mahakali: swift, straight and frank

“not wideness but height, not wisdom but force and strength are her peculiar power. …all her divinity leaps out in a splendour of tempestuous action; she is there for swiftness, for the immediately effective process, the rapid and direct stroke, the frontal assault that carries everything before it……Intolerant of imperfection, she deals roughly with all in man that is unwilling, and she is severe to all that is obstinately ignorant and obscure, her wrath is immediate and dire against treacherey and falsehood, and malignity ill will is smitten at once by her scourge……..The impulses trhat are swift, straight and frank, the movements that are unreserved and absolute, the aspirations that mounts in flame are the motion of Mahakali ( Sri Aurobindo, The Mother, 1928, 2004: 42-43)

before i start my journey

before i start my journey

will u not offer me some sweet

i remember, when i was a child

you always did that

have i grown up

or Mother, you have become reassured

of my well being

795 how do i sustain the hope

how do i sustain the hope
of a cloud to rain in a parched field
when there is a river here
and a lake there
waiting to be replenished
why will
cloud be carried away
by the careless wind
far too busy with her own dreams
of storming the spirit of thirsty streams
to the dried beds
of what was a pond
the birds have deserted
and now ants are also going away
how do i sustain the hope
then’

794 why was i sleepy

how do i clarify
why was i sleepy
when you were telling the story
abhimanyu
was listening
in my womb
not knowing that my sleep
delayed for so long, so often
because you know why
will not let him live for long
what could have i done,
i carry the guilt for so many centuries
and every time
i feel sleepy
the face of abhimanyu asks me
to clarify
how do i tell him
i did not know
i still do not know
how do i defy
you
O lord

soak the time, tame the tide

soak the time, tame the tide

said the happy squirrrel,

without any reservation or pride

i did not know

how do i soak the moments

which are laced with the smiles

of the time that i wish

i had by myself all the while

but alas, i am

not allowed

to seek

the solace that sustains

my quest for peace

i have to run, and run again

so that tide does not carry

the boat anchored in the sea

i am quiet, u too remain quiet

who knows in the silence

will speak

the spirits in balance

you are a big river

you are a big river

wanting to meet only the sea

but have no reservations

on assimilating the small streams

i am a rivulet

just flowing in this season

may dry up tomorrow or next day after

will you let me

be part of you

so that all the vapours in the sky

soak the time

tame the tide

and leave a trail

for some one to follow

who has no faith in future

or past

but has a desire to cast

a shadow of his love

on every step

of this stair

where sages have walked

but afraid of despair

mind is restless

mind is restless
and body is tired
the boat has survived
but the river is in spate
still,
you ask me to forget
and focus only on future
but then there are images
hidden in the clouds in the sky
if i see the sky
i get restless
and when i keep eyes below
i remember
all the stories you narrated
all the songs you sang
all the poories you fried
and all the arguments
you decided not to have
why do not i just rest
less in the shade
and more under the sun

793: i am the explanation

i am the explanation
said the sparrow
and went on with her search
for a nest full of comfort
that can not be guaranteed
but prayed for,
that can be designed but not delivered
after all
rims of an old cart
are rusted
when the cart stays still
make it run
so what if you forget when to stop
where to stop