suraj wahi hai, bas tareekh hi badli hai
phir kyun itna kolahal
phir kyun itna utsav
kya tareekhon ke badlney se
arth badal jaatey hain
kya sandhrbo ke asthir honey se
spasht aks dhumil ho jaatey hain

curiosity, concern, compassion and collaboration
suraj wahi hai, bas tareekh hi badli hai
phir kyun itna kolahal
phir kyun itna utsav
kya tareekhon ke badlney se
arth badal jaatey hain
kya sandhrbo ke asthir honey se
spasht aks dhumil ho jaatey hain
where is the vessel
where is the drop
why is it empty
why is it cracked
what happned to all the smiles
you harvested from the faces of children
you met on the way
what happened to the designs you appreciated
on the cowdung cake heaps
why are you so desolate
why,
“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
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
will my resolution to resurrect truth remain
i have been carrrying
the cross all this while
on my shoulders
after all can i leave hope
that truth will prevail
worrries of my friends will give way
and their hopes will sway
the breeze always their way
i will quietly fade away
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’
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
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
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