Mirage- A desert dream

Through endless dunes of sun-baked land

Amongst ashen trees and forsaken abodes

A gypsy wanders through inimical expanse

In search of an oasis in a sea of sand

Alluring, enticing, and inviting which seems

He follows a mirage of a distant stream

For miles he walks but finds no reprieve

Yet continues the course which shimmers and gleams

The sun beckons him to find a shade

His throat parched and feet ablaze

An apparition it is that he goes after

Which he might have seen once in a haze

Oblivious to the heat, the sun, the sand

Like a whirling Dervish in an esoteric trance

Guided by a falcon he marches ahead

To catch the illusion in his hand

Though weary and lost he may seem

And he may never find his Eden

He believes and goes on and on

Living his delusional desert dream.

Queen for a night

This story is from a sire

Who lived ages ago,

Taught his child the value of love,

And raised an aching ado

 There once lived a girl,

As warm and gentle can be,

She was an unvoiced beauty

Left for the gaping world to see.

Loved a man did she so dearly,

But forever feared her lamented lack

In her heart she wept night and day,

For she knew he’d never love her back

The man was righteous

He was the part of everyone’s being

The man was spiritedly feisty

Hence he was known as the king!

The girl was humble,

And dared not a word she ever said.

However lovely she might be,

She was the gracious king’s maid

She sat under the moonlit heaven,

and gazed at the stars above.

Though she knew it was all in vain,

She sang of her unrequited love.

‘Twas then that she heard a clamor,

Of soldiers hastening forth and back.

Hue and cry rocked the kingdom,

As it was under an unforseen attack.

Ruthless and cruel as the assailants were,

Showed no mercy to young and old

It wasn’t the kingdom that they sought

They wanted the queen if truth be told

A callous king from a distant land

Had long been feeding a wicked obsession

He wanted to avenge a lost battle

By seizing the king’s most prized possession

The pining maiden, when she saw

the malicious plan unfold before her eyes

decided to save the queen, come what may

With a plan of her own devise

Amidst all the mélange of chaos,

She sneaked into the queen’s chamber

Told her of the impending doom

And offered to be the royal’s savior.

Upon hearing this menacing news

The king himself scuttled into the room

Having taken by surprise, said he

Was feeling feeble in this night of gloom

“Hope still burns deep and bright”

The queen consoled her forlorn king

For this loyal maiden hath been a blessing

And together we face what tonight shall bring

Having heard the maiden’s plan

The king rose up to heartily avow

Never had he met a young so brave

He then placed a kiss upon her brow

Not long after their little dialogue

Did the enemy march in to capture the prize

Surprised they were to see the chamber empty

With just the beautiful queen in sight

She stood fearless in the candlelit room

Ready to face fate’s undue test

But even at worst she did not imagine

being stabbed mercilessly through the chest

The evil king finally quenched his obsession

Thinking now ceased has his eternal lament

Little did he know he was fouled again

When the maid and queen traded their garment

This was a story of a lovelorn girl

Who sacrificed for her love and his plight

Though her existence once unknown to the king

Still she became his queen for the night

By: Rashveen Maini & Ayona Sur

With every fleeting day, I sink deeper into this fathomless quagmire and I am going down with a smile on my face and an ache in my heart.

Happiness is fugacious, you blink and it's gone.

Roar for a Cause

There are just around 1411 tigers left in India. WWF-India is encouraging people to spread the word and show solidarity and support for tiger conservation.
"Speak up, blog, share the concern, stay informed… Every little bit helps."
http://www.saveourtigers.com/index.php

Growing up on an assembly line

Who has the time to stop and smell the coffee? We are the children of a systematic world expected to be born overachievers whose lives and decisions are driven by the million expectations of our parents and the rest of the world. We start running in a lifelong marathon the day we start school. Weekends are a delusion and vacations are synchronized hiatuses to catch a little breath before we start running again. You know something is quite not right when you find yourself envious of the life your dog leads. An ideal life without any qualms about the past or apprehensions about the future. Talk about living in the moment.
The downside of being a living and breathing homo sapien in the twenty first century is that we have forgotten the meaning of the term. The "wise man" is hardly wise anymore. We have complicated our lives a bit too much and entangled ourselves in material wealth so much so that we are hardly the masters of our lives. Life's journey has become nothing but a profit and loss statement, defined by what we have achieved and what we failed to achieve.
While I wouldn't exactly want the life of a dog..it would be nice not to worry about the future or the past. It would be nice not to be pushed around by numerous expectations (often unsaid but understood). It would be nice to be your own boss. But its hard to go against the current. We are a species mass produced, grown on an assembly line, and expected to succeed without any malfunctions.

Tread Softly...

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

-William Butler Yeats

Forgotten War, Forgotten Heroes

Exactly ten years ago India went through one of the most gruesome wars with Pakistan. The war was broadcasted on the television sets in every living room and people watched how our men fought with valor and died with dignity for Indians and India. We were able to watch the war in the comfort of our homes because we knew we were safe, because we had complete faith in our men in that they will thwart any deleterious aspirations of the enemy. We watched them beam with confidence as they captured bunker after bunker in one of the most inhospitable environments. Watching them our hearts swelled with pride and our convictions were made all the more stronger that they will return victorious. But now, 10 years later, some people seemed to have forgotten it or rather been ignoring it. Our politicians of course are in the limelight again. Only if somebody could remind them that the Indian men in uniform do not fight or work for one political party. They fought for the nation and died for the nation, and I think they deserve a lot of respect and honor from everyone. While one politician says, “Kargil isn't a thing to be celebrated. The war was fought within our territory. We didn't even come to know when the Pakistani army crossed over and built bunkers inside our territory. It's only the NDA which may celebrate,” the other one doesn’t even remember when the war was fought and won. Forget big national level celebrations, government isn’t even going to give a thank you speech for the services provided by our men. What a big boost of morale our men will receive.

Can’t they shun playing crass politics for once and pay homage to the Kargil war heroes which they so rightfully deserve? This just goes to show that we are represented by some of the most callous, hypocrite and undeserving people. A big disappointment comes from Prime Minister Singh who took out time to attend the Bastille Day Parade in France. Perhaps he too has forgotten Kargil and its heroes.

There is this Hindi poem "OOnchaai"(Heights)by former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee which ends with this line:
"My Lord, Never let me climb so high that I can't bend down to embrace another human. Deliver me ever from such arrogance."