The child within me

Child you are free to cry
While my tears inside dry
Sweet mama is always there for you
Day and night taking care of you
To make your every wish come true
To give you a future trouble free
Your every wish is met with affection
You are the center of family’s attention
I was once a child like you but no more
People say I have grown
Though inside me still a child lives
Craving for love, attention and empathy
There are times like you I would cry
But I hold back
And let my tears inside dry
Because people say adults don’t cry
Child you do not know
How blessed you are
No loneliness no job-worries
No masters you have nothing to prove
No religion no politics
No country no caste
Not even humanity
Child within me seeks this bliss
Alas I look grown up and
No one sees
The child within me
You can read all my poems at Enlightenment

Everywhere at home

I feel part of every place I go
Strangers feel as if them I already know
That look, that smile that tone
Makes me feel everywhere at home
And I feel;to every place I belong

That moonlit night

That moonlit night
When the night was silent and
Stars were shining bright
You and me
Walked all around
Looking at each other
Uttering words of affection
But they were not enough
Silence was the best word
Silence was so soothing
When you looked into my eyes
Silence said it all
Then the moon smiled
Brightened up a little and
Said it all
‘Wish I were you’
Then you remember
We sat on that rock
That moonlit night
And you broke your silence
With your soft, sweet words
With your song and
Your words entered my soul
That moonlit night
And that moment immortal
Always flashes in my mind
When silence fills my soul
And stars shine brightly in the sky
In a moonlit night

I remember you

It was on the roads we met
And on the roads we parted
Without knowing when it was the last
I could not even say goodbye to you
My dear friend
But I remember you…

I remember you
When I stand on the beach
Facing the sea
While waves wash my feet and
Breeze blows into my face
I remember you

I remember your looks
The first time we met
The clothes you were wearing
The color of your lips
The spring in your walk
The energy in your talk

I remember our first kiss
When you grabbed me like a child
And I had no clue
How to console you
The rest is a story
Buried in the history

I remember you when it rains
And that familiar smell fills the ambience
That smell of soil, leaves and pollens
And I get wet without your umbrella
And catch cold
My eyes look at the door for you
While I lie in the bed

I remember you
When there is a party
And people dance
When there is fashion show
And models walk on the ramp
I remember you my dear friend

I remember you
When I walk at night at India Gate
Thinking of country’s fate
Ups and downs in the nation’s life
Poverty, corruption and other strife
Would there be a better tomorrow
A future for all free from sorrow

I remember you
When I am down and sad
Sometimes going mad
The unforgettable words you said
That the best is yet to come and
Tomorrow would be a brighter sun

I remember you
When a balloon-boy walks up to me
With those heart-shaped colorful balloons in his hand
Those that go up high
I still buy one or two
And let them loose in the sky

I remember you
When the spring brings
The shiny yellow flowers
On the Amaltas trees
And that yellow flowerbed
Awaits us to softly tread

I remember you
When I go back to JNU
And sit at PSR
Watching the sunset
Looking at what I left behind
Tracing our footprints in the sands of time

JNU-Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi-India’s premier University
PSR- Partha Sarthy Rocks- The highest point in Delhi located inside JNU and a meeting point for lovers
Amaltas- A tree with beautiful yellow flowers in spring that look like bunches of grapes

Hell & Heaven

Every day I travel between two worlds
Hell and heaven
Unknowingly
Very often
When peace descends
After hours of unrest
I truly understand the difference
Between hell and heaven

Hell’s introduction
Power, ambition, domination
Jealousy, anguish, suffocation
Everyone looking for someone’s head
Primitiveness at its best
Anger, disappointment
A sense of worthlessness and indignation
Obeisance
Persons turning poodles
Gambling off their souls
Just to please their masters
For a few favors more

Heaven is place of noble thoughts
Calm, harmonious, free of doubts
A moment of bliss as bright as light
And as light as my body would fly
A moment of unity with universe
As silent as the deep space
As lively as child’s face
The sweet voice of my love
A walk in the woods by the lake
A sight of the reddish setting sun
While walking together holding hands
The loud giggles renting in the air
Filling our hearts with pure joy
Learning something new everyday
Growing making mistakes, forgiving
Hoping, trying to make things better

This Week

This week (22-26th May) of the year is so special to me-

I got a new energy to work when summer is finally in Moscow
I completed my Russian classes at Moscow State University (MGU)
The numbers of poems I wrote so far reached 50 (visit Enlightenment to read them)
I successfully completed my Russian exam
I got clearance from authorities to publish my book Three Generations
I completed 9 months in Moscow and now can go on Home Leave to India

Haiku

Beauty builds so much power
Moves most men up, down and around
That beauty blooms in twenties

(For Paris Parfait)

He inspired me then he inspires me now

( Sid is in the extreme left)
I just saw Siddhartha on Asia Today on BBC and got to know that he has acted a key role in highly successful and discussed Bollywood movie “Rang De Basanti” directed by Rakesh Mehra. Indian Bollywood superstar Amir Khan has played a key role in the movie. The movie is about the expression of youth anger against the social and political problems in today’s India. Lies below what I wrote in my yet unpublished book “Three Generations” (lying with publishers since the last 6 weeks) about Siddhartha I knew in College days…

In the beginning of the second year at the College things were looking bright. I became member of the Debating Society (DebSoc) and took up serious debating. DebSoc was led by a very warm person full of wit and humor Siddhartha Suryanarayan who had been to Rome to represent KM College in the World Debating Championship. He was on the stage on the College annual Day to receive awards for his excellence in debating. He was our leader and prepared us to face tough debates. He had his eyes on the next debating championship to be held in Manila, Philippines. He wanted to prepare a good team and send us for the world debates at the end of the year 1998. I had just joined the DebSoc so I had never even thought about making it to Manila. During the most part of the first year in the college I had spend reading newspapers to improve my English. It had a very useful side-effect – my knowledge of the Indian and world affairs had become substantial and I had developed a good command over the facts. This often helped me while I debated. My communication skills were not excellent but the facts gave the whole debate the due weight and effect. Siddhartha had seen in the last World Debates what was really needed during the testing hours and was looking for someone who was strong in facts and not just a phony chatterbox. This helped me to get on the board. We practiced together wherever we could. We convinced the Principal to give us the keys of the air-conditioned seminar room so that we could practice even in hot Indian summer of June and July. Our Principal Bhim Sen Singh, a former student of the KM College himself was very enthusiastic about the college’s participation in a world event and gave us the seminar room with pleasure. We practiced for hours and for many months. Finally the time came to select the KMC Debating Team. There were many contenders. Only 5 were to make it to Manila. Siddhartha had decided to give himself a break and let others have the opportunity. He, after consulting with the college authorities prepared a test consisting of both written and verbal skills. I did excellently in the written test and not too badly in the verbal one and stood third in the test. I was selected to represent KM College in the XIXth World Universities Debating Championship in Manila. The World Debating Council (WDC) needed both debaters and the judges to participate in the world championship. So now we started the special preparation for the World Debates- at times debating while at others to judge how others debated. The WDC follows a parliamentary style of debating in which one side consists of the Government while the other side of Opposition. The Government side consists of the Prime Minister, who has the responsibility to introduce the topic and define it, deputy PM and two other members. The Opposition consists of the Leader of Opposition who speaks against the motion and is assisted by the other three members. Anyone can stop anybody at any point of time and ask a question starting with “On that point sir”. On the judgment panel there is a speaker of the house who presides over the session and is assisted by two judges. In the end the average scores of the three are taken.
We practiced sometimes at Siddhartha’s home. World Debates were to take place in December end and we had to work out our travel plans. Sid asked us about our travel plans and he found that I did not have the passport. He asked me-‘why did I not have a passport?’ I had no answer because frankly I did not know that I needed a passport to travel outside India and getting a passport could be a lengthy process. Moreover I had never imagined that I would have to go out of India so soon. My parents had never owned passports. I had no clue how to get one at such a short notice. Finally one of my teammates Amitabh came to rescue. His parents were joint-secretaries in NewDelhi. I got a letter signed by his father for a tatkal passport and I got my passport in a week’s time. What a relief it was!

Seven years have passed by since I saw him or wrote or talked to each other but this man still inspires me and today’s seeing him on BBC has brought me extreme joy. May God bless him!

Smitten by green

I am smitten by green
This evening
While I stroll in the park
When it’s still not dark

Both sides of my path stand trees
Spring has brought them new leaves
They shine as green emerald
Through them filtered light falls on my path

Blowing waves that pass
Causes the rustle in the grass
Creates a new season of romance
Giving love a new chance

Green is so soothing
Earth’s new clothing
Everywhere peace reigns
An ambience filled with happiness

Couples kiss
Cuckoos coo
Crows crow
Cicadas chant

Dogs run
Butterflies fly
Mosquitoes murmur
Bees swarm around flowers

I am smitten by green
This evening
While I stroll in the park
When it’s still not dark

I believe

I believe time ceases to exist
When mind is lost
In thoughts
I believe fate does not exist
Until we aspire for something
I believe the world is more honest
Than corrupt
I believe that human beings are basically good
It’s not in our nature to sin
I believe God exists
In you in me
In everything we see
I believe spirituality is stronger than religion
As it connects us to God without any mediation
I believe everyone falls in love
Though may be for a while
But for some it lasts the life-time
I believe we will live
Though many dooms day prophets won’t let us believe
Through all difficulties and pain
And see ahead
Better days
You can read all my poems at Enlightenment

Words

Poetry
Thursday





JNU New Delhi-pic







A poem is just a stream of words
Flowing flowing flowing onwards
Carrying lodes of heart’s feelings
In hope, someday someone will find some meaning


The words do not mean a thing
Until they find someone willing
Who needs them as desperately
As a patient needs medicine

Words are just words
Not birds that could fly
But meeting a receptive mind
Makes them alive

They cry they sing
They dance they romance
They dream they scream
They care they dare

They strum the chords of hearts
They break it into many parts
They take soldiers to battles
They make heroes and martyrs

They inspire civilizations bloom
They may lead them to doom
They give birth to nations and nourish
They help enlightenment flourish

A poem is just a stream of words
Flowing flowing flowing onwards
Carrying lodes of heart’s feelings
In hope, someday someone will find some meaning

As good as it gets

Life is not perfect
But as good as it gets
There are many failures and
Expectations unmet
But everything can’t be perfect
So let’s enjoy all we have got
While try our best to improve our lot

I know how it feels
When heart breaks and
Dreams shatter
It’s impossible for a while
But life moves on a little later
Putting together all it’s got and
Moves smoothly on its path

Life is not perfect
But as good as it gets
There are many failures and
Expectations unmet
But everything can’t be perfect
So let’s enjoy all we have got
While try our best to improve our lot

Bolshoi Teatr

I am late once more
Though I am not sure
What time did we fix
Was it five thirty or six
To meet in the centre
At the Bolshoi Teatr

Fountains here are lovely
Around them kids play
Lovers lock lips and
Commuters rush away
A flock of pigeons leisurely roam
Occasionally flying over the fountain

It has drizzled a little this evening
And slowly the cold wind blows
With great joy flowers swing
Pleasantly greeting the young Spring

Bolshoi Teatr here stands
The pride of the Russian land
Though now undergoing renovation
Its still the good old grand

Opposite it stands Kremlin tall
Witness of Russia's rise and fall
Overlooking the Alexandraski Sad
Red Square and St. Basil's cathedral

Oh I got so lost
Time just flied past
The wait is over
We are almost late
Its time to go to the concert

Russian words
Bolshoi- big
Teatr-theatre
Kremlin-fort
Sad-garden

Hero

A hero is always at odds
With the existing norms
He meets resistance at every step
Is persecuted
Then sacrificed
At the altars of the norms

A hero is for a change
For he understands
The weakness of the present
He brings a new wave
At the expense of his life
For a tomorrow better than today

A hero is in you and me
Only if we pay heed and
Listen to our inner voice indeed
If we do not give in
To the temptations of little comfort
Every moment at every step we meet

A hero is immortal
He lives through the ages
Because he stands for a cause while
Others live in a world of little comforts
Without raging against the dying of the light
And disappear in thin air without giving a fight

Each day feels so fresh!

Each day feels so fresh
Free from the yesterday’s stress
Far from the burdens of the past
Things are amazingly forgotten fast
Only good memories and impressions last
And I live as everyday was my last
Embracing all I can as day flees
The fresh leaves on the trees
Glowing earth under the spring sun
The songs on the radio while the taxi runs
The morning smile of passers by
Flock of birds flying in the clear blue sky
The occasional stammering of the small child
Dogs in the street running wild
Tulips in their full bloom
Soft silvery glow of the moon
A walk in the garden by the river
Cold morning winds' shiver
That killing look in her eyes
Waking up together in a different sky
Life feels like a short race
Each day feels so fresh!


You can read all my poems at Enlightenment

Pursuit of Happiness!

Have you ever felt speechless at times
Leaving yourself in the hands divine
Seeing sad faces bearing the grind of life
Crumbling under the modern strife
Sense of being alone amidst the crowd
The growing inner emptiness and absurd
The serenity that is long gone
The restlessness that can’t be undone
Is this the fate of modern civilized man?

The surveys show
The happiest in the world are in Nigeria and Bhutan
Where poor live with peace and calm
Is it not the time to question
The modern civilization
And its ways
Widespread angst and great stress
Is this the pursuit of happiness?

(NB-Nigeria and Bhutan are just representative)

All Alone

I have been waiting…
Waiting since the years
For the right one
Many have come
And many have gone
Some were serious
And some just fun
Leaving me puzzled
Who was the right one?

Now I know what means love
And what it is like to be loved…
But it took to long to understand
While much water had flown
Now it time to just carry on
To just carry on all alone!

(Try to read it in Eminem's style for effect)

You can read all my poems at Enlightenment

Book Reading Challenge

I have been tagged by Sarah...
So this is the list I received, with instructions.... and I am responding to Sarah's challenge about the books I have read so far and are likely to read in future or the one's I'll never read or the ones I have never heard about...
Look at the list of books below.
Bold the ones you’ve read.
Italicize the ones you might read.
Cross out the ones you won’t.
Underline the ones on your book shelf.
Place (parentheses) around the ones you’ve never even heard of.
I have made a few changes in the instruction due to tools limitations on Blogger so in place of crossing out the books I won't read I have put them in red and in place of underlining the books on my shelf I have shown them in green color...


The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy--Douglas Adams
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J. K. Rowling
The Life of Pi—Yann Martel
Animal Farm: A Fairy Story - George Orwell
Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
The Hobbit--J.R.R. Tolkien
(The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon )
(Lord of the Flies - William Golding )
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
1984 - George Orwell
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban—J.K. Rowling (I have watched the movie and love all HP movies)
One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
(The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold )
(Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut )
(The Secret History - Donna Tartt )
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
(The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis )
(Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides )
Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Atonement - Ian McEwan
(The Shadow of The Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon )
The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway
(The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood )
(The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath )
(Dune - Frank Herbert )
(Sula by Toni Morrison)
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier (Iwatched the film though)
The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo
(White Teeth by Zadie Smith )
(The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton )
The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy
Brighton Rock - Graham Greene
The Moor’s Last Sigh - Salman Rusdie
(We Need to Talk About Kevin - Lionel Schriver)
Disgrace - JM Coetzee
Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro
The Buddha of Suburbia - Hanif Kuresh
(Small Island - Andrea Levy )
(Titus Groan - Mervyn Peake )
Ivanhoe - Walter Scott
(Patrick Suskind - Perfume )
(Bernand Shlink - The reader )
(Father and Son - Larry Brown)
(Crooked Hearts - Robert Boswell)
(She's Come Undone - Wally Lamb)
(Postcards - E. Annie Proulx )
(A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain (stories) - Robert Olen Butler)
(Defiance - Carole Maso)
(Being Dead - Jim Crace )
(And Our Faces, My Heart, Brief as Photos, by John Berger - Wonderful! )
(Holy the Firm, Annie Dillard)
(Bear Attacks--Their Causes and Avoidance, by Stephen Herrero)
(Desert Notes--Reflections in the Eye of a Raven, by Barry Lopez)
(River Notes--The Dance of Herons, by Barry Lopez)
The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald
(Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow)
(The House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus)
(The Last of the Just by Andre Schwartz-Bart)
(Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis )
(Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson)
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
(The Red Tent by Anita Diamant)
(A Bell for Adano by John Hersey)
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
(Herzog by Saul Bellow )
(Ripening Seed, Colette )
Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert
(The Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston )
(The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin )
The House of the Spirits, Isabel Allende
(The Lover, Marguerite Duras )
And I am adding a few
The Outsider by Albert Camus
Things Fall Apart by Chenua Achebe
Crime and Punishment by Dostovsky
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
The Blind Assasin by Margret Atwood
A Train to Pakistan by Khushwant Singh
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

And I'm tagging ...
Lauren
Vivek
Sanxukta
Rachana
Nerdine

S...So Many!

Lauren here begins the game with S:-
Sun- my day begins with a sunrise and I enjoy a beautiful evening sunset
Sea- I love the cool breeze blowing into my face on a sea shore
Salt –I can not do without
Sugar –I need it with a hot cup of coffee and tea
Sky- I never forget to take a look into the beautiful sky
Stars- I have grown up looking at them
School Days- some of the best days of my life
Samosa – an Indian dish that I love
Spices – without them my favorite dish can’t be cooked
Sleeping – I need more than 6 hours every night. Nothing refreshes me more than a good sleep
Spring- in India there are at least 8 and I love each one of them but there is nothing like spring
Short stories- I love writing and reading them
Science fiction- I have been into it since I was a kid
Sigmund Freud- the famous psychologist I have read a lot about
Sound of music, Silence of the lambs, Some like it hot, Syriana - some of my favorite movies
Santa clause- I like his gait and gifts
Sands- I would like to walk on for miles
Solitude- I need it the most for creativity
Seven-my favorite number
Silver-My favorite color of car
Silence-The best language, with my best friends I do not have to speak
Ship-I love cruising in a ship
Swimming-One thing I want to do everyday
Sunflower- I love looking at them, so bright, full of light
Spiderman- I love this line from this character-“with great power comes great responsibility”
Sunday- My favorite day
Safari- Would like to go for it in Africa soon
Shakespeare- My favorite poet, writer
Sherlock Holm – detective par excellence
Sun City- One place I like to go to play golf
Satire-I love it
Surprises- I love them
Success- Feels good especially after many failures
Satre –one of my favorite thinkers
Samuel Huntington- I like his work though I do not agree with much of his work
Singapore Story by Lee Kuan Yew- one of my favorite books
Spa- I recently visited this small but beautiful scenic town in Belgium and loved it
Scandinavia –That is where I am going next month if everything turns out well and
Sparrows- I just love them...

Dear Sun

Dear sun
I wish I could be like you
Burning since the time you were born
So that life goes on

You rise and set everyday
Bringing cheers in my way
Every morning you arrive
With your brilliant rays
They pour into my eyes
Reach my heart, enlighten my soul

With you my day begins
And with you it ends
I love watching you set
The reddish glow that surrounds your gait

I have memories galore
From the years of yore
When I was a little kid
I watched you setting down
From top of my roof
While you played hide and seek
Hiding behind clouds and trees

When I was a young boy
I walked with my father in the fields
Looking at the long shadows
While you silently set in the sky

When I grew into a young man
I sat on the rocks
Up high in the hills
With my sweetheart
Looking at your last gleam
Till you disappeared in the sky

Today I sit in my bed
And look at you setting down
Through my window with love
Back home in the Indian sky
I could see you everyday
But it’s different here in Moscow
Because there are many hazy, cloudy days

For long I have missed you
But no more
As summer has arrived
And I would see you more;

While you go down setting
I feel as if I am left alone
But I know tomorrow
You will rise once again

Life is Brief

(drawing courtseyHRW)








We would disappear
In the thin air
One day
It’s just the matter of time
So let’s make hay
While the sun shines

The rarity of life
Is so destined,
Only on earth out of nine
Yet the ways of life are so strange
Millions got displaced, killed
In vain

Life is so brief
Yet so cheap
It’s difficult to comprehend
Let’s value this quick-sand
Because lies ahead
The endless sea of death
Darkness and non-being
You can read all my poems at Enlightenment

May Day in Moscow

Today was a very special day here in Moscow for the Muscovites and the people from all continents who share this beautiful city. Thousands of students gathered today in the campus of the People’s Friendship University to celebrate the first day of May. The faces, dresses, flags, dances and the stalls from more than hundred countries from all continents made the campus a small world in itself. I had never witnessed such large scale enthusiastic participation before in my life. The sights and sounds of this occasion will last in my mind for ever. I would say this is one event on the planet worth visiting. Last but not the least I must thank my dear Russian friend for taking me there and showing such a rare sight.