to be asleep,

Cried from within,

With guilt chaining me to the dungeons,

Torn by his love,

each time I chained him, I lay cursing my fate in agony...

He was not a monster, I was...

BHEEMA

He hacked at it with rage pouring over his body,
his hands bloodied by the carnage he created,
again and again he smashed his bare hands onto the tree cutting it in half,

It poured its tears at his fury...

He hacked every tree until the forests was left with only stumps of  broken trees...

Keechak had his eyes on Bheema's princess, Draupadi !!

After thirteen years of forest travel,
just a month remaining to remain incognito the helpless bheema lay there in d forests panting in exhaustion...

Snorting his anger,the dams of control had snapped,he had bludgeoned the forest in a wild mayhem,fueled by revenge...

Caught in a scorpions pincer...

Swinging wildly,screaming his lungs hoarse, until every grain of power had gone away...

He sat on a rocky ledge overlooking his anger,
like a mad elephant he had razed the forests to null...

His eyes focused,his ears perched,his muscles waiting for the last week of incognito to end...

He would avenge his beloved wife's humilation, when his hands fell on d rat Keechak...

Until then the forest would mutely bear his rage,his storms of hapless anger...
his grunts of fury, his tears of helpless anger...

THE RED ROSE...

Tonight she sits on my window sill like a bride wrapped in gold,
blushing red in all her glory,
smiling upon fate...

She has traveled all across the world just to cross my path...

She is the epitome of  beautiful !!

A red rose on my window sill...

From gardens unknown,lands unheard,

Daughter of a proud heritage,

Enriched by the wisdom of  red earth,

showered with blessings from the night sky,

The power of light in her...

Plucked away from her brothers, sisters and countless admirers,

She has traveled on carts,
buses ,planes and past security checks too
to land in my arms on one magical night !!

She sits on the windowsill of my house,fragile fearless, a picture of  eternal love...

She shall stay there for a week may be as d queen,

When she fades she ll be thrown away like d rest of them...

To the earth she shall return,
a forgotten rose ,
with a heart full of love, dreams and  regrets !!

RESISTANCE

My eyes revolt asking for an extra spell of sleepy bliss...

my heart aches for another session of  dreamy conversation...

my Arms retire into a state of denial ,clawing again at d state of rest...

Mind however stays firm,the cause is greater...

waking up the sleeping eyes,

Chiding the  heart,
inspiring the resting arms

to explore d beautiful world beyond...

MASTER

6 multiplied by 6?

I blabbered twelve in haste!

I was standing on the old wooden bench shivering in fear,

As the village school master made his way towards me...

Thin lean n strict,perenially angry,with a large thick cane in hand...

6X6 he continued??

I nodded my head like a bewildered cow,

In a slow arc of his cane,

Deadly as a hurricane,it struck my legs with a bitter sound..

I wailed in agony,as my ears were caught in his grip..

He pulled it , twisted it hard hoping that the correct answer would
dramatically arrive on my tongue tips...

Another time I screamed,
even before his cane impacted the soft flesh of humiliation..

He strode back to the board,

Asking me to write the six tables a hundred times...

Slowly sobbing away I stood on top of a wooden bench,drenched in shame..

I told myself never to incur his wrath again...

I learnt his lessons like the holy scriptures...

and I prayed to the gods to spare me each time he walked around with his cane...
 

FOREST....

Flames have gone now,
leaving behind a trail of ash...

The dried woods ,a casual traveler, a half smoked light tossed into the bushes...

the slumbering night woke up to a raging wall of fire,

Caught by the roots of life,flames leapt onto her waving boughs,

She burnt in silence...

Before long only her corpse remained,all her family too reduced to cinder,

the fire raged on,
consuming tree after tree,they fueled the advancing army of fire..

When the amber rested all that remained was ash,dust and death...

A Thousand hapless victims massacred by one act of non chalant thought...

D forest stood mutely...

SILK TRADER

Somewhere in a dark corner,
she lay away from spotlight...

She wove silk,she was the best among all craftswoman in town .. 

An epitome of patience, a skilled workforce like no other,
neither the wind nor the rain or dry weather with a burning hot sun put her focus in jeopardy,
she wove her silk waiting for a visitor...

As the layers of precious fabric set themselves layer upon layer,
she admired her handiwork with an air of happiness ...

A gust of wind brought about an unexpected visitor,
the queen bee now lay in her silky web trapped ...

With all its strength and might it tried in vain to escape this chakravyuha but finally accepted its fate as the master builder moved in for her kill ...

In that dark corner she lay her web of silk again awaiting her next visitor !!

WORLD OF SHE AND HE...

She was born on the day of the dark eclipse,

He was born on the day the sun changed paths...

She was given a slate,

He was given ten books..

She studied by the lamp ,

He studied without a care about electricity bills...

She swept d floor,

He walked as a prince in the house...

She took beatings from a cane when she got more than him in d exams,

He was given a bike for passing in the exams...

She cycled to school,

He raced past her in a luxury car

She wrote his home work,

He threw her a rupee each day for that !!

She stood first in the taluk,

She was made to quit studying !!

He failed twelve times ,

He was given a bungalow...

She was working in d fields,

She was married off to mr.muniswamy the local gardener aged forty two

He was married to a rich landlady with all pomp and glory !!

She was bad luck as she was born d day of the eclipse,

He was the prince who was born on a silver spoon !!

Her mother prayed every night for her daughter to birth a son !!

A TALE OF LOVE

To the universe he sings,

Loud and clear yet silently...

Hoping she shall listen to his heart beat and smile...

Hoping she shall sing in with pure delight,
having heard his voice in her dreams..

To d universe he asks will she ever find me??

He sings of her eyes, her soft little nose, her small articulate hands , her tears of joy,

Her voice of fear, her odes of love...

To the universe she asks will I ever find love...??

She paints him singing to the universe,
she paints him looking at her with longing love,

Lost in her thoughts, silently enjoying her presence in his thoughts

The blind singer and the deaf painter will their hearts
 to turn the universe in their cosmic dance of love ...