World is Round

World is huge but still is round
Your smile can never meet a frown
Post-tiring day, its worth, you will see
Your love and care, always come around.

So pick your neck above the sand
And breathe the fragrance of love abound
Share your wealth of word and song
Let ego, hatred, filth be drowned

Walk with pride through streets of fame
Uplift souls that are weak or lame
Expect not a grain of thanks
Just do your bit and move along

Fruits of smile one day will reap
The flowers will bloom in your happy mind
World is huge but still you will see
Your compassion sure will come around.

-Pushpa

The Keh-Mukarni

The "Say-and-Deny" Riddles

Keh (say) Mukarni (denial) is an interesting genre of riddles played between two people, where one of them describes something in a way that it is mistaken by the other as a reference to the first one's beloved, but which finally turns out to be something completely different.

For what it's worth, here's my keh-Mukarni,

Shaft is bent, hands so sweaty
Whacked like a sucker, I can hardly walk
To be desired, a follow-through leaves a lot
Hold on, I need to wash my balls
Ahhh! That lovely game of Golf

My Silence

I wrap my silence around me like a scarf
Concealing my emotions beneath its flap
For if I speak , I might explode
Shattering my silence in bits and shreds.

-Pushpa

A kitchen (English Ghazal)

Clutching my sweaty hands, he plugs me inside my kitchen
Lost I am, flabbergast, I look at wall around this hi-fi kitchen

Glossy cabinets clothe surrounding walls, under
My bare feet, a soft carpet feels good in this dry kitchen

News scream from walls, cool air floods this room, there is
Even an attached wash room close by kitchen

I cannot squat down and serve, I am confused, how
do I cook? I keep standing on my toes in this high kitchen.

The families serve their own meals, emptying big tumblers of food
Village home is better, Munni wish she could say “goodbye kitchen”

Party at Village Fair

Sun had set, but none arrived
Those party veterans, always late
The troopers practiced again and again
With same beat and rhythm to excel in game
With drums, trumpets, music of trinklets
All dipped in exhausions and in pains.

First guest entered, it was past mid-night
The dancers gyrated with a slower gait.
Music was slow, Ah! Such a bore!
None were interested in any folk lore

They plugged the wires to the boxes
The stereo resonated, vibrating the air,
Soon the fields were filled with crowd
All dancing, twisting to the beat
Of rock music, disco and retro
While ethnic music went to sleep.

Who am I?

Who am I? It matters not
Just a piece of clay with a soul
Feeling, thinking, reason, thought
Attributed it to make a mold

Could dance on a toe upright
When smile was woven under light
Hurt by a simple poke of
Restlessness of my fickle mind

Squirming, wriggling in a fight
Like a decayed robot with a tool
Attaching ‘I’ to the game
I had become just an another fool

Sleeping, dreaming, walking-on
Divinity I could attain not
Walking hand-in hand with soul
Might help me discover who I am

Ssshh

Ssshh!

Screams the picture on a wall
A cute kid smiles through a frame
Her index finger clips her lips
Looking shyly through crinkled eyes
Her silky hair, glow in light
Behind her chubby cheeks, they hide

Ssshh!

I read the threatening print again
Pain in my molars, a trick it plays
I try to smother my unbearable strain
Noise is loud, mind is drained
With folded fist, I contemplate,
In silence, I suppress the wait

Cyber Group Attends an Off-line Party

Jealous I was
Of missing the feast
Of village fair
Without a lease

They teased us with their
Virtual pics
Of puppets, drinks
And physique twists
I tried to squeeze in
Into their game
By associating face
With their names
Oh! So that’s XYZ I said
As I slid covetously
Through those frames
They smiled broadly
Through those slots
Those online veterans
Smoking pot

One event I missed that day
Because it was planned
Too far away