Large and wide
Deep and Cool
Filled with the purest water inside
It was our village's hallmark pool..

Stone lined walls on all sides
WIth steps going down to the water
And stones for washing clothes
Which also doubled for scrubbing our feet..


Live with fish and water snakes
Who were friends with us kids,
Frogs who would sing chorus during the rains
and ferns green and bright on the walls.

With overhanging trees on the banks
We came running and dived into the water
somersaulted and torpedoed
and swam in all fashions and styles...


Swimming and diving from the banks
We played "catch me if you can"
from the time we are back from schools
Till it is dark and when calls come from our homes.

With swollen finger tips
and red eyes, but
After the long swim and bath
Having dinner right away and
slipping into a good night's sleep...

Days where there were no TVs to watch
Days where there no homeworks to be done
Days where what mattered most were friends
Days which take us to the sweet childhood..

Gone is the pride of our village
there are no kids who play in the water
For there is no water in the pond
except for a few months during the rains

Kids are no longer kids
They have TV to watch
Phone and computers to play
Virtual friends to play with

Lucky we were
to have such beautiful childhoods
Such memorable friendships
Such adventurous rainy seasons
....

Are we change makers?
Do we really influence others in a positive way?
Do we really matter to others?
Do we really care for others?

Doesn't matter what others think of us
Doesn't matter whether others care what we say
Or what we do,
We keep doing the things
Which we feel is good for the world
Good for the next generation

If they listen, good
If not, we don't stop
what we have been doing
but continue with our spirit
and commitment of
bringing some change,
however minuscule it might be

Because we are not concerned
about the publicity we get or not
we just want to bring in change
the way things are transacted
and carried out...

Because the world can not continue
doing business as usual
things are going out of hand
things are going to disintegrate..

Let us be the change-makers
even if others don't care
don't listen
time will come when what we do
is seen and appreciated..

we are the
change-makers...
you can also be ..
let us unite and work
for a common bright future...

If I were a child again
I would have played more
Made friends lot more
Read and drew more

If I were a child again
I would have got wet in the rain
I would have played in the muddy puddles
Without the fear of getting my dress *****

If I were a child again
I would have played with my siblings more
Would have loved my elders and parents more
Would have cherished every second I spend with them.

If I were a child again
I would love to climb up the trees
Jumped into the ponds and stayed there
Till I got bored with playing in the water.

If I were a child again,
I would have loved to learn music
Learned all the beautiful languages
Paint all the beautiful times of my childhood.

If I were a child again
I would have roamed free
Hiking the mountains
Walking the forest trails

If I were a child again
I will never want to grow up
And away from the childhood memories
Thanks to my parents, brothers, sister, and relatives
Who made it so beautiful
I would love to relive it again and again.

We are just visitors
For a brief time
Travelling through a few milestones
Our time is finite
Our interactions are finite
So, why have an ego
Which is also finite?
Let us be friends with the world
With the people, plants
Trees and climbers
With the butterflies
And the beasts as well
Since our journey is finite
Make Life as easy as possible
And make it merry as well..
Leave a few sweet memories
For those who come after us.

Quiet flows the Brahmaputra
But violent and angry at times
At the ruthless manner in which
The man destroys the nature...

Quiet flows the Brahmaputra
But angry and turbid below
At the greed and arrogant manner in which
They carry out "development"

Quiet flows the Brahmaputra
But sad and lost
at the poor lives and livelihoods lost
At the hands of the rich who creates the catastrophes

Quiet flows the Brahmaputra
But helpless and depressed
At the ignorance and stubborn attitude
Of the people who aren't willing to learn from their mistakes.

Quiet flows the Brahmaputra
Sometimes overflowing and destructive
Time and again, to teach the humanity a lesson
In not learning from the past, learning from their mistakes
Because, history repeats itself..
And we are suffering today at the hands of the
People who are not creating a welfare state
But extracting, extorting, exploiting the commons
And the common people
To the benefit of a few, arrogant, "smart" rich...

There is something wrong somewhere..
Unless we learn ...
Unless we change...
We get what we deserve...

So if we need a change..
Let's change first ourselves..
Our action, Our decisions, Our choices...
There is nobody to blame..but ourselves...

It is not enough we give our choices
Once in five years ...
And then blame everybody else
For what we get out of our choice...

Quiet flows the Brahmaputra
He is a teacher, a friend, a father (and a mother)..
A brother, and a God (if there is one)...
Let us learn from him, the nature...

Quiet flows the Brahmaputra
So magnificent and great..
Angry at times..Destructive at times...

Still the lifeline of the people
Quiet flows the Brahmaputra.

The tree
tall and wide
with thick canopies
with so much of life and music

The tree
with thick branches
with thick green leaves ..
with nests and birds of various flocks
with so much life and music

The tree
with thick shadows
with cool underneath
with the travellors and children
playing and resting underneath
with so much life and music

The tree
swaying and singing
safe haven for little birds and insects
a whole eco system of innumerable species
with so much life and music.

The cyclone
with brutal force and might
destroying everything in their sight
devastating homes and trees and transformers

The tree
with its limbs/branches broken off
the cracking of branches and
with nests flown away and birds as refugees
the life and music transforming to an eerie silence.

Months pass by
Small shoots from the half broken branches
Rising and twisting up..
with the birds once again flocking to the tree
with life and music again..

I'm Happy
   Compared to
       my dark shades
            of my past..

Belated Birthday
Dear Internet
April 7th?

It is also
the World Health Awareness Day,
with a focus on depression
So is there a connection ?

No, cant say...


You bring
knowledge
information
happiness
anything and everything
even though sometimes it is stupid

You also
sometimes unintentionally
make people addicted and lazy
But that is no excuse
to find fault with you..

You create virtual worlds
many worlds to say
virtual friends - or are they friends?
vitual entertainment ???

You are going to stay
to evolve
to grow
and to spoil many more lives
or help many to achieve what they want..

as is said,
You are just a tool
it is up to the world
how to use it..

Happy birthday to you...

An exploration within...
A search for oneself..
To understand who I am ..
and What I am not..

To bring out the reflections of my mind...
Which sometimes is stranger to myself...

In one way.. I have a feeling that
We all are strangers to ourselves..
At least at some point of time...

This is to search that stranger inside me..
To help me understand me better...
Like a mirror, a good friend, who always follows you..
Like...
Your own...
...
...
Shadow!!

It was dry
Hot and humid
Dusty and nasty

Then
It rained
Cool and wet
Soothing and cozy.

A harsh word
is more sharper
than a double edged
Sword..

The wound
remains for ever
Hurting you
and your esteem
Bleeding for ever..

Its a  beautiful day
Wet and cool and moist day
it was just a dream!

It stood completely dried
Burnt by the fire below
Lit by some stupid inhuman man
of the remains of the waste generated by him.

It stood so tall and might
Housing innumerable nests and birds
Cheered by the chirping of the little birds
Calm and strong protecting them like a father.

It stood so tall and might
Giving shade to those who toil and tire
in the fields surrounding
Giving them a space to nap a bit during their breaks.

It stood tall and might
Giving fruits and flowers
to the young kids who passed by
Who climbed and caressed by clinging to its branches..

It stood tall and might
Loving all, protecting all
Irrespective of being friend or foe
Offering twigs and firewood to women and poor..

It stood tall and might
Protecting from the rains and the sun
from the cyclones and dust storms
From floods and droughts...

It stood tall and might
Protecting so many young plants around
Grass and herbs,
Creepers and climbers alike like a mother would do to her kids.

But...today....

It stood completely dried
Burnt by the fire below
Lit by some stupid inhuman man
of the remains of the waste generated by him.

It still stood tall
with its completely dried golden leaves
A few more days or weeks it may stand
Before the termites and insects
would make it fall down
and along with it, years of memories it brightened up
All through its life ...

I want to be
the honey bee
that sings and hovers..

I want to be
the little bird
Flying freely in the sky..

I want to be
the little lamb
Tasting the new shoots..

I want to be
the magnificent lion
That is calm and at peace.

I want to be
the stream in a brook
That giggles down the *****.

I want to be
the weight less clouds
That drifts way in the winds..

I want to be
the little ant
which is focused and mature..

I want to be
the splitting lightning
which cuts the air with a thunder..

I want to be
the loud thunder
that brings the hope to farmers..

I want to be
the lashing rain
That washes away my tears.

I want to be
the merciless slayer
of the mean, the corrupt and the bad.

I want to be
the laughing Buddha
To come to peace with me.

The early days of April
Have started resembling
Those of May and June
For a coastal city like Pondy

It is too dry and hot
It is driving humid
It is too nasty
and....

this pattern is going to stay..

Hope is the only thing that drives the world
Hope for peace
Hope for love
Hope for seeds of peace..

Let's hope for people to have hope..

Swaying in the wind,

Floating with the current

Songs of the breeze

So light and so fragile



Swaying in the wind,

Floating with the current

Songs of the breeze



Taking you to the past

Of your childhood memories

A time of no worries

A land of complete freedom



Swaying in the wind,

Floating with the current

Songs of the breeze



Having no worries

Simple things of happiness

Pure ecstasy and liberation



Swaing in the wind

Floating with the current

Songs of the breeze.

The heat
Is it outside
Or inside of me
Either way
It is becoming
Unbearable.

A lockdown of everything..

Of our arrogance
Of our mindlessness
Of our ignorance
Of our apathy
Of our cruelty
Of our carelessness

With the lockdown lifted..
Will we change for the better?

Better we do..!!!