IMMATERIAL

POEM

Once,

a young man started

scaling the highest mountain of knowledge.

His one and only

aim was nothing but

conquer that mountain

before others forge ahead of him.

With the passage of years and years

reaching the half-way mark

his store-well of strength,

will and determination

gradually started drying up

which forced him to

abandon his mission

return to the point

from where he began scaling

up the mountain.

Like a rich man turning bankrupt

due to unexpected collapse of his business

the person who dreamt of conquering the

mountain of knowledge

could never fulfil his ambition.

Conquering the highest

mountain remains beyond the approach of each

person on the face of earth…….  

FACES AND NAMES

POEM

Faces and names

we like or detest

refuse to leave us

though we want them

vanish from our memory

which however

disappear from the recesses of our mind

like a few sentences

written over the sand of the sea-shore

are wiped  away by

the surging waves within seconds.

Faces and names

we love, like hate or fear

however are etched on

the walls of memory

in other words

our minds like bloating 

papers absorb them

within split seconds.

Beauty or personal magnetism

are not the criteria

If so,

how come rough,

wicked and wily faces

stick to the walls of our minds.

There are no apparent reasons

to explain why such a

puzzle or could we call it phenomenon

lingers which is subjective

subjective only…….

ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS IN BIHAR APPROACHING – EMERGING POLITICAL EQUATIONS

ARTICLE

Elections are round the corner in Bihar. Ruling Janata Dal (United) led by Nitish Kumar and Sharad Yadav apprehending a defeat in the coming elections took the initiative to form a Grand Alliance taking into account the expediency of the moment. Shedding personal animosities Nitish Kumar (JDU) developed intimate relationship with his former  betenoire Lalu Prasad  Yadav, leader of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) who was Chief Minister of Bihar for fifteen successive years and both invited Mulayam Singh Yadav, leader of Samajwadi Party (SP), Janata Dal (Secular), Indian National Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) of Sharad Pawar which later left the alliance squabbling over the number of seats allotted to it which was followed by the Samajwadi Party (SP) for the same reason.

It was the growing clout of Bharatiya Janata Party in Bihar which had prompted these parties to group under one umbrella with a determination to defeat the former at the hustings.

It was a conclusion foretold that the so-called Grand alliance named Janata Parivar would not last long and that which would disintegrate before or after the crucial elections.

It was not ideological affinity which prompted them to gather under one umbrella but casteist politics which played a prominent role. And because of the same reason it is not likely to last, thus believe political observers.

The election of Mulayam Singh Yadav to lead the Alliance from the front was a Himalayan blunder. The man is notorious for swimming with the current, in other words he is the number one fence-sitter or in other words an opportunist among the regional parties in India. Since National Democratic Alliance (NDA) under Narendra Modi of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Yadava parties be it Samajwadi Party (SP) or Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), or Janata Dal (United) (not a Yadav party) which was once in good terms with Bharatiya Janata Party (agreed) these parties since the very beginning are bitter enemies of BJP. Bharatiya Janata Party and parties belonging to the Grand Alliance detest seeing eye to eye.  

Mulayam, the gentle man who was elected unanimously to lead the Grand Alliance didn’t have any qualms to break away from the Alliance for the simple reason that his party was not allotted the number of seats it demanded and it is worth remembering that Samajwadi Party is not a force to reckon with in Bihar.  Anyhow Lalu Prasad Yadav, who incidentally has turned out to be his close relative and Sharad Yadav are compelling Mulayam not to leave the alliance for the sake of keeping the BJP at bay. Whether he is likely to listen to their appeals remains a big question mark.

BJP has in the meanwhile formed a cohesive unit and is sensing victory in the ensuing elections.

Though the Left Front, consisting of Communist party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), Forward Bloc and Revolutionary Socialist Party keeping a distance from both the Janata Parivar and BJP have decided not to jump into the fray but to no avail. They are not even marginal forces in present day Bihar.

NATURE AND MANKIND

POEM

When a train derails

on its way to

a particular destination

or when a nuclear plant explodes

without displaying any sign of a snag

and snatches away the lives of thousands

or when an air-plane 

catches fire midway in the sky

or nose-dives while landing

robs away hundreds of invaluable lives

or when a war or rebellion breaks out

which could last years and years

in the process killing crores and crores

of innocent lives,

man is bound to share the blame

and each one has to atone for it.

But when an

earthquake violently shakes a land

claiming hundreds of thousands of lives

or when a Tsunami unexpectedly 

towers over a country or countries

and sows the seeds of maximum destruction

in terms  of lives of innocents and loss of properties

when nature vents it fury in the form of  

eruption of a volcano throwing out red-hot lava

flowing down a vast area

forcing thousands to flee for life

who is to blame…..?

IN THE DEEP SEA OF SLUMBER

POEM

Look, the child is sunk

in the sea of deep slumber

face down the sea-shore.

Clad in his glittering,

exquisite red shirt

and tight blue jeans

and black shoes

he might have reached the sea-shore

without informing his elders.

See, he is always fond of 

the vast expanse of the blue sea 

which must have prompted

him to run away to the sea shore from home.

No one knows when he

reached the sea-shore.

One thing is certain

it was hours ago.

Wandering down the sea-shore

for a long time

under the blazing sun

he might have got tired and exhausted.

That might have led

him to fall asleep on the sea-shore

face down on the sand.

‘Aylaan, Aylaan, Aylaan’ -

somebody, perhaps his father or

some other elders from home

was heard calling him in a frightened voice

which was approaching nearer and nearer

from a long distance.

Naughty Aylaan might have

played prank on his elders.

In the meanwhile 

a glum-faced, shocked  

soldier came near him

and saw his  lifeless body.

No gentleman, he hasn’t bid farewell to the world.

He’s sunk in deep, deep, deep sea of slumber.

Sure,  after sleep he will

wake up with a smile in his lips

‘See, I was playing

pranks on all’ – it would be his response to all.

DRIVE-IN-PARLOUR

POEM

Driving down a tarred road 

of an unknown village

enjoying the greenery all the way

he came across a board – ‘Drive in Parlour’

with an arrow painting

towards a building a few feet back

which seemed like  beckoning him.

Though a teetotaler since fifteen years

the scent of nostalgia overpowered him,

enveloped him

while recalling the days

he had spent with his close friends 

in several bars and toddy shops

got intoxicated and danced with them

singing aloud.

While on his way

to maturity and subsequent marriage

he decided to put a full-stop

to his wayward life.

But now after fifteen years

on his way through

the unfamiliar, beautiful

landscape of the village

which enthralled him, enchanted him  

a temptation took hold of him

to visit the ‘Drive-in-Parlour’.

True,

his conscience red-flagged him

but the temptation meant temptation

even Jesus had fallen a prey to it

thus wrote Kazantzakis.

He applied the break

and halted it in front of the Parlour.

Cars were parked in the parking space

must be owned by different

visitors to the Parlour and

the watchman led him to a convenient -

place to park his vehicle too.

After coming out

gifting a smile to the watchman

the smell of toddy, fish fry

fried chicken and beef fry….

welcomed him while  even before entering.

And inside he saw his friends

of yester years

who too had pledged to be teetotalers

enjoying merry moments

who were in high spirits

and they, upon seeing him

looked at each other

blushing……

‘Now that, I am caught with

my pants down

now than they too are caught

with their pants down

let me enjoy the maximum’ – he was talking to himself……. 

FEAR PSYCHOSIS

POEM

Upon the assumption of power

by an overbearing ruler

barring a few

an inexplicable fear reflects in the eyes

of each citizen.

He remains panic and paranoid each moment

and takes a back foot  

be he a writer, artist

or intellectual.

They can be poets,

novelists, painters or essayists

and for that matter

who pen or sculpt or paint

conveying the message of freedom,

the thirst for freedom.

Those who exhorted us the citizens

to be the torch-bearers of freedom

suddenly withdraw into their shells,

fear gripping them tightly.

The dignity and

greatness of democracy

are put on the back burner

and that

immemorable dictum -

Of the People, For the

People, By the People

the quintessence of   Democracy

is being sucked………….