You

A chill down the spine,
A strong ache in the head,
Goose flesh on the arms
And the brain, so dead.

An insignificant distraction
In the middle of routine
An indulgence, to allow it,
Old snippets so clean.

A momentary possession,
Of an old pale hue,
Renders a sticky brood,
It could be no one but you.

Continuum

Continuum causing bacterium,
In the earnestly awaiting moment,
Whispers a small, simple idea,
Suggesting unreasonable colossal-ism.

Wonder - a garden of unknown flowers,
A place you enter and jaywalk,
Losing a path to probe into another,
A cat appears and is killed.

Fear on the cat's death overtakes,
A drive to curb the bacterium,
It vanishes deep inside, far far away,
In old age, it's nickname is youth.

Rigmarole V

"Okay. But how would I know where the Wizard of Ounce is!?" , exclaimed Twerp.

"I do." said Half Pint.

Both speakers suddenly had their eyes on Half Pint.

"Tell me then", Mikros growled. His breath was like a storm to them and they were flung against his hard stony palm.

Twerp and Half Pint were down with injuries as they suffered the hard hit on Mikros' palm. Twerp just got a bruise on his shin but Half Pint was unconscious.

Mikros saw the logistical difficulty in conversation. They both put together were as big as his fingernail. Besides, he had to now befriend Half Pint to know the secret of the Wizard's location. He had to do something about this.

Mikros after being in deep thought about what he should do started moving. Twerp knew that Mikros had started walking as it was an earthquake for him in the giant's hand. Mikros was now carrying the two of them in his hand with utmost care, like how a waiter carries a very expensive dish on his palm in a posh restaurant.

And then came the most wonderful moment of Twerp's life. His eyes widened so much that they couldn't widen any more. There were thousands of rainbows that they were passing through. Rainbows in all kinds of shapes. Rainbows which formed and moved like the DNA structure, rainbows which were so closely placed that they looked like a colourful ball of wool and rainbows which bounced like yoyos. These were the well behaved rainbows. The other rainbows just moved about randomly, as if they had a mind of their own.

Finally, Twerp felt weird in his ears. Mikros was lifting his hand to place Twerp and Half Pint on a large cliff. Large enough for them to see him and how he looked from far away. Mikros placed them there and walked far away at a distance so that the conversation would not blow them away and that they could see him completely. Mikros was intelligent. He had thought of a place where the voice would carry. There were huge mountains running on his either side. This would help their soft voice reach him.

By now, Half Pint had regained consciousness. He was trying to make sense of where he was by looking around. Mikros immediately got to the point. "Where is the Wizard of Ounce?", he demanded. Half Pint looked at Twerp. Twerp too wanted to know this and the expectation in his expression made Half Pint realize that it was best if he told the two of them.

Half Pint said something but even Twerp couldn't hear it.

"Louder, Half Pint!" , said Twerp.

He yelled as loudly as he could , "The Wizard of Ounce is my father"


to be continued...

An Ode to Dreaminess

Perpendicular streets,
Buildings on the corner,
Coffee, the danish pastries,
The evenings, the candies.

Imaginary smiles on busy junctions,
Bandanas and t-shirts for kids,
Silly lil' jugs inverted on our heads,
The weekends, the dreaminess.

Toe-toe-ing the streets
On a city's reclaimed sheets,
Mi mejor amiga,
Te veo Pronto.

Solace

You are a language

That I took time to understand.

Something that would be a sound 

If I would hear, solace when I would listen.

Woven with pauses, 

Swaying notes oft dancing 

On the inside, But for the world,

Only a hurricane passing.

Science says you could teach

A quantum physicist time,

Philosophy says you could take

A seeker to his truth.

But for an ordinary guy like me,

You are the best indulgence,

The safest, the most loving,

One that gives me solace.

Journey to the Top

When I saw my peak,
I started the climb
And I left you behind.

The peak is a glory,
But I am so lonely
And the tunnels so dark.

There is no sunshine
Pain from the climb, there is,
A difficult time.

Come here my angel,
Down from the sky,
And take me to fly.

The Twenty Third Year

Behold ! A poem which a lot of us will relate to at this point of time in life!

On His Being Arrived to the Age of Twenty-Three
by John Milton


(1631)




HOW soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth,
Stolen on his wing my three and twentieth year!
My hasting days fly on with full career,
But my late spring no bud or blossom shew’th.
Perhaps my semblance might deceive the truth,
That I to manhood am arrived so near,
And inward ripeness doth much less appear,
That some more timely-happy spirits indu’th.
Yet be it less or more, or soon or slow,
It shall be still in strictest measure even
To that same lot, however mean or high,
Toward which Time leads me, and the will of Heaven,
All is, if I have grace to use it so,
As ever in my great Task-master’s eye

Roots

Closing in with yet another year of madness, growth, progress and thankfully measurable results for a change, I look back at my roots and see the distance growing. The distance between my roots and I has created a great magnetism between the two, as distance always does.

I see spiritualism, happiness and fulfillment in my roots. I remember my paternal grandparents and the values they imparted to me from when I was very young. I miss them.

What sounded like just another Sindhi song to me a few years back, now seems like a binding force of so many Sindhi families to believe in themselves, their culture and each other in adversity.

Every Sindhi person proclaims, "Jhulelal Bedapaar" but how many of us know the legend of Jhulelal? How many of us know that Jhulelal was only his nickname? His true name was Udaichand.

Whatever it is, I have realised that there comes a calling which takes you to your roots, whether you believe in it right now or not. There is no running away. So heavy is the influence of culture and upbringing that it tags along wherever you are and whatever you wish to be.

I never thought I would say this because I never experienced the belongingness. But now that I do, I am proud to be a Sindhi.

Cheers!

Friendship's Day

Yesterday was friendship's day.

I thank each and everyone of you. You know I'm speaking about you. :)

I believe that man by himself cannot exist. He needs company. Well God made woman for that would be the next logical statement. But I am not taking that perspective here.

I believe that man alone is whole and complete. Incompleteness arises only in the existence of another. And the adventure is to complete this incompleteness in the presence of the other and with the other. No adventure, no life.

I thank you for being with me in this adventure. Whoever you may be - family, classmate, colleague, neighbour, acquaintance - essentially, your are my friend.

Happy friendship's day.

The Plunge

I took the plunge
In a stranger sea,
In a quick jiffy,
And went down quickly.

There I saw,
another world,
Many an emerald,
And life unfurled.

My eye wanted,
To open so wide,
Front and then side,
As if, On fish I did glide.

The sun seemed so far,
Sweet cold water, but sour,
I was left in paradise,
But with a deep rooted scar.