Laughter

Laugh morning evening
Or whenever you want
But stop
If one takes it to heart

Things that don't straighten out
Or have no head or foot
Laugh them off
And feel light at heart

See a child and what he does
He smiles and laughs most of the time
That's the natural instinct
With which we were born

Where it goes as we grow
The smile on our face
And laughter that shakes
Farther we go from our natural state

Discover the child in you
And bring back the freshness
Of the morning dew
With the laughter of a child in you!

Draw the line

Together or alone
Tell me for sure
Alone one comes
Alone one goes

If congregation is powerful
In prayer and faith
Then how love draws together
Irrespective of one's faith

A group is togetherness
But supremacy it assumes
Which it guards obsessively
And feelings have no room

One is bound in a group
And loses his independence
He then thinks as a group
As over his mind it rules

Be it as it may
Let it not come in your way
Togetherness is good within limit
Draw a line where your independence begins
.
That is the ground
Where you work and pray
Undisturbed by any belief or faith
And raise yourself from where you came!

A new world

Newness is everywhere
Past is left behind
Together we go forward
Into the happier times

No divisions of any kind
Doubts are left behind
Love bubbling in our hearts
And hope our guide

We did what we could
Now bigger are our dreams
We shall not let anything
To come in between

There is no fear in our mind
And terror we shall extinguish
The hand of friendship we extend
And harbour no ill will

The world comes closer
And space we conquer
What appeared invincible
That now becomes doable

Will and enterprise outshine
We leap and cover new grounds
The new year  and its challenges
We woo with much hope and pride

History writes a new chapter
Dazzling things happen
Preparations are in full swing
A brighter future is unfolding

Come let us sing a new tune
Which was never heard before
And create with our zeal and labour
A new world never visualized before!

Happy Birthday

Call it coincidence
Hand of Providence
He blesses this day
It's your Birthday

The hand of friendship
It's extended again
Lest we forget
Today is your Birthday

This is friendship
No give and take
We love to share
It's your Birthday

Morning so fresh
And sun so bright
This day is so different
It's your Birthday

Fragrance is in the air
So sweet and wonderful
None can forget this day
It's your Birthday

What gift to give
This poor soul thinks
Our prayers be with thee
And best wishes

Happy Birthday
Dear friend
Many Happy returns
Full of love and joy!

Stranger

He is a stranger
In his own home
Sometime back
It was not so

He is not in love
Or become a saint
He has not lived
But drifted in vain

He is different
More than himself
Not an also ran
But striving for fullness

He may be funny
Or downright silly
But he does different
Things little and ordinary

What is different
It makes a difference
To keep at bay
The habit of indifference

Become a stranger
Take things not for granted
Take a new road
Even if you have to lay it

It's the need of time
To show one's ability
Rarely comes in life
Such an opportunity

There is no going back
Future looks promising
Those who take the plunge
They shall be duly rewarded!

A child

Heed what a child says
He says what he sees
Pure and innocent
Only truth he speaks

No mind of his own yet
And no trash therein
One can't befool him
He sees through your tricks

His words so simple
Truth one sees in him
He is a gift of God
Be one with him

Give in to him for change
And let him teach
What slipped out of our hand
The life and its secrets

A grand child is special
A bonus so sweet
He touches your heart
While others simply vanish

When all gifts pale
You relive and replay
The second innings of life
In him and as he may

He is your best friend
Two lovely beings in between
Who keep an eye on them
Lest they cross the limit

He is your good guide
Years of experience fade
They bring not the freshness
That sits upon his face

Heaven is here for sure
Better than beyond
Between you and him
So special is the bond

A grand child is special
With no one to match
Why look up and beyond
When he is your friend!

What we want

What is good
We don't know
What is unacceptable
We don't know

What we are
We don't know
Why we are as we are
It matters not

We are no moralists
Nor crusaders
Just commoners
Who would like to know

What is life
And what we make it
Sometime of our own
And mostly unknown

What we did with life
We don't know
What we could with life
We don't know

Whether we live life
That bothers us not
But to help others to live
That's what we want

We want to understand
All that life has to offer
And only one wish
That we make other lives better!

Name

Fame or no fame
One is known by his name
If that's taken away
Nothing shall remain

All things are transitory
But not one's name
As long as we live
We live by our name

It may sound funny
A butt of some jokes
What matters really
By our name we are known

Nameless one comes
Name he gets at birth
That's one's identity
Herein in this world

Let us do something
We are known by our work
After we are gone
There may remain our name and work

If we were to remain nameless
Our works bear no name
But what do we lose
Hereafter one carries no name

One who is nameless
He rules time and space
No name he acquires
Yet is known by different names!
 

Artist

He paints with words
Or paints as such
The world inside him
Forcefully or gently but effectively

He is at peace
When he is out with it
One may like it or not
But he feels relieved

Colours and effects
Mark his works
He does what he does
To please not himself and nobody

When he works
Between him and his work
Nothing can come
He and his work become one

He bares his heart
Piece by piece
Which shows in his work
In a way that is unique

And some of his works
Touch the onlooker so deep
That he feels lost completely like an artist
When his work is yet unfinished and incomplete

When one can't take away his eye from it
And it coveys more and more meaning hidden in it
Nothing better or more meaningful there could be
What the artist has created is a masterpiece!

Preparing for life

See my little ones
Tiny and beautiful
To go up a stair step is so difficult

I make them try
No matter they fail
But they try again

One makes it
To the next step struggling
And is so happy at his feat

I persist and prompt
Till the last one succeeds
But yet further they must proceed

When they have learnt
To climb step after step
They go up and down and refuse to rest

Till they drop down
Having given their best
I then feed them and make them rest

When they wake up
The next lesson awaits them
Even more difficult than the first

This is how we raise
These little ones
For life and its ups and downs

Life is hard when it overpowers you
It becomes a friend when you get even with it
But to live on your terms you have to master it!

Plea bargain

Where justice is a bargain
And dirt cheap to platefuls
Innocents fear the law
And clean slates are at loss

Law is blind but it sees
It's fair irrespective of verdict
But how the guilty goes scot free
And an innocent is behind bars

Blame not the law
Blame not the system
But the culture of statistic
Where numbers find precedence over justice

Guilty may go unpunished
But an innocent should never be punished
Charge not an innocent
And ask him to prove his innocence

Where justice is a bargain
Judge and jury watch
Law becomes subordinate
When plea has sanctity of law!

Slang

We added to our vocabulary
Word by word
As a child with alphabet does

It was raw it was sharp
Nothing less would stir us
And make us shoot back or retort

Not in whispers
But loud and clear
Music so rustic it was

Sometimes it embarrassed
When volleys were exchanged left and right
And a guest or parent dropped

But they understood
The pressure we went through
We didn't buckle but faced it as a don

It brought us closer
These pet names and cuss words
When life was too hard and became unbearable

In retrospect when we think
It was the need of the time
That helped us to hold on and make a mark in life!

Life

It's not a thing
But a wish
Fulfilled at His will

Nothing to do with big bang
It was there before
But in a different home

It's not owned
And knows no sea or shore
But is in perpetual flow

It can't be described
Explained or understood
Yet it is all and all else is not true

It's what it is
Live and feel it
An unexplained mystery

It's not a thing
But a wish
Manifested at His will

Split

It begins with a split
No glue that sticks
The union when it happens
It brings a new spring

Let's take a cue
When doubt persists
Rifts widen further
With nothing to grip

Let's go with the flow
And become one with it
The difference that there is
Let's resolve it forthwith

Plains are level
But hills are not
What becomes stagnant
It needs some turbulence

The meet is historic
The first of its kind
Let it become a legend
To be quoted worldwide!

Perfection

Talent and skill
Will and grit
What you do
That itself speaks

Set standards
Higher than you did
And when you meet them
See how shallow you think

Refine and improve
Nothing limits you
But your thoughts
And those who taunt

You are your friend
And enemy too
Why you give in
Halfway through

Try but a little more
Care not if something holds
Loosen the grip
And run as if for gold

Perfection is nothing
But a state of mind
Unless you struggle
Nothing you find

Work for perfection
And give full attention
To the structure for strength
And to the details for depth

Perfect is no one and none can be
But one who gives life to his works
May one day find it unawares
That he is not far from it

Man wants to be God
Let him be
He wants to be perfect
Let him be

Man is man indeed
Who settles for no less
He competes with God
And becomes a perfect earthly being!

Warm up

Cold as ice
Autumn dry
Nothing moves
No sign of life

Warm up
Flex your muscles
Sun shines
Warm and bright

Wise say think
Before you utter
And take your time 
To ponder and unclutter

What shall one do
When thoughts flood the mind
Some will surely overflow
To unburden the mind

A knife rusts with disuse
It cuts sharp when used
Be careful with your words
And covey what is meaningful

Warm up and be prepared
For the game of life
One who wins the race
He shall sit by His side!

Young and old

As is the wont
When one is old
Nuances of life are told
In their own youth which were ignored

Who are neither young nor old
And play both the roles
Though they act young
But their ways are old

Young or old know this for sure
With the blend of youth
And the wisdom of old
One can make the world his own

Young and old are poles apart
One is south another is north
But for those who are young at heart
What matters is the play and shots

Blessed is the bunch
Which does that's not done
Hitting the ground running
At sixty plus

Life begins afresh
Whenever you want
Impossible becomes possible
Age is no bar

Think young
And breathe new breath
Life is full of wonders
Till the last breath!

An evening poet

When wrinkles line the face
Limbs help not much
It's difficult to keep up
With the young and their pace

One begins to think more
The things that he ignored
Which begin to make sense
And over which he ponders more

He is his only friend
And good friends of yore
None gives an ear to what he says
Without and within his own home

Such is the plight of those
When young don't bother
And the old expect more
His feet struggle in two boats

He has but limited options
To shut himself from the world
Or shut his mouth and live as such
Which he often does

He speaks to himself
What he feels and thinks
The others see and murmur
What has happened to him

Either he is mad
Or become senile
A poet he has turned
In the evening of his life!

Two ends

What begins ends
To begin anew
Half old or half new
It is still half not full

This is the truth of life
Let's us face it
Life is not all roses
Let's us accept it

When we run away from truth
It hounds us
When end is sure and certain
It will catch us

Even the chosen ones fear
When they sense
That the death stalks
Over their shoulder and so near

We are like this
Being humans and no gods
But he has made us capable
To even surpass the gods

The beginning and end
No friends yet close
Points on a circle that overlap for sure
One goes behind curtain and reappears in new clothes

Forties, fifties or a century
These are occasions to thank him
With His grace we have come this far
And if He so wills we shall go further surely

Life and death
They are no friends
One lives and breathes
Between the two ends!

A rose plant

It has a few roses
And thorns too
But one sees the roses
And no thorns that prick

It's in the eye
What it wants to see
Thorns bare their teeth
Yet they are not seen

But thorns are thorns
Whether you see or not see
Wish them away
Yet rose is their company

Life too is like that
Some reality and the rest dream
When reality bites
One lives in dreams

Life is short
Make it sweet
If full of happiness
Make it happier still!

Let's be together

Whatever it is
We can never forget this
It has moulded us much
And tried to make us complete

Solo flight each took
And lived his dreams
But it's here the heart beats
It's now time for home coming

Laurels came
And adulations plenty
But what joy it was
When we had practically nothing

A lot has changed
Nothing is the same
But for our friendship
Which has remained the same

When we think over it
There is no I and me
We feel and think
As we or nothing

Fifty years have passed
Running and wandering
Let's us now be together
It's time for homecoming!

We recall

In queue we stood
All flesh and bones
Distracting our mind
To things far and close

The doctor arrived
With attendant in tow
One fiddled
The other explored

By a wave of a hand
We were disposed
Such batch processing
We saw from close

It was a strange world
Of sharks and wolves
Who pounced on us
With claws and fins

It was a prison of sorts
With no escape route
There was no option
But to reconcile soon

What happened thereafter
It's an open book
No need to repeat
It is known and understood

We were grilled and bullied
Ground and polished
The ordeal we survived
It was no ordinary thing

We who were lambs
Midway changed track
Some became wolves
And some sharks too

It was a jungle indeed
Unfit for meek and weak
The grind we went through
It made us something

It was what it was
But it gave us such confidence
That we could face the world
And its sharks and wolves!

We recall

In queue we stood
All flesh and bones
Distracting our mind
To things not close

The doctor arrived
With attendant in tow
One fiddled
The other explored

By a wave of a hand
We were disposed
This was batch processing
That we saw from close

It was a strange world
Of sharks and wolves
Who pounced on us
A bait sumptuous

It was a prison of sorts
With no escape route
There was no option
But to reconcile soon

What happened thereafter
It's an open book
No need to repeat
It is known and understood

We were grilled and bullied
Ground and polished
The ordeal we survived
It was no ordinary thing

We who were lambs
Midway changed track
Some became wolves
And some sharks too

It was a jungle indeed
Unfit for meek and weak
The grind we went through
It made us something

It was what it was
But it gave us such confidence
That we could face the world
And its sharks and wolves!

Gender gap

We are one
With a voice
Voiceless we were before
But not anymore

Times have changed
Mindsets not yet
We struggle much
At each step

Silence is golden
Not as weakness
None can ignore us
Such is our strength

We are made different
And do things different
Partiality is rampant
As we are treated different

We demand justice and fairness
No dole but equal treatment
No longer shall we be left behind
But walk with dignity and feminine pride!

Future in the making

Children are our future
And future teens make
Young make the present
Some islands the grey make

Time runs fast
Childhood is short
Teens in great hurry
Young in seat of power

Grey had their day
Young have their way
Teens wary of present
Nothing is the same

Things are different
Past not relevant
Expectations unlimited
And creations that baffle

Aged step on the treadmill
The young slog and sprint
Children catch up in wonder
A magnificent future is in the making!

Diwali special

Sun disappears
Earlier than usual
Moon hides
More than usual

It's no hide and seek
But a game and trick
Importance they assume
By making night darker a bit

But this night is special
Suns and moons rise together
Wherever you see
It is Diwali special

When we are together
Each day is special
Sun appears brighter
Moon shines better!

Cleanliness

What is sacred is clean
Take out your shoes
Wash your feet
Pray for all
And their well being

Clean your home well
And every inch
Light the lamps
Invite the gods
And multiply your blessings

It's a festival of lights
Exits jealousy and enmity
The world shall be ruled
In peace and harmony
With such hope and promise
Comes Happy Deepawali!

Happy Diwali

Light the lamps
Where there is none
Light more lamps
Where there are some

Darkness licks the dust
Under your feet
There is light all around
Wherever you see

Hope and faith rise
And touch the peak
Love is in the air
And peace and harmony

Crackers make noise
And burn and pollute
When you sing together
It's music soulful

Light the lamps
And light the hearts
Wishing you a Happy Diwali
Rejoice but with a thought for those who can't!

Yoga and wine

Bend, stretch and tilt
No circus but a drill
It's yoga that I teach

A glass of wine to drink
To lift my mind and spirit
I write what I dare to think

Yoga teaches one discipline
To live life of a hermit
Without taste of any good thing

I bless all with every sip
And the drink for company
It makes my life so fulfilling

Do yoga day and night
And feel agile and light
But never indulge in any vice

Drink in style as and when you like
Entertain much but with no malice
Do no harm for there is no other vice

Yoga is revered far and wide
I bid goodbye healthy and ripe
A trail of light I leave behind

I lived in the hearts and minds
Lasting longer with a glass by my side
A trail of mirth and laughter I leave behind

One is the gift of east to mankind
The other in the west its very life
Woo either or both but do something worthwhile!

Peace

An animal is an animal
And a human not one
Yet who is peaceful and natural
Why he has friends none

A lion is a lion
A sheep a sheep
Difference there is
In appearance and built

A human is a human
Whatever he eats
Whatsoever he believes
Whether or not he feels or thinks

Believe in whatever you like
But see not with colored eyes
When one's mind is at peace
It captures what shouldn't be missed

But a moment comes in life
When peace fills your life
Renewing it full and complete
Whatever be your belief!

Courage

Don't go by my age
Bullets my head takes
As I speak for my sisters
And their voice I became

You honor me so much
Beyond dreams that I dream
Heavier is the responsibility
And shoulders little but not weak

It is just a beginning
With your help I walk
What bothers me is this
That I don't slip and fall

I have done but little
A lot is to be done
For those long suppressed
They had it enough

I may appear small
Not so are my tasks
With grit and enthusiasm
In peace we march

The world has seen
Courage when its peaks
Fear loses its sheen
Hope fills one's inner being

A movement takes shape
The whole humanity is its face
What it has determined to do
It shall do without fail!

Past, present and future

Children are our future
And future teens make
Young make the present
And some islands the grey make

Time runs fast
Childhood is short
Teens in great hurry
Young in seat of power

Grey makes the way
Young have their way
Teens wary of present
Nothing is the same

Things appear different
Past is not relevant
Vision looks far ahead
Each moment is pushed back

Grey risks to step on the treadmill
And to catch up with the young
The children and teens watch in awe
As the future takes shape at each and every turn!

Colors

Green is the grass
Green are the plants
Green keeps alive
The life that thrives

Black are the hair
And grey comes past prime
Life gives one a chance
Just once and not twice

Blue is the deep
And blue is the sky
No depth and no height
Can stop the ravages of time

White is the light
Into different colors it divides
What makes a whole
The parts can't decide

Everything changes colors
But not space and time
Unrelenting is their sweep
Both in darkness and light!