A BIRD IN HAND  &  ‘CARPE DIEM’*
It has been wisely observed and said,
That a bird in hand is worth two in the
bush always.
Therefore, let us grab this day before it
begins to slip away my friends!

The Afghans are perhaps the only people
in the world who pray after their meal!
Since they are more concerned about the
outcome, -
Than the intentions the behind things!
Just as the proof of the pudding always
remains in its eating!

Now the Latin phrase ‘Carpe Diem’ meaning
‘seize the day’, - has been a popular theme of
English poetry even to this day!
It was first used by the Roman poet Horace in
his ‘Odes’ during 23 BC,
Which spoke of enjoying the day before it
ceases to exist!
This theme is also found in Shakespeare’s sonnets;
In Robert Herrick’s lines ‘To the Virgins to Make
Much of Time’; in Andrew Marvell’s seductive
lyric ‘To His Coy Mistress’; and also in poems of
AE Houseman, and Robert Frost, - among many
other poets.
Here are few lines from Andrew Marvell’s seductive
lyric - ‘To His Coy Mistress’:-

“But at my back I always hear
  Time’s wingéd chariot hurrying near:
  And yonder all before us lie
  Deserts of vast eternity.
  Thy beauty shall no more be found;            
  Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound
  My echoing song: then worms shall try
  That long-preserved virginity!
  And your quaint honor turn to dust,
  And into ashes all my lust.                  
  The grave’s a fine and private place,
  But none, I think, do there embrace!”

Now I conclude with few lines from my
favorite Henry Wordsworth Longfellow’s
poem - ‘The Psalm of Life’:

“.…Trust no future however pleasant!
       Let the dead Past bury its dead!
       Act, act, in the living Present.
       Heart within, and God overhead!
       Lives of great men all remind us,
       We can make our lives sublime,
       And departing leave behind us,
       Footprints on the sands of time!…”
                                               -Raj Nandy, New Delhi.
                                                composed on 03 JULY 2020.

THE SONG OF LIFE*
In our life’s long journey dear fellow traveler,
We meet for a while only to depart!
What remains are the sweet and bitter memories,
To torment our lonesome heart !

Those who are endowed with beauty and form,
Must not play around with their deceitful eyes,
To entrap some crazy lover,
And torment him for the rest of his life!

Since beauty is only skin deep, and fades with
the passing of time,
Let us stay away from such enticements,
As we journey on this road of life.

Therefore let us laugh and sing,
As we travel life’s path together,
For laughter is the best medicine,
While songs shall gladden our hearts
forever!
                                       -Raj Nandy, New Delhi,
                                         Composed on 17 June 2020

Friends, the phrase ‘Hobson’s Choice’ originated with Thomas Hobson, a livery stable owner in Cambridge in 16th Century England, who offered customers the choice of either taking
the horse nearest to the stable door or taking none at all!
Therefore in reality he offered no choice! A Catch-22 situation, like the Devil & the Blue Sea, or the Morton’s Fork, - all meaning the same thing.                                      -Raj Nandy, New Delhi.          

              HOBSON’S   CHOICE
As explained above, this phrase means no choice
at all.
Since you are forced to choose the only offered
thing or none at all!
A Catch-22 situation when you are in the ‘horns
of a dilemma’, or ‘between the devil and the
deep blue sea’!
When caught between the two horns of a bull,
You are in the ‘horns of a dilemma’ indeed,
Quickly throw some sand in the bull’s eyes,
And run zigzag on your feet.

Now John Morton who demanded gifts for the Royal
Treasury during the 15th Century England, had
loudly proclaimed, -
That if a man lived in luxury he was rich, but if he
lived frugally, a lot of money he must have saved!
So either way to the Royal Treasury he had to pay!
This came to be known as the ‘Morton’s Fork’,
And became a well known phrase, not yet forgot.

Take care of the penny and the pound will
take care of itself, - I was repeatedly told.
So I locked up all my pennies, and spent all
my pounds, and soon became stone broke!
I was called penny wise and pound foolish,
And became the **** of many jokes!
Now, one fine morning chased by the Devil I
landed up on the edge of a high cliff by the sea;
And was offered the choice between the Devil
and The Deep Blue Sea!
I pleaded with the Devil to toss up a coin and
give me one more choice.
The devil replied, “Ok that’s fine with me but
remember before you chose, Heads I win, and
Tails You Lose, so quickly toss up and choose!”
You may well guess what happened after that
Hobson's Choice!?
                                           -Raj Nandy, New Delhi,
                                            composed on 04 July 2020.

THE MAGICAL INTRUDER !

IN THIS HEART OF MINE,
LOVE ENTERS LIKE AN INTRUDER
I KNOW NOT WHY!

LOVE LIGHTS THE LAMP TO EXPELL
DARKNESS AND GLOOM,
THIS LAMP I FLOAT ON A DARK MOON-
LESS NIGHT ON A LAGOON.

THE LAMP SOON SETS THE WATER ON FIRE!
BUT ONLY AQUA CAN ****** LOVE’S
BLAZING FIRE!

I WONDER WHO HAS CREATED LOVE
WITH ITS MAGICAL EMOTIONS,
WHEN THE HEART GETS MESMARIZED BY
SUCH AN ALIEN INTRUSION!
                                                    -R­aj Nandy, New Delhi
                                                      compo­sed on 16th June ‘20

(THIS POEM HAS BE WRITTEN IN A LIGHTER VEIN,
I HOPE YOU LIKE IT ALL THE SAME!_  

COPY, CUT, AND PASTE !
These days I mostly find, on our social
media sites,
Inclusive of this ‘Facebook’ as on date;
Plenty of photos and materials getting
daily posted,
Simply through Copy, Cut, and Paste!
Though deprived of genuineness and
creativity,
It does provide a nice pass time for us
all, despite its lack of originality!
But unfortunately as a result of this,
Creative writing has taken a back
seat!

I wish in my real day life, I could choose
and select from the events of my time,
Through this easy technique of ‘Cut and
Paste’!
Instead of wasting time in planning and
thinking,
When all things could be easily achieved  
with good speed and haste!  

How I wish in our lives there was a
‘Delete Button’ too.
To remove all our aches and pains, and
all our old age troubles too!
Then we could delete that Chinese virus
with ease,
To get our suffering World back on its feet!
But even this ‘Facebook’ does not have this
‘Delete Button’!
And now I am reminded of what Omar Khyyam
in his ‘Rubaiyat’ had written:-
“The Moving Finger writes, and having writ,
   Moves on; nor all thy Piety nor Wit shall lure
   it back to cancel half a line,
   Nor all thy tears wash out a Word of it!”
                                              -Raj Nandy, composed on
                                                20 June 2020, New Delhi.

NOTE: ‘Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam’, is the title Edward FitzGerald gave to his 1859 translation from Persian to English, of a selection of quatrains (rubaiyat), attributed to Omar Khyyam (1048-1131), that famous Astronomer-Poet of Persia.

This is a simple translation of Tagore’s Rabindra Sangeet : ‘’Akash bhora, surjo tara,’’ from his ‘Gitobitan’ – ‘Book of Songs’. Translating Tagore word by word though possible, is not advisable, because it breaks the poetic rhythm & melody of his verse! Therefore, the basic essence & meaning of his song I tried to capture along with its philosophical & inner content. Tagore, our universal poet & Noble Laureate, belonged to the reformist ‘Brahmo Samaj’, which believed in the worship of an eternal and a single formless Divine spirit which pervades the entire Universe! English poet William Wordsworth had also shared this view in many of his poems.    -Raj Nandy, New Delhi
                                                                                                                      
SKY  FULL OF SUN AND  THE
       GLITTERING STARS !
The sky is full of sun and starlight.
The entire cosmos is pulsating with life.
Within this glorious vast expanse I found
my place,
Making me to burst forth into song in
wonder and amazement of this
marvelous sight!

This world swings in the lap of time, with
its eternal ebb and flow.  
And I feel in my veins its pulsation and
beating rhythm,
As in wonder and praise my words begin
to flow!

I have walked barefoot on the grass,
While traveling through the forest path.
Startled by the fragrance of flowers,
Which gladdened my beating heart!
The song of happiness pervades all around,
And with merriment it me surrounds!

With eagerness to hear, and with eyes opened wide,
I have poured myself in the flowing river of Life.
As I sought to seek the unknown, which lies hidden
within the known, *
And which has so far eluded my sight!

This outpouring of my song in wonder and
admiration I have put to verse.
For having found my habitat and abode,
Amidst the sun and the glittering stars of this
Universe!
                                                   -Translation by Raj Nandy.
                                                     20 June 2020
NOTE: *Here we find Tagore’s mysticism which takes us on a Spiritual quest to seek the infinite in the midst of the finite; unity at the heart of all diversity; and the Divine in all beings and things of the universe! This theme recurs in Tagore’s other poems also.

THE GOOD, BAD, AND THE NAKED TRUTH!
I have often wondered why, bad things happen
to the good,
And good things happen to the bad?
It is also often said that God takes away the
good folks from this world earlier,
While letting the bad ones to stay and suffer!
But given a choice, all of us would certainly want  
to live longer, and also fight out the Chinese
Corona!

Some say that our life’s happenings had been
programmed earlier,
Based on the Hindu theory of individual Karma!
But the atheist and the agnostics, speak of these
as mere random happenings!
Yet some intellectuals also think, that this concept
of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ are merely relative things.
As one man’s meat becomes poison for the other,
-  among other things!
Now to get rid of these confusing thoughts and free
my mind,
I feel it is always better to err on the positive side,
And perform actions and deeds which are right.
But at the same time I would love to sing with the
American poet Philip Appleman, who wrote these
great immortal lines;-

“ O Karma, Dharma, pudding and pie,
   Gimme a break before I die;
   Grant me wisdom, will, and grit,
   Purity, probity, pluck and grit.
  Trustworthy, helpful, friendly, kind,
  Gimme great abs and a steel-trap mind.
  And forgive, Ye Gods, some humble advice -
  These little blessings would suffice,
  To beget an earthly paradise :
  Make the bad people good,
  And the good people nice.
  And before our World goes over the brink,
  Teach the believers how to Think!”
                                                    -Raj Nandy, New Delhi.
NOTES: Philip Appleman was born in Indiana in 1926, and served in the US Army. He has displayed greater foresight & understanding than most of our narrow minded politicians and religious leaders! May God bless his soul!