Painting-Poesy 14 - Happy Diwali 2020

Like a long long 'ladi', news keeps bursting. 

Like the 'chakra', our heads keep spinning.

 

As the black snakes did to surfaces,

Our souls feel like deadened empty crevices.

Like a rocket launch gone wrong

We are victims of viruses strong.

But Diwali is not about crackers

Or even sweets or such markers.

The festival of lights heralds 

Truth's triumph over ignorance and the dark. 

From the great churning of the ocean came Lakshmi

So too maybe this chaos will lead to some yet unknown prosperity. 

Maybe climate change taken seriously 

Maybe values instead of economy given priority. 

Maybe with family and friends a rediscovering of humanity

Maybe love, hope, peace, a restoring of sanity. 

Diwali, the night of the new moon, 

From nothing births a fresh cycle soon. 

Diwali, a dark night, the darkest of all, 

Welcomed to teach us anew evil's fall. 

Wish Everyone a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous Diwali! 

May we share abundance, may we give plenty, 

May we celebrate equal opportunity, 

May we shine with and for compassion and liberty. 

Happy Diwali 2020!

- Written on 13 November 2020.

- Painted on 13 November 2020.

- Covid-19  and the ban on firecrackers (so very welcome) in India and the many many pieces of news that have affected us this year inspired this piece. 

Happy Birthday Karthik! 2020

Your chuckles brighten my day

Your zingers in my mind ever replay

On so many a topic, your unique take

Makes me rethink, reexamine, all that's at stake.

Your aspirations teach me to aim higher

Your quest for right makes me try better

You awe me with your focus, your kindness

Your refusal to ever settle for mundaneness.

Your dreams, your goals, I hope I can help achieve,

With you I grow and in a better tomorrow believe.

Happy Birthday, Karthik!

- Written on 13 November 2020 

- Self-explanatory 

The Blue Collar in the Hospital

Each time I am in a hospital, I am in awe

Of the dedication, commitment, of the passion raw.

The challenges of Covid-19 fought against daily,

No compromise on the treatment's quality.

The nurses have families, the ward boys too,

Some have stories of being in their buildings' taboo.

Yet they come, show concern

How can we with shame not burn?

What help we lend them, these warriors brave?

Each day they help avert dangers grave.

Checking, wiping, sweeping, mopping

Every newcomer tirelessly advising.

Protocols imposing, even as there is grumbling,

Persistently repeating, frustration sometimes revealing.

These are warriors, often cast aside,

Of the Doctors alone worship we abide.

But these sheet and dressing changers,

These rules implementers,

These frontline workers,

These are ours and the doctor's saviours.

So the next class on values and aspirations,

Should encourage participation in these vocations.

For what are we without the nurse and farmer and the sweeper?

What military, what white collar could without these prosper?

- Written on 12 Nov 2020.

- Was in hospital since an aunt had been hospitalised.