Once in a deep, unforgiving forest Lived an arrogant lady deer; Lions and tigers ogled at her: Foxes and wolves wandered near. She was proud of her looks and her body That captured the wonders of them all; She flaunted herself to all with ease: The size of her conscience was too small! With her head held high in boast and joy She hopped around and came to greet Everyone that liked her and kept gazing Not at her, but at her meat! Run amok, you stupid deer, You landed in a filthy mess; No one ever liked your soul, They liked your lusty flesh! You were so proud of your own looks That you didn’t try to know Your meat is not an asset to you: It is your biggest foe!
Sinking into the deep, blue sea I search for pearls that I know will be Abound in the lap of the boundless deep; Unaware of my presence, fully asleep.
Even though my life was full of pleasure, The depth of the sea- I could not measure Enticed my heart to leave my ship; And jump into the world of the fathomless deep.
The deeper I sink and seek for more pearls, The deeper it gets, the more it unfurls; Though my quest is completed-the pearls are found, The desire of my heart doesn’t know any bound; The secrets of the sea I want to unfold
At the bottom of the staircase I first stood Beholding it with an eager face; Some known men I saw on those steps Involved in a strangely unknown race.
Allured by the stairs they fought each other To reach the topmost, elusive step; Its gold-like glitter bewitched me too- That call! I just could not escape.
Foregoing all else I began to climb, Those men I then began to fight To own the exalted, topmost spot By winning the war of brutal might.
I knew I had to defy the odds -This led me to my dreadful sin: I killed the rest- one by one, So they could lose and I could win.
I reached the top of the stairs at last, Overcoming my honest, fruitless past I won that spot of glittering fame I was about to write in it my name; Just then! A moment of wordless pain: I knew then I was also slain.
At the end of my life’s selfish days After my greedy wild goose chase I found my corpse at the bottom stair Along with the others, in despair.
My restless soul in full distress Can now realise and confess My immoral sin, my fatal crime To climb upwards and reach the top I climbed downwards all the time.
From the womb of nature- the deep, dark cloud, She arrives with a dazzling glare of her own And her omnipotence is shown As the princess of prowess roars loud.
With her divine glance- the flash of light She kindles the lonely soul of the sky; A message is blazing in each eye- The hint of tomorrow’s stormy sight?
Announcing the truth’s unbeatable might, She enlivens my static, lifeless soul; Making me realise my sacred goal- To plant the seed of dawn tonight.
Enable my voice to be loud and clear To perform my holy, truthful task: Unveil the sinners’ disgraceful mask; Awaken the nation’s frigid career.
I searched you all over the places, But, I was unable to see -You were beside me, all the time -This wasn’t meant to be.
Please forgive me, oh! My Beloved! I know you are so kind; My sight was not set on you, My Inward eye was blind.
Open my eyes, oh! Source of Emotion, So, I can offer you total devotion; Fully with the gift of self- expression To let your voice be heard By people all over the world
The river of blood flows every day And meets the time’s infinite sea; The power of hate grows every day To plant the nations’ malice-tree. The corpses of truth lie everywhere, The butchers reign supreme; The message of peace is in despair And the thirst for blood extreme. The voice of the innocents no more cry For they all sleep in graves; The troops are sent only to die- They all are merely slaves. The boast of the cannibals can not last, The rule of the beasts will fall If the eternal message of love and trust Can ever unite us all.
Shut up, no good, vile citizen! Don’t you dare say! Remain dumb, as you are now, Or, we’ll be forced to slay; Don’t you dare say.
We give you rotten rice and fruits, We give you all kick of boots, We sing you lulling songs Every single night and day; Yet you wish to say?
We taught you how to read and write, We taught you to bleed and fight, We showed you how to see the sight Of bogus dreams all day; Yet you wish to say?
You walk in a street, bruised feet In search of a job all day; Despite of all that we give you, You have something to say?
Your brother’s protest should be stopped, The traitor’s blood should be dropped: It’s him you shall slay! Don’t you dare say.
There is no need to make any noise, No need at all to throw any voice, No need to utter a word; Through your, silent, charming look, And the leaves of trees that shook You made me make you heard. Watching the night’s heavenly face And the dreamland’s starry Fay, I feel as if for a moment The time stopped on its way. In this lonely moment of peace, Nobody is around; Only I am- feeling your presence Rooted to the ground.
A distorted image of mind in grief, Reminds me of my awful mischief - To your benign call I didn’t surrender With a selfless heart, soul so tender. Your call was hidden in the veil of night, The smile of the Moon, the starlit sight; In the rising Sunbeam’s silent glare, The azure freedom- so debonair; In the unknown road, the endless stream, The evening Sunset’s saffron gleam, The burning candle’s faint ray, The lusty blossoms in a sunlit day. Through the waves of the endless, rolling sea, I did not know that you called me; Through the leaves of trees, the snow-white peak Your call was clear- I did not seek. My sacred self I refused to reveal, For a selfish cause and a heartless will; How did a lost mariner ignore The scene of freedom- the sight of shore?
At the midst of great uncertainty The men with weary feet Trudge to find security In the foggy street. Not long ago, the fog came here To consume the day’s light; If the day itself is so obscure How dark is it at night? In the puzzle of life the days flee, No one has time to waste; No mind inside them is alive To resist the fog’s unrest. Some live their lives like robots would Along with a bubble pride; More than the things they tend to show Are the things they want to hide! The children’s casual eyes catch The grown-ups’ hideous greed; With a glumly hushed-up smile of a thief One hides one’s own misdeed. Perhaps, a few, with thirsty eyes Ask for the lost sunlight To the blue sky that was once here, Being sunny and bright.
With an unknown thirst I am in pursuit Of my own spiritual resemblance; Nowhere can I spot you; though I feel your brief omnipresence.
Day in and day out, I keep searching in the crowd My own self- my transition Incarnated in someone else- My own identical reflection.
So many mirrors on the wall Dazzle my eyes of perception; Only to end up being distorted, Glittering forms of illusion.
Years come and years go, And yet my pursuit to and fro For you is on; being a stranded man, I keep doing anything I can To make myself believe you are Indeed alive without a scar Of immoral deeds and compromise Somewhere here- in disguise Of a common soul, you do exist, Perhaps! If you can assist This desperate resolute man one day, This spiritless soul will be able to say “I too have a reflection, Honest and pure, no distortion Can ever touch our kindled souls, Unlike those with impure goals, We exist with pride, dignity And unambiguous integrity.”
Time and again I think of writing Like a poet; uprooting my heart I wish to vomit my grudge and agony; Every cloud of suppressed anguish, Accumulating day by day Can perhaps someday conceive and bear Thunderbolts! Sometimes I wish with bare hands I can shake the basement of earth; All the rusts of aged superstitions And the infidel modernisation Can be turned into ashes if I can Light up within myself A carnivorous, relentless Fireball! At times I think of drawing the portrait Of the phenomenon called Mother Nature; I vow to bring back the smile In her skeleton-like dead sculpture -A smile long lost and awaited for By those who still have faith in her Omnipotence! The way exists all the time; What is missing in me is will; Addicted to the selfish thoughts The frog in the well comes to halt My chariot! My eccentric conscience, though Cleanses me from my selfishness; It tells me not to restrict my writing To the mere conceptions and worthless thoughts Of intellectual snobs! Every step I take must accommodate The words I swear through these lines; My shoes and my pen shall walk in life Every second, side-by-side Till the day I get the call of Eternity!
