Deathless

What else do I have?
But to watch and learn
Restless, reckless?
The tides that turn

I ain't no Canute,
Nor a wasp with that eye,
Flippant, feckless?
Condemned to die..

What have I been all along
A punt no less taken,
Crazy, careless?
A tad too brazen?

I believe I can fly
Or shall I make that "could"
Eternal, endless?
Faith'll do some good :)

...And just another,
Another day, another rhyme,
Dogged, deathless?
Thus spake, the sands of time!

...And the Frog said part 2

Dreamy, Breezy, slithery night,

The Valiant moon smiling so bright,

A familiar sound,

Not the cry of greyhounds,

As I mused aloud my line so trite...

..."hi, I am back!" proclaimed the frog,

"why is your mind such a serious smog?"

"just hope and wish"

"let someone else steal your fish"

"just sulking and waiting won't solve your prob!"

The name's Bond.. Ruskin Bond

There isn't a child in India who has grown up in the 90's devoid of a steady diet of Ruskin Bond novellas and stories. If you would have attended a CBSE board school, chances are, your english teacher would have prescribed Panther's Moon for your summer vacation reading. Just like mine. And I am really grateful to my fourth grade english teacher for introducing me to the Legend with whom I'd have a live encounter in exactly 19 years after first reading his stories. This is dedicated to Mr. Bond for opening an entire world of creative writing for me. :)

..and the frog said.

On an end-September moonlit night,
when the stars were away and it was clouded light,
I let out a thought,
How I wish I got,
A Whole year to just travel and glide...

...Nearby a frog replied in a croak,
"Gentle Lady", he blurted almost choked,
"Such fantasies are good to think,
and the moon will simply nod and wink,
learn to live the bloody white-collared life" :P

In pursuit of rainy-ness!

A Mumbaikar on july 4, 2012: 
Myriad drops, drops so blue,
every droplet was once just dew,
the steely gray of the clouds outside
is it just the weather or am i lonely inside ??? :)

A Delhiite on july 4, 2012:
Myriad sunrays, all shades of flame,
all my energy sapped and drained,
if i were an egg i would've been poached day and night,
is it just the weather or am frying on all sides ??? :(

Time !?!

Time helps, time heals,
Time flushes out all the rot we feel,
Nevertheless, it never waits,
Guess, that's part of the deal!

Reason part 5

I may have a Merc, I may be a clerk, 
I may be living in a big iceberg, 
Yet I may choose to be sad or happy,
Its what I think about it that eventually works! :)

To the good times ahead !

Ain't night time the best,
to reflect and test,
what's been up with you all this while...

Is it a metamorphosis of self,
a being more open to looking at the mirror,
or one who has,
finally eeked out time from the banalities of morbid mortal existence....

I recently experienced paranoia,
one which i could dread the most,
of being locked-out of your own blog,
entailing a night full of imperative slog!

But what was more interesting that I experienced recently
was a fullness of the heart
and that means contentment?
inching towards what you want to be,
if that's indeed what you set out to be;
else am I any better than a dazed cockroach,
who has been swatted to gruesome death
and awaits to piece the shards of his life together
or maybe not
but still flits with some morsel of hope left
Persistence?

In mandarin that I recently learnt, there is a very fine word to describe what's interesting... its "Youyisi", pronounced as Yaw-ee-suh. I am having a very youyisi time of my life. Every new moment unfolds a new paradigm of possibility and probability.. every new day under the sun brings me newer hope, and a feeling so closely emoted by the word "Sanguine".
Well the quest is on... to be more so like 1.. and less like 0... the binary world doesn't let you be any thing else...
Is grey present in the universe filled with Black and White?
We shall know that, ah! some day :)

Assorted

When you see a scraggy patch of grey eating into the pristine emerald of the supple grass in the rains...

washed by the torrent of water rushing in a psychedelic rage

the rains have come after a long enormous wait

and yet they allure you

you had waited for this moment of green life sprouting up

and getting ready to face the onset of next season as the earth goes round the sun.

it is wierd that we see myriad hues everywhere

yet we hope to classify what we behold into straight lines of black and white

not even the least bit of grey to be provisioned for...

u think its black, yet its so much of grey

it may be just a green, or the orange in blazing May,

and it may be something like a purple surprise

yet it is just a hue, a new hue each day...

and while this will always pose to be the eternal conflict, there is still so much that the rainy mist might teach us,

rains are not black

rains are never white

they are full blooming grey

yet we may hesitate slight

they come and go when they wish

sweeping away voids of fear

and they bring with them the promise of life

the power to nourish with them everything big and small

until the sun goes away for its half cycle..

and on comes the season of fall

Nothing is more resplendent than a shiny dewdrop perched up on a bud so alive in the morning rain....
it is young and knows so little, yet it blooms up in a mellow harmony and seeks to endure...
even the harshest winters of its life.

Reason part 4

u get up...

n fall again

u are perfectly fine

n u don't even have a sprain

wat hits u then

a moment of revelation

its now or never

phew!!!!!

but wait a minute

are u there yet

did u reach anywhere

or maybe even u started on

....expecting

the air around seeps all the discomfort that u can possibly anticipate.... u get no moment of respite...u have loads to do....n after every minor quantum of success u taste...comes along a deluge of despair...but hey wait! u are no loser....n this must be the millionth time u ve seen this....:)

its another day, another time

i have words, yet i may not rhyme

each one of has our destinies made

no one can snatch ur fate or that line

that etches thru ur palms

in a dogged way

the path of life

is tedious and long

n i have my own sweet song

its never too late

to realise our fate

lies with us n only us

everything else is just an illusion

a temporary hindrance

to slow down ur walk

yet we ll persevere

in the sun, snow n the tempest

n our deeds will do the talk

Collywobbles..where it started from

three huge spoonfuls of chocolate horlicks

as i stir the heap in a tall glass of foamy milk

the heap getting metamorphosized into defiant chunks

and the chunks very reluctantly disintegrating into granular mass

its amazing to see how much resistance they offer

as u try to tame them down

bully them with a vigorous stirring tempest

swoosh ....

they ll churn n girdle n even give a tiny bleep bleep

who knows what they trying to say

if at all they are

but they put up this useless fight anyways

:)

the earth is scalded and the resolute clouds

wating up above

forbidden by some unknown force

not to pour at all

the scraggy edges being smouldered by flame-like anger

charred and wasted totally

it will not rain at all

and they all know of this celestial connivance

everything living here is just on the mercy

of the supreme bosses

who would take a call if it ll ever rain again

grim

is the mood earth has

as she takes everything in her stride

they won't give her even a drop of water

they won't even let her heal her burnt embers

they won't even let the wind whisper a word of comfort

all she knows is that she has to endure

like a city ravaged and plundered by dacoits

wishing and waiting

to rise like a phoenix

her strength is her weapon

as she readies herself for all their assaults

and all the vagaries of nature

a time will be coming when it ll all be lush

and green

and alive and supple

she knows it through all her years in the sun

as she stands in her stoic resolve

and fortitude

she breathes to stay

to endure and conquer

and face all such days

Completeness...

It's just so beautiful,

It's just so complete..

Dreamy clouds of uncertainty

burst with all that they are worth for..

finally,

into infinite relief,

the mass of charging downpour,

how all the rusted leaves of summer

chuckle in sheer glee,

Drops of comfort,

like the voices of loved ones from far away

Rains, Ah!

another year, another day,

in all their majestic grandeur,

you've really no idea how much i missed you..

and yet

now you seem all real

ever so beautiful,

ever so complete.

Reason part 3

The din of tawny twilight,

myriad hues of the retiring sun

shimmer down their path of retreat..

Inky cascades of nothingness

swept across the unknown..

spread their wings far and wide.

The promise to the pure

and ethereal

morning light,

seems distant, unsure..

Isn't this just the start

of a long long night?

Chai-time rambles

Just one cup of chai,

by the window overlooking the sea..

and life seems good!

As the city bathes in rains of pure delight

As the sun takes a nap, and out come all the clouds

anxious, misty-eyed

amidst all shades of treacherous grey,

threatening to strike thunder

and storm

yet with a balance so perfect

tranquil rain drops, falling on the earth so warm

robbed off all green glory

as everything is just so musty, so brown..

Perched on the ledge

my wide, wide window

splashing sea waves in ecstasy

leaping as high as they can

in a thanksgiving to the benign sky Gods above

exuberantly moistening,

each corner of the land..

And just like the rain divine

my humble cup of chai

is just as welcome

just as nice

on a lovely sunday afternoon

this along with the rain

splendid surprise :)

My random walk in a normally distributed world..

A stumble here,
a stumble there,
not all's quite right,
not all's quite fair,
yet with my humble gait,
i walketh on and on,
yes i am the tortoise,
but i won't be slow for long!

Color me Red

What do i choose to see?

the muddy browns of inchoate puddles

or the foamy frothy slate gray sea

the dawn chromes that transform themselves

into the demonic deep shades of a torrid afternoon

yet there is somewhere a promise

of a beautiful eve

can i really choose a color sieve??

The dewy dark greens of my garden leaves

while busy bees around them hum their own dwelling beats

a riot of colors,

a burst of new life,

can there be anything more vibrant than a spring so sweet!

I can learn

I can try

like each subtle hue around me

merge into the darker

or rise against it

free-flowing into the lighter

Isn't this whole journey

like one big pursuit

to find that true gradient?

Once upon a time (it rained!!!) in Mumbai...

Grey skies screaming melancholy,

for some,

yet for some others this is a burst of delight;

the rains!

How many shades of grey can there be?

be it the tumultuous waves

and forbearing high tides,

or the thunderous clouds

without any respite,

Heavens pour with a magnificent fervor,

The Rain Gods show off their might...

Harried motorists feverishly jabbing their brakes

lest the splashing waters terrorize inside,

a cascade of vibrant umbrellas

dotted amid chaos, traffic snarls, swear-words and fist-fights

A pilgrim's progress..

reaching home from whither now?

this is some experience for sure,

Maketh us all Rain-smart, and pray, how??!

Reason part 2

Midnight musings, thoughts of all around

Crazy days, made of a million sounds

how numb can you be,

yet how much bothers you..

as you go simply chugging along

and something hits you.. out of the blue.

No moment can you rest a breath

as lists pour out, anytime can be a test

but then still it is

a tiny blob in that whole

That you are living this moment,

could you have asked for anything more?

In the long run as they say,

we all have to die

then why is every day

fraught with doubt, petty things to cry

If we could just see

a little more distant, ahead

we wouldn't have ever resigned

and wished alas ! we could have tried.

Somewhere, Someone,

may just think alike

no matter how perilous the journey

but such a gift is life

with all that i am,

with all that i could be,

i will live it fair and big

my zeal shining bright.

Adieu Mumbai...

You reap what you sow,

a tried and tested line,

yet how many of us follow it

rather than crib and whine

One's gotta do what's she gotta do

come freak hail or devious storms

keep your head high, and morale higher,

every night is followed by a morn.

Life will keep on pelting hard stones

there will be ridicule, there will be hatred

every moment is a grueling test,

your nerves are the only thing sacred

I fall once, then I fall again,

i may not learn it all,

but i will never give up my road

i will never stop running and crawl

Every milestone fuels my fury

every scar sparks my grit

every stride closer to my Goal

Blesses me, for it is God that i am with....

Can I?

Wish I had,

Just the thought makes me glad,
Met you before,

I could hold any back,
How did I even know,
How could I even know,
It was right here,

no less no more.
The promise to make it,

as special as it can be,
It's you and only you,

that I just want to see...

...Dewy, Dreamy,
As I look out of the window,
Do I see you ?
I wish I did.
A cloudy haze,
A misty maze,
Everything is calm,
Everything is grey,
With splashes of refreshing blue,
And the dancing greens,
Beautiful, everything just seems...

...All around me
Glimpses of time
Etched far and wide
Ethereal, sublime
Memories still afresh
The days of yonder
Vagrants yet stationed
some agonies, some wonders
Can I go back in time?
Can I believe it ll be true?
Can I share your idle laughs?
Can I just be with you..?

Rear-view mirror

Restless,

Reckless,

Quite like the dizzying sun set,

throwing up its myriad passions,

some red so fiery,

tempestuous scarlets,

deviously mauve,

as a looming black,

of the night so dark,

menacingly,

yet alluringly,

crawls ahead,

Night.

Void, that is,

just why

the same little green leaf,

now struggles yellow for breath,

my love lost?

I am drained of all my hues,

while the promise of the lovely spring,

is almost due,

Spring.

I know,

one day,

my green will shine.

I know,

some day,

you will be mine.....?

I don't understand you...

Days're too few,

To think about you,

but moments're too long to live without you,

trusted?

rusted...,

betraying heart,

gives me away,

Always.

I don't understand you,

or any of your ways.

Just a li'l too soon,

Nah! been several moons,

the first that I thought about you,

jaded,

faded,

forgetting glimpses of time,

Always.

I don't understand you,

or any of your ways.

Do you think I should wait?

Do you feel it won't be too late?

Do you see any possibilities woven by our fate?

glistening,

glimmering,

glowing spasms of hope,

Such is life O dear!

Always,

I don't understand you,

or any of your ways....?