Immersion

Visarjan, let go says Ganesh, 

Limited not to an idol, says son of Mahesh. 

Unconditional love involves the mind and soul,

Obsession with matter is like a missed goal.

Yet we persist in building more idols, more temples,

In these we seek solace, as forget vedic principles,  

In your heart exists God, there is no need for symbol,

Taught Valmiki and Hanuman, but we build edifices still. 

We worship form not spirit, 

We aspire for wealth not merit, 

We grab if we don't receive, 

We pretend to give, but a bargain we conceive. 

Let go your cherished possessions, 

But we of even these display grand processions.

Let go, immerse, let go petty desires, 

But more show, more noise is all we aim for, we liars. 

- Written on 27 September 2015.

- Ananth Chaturdashi. More show, more glam, more noise, more pollution, and more plans for more grandeur, more waste for more years. I wonder where God is, how He figures in this mess. :(

Go go Dodo, go, no, though, go.

Purposeful purposelessness, 

Awaiting nothingness,

Mysterious, absurd, illuminating,

Mankind's existence without meaning. 

Waiting for Godot,

Go though, though go go,
Go. No. Though. Go. Though.

Dodo, go Dodo, no go go go

Dodo dodo. Godot. Go Dodo.

Godot. Godot. Go no go. Dodo.

Dodo go go. Godot. 

Gibberish? Indeed. 

But pay heed. 

In this is hidden essense of humanity, 

We await patiently for some unknown release.

Nirvana? Perhaps. Or an illusion maybe? 

We wait, we question aimlessly, we talk pointlessly, we exist unthinkingly. 

Useless? Weird? 

Ceaseless? Relentless? Absurd? 

Out of thin air we create conversations,

We argue, exuberantly, for fleeting passions. 

We know not our own contradictions,

This is Waiting for Godot's seemingly senseless sense.

- Written on 26 September 2015
- In response to a student's question on the meaning in Waiting for Godot. 

Hail Woman's Self Sufficiency

A son, a mother's aspiration,

Born of her perspiration. 

A protector, defender, 

Killed by a man: her partner. 

A wife's tears, her anguish,

Fuels a man's desperate wish,

To but find a way to amend,

His fatal blow to a child obedient. 

A search high and low

Yields again his wife's glow.

A wise elephant's head: well chosen

Life to Death, Death to Life: a cycle's completion. 

A loving father now to his wife's first born,

Giving way to a (supposed) new dawn,

A woman's creation: the first among equals,

Another matriarchal product crowns the 'Unparalleled'. 

Loved, cherished, his history dismissed,

Adored, revered, the woman's role diminished, 

Son of Shiva, indeed! Maha Ganapati!

But remember: born only to, for, by and of Parvati. 

- Written on 17 Sep 2015. 

- Ganesh Chathurthi today. Isn't it wonderful that we legitimise Ganesh, and also Yudhishtir, Bhim, Arjun, et al, but do not accept a contemporary woman's solo choices - be they children or careers or whatever?
- Isn't it even more paradoxical that we have to take bath to worship a God created entirely of a woman's sweat and grime? 

Happy Teacher's Day

Great teachers guide, they help us thrive,
Great ones make us for knowledge strive,
They ignite in us a curiosity,
That ever makes us improve our ability.

Life long lessons they impart,
That stay with us, comfort us, aid us long after we part.
No wonder more than Gods, even parents, them we revere,
Truly they are in service without a peer.

Thank you for being a great teacher and for enriching my  life.

Happy Teacher's Day to all the teachers out there. The great ones and the ones striving to be great :)

- Written on 05 September 2015.
- Self-explanatory.

Emulate Ganesha, Not Merely Decorate

Graceful, decorated, seeming lonely,
Worthless, since these are for now empty.
But soon they too will be cherished,
When Gods in them are seated and worshipped.

Ah! The madness of this society,
Revere a deity known for simplicity,
And waste in abundance, with a kind of greed,
Even as we pretend to follow His creed.

We, His 'bhakts' destroy nature,
As more and more idols we for 10 days treasure,
Then pollute precious water,
That our sins be washed away hereafter.

No idol He worshipped, 'quick-fix solution' mark His every deed,
Yet with elaborate rituals He is ferried,
Ganesh Chathurthi arrives soon,
I wonder how He allows this doom.

Do I believe in God? - sometimes I wonder.
If this mayhem Gods allow, then what their power?
Maybe we should just look within,
And to follow Ganesha's principles now begin.

Not an idol, but His theology,
Not frenzy, but His rationality,
Not grandeur, but His chasteness,
Not loud insistence, but His quiet persistence...

If we can but try to emulate,
His principles, rather than the ornate,
Perhaps it would be a true tribute,
To the One, we all salute.

- Written on 02 September 2015
- I am already tired of seeing the decorations and the set ups. Can Ganesh Chathurthi be over already, please?