Attitude

With chin up in the air
I walk straight ahead
Afraid I am not
Of very hard times

They don’t last forever
Why be afraid? They are just guests
To stay for a while, after harsh winter,
There will always be,
A warm summer of happy times

It is better to follow a friendly star
Then to be confused by a cruel storm
Success comes to those, who are brave and strong,
Time is experience, it teaches us all

It is okay to feel the emotion of feelings
There is no shame in crying aloud
We giggle with joy when we feel too bright
Don’t we simply write, when words flow out?

Happy Birthday!

On a birthday, we get one year older
A trip, closer step to a grave

Yet we celebrate with cakes and sweets
And mark it as a memorable day

In childhood, we celebrate it as sheer fun
It is stacked with brand new games

In adolescence, we, with fresh pimples
We smile shyly during this day

In twenties, we are busy and on the run
With new friends, it can be fun

But in thirties, forties, fifties, sixties
It is just an another day

In seventies, we stop looking forward
We dread to see the next day

Afraid we are of our bad, siily health
That deteriorates with every age.

Silence is her friend

Silently he watches her,
As she breathes heavily through a tube

If this the same woman, he wonders,
Who nagged him nights and days?
She had opinion on every issue, be it good or bad.
The sun would never set without her approval
And the birds and the bees bloomed!
The flowers would whistle as she passed by
Life stood still if she disapproved.

But now, silence is all that envelops her,
as she turns on to her side
And he aches for a familiar command
And that roller-coaster ride.

Bhavishwani

Knuckles turn white, as I twist my wrists
Squeezing the drops from my wet,wet skin
I go berserk on this rainy day
And enter the warm, hut of clay

Pundit Maharaj, deep in his thoughts
Chanting away his magic glory
Cross-legged into a yoga pose
With fingers forming a perfect ‘O’

Entering his thick aura of meditation
I cough lightly at his repeatedly 'Ohm'
I break the chant of Pundit Maharaj
With wet finger, I dig into my bag
To remove my faded 'janam patri'
Hoping he can find me a sunshine or smiley
behind my grey, and very cloudy dream.

The thunder and the lightening are taking their toll
He turns my ‘janam patri’ 360 degrees around
Upside down, left and right, then looks straight
at me with a friendly smile, scratches his head,
blinking his eye, he says " Who are you, beti?
Are you stupid, emotional fool,I see war brewing,
and you look so cool."

“I am a dreamer,Maharaj, Look! My ink-stained hands.”
I show him my wet sling bag, bleeding notes,paper and pen

‘Nothing can be done for you, beti’ he says sadly,
Rahu, Ketu have gone to sleep
“bhavish hai bekar act immediately,change your profession,
all time writing se kabi nahi hoga duur tension"

“Maharaj bachoa! Uppay batao” I plead to him
to untangle my confused mind
I believe if he changes his posture
The lines in my janam patri will move
with his pressure


Alas! He is cruel! He can tell only the truth
I do not want to believe him when he says clearly,
"tera kuch nahi hoga, future is bad, don’t cry,
be brave, no need to feel sad"

I leave his wet, hut of clay, holding the drops
of falling rain, Foolish Pundit Maharaj of fame
I will never show him my janam patri again

How do I change my old, old ways
If I prefer to write every day?

I may not write.....

I used to write few summers ago
When I found a tune in every song,
There was a rhythm in my every move,
My heart was warm at every touch

But, one day, cold winds blew my face
They froze my smile into gloomy days
I now sleep all day in crazy dreams,
Wandering into a fantasy world

I don’t visit that writer’s lane
I have lost my pen and my sprite
Therefore, nowadays, leave me alone,
I am too bored, I may not write.

I spoke and

Speech traveled through the broken minds
patching up the doubts and fears,
spinning a new web of self-confidence.

Soul speaks while Silence awaits....

When soul speaks to a soul
the minds begin talking
brain controlls the action
heart chats with love
No research, no business,
no contact is required
the friendship moves in,
with laughter and joy
and silence waits patiently
to interupts a pause.....

Life must go on.....

Life goes on
Destiny decides
And we like puppets
Tied to the strings
Know not, what is
Our next move
But we move along
Because
Life must go on

Happy was our childhood
We knew not then
We thought grown-ups
Lived in happiness
And in total bliss
Without any stress
We tried to
Re-trace their footsteps
And walked but, a few miles
The strings pulled us
off the tracks
As soon as waves of life
came between us

We created new steps
In new directions
Painted new paths
Not knowing where we went
Just like puppets
We missed every step
For destiny alone decides
We can never do much
Just drift in those directions
and let the life go on.

A coward!

Cowards are those
Who don’t protest
In sin, they are silent.

Mind is thundering
a thousand fights
arguing the left from right

but silence, a coward clown
under the rug, it frowns.

Attitude is all that matters!

We can excel in what we do, by simply setting our goals and striving to reach them. Many people have low self esteem and cannot believe that they can do everything if only they tried harder.

My friend has bought a car, but cannot muster enough courage to drive it herself. She joined the driving lessons, but one small scratch at the butt of her car and she won’t ride it. That means that she needs a driver all the time. It is very important to believe in yourself. One fall should not discourage us from walking an extra mile.

Life is full of ups and down and each day, we are learning new skills. To master the skill, we need dedication, disciple and willingness to learn. We start scribbling the minute we have a pen in our hand, no thought, no art is required for scribbling. But if we have to make a proper sensible sentence, we need to learn the art of writing, the art of putting our ideas across.

In a strange country, we are able to communicate with the locals by gestures and few sounds, but to understand and have an inter-active conversation; we need to polish our language skills. The greater the desire to communicate, the faster is our learning ability. There is no substitute for formal, systematic training.

Ability when subjected to systematic training becomes proficiency.

Substitute ‘I cannot’ with ‘I can’
Let negativity leave from back door
There is nothing that is beyond our wave-length
If we have our attitude and willingness to learn

Please take 'her' with you...

Gr-r-r! Past twelve in the middle of
The night, blasting TV serials, at all times,
Hear her hoot? Pretend not! Don’t
You ever say, “Who?”

Stamping on my moans and frowns,
From dawn to dusk she rattles on
In decibels louder than waterfalls, I
Know not, what do I do?

You are cloaked in aprons, out
On seas, I bend double on my knees, for
Moments that I creep out there, I
Tremble at her string of ‘boos’

I know, she masters in menial dreams
Me, a naïve, on a narrow beam
Knotted to you, two summers ago, her
Shadows glued on to me, too?

Your next trip on that odd ship, I pray
Let me be, sailing with you, or take
Your mom, on those glorious trips, to
Teach her a trick or two

No, I am not jealous!

I see that blond
sit next to you
How versatile you are.
Stories, anecdotes,
jokes, and chats
Come spilling out
from your closet
You animate
foolishly trying
to please her
with things that
don't suit me.

Well, go head
and impress her
For she doesn’t
understand your
simple jokes
But, when, you are
In an intellectual moods
Of some brighter topic
to discuss
Be sure to come back to me
I promise
I will make no fuss.

A trip to hell

I once died
Went straight to Hell
Was not surprised
To meet all friends
Maya, Anita, Sudhir, Tarun,
Laid back attitude
Joking around
Exchanged a fiver
Doubled twice
With fun and frolic
Laughter and wine
Smiles everywhere
All was bright
I turned to Satan
“Pen, please.”
I cried
He growled and scowled
With all his might
Looked fiercely as he
Screamed twice
“Look Madam, you
Return to Earth
Here in Hell
We never write!”

First showers of rain

Rain-drops
falling down
Window panes
Splashes splash
Wind breezes
Swoooshh swap
Net curtains fly
Whoozzap zap
Sweet smell of earth
rises above to the
second floor flat
enters silently
into my bedroom
surrounding me
with its dizzying spell
Fingers busy
tapping tap
too lazy to see
the wet floors
below my balcony
but still aware
of weather change
with soft moan of sky
that goes thud, thud
and a sudden blink of white
light, click clack.
No more drops trickle
Down my spine
Cool air caressing
My bare arms
I whisper silently
As I glance at window
To welcome rain
For it’s first
fresh showers
Clap, clap.