"That's Just Me"

A passing glance
through a gallery of faces,
Two feet running
a number of parallel races,
One single breath of air
a momentary look,
all activity came to a halt
A chance was all it took!

I'd set out in search of myself
and I'd given up in vain,
until the destined moment brought
that much desired rain.

A blurred memory came alive-
when perched on a bike parked aside,
attention demanded; awareness sought
and your existence came to light.

Dressed up in virginal whites
Venus and Adonis side by side,
Venus enslaved, Adonis charmed
in dynamic emotion for her, he cried.

A little attitude, pomp and show
An integral trust, an instant glow
A sense of completion never felt before
A forever bond through all highs and lows.

A bond beyond paranormal reality
A liberating faith which sets us free,
A belief so strong, when I look at you
my insides shout, "That's just me"!!

The way you want me to be!

I thought about it last evening
But couldn't really make up my mind,
Determination, dedication I definitely possess
But may be I'm a different kind.

I seem to be loyal and faithful
forever true and very nice,
But don't just go by looks only
instead take your heart's advice.

What is it that you want?
It is upto you to decide,
Your confusion you have to rub off
From truth you cannot hide.

If you want a winner
I can be one,
If you want a dreamer
that I can become.

If you want a perfectionist
try yourself too,
If you want an optimist
time can carry me through.

Or better I give you an opportunity
to paint a blank canvas the way you want to,
colour me with all your favourite shades
I think that's the best, you could do.

That is when I can fit in place
and be the desired one too,
Not only will I gain respect
But be; just the way you want me to!

(this is just an interpretation of "surrender" in love! please do not interpret it as though the person's personality is open to changes.it is only the way of loving that needs to be defined because all of us need different things from different relationships)

BLACK BLOOD!

I can't travel with you
You are not from my world,
You are a different kind
The difference is in our colour of blood.

You have red and I have black
the colour of our blood,
I stay alone on earth
From which planet have you been hurled?

I'm the only one left here
In the land of darkness and mist,
No! Wait; everyone's just here
in their grave, a perfect fit.

"What happened?" "Do you know
what does a nuclear bomb do,
to a family: happy and gay
to a humanity; to me and you?"

They blasted all around me
Taking away all i possessed,
I haven't heard from any soul
All is black, and black and cold.

No, don't come near me!
All these days I just wept,
Filled with remorse and disease
death is waiting at my doorsteps.

The beautiful garden I played in
The local library too,
All but one soul is left
on earth to welcome you!

the moon rose to kiss the sun,which presented it with a diamond ring...

The moment i reached for his hand, I knew it was deliverance I was experiencing. All the torments of my tortured soul and the anguish I had gathered in me over the ages, seemed to vanish in thin air. It was such an ordinary brush of my fingers against his palm, yet there was an emphasized longing for more. His fingers slipped between the gaps of mine and the grip with which he received my offering told me that this is where I shall always belong! My search through mirages was over, I had finally found my "self". I felt like a bird because my heart had taken the flight into fancy, that was meant to be its destiny. I was finally free...

My travel through eternity has been reduced to a single moment
I've spent my life-time lying awake in wait for you,
thinking of you all the while
as if every breath I take is stamped with your presence.

Adieu!

Life is an alternation of meetings and partings. When those whom we love, bid us goodbye; a bit of ourselves is going away. Greater the love, more intense the pain. Closer the union, more severe the sense of loss.

When vicissitudes of life separate us from those who have walked with us for a long stretch of the journey, those who stood by us through thick and thin, those who held our hands when we risked stumbling, those who just stood in the by-lanes of our lives looking at us as if we were worth being adored -:- indeed it makes our heart ache.

Let not distance smother the love that has laced together our lives. The love is your gift- That love is YOU!

WAGAH…CONTEXTUALISED!!!...Borders and Notion of Identity

If you are reading this then it is very obvious that you are acquainted with the English language. Considering the readership of this blog ,you are,in all probability,an English speaking citizen of a particular country,for instance India. Again this article can also be read by an English speaking “resident” of Bangladesh,or for that matter,that of the USA. Then the only superficial difference between the readers would be on the basis of their nationality. With that idea well placed,I proceed to the main point.

Looking at the exchange of POWs across the Wagah,I was suddenly caught up in a wave of questions that sensationalized the whole process. What is this Wagah border? A ceremonial gateway between two nations,the identities of these two nations being at cross-roads between the gates!!

I wondered what these POWs would be feeling at that particular moment,getting transported from one country to another,which resembled like Siamese twins even after more than five decades of their separation.they may have felt uprooted and dislocated but was it India that they longed for,or was it their family,their village or their friends back home??

India and Pakistan are two countries that have shared history so much so that the birth of one was out of the womb of another. Looking at the TV screen I was caught up in the flux of identity that was part of my existence in the subcontinent,yet was not thoroughly deciphered.

There was a benevolent,yet sublime,feeling of mutual camadeire that I was sharing with the news reporter,alongwith a sense of suspicion about the treatment of “our” soldiers at the Pakistani prison. To add to my confusion, I could hear the radio belting out “Durr”,which is one of my favourite songs;incidentally composed by a Pakistani group called Strings.

I realized that a country is not made of people or cultures. Those are transcendental. But it is made of borders-invisible fences that we build,to shut ourselves off from “others”. Borders are a political necessity but as a culture and people,it is flimsy.

A world without borders is not possible. Theoretically,there are no lines drawn between nations,no barren strips of land called the “no man’s land”, no trenches or soldiers with guns. The landscape across this flimsy reality is constant. But borders allow us to have a neat view of things. It is easy to classify, easy to govern within a system of order. Borders are needed to define our identity, a sense of belonging to a herd!!

Identity is mercurial in the realm of politics,but on a personal level it remains constant. We are extending a friendly hand towards our,till now,hostile counterpart but that is the same country we want to squash in a less threatening space of a cricket field,where again our passions are governed by a barbed wire drawn out on a piece of land.

Martyrs : Never Die !

He walks up the hill
with his head held high,
armour on his back
determination in his eyes.

He wants to avenge
the death of his comrades,
He wants to go back to
where his kin waits.

He carries his armour
and is on the look-out,
for those unseen enemies
to drive them out.

Out of his motherland
Out of his country,
Out of the border
where they are meant to be.

They aim at him
He is not afraid,
For him, he knows,
the whole nation prays.

He is protecting his mother
His back to his enemy; he will never show
He will die or survive
This; he doesn't care to know.

Then at the destined hour he goes back
To lie; under the shade of his beloved tree,
As a martyr of his motherland
As a victor of his country.

And he will be remembered
forever he will be :
A martyr of his motherland
A victor of his country!

(dedicated to India on the occassion of Independence Day : 15 august,1947)