When God created music

 

When God created music,

When God created song,

Did He know what went wrong?

Why is there a cry

In every song?

Why is there

A love that hurts

In every symphony?

Thank God it was Friday

This is a city dwellers's response to Robert Frost's  'Roadside Stand'.

When the night is no longer young,

And I walk into the night,

My ears sharpen:

A distant, eerie wail of a dog,

The bang of his staff

By the chowkidar,

The last shift returning in shared taxi

From the beehive,

I fill my lungs

With tattered smoke

Still there is a drowsy hope

In the hazy air,

Thank God it was Friday.

I return home.

*chowkidar: watchman

The Silos of Men and Machines

 

Excerpt from the script of a talk that Lt Gen Satish Nambiar delivered on Saturday 23rd July 2022 at Defence Colony, New Delhi, commemorating Kargil Diwas.

'Hence maintenance of a credible military capability is imperative. Such a capability cannot be built on procurement of weapons and equipment alone. It has to be anchored on human resources - the apolitical Indian Armed Forces - that need to be respected and well cared for in times of peace.'

In an earlier post, I had said that men and machines are an inalienable mix in the Forces. The Capital Outlay cannot be in separate silos of  men and machines. Yesterday's unfortunate death of two young pilots owing to the MIG crash is just one more example of destinies of  men and machines being irretrievably intertwined in the Forces. As many veterans and others have said in various fora and platforms, the operational effectiveness will plummet if either's robustness is degraded.

That said, it is unfortunate that we have started using Coporate language in our Forces: human resources for human beings is just one example. Equally, we think nothing when Army's idioms are adopted nonchalantly by the Corporates: in the line of fire, I am with you in the trenches, last man standing, etc. In my view, language is very important for a discerning perspective. Demeaning and dilution of our idioms will, in the end, erode the truth and pithiness of our idioms. It will germinate within the public a perception that just as Managers in the Corporate world manage their teams, junior leaders in the Army can manage their subordinates (read Agniveers) to their death.

We know that it is impossible to stop someone from using a particular idiom or phrase. But, we can call out a person whenever someone in the civvy street utters our sacred idioms offhandedly. Social media is powerful, and let's fight them where it hurts them the most: in the social media, in metaverse.

Or, blink together

 

Those with eyes 

That don't well up,

Blink first.

Love hurts,

So, for once,

Let's tear up,

Or, blink together.

The source of rain

 

You are beautiful within,

You are beautiful without,

What you think is stain,

Is just remains of pain.

Those dark clouds above?

They are the source of rain,

To wash away your pain.

His head in the sky!

 

Does Happiness lurk,

When he goes for work,

On a recycled holiday,

On a bicycled Sunday?

My, my!

His head in the sky!

Just let me be

 

I lost my way,

I lost my day,

Some would say,

Still others would say.

But my soul is free,

My heart is glee,

So let me be,

Just let me be.

Why horse trading will come down.

We are told that during the next round of discussions on GST, it will be proposed to bring under the GST umbrella horse-trading and rent-a-cause activism. Of course, it's a no-brainer that stable owners and rent-a-cause activists are up in arms.

What colours of Him

 

What colours of her,

What colours of him,

What colours of Him,

'Tis, as if a Hymn.

End of the Return boom

 

Good days will end soon,

End of the Return boom

Is coming soon.

GST on Return, shall be,

On things you wear, try and see,

Things on Amazon you have bought,

Things where refund you sought,

Same with Myntra and Flipkart,

Or any startup, or upstart.

Declare without favour or fear,

Misogynistic is the idea.

Now, rush the well of the House,

Activists click the digital mouse,

Keep GST on milk and kheer,

Even on curd and paneer,

But NO GST on Return,

NO GST on Return.

After my loss of pain

 

After my loss of pain,

Or my gain of joy,

When I sometimes say,

'God is kind',

I equally wonder if 

God is of a kind.

What of those

Who are still in pain,

And are yet bereft of joy?

Immersed in reflected light

 

The boats that ran aground,

Wait for the supermoon,

Wait for the high tide

To lift all boats.

Some people wait,

To be drenched and immersed

In reflected light.

God had patented laughter

 

Laughter was the best medicine.

Well, God had patented it,

And, through His patent

Had made divine money too,

Till the pharmas took over,

And made laughing gas.

Even the other side was on his side

 

The Universe was on his side,

Even the other side was on his side,

Save for one, of course,

And, that's all that counted.

The writing on the wall

 The writing on the wall,

Is only a graffiti.

I am searching for paintings:

On the walls of the caves,

On the pillars of the metro,

On the pillars of the flyovers,

On the murals of buildings,

On the sky with a rainbow.

A heart is torn

A new day is born,

Sounds a lonely foghorn,

Gods take a side,

A heart is torn,

Grows a pain unborn.

To the fog yonder,

Goes a soul forlorn. 

कैसे हो?

 

किसीने पूछा, 'कैसे हो?'

मैंने कहा, 'बाकी ठीक है, बस global warming, recession, Russia-Ukraine war और fog चल रहा है।'

Double Whammy for the Constipated

 

Angels make the paths

 

There are no paths

From the beginning of time.

Angels make the paths.

So, there is no path

Which the angels fear to tread.

All the paths I choose

Are blessed,

Whether less travelled,

Or more.