the greatest gift....

A glimpse of life…a flash of soul…
A breath of vivacity…a sight of the sparkle…
A day has so much in store…
Morning brings with it…
A glitter in the water…
A cooling warmth when you splash it on your face…
The birds are singing as your heart sings in tune…
The flowers blossom as you lay eyes on them…
The sun winks at you as you bathe in the rays…
The trees so green and fresh beckon you…
Come out wherever you are…
The lake beneath calls out…
The sweet seductive scent of the fruits and flowers…
Lure you out…as you walk barefoot on the dew dripped grass…
You experience eternal bliss…
The day moves on…
The sun a little stronger…
Shines with all his might…
You, fed and watered, look out of the window…
It’s a beauty of its own…
The drowsy dog lying in the shade so peaceful…
The trees so alert giving relief to all that seek so…
The grass looks dreamy yet bright
Reflecting the glory of sunlight, that touches it…
The dazzling beauty of the lake, mesmerizing your eyes…
The flowers basking in the sun….share the glory with all of them…
The fruits still in the shade…peek out from between the leaves…
Looking like naughty kids…out to play against rules that mom has put…
As the sun sets…the aft dulls down to the eve…
The white bright sky reddens…as the sun moves down the horizon…
The tiny stars wink at you as you look up they greet you…
The warm air changed to pleasant breeze…
It places a peck on your face and you feel so sweet…
The shadows grow longer and darker becomes the lake…
The flowers sway with pleasure as they get ready to retreat…
The sun bids goodbye…and goes down the earth, to his bed…
Sleep beckons as through the day he traveled so much…
The birds are yet singing…but not greetings this time…
The singing so sweet as they put their babies to sleep…
The dusk sets in and gives way to night…
Oh so sweet and quiet, the night comes…
The trees the flowers the fruits and the lake….
Bathed in the moonlight as they unwind…
The sound of the crickets…sounds like a girl’s trinkets…
The lake so divine wearing the moon in her neck…
All asleep as the night comes down…
She plays in the grass shining with the pearls of dew…
Watched by the trees, flowers and fruits in wonder so new…
The song of the night playing in the ears…
Puts you to sleep, dreams of bliss surround you…
This is a day that comes to you…
The greatest gift you can ask for…
Cherish it the best you can…
As this is what that makes you go on….

leaves of memories

Leaves of memories….sweet and tender…
Touch our heart…and make it melt…
The warmth it evokes…oh so luscious…
The feelings so tangible…I never have felt….
As I remember…me as a toddler…
My mother hugging me tight…
Egging me to go ahead…
School will be all right!!!
I see myself sitting on a bench….
I share it sitting on one end…
There is a boy sitting on the other…
I smile at him…and he’s still my best friend…
The sweet successes….the wretched failures…
I tasted them all….
I remember my parents, my friends…
And I remember who stood by me at times all….
Those carefree days of college…
As we sit under the tree in the shade….
Hogging on sweetmeats, gossiping…
Not a care for anything neither time nor grade…
Entering the new world of work…
Responsibilities surround us all….
We still are the same for each other…
No matter worldly how big or small….
That special someone I spotted…
The laugh that I adore….
She is with me today…
Could I ask for anything more?
I saw my children grow up….
Crawling first and then treading their own paths gingerly….
Their first words to their degrees….
I remember them all so clearly
And today I see before me….
Their children and again I felt….
Leaves of memories…so sweet and tender…
Touch our heart…and make it melt…..

i understand.....

Here I am, still unborn….Am fighting, kicking and struggling….
In the warmth of the womb, I never wanna leave so I do it bawling and wailing….

Closed eyes, and fists clenched tight…holding on to the warmth with all might….
Of the breast that comforts me so…slowly opening my eyes, I see the blinding light….

I start to understand…what is what…As I cling on to that lap…
As I smell and sense her warmth….Comfortable here I take my nap……

Slowly I climb out of the shell….Explore the unknown on my own….
Only I don’t realize…That soft, firm hand so ready to hold me lest I fall…

I talk to, I cry to, I feel, I treasure this same…Soft yet so strong a wall of trust….
I enter a life so independent…..Slowly however…it starts gathering layers of dust….

I still remember her; I still miss her….Somehow, however in my false complacence…
I forgot to let her know so…But oh! She will understand…. I’m sure she can sense….


As time goes by, I find things more important MY family, MY kids, My job, MY money
That is how I sum up MY world Oh, am so busy…I cry so…now it sounds a lil phoney…

It’s been a while she hasn’t seen me…..Down the line the bond weakens……
She can’t see nor can she hear….she needs a lot of care….so the man in me reckons….

Mother! I hope you will understand….You will have ppl your age around you
People around to take care of you Oh! I will come n visit…see I never can forget you…

Her lips smile but the smile never reaches eyes I ignore it completely…as here I stand…
Can I ever do anything that will be bad….Oh mother! I hope you will understand….

She smiles her vacant smile back at me and nods in agreement…
Satisfied and relieved I go to sleep…..she will understand…..
I push back all the memories of times long gone….
I go to her…she is still in bed…at the door I stand…

I frown…should I wait…or just prod her awake….
I go to her…I touch her…the warmth is all gone…at the bedstead I stand…
She is all cold life has left her…but her vacant smile is still there as if saying….
Oh son! Its ok I understand!

the five...

And so it began with them five….
So close, so near, so innocent...
Tumbling through the path of life…..
Caring neither for a penny nor for a cent.

Growing up has always been fun...
And is a journey so adventurous…….
When the five did it all as one……
Taking by horns a bull so treacherous…

Oh! They were all friends with love and care….
Friendship and loyalties all for each other….
Crossing all the worries with feelings so bare…..
‘I after you’ they told each other….

Tides of time swept over and so came adolescence…
Education…worldliness….practicality and what not
All of that taught as a defense
Against the world they had to if they wish so or not!!!

Oh! But what happened to the friends…
As you ask so I tell with my heart tearing apart…
They learn acting so as grown ups….and so it all ends…
Success comes to them each at the prices that their ways they part….

And so hardens the innocence to cunnings….
And so goes the love and tenderness…
As treachery and theft comes on to them running...
The warmth hence cools down dissolving itself to nothingness….

Here I stand, one of the five…
Oh yes! Am so lonely for so long…
All the joy gone from ma life…
Oh! Here I stand still wondering…what went wrong….

man...woman

I am a man…yes I am a man….
Who is but a man???
Is he the pillar on which leans a family…..?
No coz it leans firmly on the woman of the house….

I am a man…yes I am a man…..
Who is but a man???
Is he the symbol of power and strength…?
No coz that strength flows in him through the woman in his life…

I am a man…yes I am a man…
Who is but a man???
Is he the one who shoulders the pain and miseries of a family…?
No coz they are borne forever by the woman so willingly….

I am a man…yes I am a man…
Who is but a man???
Is he the one who takes care of his children…?
No coz it is the woman who bears them….

I am a man…yes I am a man…
Who is but a man???
Is he the one who protects the vulnerable from their miseries……?
No coz, he is shielded from them by his woman, who is so devoted to her…..

Everything that defines a man…..
Is but a shadow of a woman in him…
As we realize one without the other is as incomplete as can be…..
And so are made to complete each other, not to supersede one another…

different....

Standing by the tree, I see the kids playing…
I go to them but I am shunned…
You are different they say…stay away they say…
Is that when on me it dawned??

I see the school kids sitting….
By the playground picking…
With whom they wanna play…
You are different they say….you stay away they say….
Those words are still pricking…

Still flushed with shame…
I grow and reach my college…
Few can do the same….
So I sit by a group….they raise their brows and say
You are different….you stay away…

I see the love of my life…walking by the road…
Hand in hand with a guy…he is so like her…
Oh how I wish he be her brother!!!
I go to her and say all I want to say…
She looks at me and smiles….

You are different she says…
But I know what it means now…as I turn away…
She holds my hand and says…
You are so different from the crowd…
That is what makes you unique….

And now I understand……
This difference is what made me stand out…
How else did I do what I did...?
How else did I get what I got…?

And today if they say
You are different…
No more is there hostility…
All I feel is the admiration behind it….

And I smile at them…
Oh Yes! Am so different…..

in search of a miracle....

Days pass by…and here I lie….
Not bothered…unaffected…..
Storms fly by….but here I lie…
Waiting for a miracle unprecedented….

They ask me….what ails you…
But what do I know…..
They search me for thoughts…
I still don’t know…what eats me so….

I see the dreams I wished to live…
The dreams once so near….
I almost felt them on my fingertips…
The thought itself so hard to bear….

I hear the sound of the success…
That once was what that kept me going….
The sound that once deafened me…
Now replaced by a silence so annoying…

I breathe the air in, but can it give me life?
I drink water, but can it quench my thirst?
I eat, but can it make me go on for long?
I see, but can I see the sight that greeted me first?

And so, the days pass by.... here I lie…
Not bothered…unaffected….
Storms fly by…but here I lie….
Waiting and waiting for a miracle so unprecedented……

far apart....

distance...do you know what it means...
its not measured in miles, kms or inches
its not the time you take either
itsnot the mundane road that you take each day to reach work
its not even that bloody traffic jam that you wade through
its not the voyage the river takes to sea or ships take through sea

its what we have between me and you
its the space that I can only hope to cover
its those words that i am still looking for
its those thoughts that, today, we chose to keep to ourselves...