Category: Life

The kaleidoscope of life

To You!

You! Caught in a traffic jam
On a hot summer afternoon
Or waiting at the red signal –
What’s not OK is the horn
Adding to the noise levels!

You! Racing in a big hurry
On the national highways,
Rushing to just overtake –
Keep a safe distance, and
You will see another day!

You! On an evening drive
Cruising on the city streets,
Keep the road in your sight –
When you use headlights,
Use the dipper at night!

You! Going to a party
Driving that motorcar,
For your safe journey –
Don’t use vehicle’s mirror
To put on your lipstick!

You! Yes, you at the wheel,
Pay heed to this free advice
Painted for you especially
On a truck’s colorful behind –
Seen only in our country!

Ode to Time

O Timeless Time, moving on and on,
You are the one that will outlast us all.
Nothing escapes from your attention
As you step on, heeding to some call.
You were, are and will be the witness
Of all events that transpire everywhere –
Extinction or evolution – you see them.
You know everything in the Universes –
From life’s hope to death’s cold stare,
Yet, at predictions, you escape attempts.

O Timeless Time! In my imagination,
I’d like to think that you’re able to recall
All that occurred in the fleeting moments,
And you are not indifferent, like a wall.
That somewhere in your deep recesses
You keep a track of it all in a big ledger,
And you have a memory like us humans.
With Karma, your friend and mistress,
You write the scripts of each one’s future,
And then unravel them with every second.

O Timeless Time! Forever in motion.
Are there times you wish you could halt,
And maybe gaze around in admiration,
With the beauty of it all, be enthralled?
Or, can you see the impending progress
When some Chosen One somewhere
Will one day capture you in a button?
And, then, tap into your powers endless.
And, then, your secrets, will you share?
O Time! Do you have that premonition?

The Child in Me

O! To be young again
And revisit those golden days
When I used to laugh and play
With other children of my age.

O! I recall the meadows green,
The daisies and frangipani trees.
And the many evenings that ended
By bringing home little bouquets.

O! I remember the songs I sang
Through the lyrics I didn’t understand.
No matter how many times I listened
To the tape recorder with the cassette.

O! I yearn for those moments
When everything was so amazing,
And I had so many questions
Answered in books and conversations.

But as I ponder in wonder,
The thought to me does occur
That my age is just a state of my mind,
And I can rebuild what was left behind.

Why?! How lovely it would be
If I rediscovered the child in me.
If she broke through the worldly norms
Although people say she has grown up.

To be happy without restraints.
To marvel and discover in wonderment.
To retrace the footsteps of innocence.
To relive those memories in the present.

Never Stop

Do you wonder where unfulfilled dreams and wishes go?
Why things don’t happen the way you might suppose?

Why some people can only gaze at the silver moon,
While others zip in a space shuttle and walk on it, too?

Why some people live in the lap of endless luxuries,
And others struggle daily just to make ends meet?

Wishes, prayers, hopes and dreams are neverending,
But the Universe has its own mysterious ways of responding.

Surely, the hopes of humanity considered in entirety
Will one day manifest causing changes evolutionary.

We can keep wishing with our mind’s limited capacity,
But God will grant them only to the most deserving.

Only when the time is right and all pieces are in place
Will the answers be revealed and wishes be fulfilled.

But never stop dreaming, wishing, hoping and praying
It might just be what’s needed to complete the equation.

The Road Itself

As we journey through our lives,
What stays with us is the road we tread.
Be it through pleasant or harsh climes,
The road unravels with every step.

At times, smooth, and at times, cobbled,
At times, dusty, and at times, cracked,
At times, graveled, and at times, potholed,
The road goes on as a neverending track.

Sometimes, it takes us down a blind alley.
Sometimes, it descends into a valley.
Or, curve till it reaches the mountain peak,
But the road we take is our choice totally.

The road is there, it always existed.
Waiting to be walked on and discovered,
Waiting to lead to new places and people,
The road unites with the one who travels.

Countless destinations are reached
All because of the roads people take.
Yet, we do not appreciate or notice
How life intersects with the road itself.

The Truth and The Dare

Today, I dare myself to –

Always care for my feelings.
Be mindful of my needs.
Choose my company wisely.
Divide and rule negativity.
Engage myself in self-care.
Forever be my best friend.
Go out to be one with Nature.
Have moments of rapture.
Invest in building my self-image.
Journal my thoughts everyday.
Know that I also have bad days.
Love all aspects about myself.
Motivate myself to achieve.
Never brood in self-defeat.
Overcome the challenges of life.
Prioritize peace at all times.
Quell thoughts of self-deprecation.
Reserve time for my ambition.
Sleep when I feel weary.
Try not to make everyone happy.
Unchain my thoughts and opinions.
Voice that I’m hurt by a situation.
Worry less about what others want.
X-cuse myself when I think I can’t.
Yield to my wishes to be free.
And
Zero out all that stresses me.

Once Upon a Lazy Day

Just when I thought I couldn’t take it anymore,
I felt a cool breeze, and … is that the boom of thunder?

Suddenly, with arms flailing, I start falling nonstop.
I see myself floating in the center of a raindrop.

Hurtling towards the emerald earth at lightning speed,
I feel a thrill moving up through my toes, and I scream.

With a splash, I land on the petal of a frangipani.
It’s so fragrant and so smooth that I can slide on it.

My dress swirls round and round as I twirl in a pirouette
To the lively notes of a guitar strummed by a cricket.

In the background, I’m accompanied by butterflies
Who flutter with their colorful wings shining bright.

And as the music rises in a melodious crescendo,
Across the grey skies, there arches a rainbow.

And everything within view as far as I can see
Is bathed in a halo of the seven colors so heavenly.

The skies above then turn a flaming crimson red
As the Sun rues he wants to stay longer instead.

But, the twilight grows, and the moon tiptoes in a bonnet.
The stars cast a net of light, and the image vanishes.

I slowly open my eyes, and in my room I am, on my little bed.
T’was but a dream, like gossamer, on a lazy day, as I overslept.

The Evolution

Today, I open the doors of my heart
To let in the Universe and all it brings
And flow with my evolution that will start.

Emotions hidden and kept secretly apart
Are released when I cut all the strings.
Today, I open the doors of my heart.

I let Love sculpt me into a work of art.
With Gratitude, I experience all things,
And flow with my evolution that will start.

I let Anger, Hate and Resentment depart.
Against them, I do not hold ill feelings.
Today, I open the doors of my heart.

I let in Prayers and the Peace they impart,
Invite Happiness with its unbridled wings,
And flow with my evolution that will start.

I make a concious decision to restart,
Let Grief leave, and count my Blessings.
Today, I open the doors of my heart
And flow with the evolution that will start.

PS: This poem is a Villanelle. The villanelle is a highly structured poem made up of five tercets followed by a quatrain, with two repeating rhymes and two refrains. The first and third lines of the opening tercet are repeated alternately in the last lines of the succeeding stanzas; then in the final stanza, the refrain serves as the poem’s two concluding lines. Using capitals for the refrains and lowercase letters for the rhymes, the form could be expressed as: A1 b A2 / a b A1 / a b A2 / a b A1 / a b A2 / a b A1 A2.

The Perfect Present

The corridors of the Past are sealed and dark.
The Future is a trip on which we are yet to embark.
The Present is where we can make our mark.

The Present is the interface linking the Past and Future
Like the Windows home screen on our computers,
Lessons are used to create possibilities by us as users.

The Present is the moment in which we are alive.
It holds innumerable opportunities for us to try.
It is where all actions and manifestations come to life.

So, make your Present your best friend and comrade.
Dwell not in the Past, for it has already faded.
And worry not about the Future, for it is not made yet.

The nature of Time is to keep flowing away.
The Present is it’s boon, in which we are awake.
So arise, and in this instance, stake your claim.

There’s a Choice…Always!

In our lives, we always have a choice to make.
Every moment brings with it an array of options.
We become what we choose from them to take.

Every wish, every dream that keeps us awake
Can be brought to existence by our own actions.
In our lives, we always have a choice to make.

We can’t decide when the Sun rises at daybreak,
But the dawn brings chances without questions.
We become what we choose from them to take.

Even when we feel we have made a mistake,
We can make amends after some reflections.
In our lives, we always have a choice to make.

It’s our life after all, and we are the ones at stake.
The world offers a Pandora’s box of passions.
We become what we choose from them to take.

With every little shove that seems like a quake,
We can either give up or reshape our missions.
In our lives, we always have a choice to make.
We become what we choose from them to take.

PS: This poem is a Villanelle.

Treasures Of the Past

Some say what’s out of sight is out of mind,
And this is also true for the steady flow of time –
Seconds, minutes, hours, days, years and decades,
With every passing moment, they all fade away.
They take with them experiences sad and happy
And seal these in a cabinet labeled “Memories.”
The cherished ones at times pop up in the mind,
But many of these are forgotten and left behind.
Oh! To catch and freeze all those moments
With the details just as they were in that instance –
The dress, shoes, eyes, garden, smile, and rapture.
Yes! All these are captured in a beautiful picture.
These images are all treasures from our pasts.
They are the ones that make the lost times last.
Be it people, places, adventures, events or things,
A photograph is sure to pull the heart’s strings.
And whenever you want to relive those moments,
All you need is to look at the pictures in albums.