When Water Broke All Ties

Tearless eyes gaze at the sky,
Parched lips, broken hearts
Feeble limbs and sweaty torsos.

The last drop has evaporated,
The last drop has disappeared,
In the swelter, in the heat
Gone!
Before it could be felt by any living being.

Water has broken all ties,
For the mortals had become unmindful
All bonds have been broken
For the earthlings had become careless.

The only hand pump makes an empty noise
Even the dog does not linger around it.
What is left, a bucket under it
Waiting for a drop to drop.

A strong wail comes from far away
One more takes his life away
It must be Rani's uncle,
Or Champa's husband
For the burden of life was insufferable.

Chords have been broken
Heavy price is being paid
For life giving entity was not worshiped
Was not enough caressed
And totally neglected.

Water has broken all ties,
For the mortals had become unmindful
All bonds have been broken
For the earthlings had become careless.

You Lie There....So Cold And So Still

You lie there,
so cold and so still
as those waves washed you away
on a shore far far away.

They say you were Syrian
Running away from a war torn zone.
Running away from pain, angst and horror
As you climbed on that boat.

You must have left behind many things
a favorite toy, a blue blankie
or what about that car
you had asked for your Father so stubbornly?

What were you holding
when the waves were roaring?
What lullaby did your Mother sing?
Did your Father hold you tight
and said, 'everything will be alright?'

Shed no tear
O`Little One
for millions are now shedding for you.
Far away from darkness and fear,
you lie there
so cold and so still.


 

Afternoon Readings

On most afternoons
She likes to sit with me
on that brown big couch
with cushions all around.

Selecting a book ain't that difficult
Most favorites, are on top of the stack.
First comes a croc, with a big smile
who brushes his teeth
every morning and at night.

George is crying,
and so is my Little One
For he has let go off his
dino-shaped balloon.

Reading aloud, as I read out
She isn't happy
as Bruno didn't put his toys away.

Haathi raja comes along,
and the mouse dances in his own baraat.
With all expressions
and actions
She reads along, and she reads along.

On a rainy day
Or on a sunny day
She sits next to me
and snuggles
And we have our afternoon reading sessions.

 

Would it be alright....?


She stood naked in front of a mirror,
And gazed at herself for a long time. 
She thought,
would it be alright, if she stood like this,
and looked at what she actually possessed
Something that actually belonged to her? 

Would it be alright, if she touched herself
in hundred million ways
In ways that made her feel better?  

She thought,
no burqa, no kurta today.
Just some pastel colored shorts. 
Would it be alright,
if she wore a sling top with it?

What if she painted her lips
with that sultry red. 
Yes, that red,
that deep deep red.
Would it be alright,
if she wore a mascara,
with a shimmering eye-shadow to go with it? 

She gazed into her eyes deeper and deeper
As she stood naked in front of the mirror. 
She thought,
Would it be alright,
if she flew engines in the skies,
Or be a cosmonaut
or what they say, an astronaut
And not work nine to five. 


Would it be alright,
if her womb remained empty,
and yet she be content and happy? 
Yes, she thought. 
She thought, 
as she stood naked in front of the mirror. 

She moved,
as if coming out of trance.
Saw men looking at her,
Some with lust,
And some with condemnation. 
In chorus they said,
No, it would never be alright
Never would it be alright,



    -Gauri
    21.July. 2015

Maybe....

Read this wonderful poem recently, so thought of sharing it. I don't know the name of the poet.

 MAY BE

Maybe. . we were supposed to meet the
wrong people before meeting the right
one so that, when we finally meet the
right person, we will know how to be
grateful for that gift.

Maybe . . . it is true that we don't
know what we have until we lose it,
but it is also true that we don't know
what we have been missing until it
arrives.

Maybe . . . the brightest future will
always be based on a forgotten past;
after all, you can't go on
successfully in life until you let go
of your past mistakes, failures and
heartaches.

Maybe . . you should hope for enough
happiness to make you sweet, enough
trials to make you strong, enough
sorrow to keep you human, and enough
hope to make you happy.

 Maybe . . . the happiest of people
don't necessarily have the best of
everything; they just make the most of
everything that comes along their way.

Maybe .. . . the best kind of friend is
the kind you can sit on a porch and
swing with, never say a word, and then
walk away feeling like it was the best
conversation you've ever had.

Maybe . . . happiness waits for all
those who cry, all those who hurt, all
those who have searched, and all those
who have tried, for only they can
appreciate the importance of all the
people who have touched their lives.

May be . . you should do something nice
for someone every single day, even if
it is simply to leave them alone.

Maybe . . . there are moments in life
when you miss someone -- a parent, a
spouse, a friend, a child -- so much
that you just want to pick them from
your dreams and hug them for real, so
that once they are around you
appreciate them more.

Maybe giving someone all your love
is never an assurance that they will
love you back. Don't expect love in
return; just wait for it to grow in
their heart; but, if it doesn't, be
content that it grew in yours.

Maybe .. . . you should dream what you
want to dream; go where you want to
go, be what you want to be, because
you have only one life and one chance
to do all the things you dream of, and
want to do.

MAY BE..

Yummy To The Tummy - It's Locust In My Mouth !!

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/world/europe/15bugs.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

It is of course common in Africa, Japan and Thailand to eat insects such as locusts, worms, crickets etc. as a delicacy....but now it seems to be becoming a trend in Europe too. Anyone with any experience??

At a nearby stand with a Dutch name that translated roughly as the Tasting Garden, there were more insects than garden. While shoppers gazed with puzzled looks, Mr. Van Dongen, 41, warmed up portions of an Asian vegetable dish with crickets mixed in.

Obsession With Beauty

“She is young. She doesn’t understand — it doesn’t matter if a man is scarred or ugly, he will still get a wife. But a woman must do all she can to make herself the ideal wife. Our father loves Sarita too much, that’s why he wants her to be as beautiful as she can be.” (Link)

A perfect smile, a perfect nose, fair skin, a perfect figure every boady part has to be just perfect. Manufacturing Barbie dolls.......

 the mother who came to Dr Kalda from Uttar Pradesh to get her new daughter-in-law a complete makeover of six painful procedures — a reshaped forehead, a nose-job, new cheekbones, an altered jawline (which involves breaking the jaw for remodelling), breast implants (that will need to be removed for breast feeding) and butt implants. Comments Dr Kalda, “The saas examined the girl’s naked body before marriage and brought her to me so she could be perfect for her son.” It’s the highest number of procedures the good doctor has performed on a single patient, save those who get a sex change.