Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Attic


to hide
to seek solace
to look for
childhood's treasures
to search for
a dependable ally
a daydream
a reverie
before childhood's end

Saturday, January 27, 2018

Beyond the Shadows of the Distant Sky


where human greed and impurity
where air
does not contain the scum and filth
that man's neglect and indifference
spread and pollute

there, there beyond the shadows
of the distant sky
is the dwelling of the innermost core
of my mind and body
my being
my existence

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Stung


 I am stung by the experience of touching the core of human existence.


ten billion human lives
living, dying, even as
incrementally growing
per second per second acceleration
in their count, becoming countless
unless extirpated
by some malevolent swipe

all of them feel and take it as a boon
given as a bestowed favour
and benediction for the ultimate
all-assuming and consuming 
bouquet of experiences
out of the question that it be questioned
why, if it wasn't, or if there wasn't it given

poison, ecstasy, satiation
through food or sexual encounters
with meager or mega means
and humongous affluence
whether through comprehension
or lack of it, assumed to be
a given, to be taken,
kept to be lived and not questioned


the convenience emanating from
assumption of destiny
for comfort, consolation, and pacification 
in the hypocritical oddities 
of colliding vanities, deprivation,
corruption of mind or action

ought not at least a few
if such be the case
feel resentment and be embittered
with rage that life's vagaries
do not offer choices
that from birth to demise
everything in between is a caprice
so whimsical that what goes by the name of virtue
resides in evanescent droplets of dew
while evil pervades and conquers


does one think 
or is it improper to question this myth and reject it
as not a given, and therefore
not feel belittled, lost, bemoan
not having been born
not missing out most grievously
on the experience of life and living

and if not born 
and therefore not in the knowledge
of missing out on life
how is it that it is not realised
that they would not know the loss
of experiencing life
which would have only been an
expedient of contingency,
ad infinitum, contingent upon another

the question is, why not no life
and simply not know about its absence

what a sting

Sunday, January 21, 2018

Riddled Rider


charmer on the road
drawing attention
only at traffic lights
or tight jams
ignored otherwise
as the world and its harried people
pass by

-------------------------
Bhashwati wrote:
Jab rangeela riddled rider tayyaara ho ke ghar se nikalta hoga for his day's work... us se pehle apni gaadi ko saaf karta hoga, apna make up karta hoga, apne rangeen accessories ko tarteeb se rakhta hoga, tiffin dabba leta hoga, ghar ki mahila se.

Aur sochta hoga

Do teen chaar meherbaan logon ki nazar padhe to baat ban jaaye.
What do people want?
Dont they like the colours?
the gods? the tassells?
Why are they so unseeing?
Should they not be paying for the spectacle i offer them on the drab street?
Is a shiny car better than my rainbow chariot?

i wish i could ask these qs in his words, in his language.

Friday, January 19, 2018

Saturday, January 13, 2018

A Murder of Crows


(Just as a group of geese is called a gaggle, a group of crows is called a murder.)

Sunday, January 07, 2018

The Last Scholar




half-buried in the sand 
at the bottom of the sea
at the end of the world

--------------
Bhashwati wrote:

The last scholar is a very powerful and extremely disturbing composition. 

but that is only stating the obvious.

Friday, January 05, 2018

Life Outside


just a heartbeat away
pressing against the window
when the breeze drives it
calling you to join
the green dance
before the music changes
and the party ends

Monday, January 01, 2018

Paraplegic


but inanimate
and therefore
not an object 
of vicarious curiosity

only occasional
bemusement
mostly left to their own devices
of being in disuse