Who will take care of me?

Who will take care of me?

I am a worker at a construction site,

Unseen is my pity plight,

I labour sun up to sun down every day,

In a hope to eat one meal a day.

Now that there is no work deal!

How will I eat that one meal?

I live under a plastic sheet,

With six members in my fleet,

My children play in a pile of sand and cement,

With barely enough habiliment.

Now there is no roof to sleep,

How will I dry my child’s weep?

I make the bridges that connect towns,

I make the tunnels that are architecturally profound,

Without me the pillars stand bare,

The under construction buildings ruined without care.

With not a brick being laid,

How and when will I get paid?

So many questions in my mind,

I stare at the many of my kind,

What a dilemma, I wonder,

Every way it is an uncertain future to ponder.

Do I stay under the plastic sheet?

Do I walk back miles to my native keep?

Should I go back to my hamlet?

To a place that is two days transit!

Full Circle

Full Circle 

I am five year old again,

Holding onto dad’s shirt train,

Slinging a bag that would well conceal me,

I am first to buy at the farmer’s meet.

I have come a full circle,

With my share of moods and miracles,

Today I take my kid to farmer’s meets,

To load the bags with fresh feeds.

I remember the aroma of warm bake,

And a box of biscuit as many as one can take,

Now I fill a similar box sitting in a nook,

Reading the recipes from my mother’s book,

Oh! The lovely handiwork decorating each table,

Converting the homes like those found in fables,

How I was convinced I couldn’t be better!

Now my hands move to make dollies prettier.

I helped my father plant seeds,

Grow tomatoes and pull out weeds,

Now I cherish the creepers in my balcony,

Admiring the pumpkin, beans and all other greens in my nursery.

I close my eyes

As I’d like to go back many tides,

To the comfort things,

That’d sooth any of my mood swings.

I open my eyes without any terror,

To a young face that’s my maker’s mirror,

My life has come a full circle,

I take pride in repeating my parents’ every twinkle.

Images Past.... Present

Images Past…Present 

Early chilly January morning,

A sea of parents and students pouring,

In bright coloured dresses,

And grim looking faces,

Come to attend an orientation,

Why is my eyes undergoing precipitation?

Is it the images of past reminiscing?

Or the thought of future reverberating?

An odd feeling passes by,

To see teacher’s I recognise by name,

Getting ready to bid goodbye,

To students they tutored for many a seasons.

Roadblocks

Road blocks 



A smile amidst a bump,

Important is not to slump,

Each day is new,

Brings forth problems few,

Some hiccups water away,

Some stubborn, bent on stay,

Smile as you see the wrinkle flow,

Laugh to iron the bungle, till it glow,

Nothing is set in concrete,

No task should be left incomplete,

Find new ways to walk the path,

Never look back to see the aftermath.

A Year

A Year 



Standing at the avenue’s far end,

Wondering if one should make amends,

Days of swinging moods up and down,

Weeks of creativity with a smile or a frown.



So much has happened in a year,

Memories to cherish dear,

Some thoughts that make you weep,

Yet others settle in deep.



As a new plentiful period dawns,

A bright clean boulevard beacons,

To walk the path with goal in sight,

 In by-lanes, cognizant of the right.



Learning from all the misses of the past,

Amending detoured tracks fast,

Leaving little to chance,

Remembering to enjoy every prance.

Fear

Fear

Fear of being judges useless,

To end up as a complete mess.
Scared to face a frown,
The innate need to see smiles all around.

Fear of being banished,

To be told to vanish.
Talked about in hush-hush whispers,
Words that only build up tempers.

Petrified of not being loved,

Separated out as some weed unwanted.
Passed over when ideas exchanged,
To be told, your mind is part deranged.

Worried at being declared iron hearted,

Words that leave every muscle shredded.
Constant threat of being left all alone,
Generations discarding you as a poisoned bone.

Repressed for creating food unimaginable,
Bellowed upon for announcing text repetitive.
Shunned away for enforcing excellence,
Evaded by all for strong ideological stance.

Wondered if selected only for toil unending,

Constantly reminder for tasks pending.
What if I break while bending?
Then, will there be anyone to cry at my departing?

The Want List

The Want List 

The desire list,

It is not to be taken in jest.
Money is a dear fancy,
But it went around me prancing.

Its appreciation I crave,
I shall demand it, not so brave!

Recognition, is something yearn,
Until now - it’s like rain on an upturned urn.

Some beautiful dresses I lust after,
To what end, I ask with all the courage I could muster.

A thirst for long thick hair, 
Wonder if it will end as a snare!

An illustrious career is something I pinned for,
Would it have brought about eternal family war?

A serious inclination towards roaming new places,

And end up as one in many jumbles, puzzled, lonely cases.

Even if I could get all my desires covet,
The answer to - would I love myself, would be anybody’s bet?

Or would the list keep growing,
To include everything everyone else is owning!

Why...

Why…

Why does anger result in scolding and beating?

Why do words become demeaning?

Why is the blame latched onto two!

Then the explanation is always due,

Hurt enormous is the resultant,

Old wounds bleed without resistance,

Thoughts take a walk to the nether,

Relationship string stretches a little further,

Smiles are lacklustre, as if contrived,

Jaunty task modulates into work constrained.

Who is Mother!

Who is Mother! 

She fed you a new mushy paste,

Every day till you were three,

Opening a new world of taste,

So now you try new cuisine with glee,

Mother is a nutritionist!

She held your tiny soft hand,

When you took to pencil, crayons and colour,

Introduced you to the alphabet wonderland,

Now you converse of multiple vernacular,

Mother is a teacher!

You grew older,

Decided to take up activities,

She helped you face life bolder,

For you are now armed with worthy amenities,

Mother is a driver!

You seeked a bowler or a fielder,

She was there to get your catch,

She challenged you to become a better player,

Another added skill for boredom to match,

Mother is a playmate!

School studies get tough,

Exams leave you in swirling mess,

She was around to unload the day's rough,

Her wise words empowered you to tackle everyday fuss,

Mother is a counsellor!

Lost teeth yielded coins that jingle,

Broken things got set right over night,

Painful wounds reduced to slight tingle,

She silently set your mangled possession right,

Mother is a magician and a nurse!

Months roll over years,

You decide to dress in sync with the times,

She helped pick an outfit defined you near,

She propelled your identify self with confidence,

Mother is fashion designer cum stylist!

She spent many a sleepless night,

To see you walk in through the front door,

She enforced curfew tight,

To ensure you have such gala days more,

Mother is a body guard!

But prime of it all,

She presented you the cosmos,

She taught you to be tall,

She taught you to live life without remorse,

She taught you to learn from a fall,

She is GOD’s emissary in this universe,

Mother is a Creator!

How to ...

How to ….

How to write a happy verse,

When reality is bitter and murk.

How to be chirpy and spruced,

When day is clouded with shouts and barbs.

How to hide your disappointment,

When no new path leads to contentment.

How to strangle the irritation,

When daily the life is a meditation.

How to follow your heart,

When mind, body and meaning part.

How to create an exquisite art,

When all the brushes hover over colours dark.

Milestones

Milestones 

A tiny bundle placed on the lap,

Making us afraid to hug them tight,

Innocent baby always ready for a nap,

Wide eyed looking about day and night,

They walked on feet so small,

Went about exploring every sized hole,

Forever itching to reach up tall,

Tiny tots in pre-school sets a new a goal.

Into grade school the younglings stumbled,

Each year a new trouper,

A dozen years of knowledge gathered,

Ending each session with a marker.

Blooming bright, kids spring about with fire,

Raring to conquer the college world,

Decide events, unconcerned of consequences dire,

Guardians step back to absorb the juncture twirl.

Adults now with pressing commitments anew,

Work takes our bundles to lands far and away,

Parents stay back in old fort awaiting message que,

Sometimes a pleasant surprise walks in with sun’s ray.

Essence of Holika

Essence of Holika 

Small dreams of simple beings,

Often crushed under big miswordings,

Contented days of many,

Distorted by angry actions worth only a penny,

Mischievous smiles of young and old,

Turned into frowns when sadness unfolds,

Many a cute ideas crash down,

Added weight of negation pulls it to the ground.

Collect all the frowns and miswords,

Pack up the angry actions in a box,

Send it to the nether world as ashes heap,

Bury the sadness in the earth down deep.

For then we make spaces for pleasant thoughts,

Colour the days with bright and pragmatic spots,

Bring forth in the mind new ideas profound,

Shine up the night with helpful action pronounces.

Let words bring the spring equinox in encephalon’s lair,

With spoken words balancing necessity and flair,

Let new ideas and dreams take wings and fly,

With appreciation spreading like Holi colours in the sky.

Anger

Anger

When logic doesn’t register,

Ends as a conversation cluster,

When talk is an argument,

Becomes a reason to vent,

With time the wound fester,

Every time it opens another blister,

Objects get turned and thrown,

Angry words coil to ends unknown,

What started with people two,

Doesn’t stop with many in a que,

Leaves behind a bitter taste,

Words that are spoken in haste.

Oh! Wind...

Oh! Wind… 

Oh! Wind blow me away,

For I do not wish to survive anymore,

Brisk me to a place which is happy and nice,

Take me to up in the open skies.

Oh! Wind blow me away,

For I do not wish to be sad anymore,

Sweep me to places unseen,

Where people are kind and keen.

Oh! Wind blow me away,

For I do not relish tears anymore,

Whistle me a tune I could hum night and noon,

Which would turn mellow a hardened goon.

Oh! Wind blow me away,

For I do not wish to be misunderstood anymore,

Breeze me among people serene and placid,

Where one converses without malice.

Oh! Wind blow me away,

For I do not wish to be frowned upon anymore,

Bluster me to a land where non scowl and stare,

Where deepest distress does not bring out a glare.

Oh! Wind blow me away,

For I do not wish to start afresh and more,

Storm away all my agony and pain,

As I see myself rise as a sapling in rain.

Ashta Lakshmi

Ashta Lakshmi

An octet of Goddesses,

Decided to descent on the earth,

To alleviate human redress,

To widen the holy faith girth.

Dressed in royal red attire,

Comes the Goddess to grant introspection,

Bring out the deep settled fire,

Maha Lakshmi aids us in self-realisation,

Seated on a pink lotus grand,

The is Goddess opens long lost potential,

Unlocks limitless abundance,

Dhana Lakshmi help us eliminate poverty for all.

Shower us with good harvest,

Smiling fields with healthy agronomy,

A need now to put hunger at rest,

Dhanya Lakshmi bless us with felicitous grain timely.

Accompanied by giants gentle,

Shower mankind with limitless affection,

Presents wealth enough to live sans hassle,

Gaja Lakshmi boon us with beauty and perfection.

Only Goddess with a child,

Graces the childless with an offspring,

Blesses the younglings with a nature mild,

Santana Lakshmi protects the whole family binding.

Armed with swords and bow,

Graces us with fearless nerve,

To stand for the truth you know,

Veera Lakshmi strengthens our resolve.

Swords, tridents, shields decorations,

Victorious in both inner and outer battles,

Lends a hand in conquering hurdles in every execution,

Vijaya Lakshmi helps accomplish favourable results.

With books and birds for company,

Guides all who want to make learning ties,

Veena instrument to tune knowledge into many,

Vidya Lakshmi assists us to get wise.

Together the Goddesses protects us mortal beings,

Remind us of daily virtues of life,

Prayer and deed coincide on believing,

To live a contented life without stride.