Airports

Among the sea of faces, you search for your face with,
Irises widened with joy and moist with tears of joy.
Running open armed like the ship you just debarked from,
Pushing aside black, white, brown bags and baggage.
Overcoming the multiple obstacles marathon, and
Rounding up all the scattered possessions.
Travel tired , taste buds on verge of collapse, and trip tourney on mind, leaving
Surf , sand and snow behind .. crashing into those lovely bones ..you are home !!

Written on 30th December, 2010.

( I had my fair share of airports these past few days and they are delightful places not only because of all the duty free shops but the variety of human experiences you get to witness.For someone who likes to observe people it was great fun. I saw tears of sadness, joy and love, and you can spend hours just watching. Till we meet again .. a very Happy New Year .. Hope it brings joy to all your lives. Adios !! :) 

The Case of Case Writing

We went to the street,
To follow a lead.
Some hit the jackpot,
Some failed to get a slot.

Then the transition came from field to data,
Where we floundered in the now and was is.
Impressed as we were with the entrepreneur,
There was time when there were delays due to busy schedules.

Egos were deflated, advices given but not taken.
Some were lost in translation or trapped in protocols.
From long conversations- half in mind and half on screen.
Came out a case which added to our KASH.*

Hope we get a green signal,
To put it in spiral binding.
And enter a class one day and say.
This case written by my batchmate,
Tells you how to manage the customers and their tastes.

written in April 2008.

( This is for all those PhD scholars out there and for those who aren't too. It was written in my second year of FPM here in IIM A when we had a course on management teaching where we had to write a case with a decision problem for class teaching. It was great fun doing it. My first academic work. I wrote it along with Dada (Bhaskar Bhowmick) my batch mate from the strategy area. We got it registered in the IIM A case repository also, all thanks to his efforts actually !! This poem was written in the last class on the last page of my register while others were presenting !! :) and after a long long time ..actually rediscovered my writing skills during writing this poem. The poem describes our journey from the field to the case when we went out randomly on the streets to search for a lead. Some went to restaurants, paanwallas, chaiwallas and the likes.. Our professor told us to just go walk the streets and discover some interesting leads. He recounted his days as a consultant when he used to leave a poem behind on the desk of the CEO after completing his assignment based on his experiences of the project. This inspired me to write and I read it in class too. It added to my *KASH i.e. Knowledge, Attitude, Skills and Habit too !!!!!!! :) So long then .. Hasta Pronto !! ) 

Je Me Mi ....

Scarlet red and Inky blue,

Green trees and Primrose hues.

Glassy lakes and Frothy streams,

Crunchy snow and Scented expanses.

Long tresses over flowing dresses,

Elegant band around the wrist telling time. 

Wordy new worlds in my hand,and

Tricky questions to expand. 

Lyrical melodies through the night,

Playing keys of black and white.

Looking at life through pinholes,

Travelling afar happily burning soles. 

Celluloid dreams and

Piping hot steam from mi madre's dishes. 

Cups of memories and full of brown succor too..

and, Lengthy sessions of loquacity. 

Putting together imagination in parts and,

 The small picture, things and moments. 

Peeping from behind the fluffy white the lovely disc of love,

All that I wrote above and how ..

I love. 

Written on November 1, 2010. 

( Ok so even for me deadlines mean nothing .. and I am late by an hour and fifteen minutes for the October poem. Kudos to me. But here is it ... My favourite things and those which I love to do. My birthday present to me. Till we meet next ..Happy Deewali !! :) )

 

Links of Life

Small hand wrapped around a finger.

It pulls up small legs on their feet.

Catch them when they trip.

Small hands hug on tight after a fall. 

The fingers.. now all on call embrace, encircle, ensconce. 

Links of love. 

Sweaty palms, high fives and down lows.

Holding on edge to edge, wrist to tip.

Round and round they trip and slip.

Back slaps, pats and punches. 

Caress on cheeks , ruffling hair and fingers on lips.

Links of joy, of friendship. 

Folded palms, or hands raised in prayer,

Fingers crossed or making the cross.

Hands on heads giving blessings all across. 

Links of hope. 

Hands raised in greeting , or a chance meeting.

Sometimes raised in anger or regret. 

Or to take on the world with just a closed fist. 

With nothing in them only destiny and grit,

And the will to reach the final tryst. 

Links of life.

Written on 1st October, 2010.

( In the 18 months of this blog this is the first time I have been late in posting the monthly poem/post. Sorry about that !!! This is the September poem. Hands... so many gestures ..so many expressions and feelings. My favourite.. when a baby holds on to your finger. Her whole being around that one appendage of the whole human body, and as I had mentioned in my last poem a hand disappearing in another in love :) Till then ..and this time we meet sooner within this month. My month !! :) ) 

I Can ..Can You ?

I break my own heart everytime,
Build sand castles and raze them to the ground.
Write my life story and erase it each time,
I dream and wake up again and again.

I listen to everything you say,
Hear that too, which you don't.
I live by your smile and,
Die everyday.

I collect things and surround myself with them,

Colourful, beautiful and bright.

You call me the 'material girl',

But they are only to fill spaces and crowd you out. 

I look at you and see you looking back at me,
Hoping you would read what my eyes are trying to say.
I look down, look away and blink,
Scared of the happy possibilities.
While you complement me on the brightness of my eyes.

I like the way my hand disappears in yours in a shake,
Holding on I walk the line far ahead in the future.
Only to be brought back by your head shaking with mild amusement,
At my absentminded glazed look.

I fight with you, argue and say clever things,
Pout and be petulant and peevish.
Be jealous, possessive and shed angry tears.
All this and more, while walking a step behind.. silently.
You tap my head to look for me , 'lost are you?' you smile and say.

All world's a stage and, I am the best actress.
I am having the time of my life and yet in this mad merry muddle medley,
I miss you, though you are beside me.
I don't want a promise, or a bond, or this world or any other.
Hold my hand and walk with me,
I can.. can you ?


Written 24th August, 2010.

(So finally a Can poem or rather the Can poem. There are some tributes in the poem to my favourite songs and favourite lines in songs. For e.g. Walk the line by Johnny Cash; ' क्या गिला हम करे वोह बेवफा भी नहीं, हमने वोह सुन लिया उसने कहा भी नहीं .. Pyar kar from Dil toh Pagal Hai; ' घडी देखि थी तोह उसने अपना हाथ रख दिया था उसपे, कितने बड़ा हाथ था उसका, उसकी दोनों कलाईयाँ बंद हो जाया करती थी उसमे, lock हो जाती थी' ... Aasmani Rang from Sunset Point; मुख़्तसर सी बात है तुमसे प्यार है .. Tum Pukar lo from Khamoshi. इसके आगे हम , और क्या कहे जानम    समझा करो !!! :) )

For Better or Worse ...For More or Less...

Lashing tongues, loud and tense;

Overloading the already taut nerves.

Venting out vitriol, they hoist shallow vain between them.

Everlasting and forever. 

Anger ebbs and flows.. dissolves in tears.

Near the end, they look at the beginning.

Down memory lane they walk, hands wringing.

Halting at moments..memorable and mundane.

Again and again their eyes look..  and they listen,

Together to the music of their own hearts.

Everlasting and forever.

Written on 16th July, 2010.

( This poem is dedicated to a little angle who's in need of a lot of love and best wishes .. and who celebrates her first b'day without her parents today !!!!!!!! :(  For more love in this world , more understanding and more.. just humanness.. I looked at my diary toady where I note down b'days and anniversaries  and I saw that I have struck out two marriage anniversaries of friends' ..one because of differences between them , and one was torn apart due to tragedy. One could have been an anniversary .. but was not to be. Love junta love, be more patient and listen more, talk less. Few minutes of  listening time you give to another soul might just be the one thing they were looking for. Be more accepting of the idiosyncrasies of people around you because no one is there to match your criteria of what people should be like, and how they should live. There is a far better authority doing it since time came into being. You may say its difficult..but it is not.. just do what you would want the other person to do unto you. I try to do it and truthfully have succeeded quite a bit. This all  might seem preachy to you but it is truly heartfelt. Inspiration came from a forward I got where the Washington Post had asked for two rhyming lines, the first one romantic and the other one least romantic. So it got me thinking that love and hate go together and you have to choose between the two. Do notice the how each line starts...And have more Saffola .. "teri dil ki baat main jaanu" :))

Onomatopoetical Water !!!!!!

Clap of thunder and its due,

It falls on cue.

Crackle of lightning lights its way,

And day becomes night and night day.

Black clouds bang their heads together,

The clanging makes many hearts go asunder.

Heavens are filled with numerous galloping steads,

Following the grand maestro's lead. 

It drips, then drizzles.

Drops and sizzles ...on the parched land.

A droning deluge, it waves its magic wand,

Leaving no stone unturned,

Or any space free from squelching mulch grand. 

Pitter patter on the terrace, plunking on rooftops,

Spinning like cartwheels; its hard to stop.

Its gushes to meet the sinewy spring, 

Making it strong and with watery wings.

And, the gurgling brooks get a second look.

The trees dance to their leaves strummed like guitar string.

Cascading down vales and valleys,

It joins in the merry din.

Bobbing heads, shake off the beads of melted white,

Squealing with laughter and jumping in pools of fun and fight.

Shivering fingers find warm hands,

Stealing looks of joy, and; 

Writing silly notes on wet sand. 

It washes away tears of many,

Unseen, unheard by any.

There is overflow of mirth and laughter,

Of joy and pleasure.

Hearts meet and run free,

Reminding of times gone down some busy street.

It then is shushed and hushed,

To a murmur; as the heavens above go for a slumber.

And the skies open up to a new light,

Which wakes up the earth with new sight. 

Written on 18th June,2010.

(Rains.. beautiful, mesmerizing, musical, and melodious. I like watching the rain and not getting wet in it,  to the surprise, and disappointment of many. Well what can I say .. one of the blissful thing would be to have a great novel in hand, a warm cup of tea in another and sitting on a cushioned wide window sill .. better still inside beautiful French windows and just watching the rain and reading. And remember the nursery rhyme 'I hear thunder ....pitter patter raindrops...' Happy Monsoons !!!!!!!! :) ) 

My Beloved Eve

Every day I wait for you keeping a,

Vigil through the smelting heat of summer time, till you arrive.

Everything stands still, though the sun is out but my day never begins.

Noting each minute as it passes; I wait till you descend to my abode,  

             resplendent in twinkling black sight.

I welcome you with open arms.

Never to let you go, till the day do us apart, but as all,

Good things must come to an end, 

So must you, my dear evening, fade into the morn and say goodnight.

Written on 19th May, 2010

(Short and sweet !! The fastest poem I have ever written. Thats because the story idea was given by a friend who was frustrated with the heat and imagined the evening as a girl and I wrote the script !! :) The concept of evening as a girl, who comes late, stays for a short time and you want her to stay longer yet she goes even before you realize she is gone.This is the second poem from a guy's perspective. The first one was 'I see the world through you' . Till we meet again !! )

The Moon Talk ...

'Dynasties have fought under my banner,

Providing cool succor to parched souls in a loving manner.

I am the favourite uncle, friend, guide and messenger,

Mirror of love and manna from heaven for wives dying of hunger !!'

Thus spake the shimmering shingle of white,

Lazily laid back in his throne.. fluffy and light.

Looking at the mortals in life's boring drone,

He goes on to tell tales from his heavy tome.

'When children pout and cry,
Mothers tell my stories and make their sorrows fly.
When young love misses a heartbeat,

They call on my services to deliver the love sheet.

A girl looks up to me always and smiles,

Wondering how I change my shape without a diet and walking miles'. 

                                               'Paeans, parchments,poems and numerous pens,

Have been spent on writing about my abode above the glen.

Examples of my beauty are given, 

And sometimes used to describe many a luminous maiden'.

He then turns around and goes to sleep ..you think,

But wakes up all the way round the world to drink.

On life, love and longing once again,

And begin..

The cycle of birth and death, waxing and waning

You might feel a tinge of sadness in the voice,

But the glistening halo dispels all darkness and spreads joy.

It follows our mother with care of that a big brother. 

Sometimes coming in between her and a hot headed intruder. 

'Its a lonely life', he sighs.

But there are perks on being up in the sky.

'Watching and laughing on all the drama below,

Getting all the nicknames and love glow.

Then there is that silly bird that is amorous and arduous in attention, 

and the girls that wonder about my dietitian's intentions'.

Written on 26th April, 2010.

(Moon.. one of my favourite photography subjects as well as watching subjects... :) Tried funny and rhyming this time.. guess its works. Pics courtesy Sheel http://www.flickr.com/photos/rahulsheel/ )

An Ode to the Blogoem !! *

A Friend was born in my teens, 

She Smiled and the poetic doors of Hall of Life  were opened for me.

Building Dreams with my mind, heart and a lot of Labour of Love,

I was happy when my words brought tears of joy to the Mom of the Little Girl.

and then to share with you all, the happiness this blogoem was born. 

Traversing far and wide in with my creative lines,

I hope I have taken you on a journey fine.

Where Beyond the Black Silk Curtain love blossoms, and 

The Collector of Smiles nourishes it.

And.

When your Footsteps in the Snow becomes weary, 

I  hope the River that Runs Through Me gives you comfort.

The Blessed Damozel though not one of my creations shows,

how Vulnerable we can be in love,

But I still wait for that someone to say to me not 'I wish I could '..

But ... 'I see the World Through You' 

and thus 'Can I Fall in Love?' is forever work in progress.

I desire to have many more Late Night Conversations with you,

Now more often under the cool canopy of The Tree,

 what with temperatures rising...and..

Defeat the sometimes allout

Conquest of Liquid Embers where you need a friend, a shoulder, lots of tissue, 

And a cup of tea.

Thank you for all the love and praise..

It was not a waste.

It inspired me to go forth and raise the spectre of an 

Epiphany so great,

That 

I have written some decent poems till date. 

* Anniversary Special.

Written on 19th March, 2010.

( The blog celebrates its one year. It was started on 19th April 2009. I would like to thank you all for reading and appreciating my poems. An Ode to the Blogoem (Blog + Poem) has all the poems and one prose on the blog linked and hyper-linked in a form of a poem. If you have not read anyone of those go ahead and read them. I must confess that I did try to write 'Can I fall in Love?' but couldn't and in the effort spent a dozen pages of my diary on it which has never happened before.Maybe a practical experience is required for this one !! :) but in the process did write two romantic poems. So for that I take myself off the hook and I think will not ever do a radio here.. as in saying this poem is coming up !! Well you learn from your mistakes. How has the journey for me been ? Good !! like when I finished Labour of Love in one go and put it up the same night and wrote LNCs completely online. Almost three poems were half done on paper and half online. I prefer paper first because all that cutting and scratching out can only be done there but different mediums have different quirks and I have used both. So thank you all once again till we meet again !! :)

Late Night Conversations....

Late Night Conversations !!!!

Alight with a trip down memory lane,

Teaming with anecdotes in light vein.

Endless, seamless, limitless..sprinkled with comic presentations.

Night we think, is still young,

Inky blue sky with a dash of yellow, far flung.

Going back and forth, words flow and so do smiles,

High and low on the furrow full of heartbeats, and time measured in miles. 

Tea is a treasured friend with many a cup done.

Candid chaffing, comments, compliments and camaraderie,

Oodles of gossip and doodles of ideas fly with flurry.

Near the door, we find more loquacious power,

Veering towards it we pass another hour.

Embers of the night still smolder, 

Roaring with laughter we almost cry on each other's shoulders.

Silence sometimes surrounds us, but we

Again pick up the strands of life

To take journey to the future and back.

In between checking and rechecking the hands of time, 

Only to share a glance of disbelief and then again

Nod off to another planet, century, universe and place.

So it continues the late night conversations into the night and light of friendship.

Written on 10th February, 2010.

(Started to write this early morning after returning from a late night conversation but could only finish it today. And for a change, started out to write this only rather than something else and finished it. Not one of my best and can be more self deprecating than that, but leave that to you. Vikram Seth's style makes a come back after 7 years I guess... so must have been the seven year itch !! This style requires more poetic license than other as you have to start the sentences with specific letters and lot of back and forth has to be done. LNCs ..love them ..and always wish they never end. But of course they do. Love them more especially there are many of us and laugh like anything and actually double up in laughter .. which is easier for me as I have a habit to throwing my head back and laughing which sometimes takes my chair by surprise and due to the law of inertia when I come back from the head throw I more often than not fall over and pay my allegiance to mother earth !!! I know the next poem was supposed to 'Can I fall in Love' and has been postponed twice was thinking of a Valentine day special. Lets see if i don't sulk too much at the lack of a Valentine ;) then maybe. But don't worry its on the cards. Till then Happy Valentines Day !!!!! Keep the conversation going ..its important for any relationship.)

The Collector of Smiles *

"Fool !!!!! " , he cries out

Not in agony for lying on the bed of arrows,

Created by his favourite son.

But for not collecting that one smile,

The one most beautiful and mesmerizing.

The one which would have made him choose life and not death,

Today !!

He had a choice.

He is the grand sire of the mighty nation.

He is, was ..the collector of smiles.

He closes his eyes to the world,

Tired of the looks of sheer disbelief at his fallen visage.

He closes to those gathered all around him.

For knowledge , wisdom , and truth.

He is the fountain, the foundation, the force behind the grand plan of the nation.

Spouting forth the mantras of  leading, ruling, conquest and guiles.

But not never of love, life ...and smiles..

He closes and crosses over.

Over the fields of death,

Courts of intrigue,

Palaces of opulence.

Times of building empires,

Of standing behind power and not ....

Defacto and not dejure.

"Ha" ,a mockery, he thinks,

Thats what his life was defacto .. never real, never his.

To a meadow of green and glen,

Of primroses and sun.

He sees a galloping steed, white with speed

And a knight.

Coming for that look,

That song,

That smile.

It is he, to see Her.

He collected the smiles.

The shy ones, which reached his eyes by the time she lifted hers.

The knowing ones, when both smiled together.

The happy ones, when everything glowed in their warmth.

The sad ones, cold yet comforting.

The just like that ones.

The teasing ones, and pleading ones.

The petulant ones and reluctant ones.

But that one smile which would have said it all.

The one he could have lived and died by.

He did not collect that one.

One that she was ready to give, waiting to give ..waited to give.

He lived ..death wasn't an option.

He opens his eyes.

All around are broken minds and bodies.

Hurting hearts.

He calls them closer.

And smiles.

It breaks forth through the mist of gloom.

"Collect smiles", he breathes his last.

They smile hesitantly then with understanding.

Written on 25th January , 2010.

* Fictional account of Devavratha son of Shantanu & Ganga also known as Bhishma Pitamaha.

(What if Bhishma Pitamaha was in love ? He could not do anything about it, because of his vow of serving the throne and life of celibacy. But what if ? It was very interesting how i came up with this idea. Don't remember the whole thing but started out with writing 'Can I fall in love' to a girl reading a love story to the fairy tale of knight in shining armour to someone reminiscing  about lost love to this ..or something like that. Did think of ending the poem by the girl closing the book and asking can she fall in love ..but thought the better of it . Now thinking doing a sequel to this poem where the girl reading the story says her part. Lets see.. BTW I think you all were very fortunately spared of the poem 'trouble in fairyland' where all the heroines have neck, back, shoulder pains and this causes their heroes trouble no end mirroring my own neck, back and shoulder pain. Thought it would be very funny but I don't think so now. Well till next time ..and this poem took a long time in writing but here it is. )