Anticipation

He could barely walk. She was brimming with energy. While he listened, she spoke incessantly. The chillness of the dusk was consuming him and she, had just woken up to the freshness of a bright, sunny morning. She cuddled up to the warmth of the shiny dusk and embarked on a brand new journey. He turned around the corner, anticipating the termination of his tedious journey.

Her small, soft hands clasped the wrinkled folds of his aged hands, as they walked down the buzzling street. She was perhaps a tad over 7 years old. She cheerfully hopped and skipped by his side, laughing, squealing at the excitement of sharing her story. He walked by her side with a quiver – slow, meditative and almost fraught with trepidation to walk any further.

She was frail, pale and slightly undernourished but with her bursting vivacity, she, in her own earnest manner, seemed to distract him from his senile aches. She impatiently chattered and described a novel experience that had newly captured her imagination – her first day at school after the summer break. She giggled, pranced on her feet and recounted every detail. Suddenly, carried away by the sheer thrill of her chronicle, she hopped ahead of the old man, dragging him on his feet.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry! Come, come let me walk with you. So, you know, I was so excited, it was like…,” she caught up, after stepping back to walk with him.

He was unflappable and almost unmoved by her animated narrative. He pushed his Scottish muffler back on his shoulder, clasped his glistening, polished, ornate walking stick a little firmer and tread cautiously, unsteady, occasionally nodding and rarely glancing at her. His spotless white polo t-shirt slung around him and his oversized cargos dangled from his waist downwards. Walking in his apparel seemed like a punishing ordeal by itself, humouring her fantasies was far too arduous.

His vision blurred. His knees crackled. He was turning around the corner, anticipating the termination of his ‘tedious’ journey. He steadied himself to part with her reassuring gentle clasp. He stepped aside and loosened her grasp. She, with a glint in her sanguine eyes, leapt on her feet. She swirled on her toes and shrieked… bizarrely. The weary old man briskly turned around, waddled on his feet and witnessed the grandiose end of his tedious journey in its utter vividness. The pale, frail little girl lay reduced to grotesque carcass.

A shrill end to his tedious journey: a bubbly, gurgling plot came to a screeching halt.

Lotus-Eyed Dreamer

“Who is he? What’s he like?
Tell us please, don’t be shy!
Dream-like? Knight-like? Prince-like?
Tell us please, does he make you fly?

What’s his name? His job? His strife?
Tell us please, he’s your fantasy!
Earth-life? Heaven-life? Nether-life?
Every life he’s your ecstasy!

We catch you here, we see you there,
In stupor, lost in your reverie.
Wake up now, won’t you share?
Please, let’s take part in your revelry!”

Alright, now, here you go!
It’s true, it’s real, it’s no fantasy.
I know him well, thro’ high and low,
He’s a wonder, a miracle, my ecstasy.

How do I start? Where do I pause?
How I glorify his charisma?
I will speak albeit all my flaws
He’s magical, not an enigma.

I find him here, I see him there,
He encompasses me everywhere.
He’s a dream, a knight, a prince I hear,
We’re together forever, of that I’m clear.

In his presence, flow’rs, they blossom,
In his eyes, stars, they shine.
In his smile – his art that’s winsome,
From pain to pleasure, he makes them fine.

His chuckle, his laugh, his giggle, his grin
Many a knee, weak he’s rendered.
Songs’ve been sung, Epics’ve been written,
Many a heart wrecked, they’ve surrendered.

Look at his eyes, they sparkle in glee,
I freeze in time, locked in bliss.
No, look at them now, they twinkle for me,
I sprint through space, blocked by a kiss.

Promises for sure, it’s eternally simple –
With heaven and earth and nether right here!
Until, beware, he casts his dimple,
When my heart takes flight like a wimpy feather!

His love, so generous, his love, so pure,
Such love so honest – ethereal and real.
His thoughts so clear, his thoughts so sure,
Such thoughts so true – they cure, they heal.

His spirit so blessed, his soul divine,
I met him then, now and later.
We are but one, I’m his, he’s mine,
We flutt’r here, we fly away, to meet soon, later.

I’ve met those lotus-eyes before,
I’ve bathed in that warm generosity,
I’ve danced in this union afore,
I’ve reveled in such electricity.

I’ve known those lotus-eyes before,
I’ve been blessed by such eternal love,
I’ve been a party to this consortium afore,
I’ve exulted in this paradise, then-later-now.

I’ve admired those lotus-eyes before,
I’ve eulogized his being with divine verses,
I’ve taken refuge in his assurances afore,
I’ve traversed with him, thro’ universes.

I’ve felt those lotus-eyes in mine before,
I’ve touched them with prayerful devoutness,
I’ve united with them lotus-eyes afore,
I’ve relinquished my Self, with utter piousness.

“Oh dear! Blessed you be!
Oh, my, my, we pray for you.
Let this no mystery be
No fantasy, no dream for you.

Let your prayer be heard,
This is our sincere plea.
Let your question be answered
May all you seek just come to be.

Let your sweet wish be granted
So, you may just wish no more.
Let your rosy dream be uninterrupted
So, you may just dream no more.

Oh dear! Blessed you be!
Oh, my, my, we pray for you.
No fantasy, no dream there be
Let those lotus-eyes open just for you!”

Catharsis

This is a prayer in Catharsis:
A vow to unfurl the Adulterated,
To cleanse through the fraught Crisis
And venerably plead to be Exonerated.

What’s now the Salvation?
She’s Resuscitated our mind, body and soul,
Without a day’s Isolation,
Down the Eons, through her magnanimous Whole.

Now, the Winds are Palpitating – they cough up Air,
They don their masks of Life.
Faint and frail, the irreconcilable Zephyr,
She zombies down the hillside, dreading the Strife.

What’s now the Consolation?
She’s Whetted our beings, lest we wither away,
Lashing, Meandering, lusciously Flowing,
Generously Sprinkling – droplets of life each day.

Now, the Waves are furious – they wreck Vengeance,
They’re armed to fight eye-for-an eye.
Encumbered with human Barrenness, his Decadence
They’ve no patience for his stuttering Alibi.

What’s now the Redemption?
She Appetized, Fed and Nurtured with her spoils,
She gloated in her colossal storehouses o’ Nutrition.
Evergreen, she flowered in her Greens and rich, brown, golden Soils.

Now, she quakes open her Despair,
Axed by his burgeoning Avarice
Yelps for rescue, if she may Dare,
To be redeemed from his black-sooted Curse.

This prayer in Catharsis –
An earnest prayer of Hope,
Seeks no elucidation, holds not one man accountable,
Burns no bridges and demands no reply.

This prayer in Catharsis –
Begs for Introspection, Inquires your Duties,
Suggests Morality and a Vow –
To Nurture a Green Dream starting right Now.

So, when you take a deep sigh,
It’s not ridden with a carbonated high.
And when you drink your succulent hydrater,
You’re not fretting over your lungs operator.

For all the sins we bear,
Let’s pledge to evenly share –
The duty to Cleanse
Now! The duty shall Commence.

An Eternity of Unhappiness

The eternal unhappiness of the human mind
Yearning… for heat when cold, for cold when hot, for slimness when plump, for size zero when perfect ten, for onions during price hike, for milk when on a vegan diet, for megan fox while with mallika sherawat, for maidenhood when married, for real friends in real life while 1000 friends and more flock your FB profile.

The eternal unhappiness of the human mind
Recalling… the tricycle your rode as a kid when you’re on a Harley; mom’s sambar-rice while fine-dining; the glory of Madhuri Dixit amidst scuffles between the Munnis and the Sheelas; the good old sense of DD news when flooded with new age nuisance; pen friends when gloating in the luxury of approving and disapproving friends at the whims of the fancy FB icons!

The eternal unhappiness of the human mind
Staring … at fancy gadgets with fancy glasses, having given in to even fancier vision probs; at the black Audi zipping past you, the day you strap into your the seat of your first car; at the beautiful babies your classmates from school have, when you’re just married; at your spouse, when he’s socialising with your girlfriends, when you can’t take your eyes off his bachelor friends; at the books you haven’t read, forget about those thick menageries in your bookshelves; at the ‘lucrative’ profiles on Naukri, when you’ve just completed probation in your enviable profile; at your co-sister’s friend’s neighbour, who’s just attended her cousin’s wedding in Seattle on FB, when your work is seriously pending!

The eternal unhappiness of the human mind
Digging… weaknesses, when your strengths are strongly envied; meloncholy and ending up a laughing stock, when there are only reasons to rejoice in; the stale dal tadka at the joint down the lane and refrigerating the channa pindi made earlier in the day; Ritiesh Deshmukh and overlooking Bomman Irani; a duplex by the beach when you live in a mansion in the city hub; Sajid-Wajid’s music when parents are trained under the maestros of the Agra gharana; old letters from high school, when a letter needs to be dashed to the telecom for a new connection; re-connections with friends on FB, when they really care a rat’s ass!

The eternal unhappiness of the human mind
Muttering… under your breath, when someone is breathing down your neck; expletives, when you are overcome by love; sweet nothings, when a verbal battle is waging in your head; non-stop over spoilt milk, when the sambar on the stove has past boiling and is on the verge of roasting; good wishes when you should be hugging his soul; courtesy messages to known friends on FB, which are as effective or less effective than text messages on the phone and if to unknown people, doing so without the emcumbering guilt of orkut-izing FB!

Twinkle, twinkle, sparkling star!

Tall, dark and handsome,
He twinkles from a distant sky;
Clouds, rains, mist in wholesome,
They fuzz him up tho’ she does try.

Every sparkling dark night she sees,
She counts his gazillion blessing;
Of those studs that ask her please,
Her knight she knows isn’t missing.

He conquers the cosmic dwellings,
He rocks her world and her universe;
If tormented by their misgivings,
He clasps her hand and allays her fears.

The story of this hero, his girl –
A short dream as you twist and curl;
Watch this saga, hear it first,
Before your heart begins to burst.

Many many little years away,
More than a couple of tiny decades away,
A big eyed baby kitten was born –
She nestled in a wrap she’d fondly worn.

She’d wail, she’d bawl, she’d cry,
She’d assure such joy in every eye!
And when she’d seen her first daylight,
Her hero’d stood there in such delight!

The man, the power:
Before who they’d all cower;
She met his eyes with her own,
A smile broke for him, she’d now known.

Tall, dark and wonderfully handsome,
He held his purring kitten in his strength;
Her first brush with a man so awesome,
She memorised this, to last her life’s length.

Smiling gently, whispering warmly,
He promised unknowingly:
“My blessed angel, hey you!
Through all my life, I will love you.

“Fun, love and happiness,
Peace, charm and success.
An immaculate life, so new, so true,
No man will ever be so good for you!”

She gurgled heartily and lit up his life;
He swelled with pride at the fruit of his strife.
Day by day, their joys grew beyond bounds;
Mom, Man and kitten went on gleeful rounds.

All was fine, so good, so new,
Nothing could ruin, tarnish or curse;
But a thunder, lightning many or few,
Could have meant a threat or worse.

Tall, dark and so handsome
But he lay in bed one spring morning;
Feeling low, gray and lonesome,
He saw the ominous, dark awning.

She’d purred, she’d laughed, she’d pleaded
Her man to seek her when she’d hidden.
He’d smiled, he’d waved, he’d promised
His girl he’d find her when she’s hidden.

Quickly she ran to her farthest farm,
Eager and excited, she reached her secret barn;
Proud, accomplished and giggling non-stop,
She’d known her man’d hardly find her pit stop.

Seconds, minutes and a few hours in,
Her giggles drowned in a loud din.
Suddenly scared, shuddering so afraid,
She doubled up to see what Dad had made.

“No, no my dear, he’s away for a bit,
He’ll come back again, keep your eyes lit.”
“But Mama, he said he’d find me there,
So I hid behind, you know where?”

“He’ll find you here, he’ll find you soon,
Now, look up the sky, don’t give that a miss;
He’s amongst the stars, the sun and moon
But before that all, he passed this kiss.

“Today, tomorrow and forever,
He’ll twinkle, shine and glow.
When in doubt, fear or just too unsure,
You know he’ll fix that here below.”

Tall, dark and handsome,
He twinkles from a distant sky;
Clouds, rains, mist in wholesome,
Beyond them all, he’s on a pedestal, mighty high!

Two years now, she’d seen him here,
Twenty seven years and he’s still so near;
Sparkling, shining, dazzling,
Living a destiny in the making.