Savouring the Moment

Calendars marked with red crossed days
As time slows down to a sluggish pace
We wait for it with bitten nails
With tension written all over our face.

And then it comes in a flash gone by
All of a sudden time sets to fly
But the moment etched in our memories deep
Off our feet it comes to sweep

Patience a virtue never to regret
The longer it is the sweeter it gets
The pains we bore, those times spent
Washed away by precious moments

Those times are gone, those moments passed
Yet within us as gifts from a past
A precedent for what our present becomes
An encouraging past for the future to come

'To earn a living' we run a race
A new day we prepare to face
And as we face never ending strife
We forget to live our blessed lives

And then to regret those moments gone
Old and bitter we grow on
Mind not the painful times before
 Savour those moments life had in store

 



 

The loyal little elephant

The herd in the jungle sparse
Their tracks on the forest floor
Their dwindling habitat
Across the Elephant corridor.

In the herd,a newborn babe
Sticking close to its mother great
A carefree spark in the dark world
Unaware of the forest's sorry state.

The herd, a force to reckon with
And yet they tread with utmost care
For a suspicious presence lurks around
Of which they are wearily unaware.

A sudden bang disturbs the peace
No sooner alive the jungle cry
As animals stampede to their death
And threatened birds take to the skies.

The herd on a rampage now
The dark presence now in sight
In the form of a man so vile
Unmoved by their sorry plight.

For the mortally wounded mother lies
Her tough hide by a bullet breached
A victim of man versus beast
To a boiling point this stand off has reached.

He threatens the herd with a gun at hand
Rubbing salt on their wounds sore
It is their turn to retaliate now
Infuriated furthermore.

Some hound him away from there
As their fallen prepares for impending death
And some remain back with her
As she passes away with her final breath.

Their tears soak the parched land
Her new born having witnessed it all
Their grief shall echo across the coming times
As they witness how their numbers fall.

After a lifetime of mourning it is time to move
Life but cannot come to a still
They touch the shattered young
Bidding him to do his mother's will.

But he moves not from his rooted spot
His anguish deaf to their fervent call
Another death has hit the herd
As they watch his lifeless body fall.

The tale of a lost fort

All paths to me now stand erased
By the touch of age, i am but dead
But once i was a place alive
To which every path once lead.

I was a citadel of strength
On a lofty mountain crowned
And now i am hollow within
As the echoes of time resound.

My walls remnants of a past
Of the glorious tales once told
As now i lay in ruins forever
Lost, desolate and cold.

A centre of great fortune once
I held a city pristine
My fame spread far and wide

Upon a mountain, sublime.

All but memories last

And they too shall fade away

As I am the last to recollect

Those good old days.

I outlived my many kings

I withstood War's abuse

I await now my end at last

To nothing my walls reduced.

I lay on barren earth
But once i overlooked heaven
I had my time once
And hope for it again.

Everything has a story to tell
So listen to my tale
And if you hope to find me
Do discover my missing trail.

Twins- A special bond!

    We were twins who were born in a family of overachievers. If one ever took a look at our family, that person would realize the worst kinds of haunting inadequacies to plague one's life. 
  
                 Yep my family's achievements were that awesome!

 And since birth is the first lottery that one wins or loses in life, i couldn't judge as to whether i had won or lost. The minute we were born, the expectations started piling and we were expected to be great. Well it did prove right in her case.
    Out of the two of us, she was the leader and took the initiative. She wasn't even eight months when she had started her shaky yet steady baby steps on a path that would take her places. By the age of two,she was reading advanced text and was achieving feats that children twice her age could not even dream of. As for me, i took my time learning things the average way at the average speed. By the age of ten, she wasn't only acknowledged as the most brilliant in her age group but was a rising threat to the brilliant in the older age groups. Co-curricular and curricular were fields in our school were not even considered worth tackling for her. She simply excelled in them. And i took my time mingling amongst the ordinary children that we were watching her drift away further.
    I would at times notice how my parents unconsciously avert their gazes from me and try to focus on things far more 'pressing' for them. No matter what i did, i was no match to the genes that had awakened in her but chose to sleep within me or simply did not consider me worth worth passing on to. 'Look there goes your sister!' and 'You are HER TWIN BROTHER! were two things that i had heard more than my own name. This continued despite us going off to different universities. Huuhhh! well you get the message.
    As events unfolded, in no time all the shelves in our house were filled with her trophies and there were new showcases being made to accommodate further. And finally came an event that would rid me of being in her shadow for a good four years. She had won a scholarship that allowed her to study in a premier foreign institute of her choice. I was brimming with joy not for her but that the pain of our physical proximity was going to end. Her university had organised a grand farewell ceremony to which we were obviously invited.
     Hours after listing her achievements, the host finally asked her to come on stage and accept an award. This was met with a loud applause. As she stood on stage, the host asked her to speak a little on how she felt at that moment. Those words would never leave me for the rest of my life.
      Her eyes searched the massive crowd and finally rested on the spot where we sat. She pointed at us and said. 'THERE IS MY BROTHER! MY TWIN BROTHER! The first person i ever saw was him. I have spent my time from my mother's womb to here with him and all the way like the twins we are we walked shoulder to shoulder. Now its really sad that i have to leave and i have dedicated many things to my family. But today i dedicate this very most cherished moment in our life to him. A bond between siblings is no doubt special but the bond between twins is something else. Our bond is is so special that it makes us extraordinarily special and for that i want to thank him. Thank him for the joy and thank him for the opportunity he gave me for being his sister. So BIG BRO this is for You! 
     My eyes never left her for she made me realize that it wasn't our genes that made us who we were but our bonds. And our bond made me very special. I would never be able to put that special feeling in words however hard i tried!

     
      

I am the Rag picker!

I pick up what other's dispose
I roam mounds that always grow
I eye my gain from what one throws
I am the Rag Picker!

On my shoulders, my trusty sack
Always seen in tattered rags
Armed with a long stick
I try to sell what i pick.

I search for useful waste
Things one dumps with great distaste
Consumerism and its changing trends
In a junk pile the outdated ends

You have seen me on tracks and on roads
But you care not for my loads
For my presence hardly in your mind
Nor the waste that you left behind.

I fend for my very own
For a community servant i am not
I ain't here on my free will
Or to clean up for those little snots!

Who thought that the litter one spread
Could be the lifeblood of someone else
So let another clean up instead
For another's very unruly mess!

Blame around so liberally thrown
Along with the waste disowned
We react not till the waste grows
It is the Government's fault and not one's own.

So as long as you want, litter on
Till all known space is gone
But wherever you dump, I'll be there
Taking on my rightful share.
For I pick up what others dispose
And when will it stop one does not know
But it is good for me I suppose
For I AM THE RAG PICKER!


Rag Pickers of India - Kamat's Potpourri

Into the Silent Night

Up, sweating and still not found
The source of that mysterious sound
I shudder to the eerie night
And chug down water for some respite.

I berate my little beating heart
The coward it is that beats so fast
My courage now i rise to test
With my heart smashing against my chest.

And then in a corner dimly-lit
I get a faint glimpse of it
The night its ally and its cloak
Was it to this that i disturbingly awoke?

The rest of its form unseen
Its feline eyes staring back at me
I jump right out off bed
A reflex out of sheer dread.

I stare at its form revealed
That lay in the dark so long concealed
I realize what i stare at
Is a terrifying jet black cat!

And then all terror, panic seize
As i hear the rustling leaves
and the trees knocking the window panes
Driving me with fear insane!

But my nightmare just seems to begin
As my ready instincts kick in
For the cat lunges now at me
As i struggle hard to break free.

The window panes break open
As a gust of wind rushes in
And as i wrestle with the cat
I am hit on my head so bad.

I slump like a body dead
Clutching my split head
I lie in a pool of dark blood
That pours out like a flood.

I feel the presence of imminent death
As i count my fading breath
My vision blurs, i lose all sight
I go into the silent night.

I wake up with a sudden start
And carefully check for damaged parts
I see no cats and no blood stains
I see no wounds and i feel no pain.

But i have left something behind
Something i can't return to find
I woke up free, I feel so light
For i am sure i was DEAD THAT NIGHT!

School is a place to study

'Excuse me,is this the way to Hari Lal's house,' a well dressed man asked a farmer who was busy on his farm.
'Yes this is the way,' snapped the irritable farmer who seemed to have been engrossed in his thoughts, now deeply disturbed.
'What have you got to do with him? Are you another bank officer?,' the farmer asked suspiciously.
'Oh no, i am here to see one of his daughters. You see her name is...'
'Bitiya, isn't it. Why have you come here to see that troublesome girl,' the farmer asked his curiosity risen.
'You know Bitiya? Wow! Actually i have come to see her for...'
'Of course i know Bitiya and her two sisters, Chanda and Rajjo,' growled the irritated farmer. 'First the bank hounds us and now you.'

The man understood that the farmer was deeply worried about something.

'Well, i am here to see Bitiya and her family. It is a decision they have to make and since i have met you, her father, maybe we can discuss this in doors.'

'Ah so you realized i am the father of that little troublemaker now did you.'
'Why, what has she done,' the curiosity of the stranger now piqued.

'Well i have three daughters as you know. The youngest is Bitiya. The first two are so responsible and this one, what can i say. The first two know their responsibilities towards our family. They know the financial condition of their father and help in every way they can and on the other hand that girl is engrossed in her own world. She is stubborn just like her mother and...' suddenly the farmer fell mum.

The stranger still couldn't understand. 

'Well, Sir, I am here to discuss about... 

'Discuss about what? I don't even know where you come from? Who sent you here?'

'Sir, the village school headmaster directed me here.'

'Oh now i get it. You are from that rotten school. That building is the one which is the cause of all my troubles. I sent all the three girls there and one is enough to give me trouble for the rest of my days.'

'Oh, which class do Chanda and Rajjo study in? The headmaster never mentioned anything about them!'

'Which class do they study in,' the farmer asked back echoing the stranger's question.'They do not go to any class there. They help in preparing and serving the mid-day meals. Helps in a little earning and they get to eat a proper meal also.'

The stranger now stood stunned on his spot, his brow furrowed.

'If those two work over there, then what does Bitiya do?'

The farmer laughed out of scorn.

'She doesn't do a thing out there. Not a bit of work. That is the trouble. She STUDIES out there.
Up until now the Village Panchayat was handling the expenses of her studies. Said she was bright. What is the use? She passed her tenth standard with flying colours and now awaits for further studies. She has been badgering me to send the other two also to the school for studies. Who will handle all that?Now she thinks she will go higher up and touch the sky. She doesn't realize that her dreams have got limits.' 

On not getting any response from the stranger, the farmer snapped.

'I have been yapping about like a mad man. What were you here to discuss?'

The stranger smiled and answered.

'Sir, you daughter is very well aware of your limits. Fortunately she is not aware of her own. She had written a scholarship exam two months back and has passed with as you described "flying colours"!'

It was the farmer's turn to stand stunned.

'Sir, you sent your daughter to school for the right reason. School is a place to study.'