CRISIS OF IDENTITY

In this country of millions

I am not alone.

In this part of the country

where thousands of citizens

spend their lives

I am not alone.

And for that matter

wherever in the world

I am not alone.

But the burning issue

of being left alone

or the agonizing problem

being left alone

what matters is the

crisis of identity

what matters is the

faceless crowds.

What matters is the agony of existence.

In any city, that which you or

I experience is the

lack of recognition, the quest for recognition

for which many

people crave for and go to very great lengths

In order to carve out

a niche for themselves among the citizens.

Either aim for

being famous  or notoriety.

In this world of

those who lead a movement

to force the colonialists

flee from the nation

or persons of administrative  acumen

or accomplished writers

and artists in various fields across the world

or the wicked rulers

who fought to the hilt

and fight to the hilt against the citizens

like Hitler, Mussolin,

Idi Amin et al, malevolent dictators they were

who too must have

nurtured the ambitions

of turning notorious abound

like one irrigating poisonous plants or trees.

Crisis of identity,

quest for recognition,

agony of existence

are among the

several problems of

the new era needling the mankind….

THE DEPTH OF THE SEA OF MY HEART AND……..

In order to measure

the depth of the sea of my heart

I dived deep into its bottom

but

unfortunately I had to return midway

due to acute suffocation.

In order to climb up to

the steep mountain of

my ambition to conquer the top

by walking up through

the harsh terrain

cautiously, very cautiously

and by taking all precautions

but with more than

three-fourth of it covered

I was forced to climb down

since I was tired

to take even a step upward

and I returned without

completing my mission

cautiously, very cautiously.

I recall my childhood days

crying loudly for the moon

holding the hands

of my father or grandfather

mistaking the moon for a toy.

The more I tried to reach

to the secret of Universe

the less I could learn to

satiate my thirst for knowledge…

THE LESSON

Letters, like sharp needles.

Words chiseled.

Words act as bullets at some points in life

which could penetrate the body of the enemy.

I cast a glance straight into his eyes.

I could read the confidence in his

eyes on facing me.

But he was disarmed.

How could I aim my

gun and trigger it in quick succession at him?

A man who is my proclaimed enemy

with self-confidence glimmering in his eyes

ready to face the bullets 

which could rip apart his body

thereby felling him and finishing him off.

I withdrew from the scene leaving him.

Words are not to be 

directed against a person on personal grounds.

I was learning a lesson…

NEITHER IMPLOSION NOR EXPLOSION

In this period of

rapid industrialization and IT revolution,

in this period of

large-scale job opportunities,

in this period of

massive inflow of people especially the youth 

from the remote areas to take up jobs

in different reputed institutions,

in this period

the youth are running pillar to post

in search of accommodation facilities

somewhere, somehow in the suburbs

at a time the ‘pregnant’ city is likely to explode 

and its inability to beckon each one into her lap

the only choice left to the new entrants

is to grease the palms of the real estate brokers

who find certain areas in the outskirts of the city

or the areas outside the city limits for these youth.

The youth who are aliens

will have to get accustomed

with the unaccustomed city, its outskirts

and beyond the outskirts

to cope up with their difficulties

so that an implosion as well as explosion is avoided

and the youth learning to lead

a life on this ‘unaccustomed earth’ to earn a living.

MODI’S EAST ASIA POLICY – A TIGHT SCHEDULE ON THE ANVIL

Smt.Sushma Swaraj, our Foreign Minister, is now all praises for Narendra Modi, our Prime Minister. During the time of electing Modi as the Prime Ministerial candidate, it was heard that she was  not on good terms with him, instead she was all for supporting L.K.Advani  who was supposed to have nursing an ambition to stand for the post of Prime Minister.

But the wind was blowing in favour of Mr.Modi as the Sangh Parivar strongly advocated for him. Sangh Parivar, like it or not, is the supreme authority and its decision is said to be final and binding for all in the BJP.

Smt.Sushma Swaraj along with the supporters of Mr.Advani had to bow down to the ultimate decision and as a disciplined and loyal member of the Parivar stood with majority albeit reluctantly.

That is now an old story. Upon the installation of Mr.Modi as Prime Minister after winning a massive mandate, Mrs.Sushma Swaraj was allocated the portfolio of Minister of Foreign Affairs.

After assuming the charge she is on a hectic schedule like her boss, Prime Minister Mr.Modi.

She has already visited Singapore, Vietnam and Bangladesh, met the leaders of those countries discussed matters of importance to all countries mentioned above, discussed and deliberated upon the FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) as per mutual understanding.

Mr.Modi too is having a tight schedule and as a man standing for maintaining warm relations with nations across the world especially South East Asian nations, he began his foreign jaunt from Bhutan, Nepal and Japan and is scheduled to fly to US, hold discussions with Barack Obama to improve bilateral relations, improve business and trade between both the nations on the sidelines of attending United Nations General Assembly meeting. The UNGA (United Nations General Assembly) meeting is likely to provide the spade work for establishing friendship with various nations, especially neighbouring nations like Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar etc. Unlike his predecessor, Dr.ManMohan Singh, Modi’s foreign policy approach is ‘Look East-Asia’ first. That was visible even while he was sworn-in as Prime Minister. The leaders of SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation) nations were invited and they took great interest in attending the swearing-in ceremony and was the first of its kind  in the history of India. .

Mrs. Sushma Swaraj and Mr.Modi are for pushing for maintaining warm relations with South East Asian countries first and talks with these countries are expected to progress in the coming days.

A number of nations have already sent their leaders or representatives to India, like the visit of Australian Prime Minister Tony Abott and in the dialogue that followed, both chose the opportunity to ink the agreement of Uranium purchase by India from Australia, a long term approach for improving the education sector and other business agreements. US Secretary of State John Kerry, German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmer are a few of them.

Going by the turn of events, neo-liberal policies ‘seem’ to be ‘irrevocable’ since the Left around the world especially those loyal to Marxism-Leninism have gone down with the flow of time. But we can’t say it for sure since with wheel turning full circle, changes can’t be wished away.            

LIKE A TERROR ATTACK, THE NATURE

Like a terror attack

hitting a vulnerable target

at an unexpected moment

claiming the lives of

hundreds of innocent persons

devastating properties

worth lakhs of rupees

a calamity

like floods, landslides, even tsunamis

snatching away the

lives of a number of civilians

irrespective of caste,

creed or religion

at an unexpected moment

inundating vast areas

swallowing trees, huts

and buildings and heritage sites

making a mess of everything 

the only difference being

if one is a terror attack

the other is due to nature’s fury.

DESERT BLOOMS

Embarrassed and aghast

two foreign tourists

either a couple or two love-birds

got stranded at

the bus station for one or two hours.

They saw a few passengers

with their baggage wearing worried looks.

Patience has its limits.

The stranded foreign tourists

walked towards

the passengers stranded at the bus station

and with pleading eyes

inquired one of them

who couldn’t make out head or tail of

what they were talking looking askance.

On listening to their inquiry

one among the passengers

came forward and explained to them:

‘It is strike today across the State, friends

vehicles are kept off the roads

banks, hotels, business establishments

all not functioning’.

‘What for the strike?’ both were asking in a chorus.

Their eyes widened

with question marks flashing across their faces.

Looking at each other

looking alarmed

they stood like statues.

‘Strange are the ways of our land.

If the leader of a party or union

calls for a strike

even for a minor reason

their supporters get ready

and order the establishments

to down their shutters, otherwise face

the consequences,

and force the vehicles not to ply’.

-He was laughing behind the façade of sadness.

After hours both of them got down

and walked down the

lengthy road reminding one of a desert.

The ‘abandoned’ street lay melting

under the fire-spitting sun.

‘Athithi Devo Bhava’ (treat your guests as gods) –

-each one roared into a

laughter behind which was pain and sorrow.

‘I feel my stomach

has evolved into a furnace’ -

though laughing,

one was seen breaking out

into a roar of laughter.

‘Mine too’ – the other

one responded

that too burst out laughing loudly…