Why does the sky weep?

 

Why does the sky weep?

When the world is fast asleep?

Who cares!

And, what the (global warming) devil!

Only raises the sea level,

One sliver of joy at a time.

 

How do you gather so much happiness?

One sliver of joy at a time.

In the eyes of the heart

 

If He made

All things bright and beautiful,

He should have made

All folks equally handsome n tall.

Wouldn't need no beauty pageants,

No Indian Idol Season three or four.

No need for Fair and Lovely,

No need for the beauty store.

Beauty wouldn't be skin deep then,

Would be matter of the heart,

Wouldn't be in the eyes of the beholder,

Would be in the eyes of the heart.

Mankading in Cricket

 

Yesterday, we saw Ms Deepti Sharma mankading Ms Dean in the 3rd One Day cricket match between India and England.  In cricket, mankading has come to mean running out the non-striker by the bowler if she crosses the non-striker's crease even before the bowling action is completed. For years, such an action by the bowler was considered not in the spirit of the game. But now, such an action by the bowler is considered legit by Cricketing Rules.

What is our views on what happened yesterday? 

If we take the English reaction out of the equation,  where do we stand? We know that the English whine a lot. Their whining about Maradona's 'Hand of God' will probably go on into the next century. But, so what? Clearly, such whining has nothing to do with our own response, does it? If the tables were turned, and Ms Dean did a mankading on Ms Deepti, would we accept such an action with equanimity?

In my view, the rules need to change. Running off even before the bowler's action is complete should count as a short run; just as a short run is declared when the bat doesn't cross the crease while batters take a run. And, just to make sure that a recognised batter doesn't cross over to shield a tail ender, status quo ante should be preserved, as far as batting ends are concerned. Of course, such short run will have to be auto-detected by technology; just as we do in the case of a no-ball.

She has stepped in

 

She has stepped in,

Shubho Mahalaya!

Doodling starts with age

 

This is in the context of Google throwing open a doodling competition for students up to Grade 10, and that a pair of judges in the competition happen to be youtube influencers.

Hey Google!

We can also doodle,

And, we have a wish,

For our country,

Twenty five years hence.

We want no prizes, though,

Let the youtube influncers

Triage the entries:

Good, bad and aimless.

But, just let us in.

We may have a blemish,

That we are senior citizens,

Still, we have a wish,

That twenty five years hence,

Our country will let us doodle.

After all, aimless sketching,

Called doodling,

Starts with age.

The Devil in the details

The world said:

The devil was in the details,

So, I scanned only the headlines.

But God wasn't there either.

No news was good news,

In more ways than one. 

Let's go online

 

I have mooted the idea that the Supreme Court (indeed, all courts), the Parliament, the Ministries, should go online. 

Whether a litigant is in Port Blair or Rann of Kutch or Walong or Sopore or Delhi or wherever, she will be equidistant to the Supreme Court. There is no great advantage to the litigants for the Supreme Court to be situated in Delhi. 

Whether a constituency of a H'ble Member is in Srinagar or Palaghat or Ukhrul or Diu, it would make no difference in terms of travel to the seat of democracy, if the Parliament goes online. The H'ble Member will be able to be in her constituency for her entire tenure. Indeed, there will be no rushing to the Well of the House, no filibustering, no sloganeering. Everyone will speak in her time, else the H'ble Speaker (read, the host of the online meeting) can just mute the mic of the errant Member.

Similarly, Ministries can just go on line. When required, the boss and subordinate can have online meetings: no need for elaborate buildings, support staff, and the rest of the retinue. It gives no advantage to the citizens of India, if the Ministries are situated in Delhi. In any case, all support to the citizens have gone online in the nic.gov.in domain. 

Let's go online.

Freedom grows

 

Like the phirki in the wind,

Like the wind in your hair,

Like a kite without tether,

Like a softly floating feather,

Freedom grows.

Which camp am I?

Some say, Time flies,

Others say, Time stands still.

Which camp am I?

Well,

Only Time will tell. 

Carbon footprint of the House of Windsor

 

It is said that the carbon footprint of the House of Windsor increased exponentially because of the Kohinoor. After all, whatever the size of a diamond, it is still Carbon.

19. The pot, wall, etc., are all nothing but clay. Likewise, the entire universe is nothing but Brahman. This is proclaimed by Vedanta.

-Sri Sankara in Brahmajnanavalimala

Souls and their wish

 

I took a screenshot

Of the Universe,

And sent it for peer review.

My peers said

The shot was fake;

There weren't any stars

In the screenshot,

Only souls, and their wish.

But isn't that the raw data?

The Universe is made of

Souls, and their wish.

It will go on

When my laughter is like your breath,

It will go on.

When my smile is like your scent,

It will go on. 

Breakfast after Noon meal

 

On Rediff landing page today. Is the breakfast the following day?

Catharsis through analysis

 

Do I have a chip

On my shoulder?

Does it grow

As I grow older?

There's one

Inside me now.

Hurt and angst

Are all recorded.

The shrink reads

The readings,

Provides catharsis

Through analysis

And I look for

A second opinion,

Because the shrink declares

All's well.

Upturn the hourglass

 

उस मोड़ से शुरु करें फिर से यह जिन्दगी

When the life is too full, just upturn the hourglass and move forward again.

A tear is a drop from raktabija

 

A tear is a drop

From raktabija,

One may fall,

And a million will sprout,

And drown the world.

Won't let it fall.

He will not miss your doorstep.

 

A friend sent this beautiful message.

I thought to myself that good that He came in a submarine in Bangalore, else He would have missed many doorsteps. Many doorsteps are submerged.

Hurt is immortal

 

Men are mortal,

Grief is immortal,

Hurt is immortal,

Therefore, love is

Immortal.

Q.E.D.

No change in the meaning of tax

During the time the pandemic had started to simmer down, on 19th January 2021, I wrote:

Fax means facsimile,

Pax means passenger,

Vax means vaccine.

No change in the meaning of Tax.

Love had no safety net

 

He fell through the cracks,

And, she never noticed.

He fell by the tracks,

And, she never noticed.

Love had no safety net,

When he fell in love.

Forgive me please

 

Come September,

And the sun's scorch

Has lost its edge,

And the cricketers,

Do not sledge.

Today is also Samvatsari,

The Jain Forgiveness Day.

No smart things for me to say.

Just:

Forgive me please.

Forgive me,

If I have hurt you:

With malice,

Or, after I had a few.

Knowingly, or unknowingly,

Let the bitterness cease,

Forgive me please.