Why Swerve from rituals?

 I passed through a boiling cauldron of negativity and anger

until the fakir asked me to remember you

And then forgotten was the pain and suffering
Forgotten was 'I'


For all that remained was you my beloved

The world asks this dervesh why swerve from rituals and behave uncouth
Why roam the streets like one intoxicated

Why lose self respect and dance near the shrine
I tell them it is they who are intoxicated in profit and loss

I am lost to this Bazaar of swindlers
For I fly above the filthy waters of trade

And I soar in the heavenly wind towards my beloved! 

Pariah

Is it my fault that every day is followed by night?
Or is it my fault that darkness follows light

Is it my fault that those that are born ought to die
Or is it my fault that few are truthful and everyone else lie

Is it my fault that there is pain and suffering
Or maybe it is because of me that people have opinions differing

Is it my fault that the earth sometimes rumbles and swallows people whole?
Or maybe it is my fault the tsunamis leave destruction in their wake

Is it my fault that all of life is struggling
Or maybe it is my fault that the whole world is suffering

Looks like to you of all that is wrong in the universe I am the cause
Or maybe you see only trouble and depression in my presence

Walk  like me in the thorny path uphill barefoot
And you will see what it feels like to be a pariah!

Cosmic Symphony

The mellow sun smiled down upon the green earth
The cool breeze pleased the trees to no end

They swayed and nodded as though dancing in tune
To the silent beautiful music that played out

As I walked in the pathway that resembled a green carpet
Eager to share this cosmic symphony with the beloved

The birds chirped in glee at the onset of this beautiful evening
The cat looked at them with hungry eyes, but then remained immobile

The squirrel ran up the tree to cuddle his mate
The ears on the hares were erect as they looked everywhere in rapt attention

For everyone was spell bound by the beauty of the evening
The smell of earth was all around wafting through the air

It was then that I beheld you in all your glory
Walking towards me, It felt like bliss had descended on me in torrents

My hurried steps tried to match yours as we ran towards each other
Like two oceans merging into one we walked into each other's arms

The rest of the world was forgotten in your heavenly clasp
As day metamorphosed into night the two of us merged into one!

Freedom!

There is this story that is oft referred to, when speaking about someone who's trying to break the shackles that bind him. I think it is from Charles Dickens' 'A tale of two cities', or is it 'Great expectations' I cannot recollect. The story is about a man who has been in solitary confinement since his youth. As an old man, he is released from the dark and dreary cell that has held him all his life. His first reaction when he steps into the sunlight is one of fear and revulsion. The man cannot stand the warm sunlight and the bright colors all around. While the old man's story seems extra ordinary at first sight, isn't this the story of all our lives. Aren't we all, in some way bound in shackles. Afraid! Fear of freedom. Fear of going beyond our comfort zone. Strangely enough many of us continue living life as though all is fine and sundry. A hawk can enlighten the sea gull on the wonders of flying at dizzying heights. Or like the traveler who entertains us with the wondrous sights he has set his eyes upon. Until we meet this traveler, we do not realize that we are struck in an island, separated from so many wonderful things in the universe by that imposing ocean of fear.

I can say that I have met such a celestial traveler, who has chosen to be my best friend and companion for life. It is this angel who showed me there is a vast and wide world out there beyond the confines of the cell in which I have been imprisoned. In a year she patiently showed me the map of the entire prison where I am confined. She showed me the chains of fear and anxiety that are tied around my feet. I beheld the still image of my body, petrified like a sculpture unable to move anywhere but within the innards of the giant beast which is my own little world. But once you get a taste of freedom, once you know how it feels to live fearlessly and within God's embrace, would you still choose the prison of fear and illogical love? I think not.

I can only say that I am eternally grateful to the Lord God, for bestowing me with such a wonderful soul mate. I can see the shores of freedom from my raft, which I have set adrift in this ocean of fear. I can see the fair wind of my beloved's love pulling me towards greatness. Independence, here I come! 

Seeking certainty in an uncertain existence

Man is a being who builds a mental image of the universe. Each human being I feel lives in a different universe, where no two universes are similar. If we discount the people who have realized the mysteries of the universe, everyone is on a journey of learning or understanding. All we live by are theories and hypotheses. They are everywhere. They are in science, religion, spirituality, law, morality. Everything is seen through a tinted glass.

What is morally erroneous to a vegan seems morally right to a non-vegetarian. People fight. Media get's TRP over issues like this. Sometimes people lose their lives fighting over such beliefs that they hold.

Often not knowing that we live in a separate world from another individual makes us intolerant. Why are they eating that? Why do they pray to so many Gods? Is it not my duty to bring them to my way of life, which is the only way of life? This is the root cause of so much intolerance we see, whether in personal or professional lives. A good example can be the Foreign invasions of India since the 10th century AD. When the invaders found people to be worshiping many Gods, not even trying to understand the local culture they set about on a bloody conquest of murder, rape and pillage. All this they felt was justified for the greater cause of bringing the heretic to their fold. So much so that they thought that God would grant them great rewards in paradise for these acts.

While this is one problem that the world faces today, what exactly is the reason why people concoct theories or belief systems. People cannot deal with uncertainty. I once wrote about how Cantor unearthed a monster when he started working on infinite and trans-finite sets. People loathed the concept. Bertrand Russel loathed paradoxes and hence set about removing them in his magnum opus Principia Mathematica. Only he was disappointed when the brilliant Austrian logician Kurt Godel unearthed a monstrous paradox right in the heart of the principia, giving rise to the famous incompleteness theorem.

There is a problem in this world, for those who objectively seek certainty and confront uncertainties head on. Sometimes people are irrational, even the most sane people behave irrationally. How can one deal with such behavior. Those who seek certainty are sometimes overwhelmed and the world seems too cruel for the likes who seek truth. It is this attitude that drove Cantor mad. It is this that made Godel die of starvation. I think sometimes, when faced with irrationality or any other perplexing instances, it is better to take a step back , relax and say "Not my circus!  Not my monkeys!" :)

Sometimes it is better to be OK with ambiguity, uncertainty etc especially if at that point in time, anything you do might make matters worse. Best remember God if you are a theist and trust he will make things better. If you are an atheist or an agnostic, best do something you love to do. Read that brand new novel you've been told is brilliant. Go take a chance and watch that new Star Wars move. May the force be with you :) 

The song of silence

As I ambled along the narrow streets
Barely able to keep my balance

I was considered wise beyond my age
My intoxicated silence was considered a magnum opus

The moment I became sober and opened my mouth
I became a heretic of the worst kind and was outlawed

The gates of the temple were shut to my sober self
The only way to get back inside was through the tavern

As I observed the world balancing on a knife's edge
I was considered an extraordinary intellect

I slipped and fell when I opened my mouth
Then I was laughed upon as the greatest dullard

oh my tongue, why dost thou speak when no one cares to listen
Just stop your functioning and let this mute spectator become a hero

In this universe words of love are looked upon with scorn
Mistakes are never forgiven and you are made to pay

Listen oh heart, why dost thou expect pleasure from the beloved
When all that is in store for you is fiery arrows of a thousand deaths

An ugly duckling and a misfit is all I can be here in the waking world
The finest wine from the fakir's tavern can make me a wise sage

The drunkenness is most welcome in this world of the sane
My silence will become the greatest love song ever sung!

Snare called love

Love is like the snare of a wicked hunter
And the lover falls helplessly to his death

A beating heart craving for love is one waiting to break
A cow waiting for a cruel tiger to finish it's existence

Like a cruel ring master life prods and pricks the heart
Until it breaks into a thousand pieces and shatters like glass

All beings come to this world to live and die
The lover especially dies many deaths

Cruel words and wicked barbs are hurled like spears
Again and again wounding the heart with no time to recover

A tortuous route towards that eternal truth called death
How much can the heart take after all oh beloved

In the grand scheme of things, you are the hunter and I the pray
I die a thousand deaths trapped in this snare called love!