Saturday, April 30, 2016

Happy New Year

I have retreated so often
Yet I fail to learn
Past never gave me
What I expected of her
I think about places to go,
People to meet and things to do
Apologies, wishes, and
Congratulations are in order
This will be a happy new year

Friday, April 29, 2016

Why I thought about you


So you have decided
To part ways
I only hope it is worth
The distance that separated us
Measured in light years and
Time difference which created
Twin identities out of one
Tears can never tell full story
In the night that’s growing darker
Somewhere far a fragile ego
Invites suicidal tendencies
My hope lies in sunrise

Thursday, April 28, 2016

Shatrughna: In The Shadows of His Brothers

Even after his father’s death,
Rama didn’t return to Ayodhya
Bharata, who loved Rama
More than his mother, put
Rama’s sandals on the throne
And waited for fourteen years
On the outskirts of Ayodhya
Leaving the protection of kingdom
To Sandals 
And Shatrughna!

But it’s not the story of Shatrughna
Who in violent rage assaulted Manthra,
The evil plotter of Rama’s exile,
Before she was saved by Bharata
Did he loved Rama
Like Bharata and Lakshmana
We're never told
He watched over the kingdom ruled by Sandals
What demons he fought for all those fourteen years
We’re never told 
Even at the end of epic
He seemed to have begged his brothers 
To destroy Lavanasura, the demon king
Who was the real king of Ayodhya 
for all those fourteen years
We're never told

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Ramayana of Mahabharata Times


How their life could is so calm and perfect?
Killing few terrorists was uninteresting to her
Humiliating a girl hitting on his husband was cruel
But at least, he and his brother,
Did something unique in this exile
Did she make mistake following her husband?
But, it’s too late to think about that,
It’s almost time to go home

Life was gathering up in a storm
How could she know?
She was probably missing her jewelry
That she called her husband, sitting far away
Uninterested in the bringing the jewelry
Of the girl they humiliated
Impatience force her to send her husband’s brother
To help her husband in locating the jewelry

He came in disguise
Like a psychopath, within seconds
He changed her mind
Forcing her to come out of her home
And thus breaking the social norms
As per jungle rule
She was anyone’s property
She was dragged into his helicopter
Someone tried to help her but wings
Helicopter shred the helper in pieces

In a different country and at a indistinct location
It was time for a culture shock
She had to learn the language to survive
Eatable and poisonous mushrooms looked alike
She missed the calm and perfect times

His captor asked her
“Give yourself to me else I will kill you.”
This was no way to ask women,
Even to an abducted one
Maybe he never learned to talk to women

There will be a fight
But she never knew this will get so ugly
As usual it so happened in past
One won and other lost

Twelve months of captivity made her realize
how much she loved her husband
As she jumped in the joy and went to hug him
He said, “Go, please take a bath. You are stinking!”

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Pain Poetry

Adrenaline surge is tough to control
But you never liked uncomplicated things
Where is the fun in life?

Doing things that you did in the past
For momentary satisfaction and joy
Followed by loneliness and guilt

Running after the past will only get you 
To present at the most, never near to the future
You scoffed at books, sculptures, and hymns

Pain is poetry you keep reading
In search for lessons on de-addiction 
Your life rich with unique experiences

Monday, April 25, 2016

Pity for you, Pity for me

I feel for her
The girl who stands at the hostel gate
Fully dressed up and wait
One can read happiness on her face
In her short breaths
And in her probing eyes
He should come out at any time
Anytime stretch to evening
I return to hostel after work
Should I tell her
He will not come
He is not even here
Pity for others
Is actually pity for one self
Heidegger said some decades ago

Sunday, April 24, 2016

Everyone's Battlefield

My friend tells me not to make those mistakes
Yet he loves me despite those mistakes
The sound of your bowstring sends
Chill down their spine
Yet you drop your bow and flop on the chariot
Indecisive
Is mental crisis necessary to become a great warrior?
Ask Arjuna

It’s never the fight between him and others
It is the question of fighting with self
Can you ever win it
If you do, how will you face my your self?
Ask Yudhisthara

Sometime we don’t even know
what we are fighting for
Don’t we follow the orders
Instead of taking control of our life
Is it our love, devotion or procrastination?
Ask Nakul and Sahadeva

My friend knows and explains it calmly
I stubbornly deny forcing my thoughts on to him
Only later I realize just saying something aloud
Doesn’t mean that I am right
Are you unsure about your words and deeds?
Ask Suyodhana

He tells me that you always have a choice
Either you do it or not
Taking a side sometime is a necessity
Can you go on pilgrimage when the world is burning with hate?
Ask Balarama

You know you are entangled in this
You must find a way out
There is nothing that can keep you stuck here
Should one believe in stories of bravery or destiny?
Ask Abhimanyu

Don’t promise too much
Else you end up living that promise
Sometime you no longer believe in that promise
Or the promise turns into nasty arrows of your beloved
Is the pain of awaiting death is more cruel than death itself?
Ask Bhisma

Killing and crushing is a mandatory requirement
Else they will crop again and again in your mind
Hear their cries, listen to their meek apologies
Do you have blood drinking capacity of vampires?
Ask Bhima

Sometime you know everything from inside out
Yet you keep playing with death and life
Life is nothing but a game of dharma
You use people like things and things like people
Are you figment of materialistic imagination or
Do you carry God’s attributes?
Ask Krishna