Happy New Year! - Aah 2022! Hey 2023!

Happy 2023, everyone!

Warning: Anusha's Annual Purging lies ahead. Scroll down at your own peril.

Aah, 2022! Hey, 2023!

I do not know what I can recap of the year past.

Bidding adieu to 2022 is both easy and hard

I began the year with a melody of sadness

I began the last day with gratitude and gladness

One beginning harkening parting

Another beginning of unstinting support reminding.

The world ushered in so much change too,

It opened up but again threatens to tighten the closure screw.

Much ado about the Indian origin British PM

Less so of the first tribal woman as India's President.

Trophies lifted by women and the disabled,

So much to rejoice, so many a fable.

So many memories and emotions let loose,

So many crowning moments to choose.

Yet the Ukraine war and the aftermath of the Taliban coup

Warn us that there is so much more to do.

The world is still shrouded in ignorance and misery

We are so far away from equal rights and true democracy.

Climate change fiasco looms larger than ever

While peace and education seem nebulous and health care scarier.

But onward we march with the brave,

That persistent efforts make a difference we celebrate.

Successes from seeming failures are carved,

Argentina, in FIFA, showed us how.

2022 is not about one person, one story, one smile,

Nor just about protests and votes or a defiant tribe.

It is about coming to grips with reality biting,

About checks and balances and quiet quitting.

About reassessing priorities,

And ushering in new practices and philosophies.

In other news, the Queens died.

And Trevor Noah from The Daily Show retired.

Federer and Williams bid the tennis courts adieu,

And many are confused about and by EdTech and Byju's.

There is much more, so much more, that I am omitting.

2022 has been for us all mostly harrowing:

Paradoxically, simultaneously, threatening and rewarding.

The year is gone. We are still trying to find our place.

2023 may you give us all wisdom and solace.

Happy 2023, one and all!

*India's Queen of Melodies and England's Queen Elizabeth

- Written and posted on FB and IG on 31 December 2022. - Self-Explanatory.

Describing 2022

On a personal note:

How do I describe 2022? 

Harrowing, reconnecting, saddening, welcoming, 

Limiting, uplifting, conflicting, awakening,

Weakening, bolstering, endlessly pausing, regardless charging. 

Loss of folks personally and professionally, 

Some gone forever, some by distance relatively. 

Yet there are connections new, and old ones renewed. 

I am yet to come to grips with 2022. 

I feel helpless, grateful, determined, confused. 

I began the year on a melody harkening sadness. 

I began the last day with gratitude and gladness. 

Hopefully 2023 can help me process

The lessons 2022 introduced but let me not focus.

- Written on 31 December 2022. 
- Self-Explanatory 

Processing 2022

Processing 2022 is hard

I am glad the year is past.

Two years of being at home

Vistas opened and I was travel-prone.

I missed some moments crucial

While I regret not, it still packed a punch brutal.

Moments of remembering

Memories worth treasuring

Trying to NOT mention 'someone' 

When so much of me is moulded by Mom

Yet, life moves on, as she would be the first to say,

So I will try to recollect other D-Days.

- Written on 24 December 2022. 
- Self-Explanatory as I tried imagining writing a New Year poem. This year, I was not sure, I could. 

Shamadaan 2022

The First Invite (26 November 2022)

Welcome One, Welcome All

We will gather in the Old Conference Hall.

At 9:00 PM sharp on Sunday night

To listen as folks reveal the pen's might. 

The Poetry Reading session 

Is to be inclusive and fun

Languages, forms, no bar on them

All we ask for is imagination and patience.

Your voice, your choice

This Sunday night we rejoice.

Ek shyam shaayari ke naam

Chalo de den iss weekend ko ek khubsurat anjam. 

Let us know if you are interested in reading poetry. 

Please DM Shreyasi for details.

The Second Invite (27 November 2022) 

We will gaze at stars tonight

See Saturn and Jupiter and their moons satellite.

We will also read poetry in darkness

Share away your thoughts deepest.

In English or Hindi or Tamil or Assamese

Your own writing or some poet's piece.

At 9:00 PM sharp, today, we will gather

On CETE's terrace stars and poems we bring together.

Come one, come all,

Art is science and science art :)

A Recap of the Night 

Thoughts and emotions merged

Some budding poets emerged

Some performed for the first time

Some had published many a rhyme. 

Malyalees wrote in English and Hindi

For shuruat toh karna hai kahin and kabhi

We also heard Malwi, Bengali, Marathi and some Urdu and Punjabi. 

And met through some, members of their family. 

Grandmothers speaking of importance of teachers,

Fathers almost belatedly wishing mothers, 

Some recited poems by their friends and professors, 

Yet others gave life to borrowed lines as performers. 

Some poems sang, while some recited songs

Elvis Presley to Kabir to Faiz Ahmed we heard them all. 

Romance was in the air, so was activism

What inspires is that all were made so very welcome. 

Thank you all for an evening/night of poetry

For opening/entering portals of linguistic wizardry.

- Written on 26 and 27 November 2022. 

- Shamadaan was poetry reading and star gazing night combined on the terrace of the CETE office organised for Rachana Winter School fellows on 27 November 2022. 

Circa 1997 and 2022

Circa 2022:

Today I dreamt again of some conversations long past

But the impact they have had on me will life long last.

Circa 1997: 

I came back home after a walk

Friends of mine had gone to Carter Road for a repast.

Amma asked if I'd noticed how my friend protected me

Walking on the road side with a hand at the back guiding me

I was careless as I talked

Would not notice vehicles or people who would my path block

He gently nudged me hither-thither

I noticed not till Amma made me ponder.

Then every walk was a treasure

Of finding moments of care that let me not blunder

I learnt to appreciate better the friendship so generously offered

Irreverent as he was, to us friends his alert care he always proffered.

I learnt from him to notice and act

For other friends to be on the roadside track

I learnt that gifts of these moments are treasures rare

For caring is a gift, if just one could dare.

Less self-centred, more selfless

Eases burdens, adds to life's preciousness.

But it was Amma who helped me notice

The many acts of love that I took for granted as due service

The noticing made me strive to improve 

To be worthy of being a friend when I did nothing much you could approve.

My friends taught me what was being loving and giving

By constantly helping me, in return nothing asking

Even my company had so many restrictions

They accepted them all as a part of me, not afflictions.

Circa 2022

Blessed am I for friends like these,

And for a mother who got me to these see.

- Written on 20 November 2022. 
- A close friend from college who knows who he is. A journey of 25 years and going strong. 

Birthdays Without you

And dawns the first birthday without you

Missing the scoldings and warnings that irrespective rang through. 

No we do not celebrate birthdays or such, 

But even without ado, at least one fav dish was there to munch.

Through all the scoldings, one activity to please (more tease) the birthday boy

Memories of those moments will never die.

You are missed, but also know

We are stronger as days unfold

The best gift you gave us was strength

Through trials and tribulations to not break but mend.

To remember that a paratha can be as good as cake

That candles can be blown any day

That people are special not events or days

That support is best that trusts you to any situation face.

So this day is just another day

To remember that you cared not shine or rain

Scoldings were a must, egos needed to bite the dust, 

So in quiet moments we smile gleefully, your scoldings we do not lust 😂

- Written on 13 November 2022. 
- Self-Explanatory: K's Birthday. Amma not there. 

Happy Diwali 2022

Deepavali, the festivity of lights

Shining on us grace and delight. 

Sweets and crackers make us beam

Snacks and sparklers fill us with glee.

Groan we might of weight gained after, 

But meeting loved ones are moments treasured.

But spare a thought to the needy folks

Dresses and books and food they need more. 

Gifting culture is a part of Diwali, 

But make it not a mere business deed. 

Let us give of ourselves and ours

Not just today, but all waking hours. 

To make this world a better place

To strive for equity, not privilege. 

Be it Ram's return or Krishna's victory,

All celebrate freedom from ignorance and slavery.

The demon is not Ravan nor Narkasura

It is the lust for more: be it wealth or power.

Fighting for others underlies most mythology.

The triumph over greed is the story of Diwali.

Light our way out of ignorance. 

Light our way out of petulance. 

Light our way to perseverance. 

Light our way to excellence. 
Light our way to tolerance.

Light our way to benevolence.

Happy Diwali 2022!

- Written on 24 October 2022. 
- Self-Explanatory. 

A wish I got for this Diwali that I would like to cherish from Tigi

Hope your future is brighter and healthier then your past. Pray your future has love, respect and acceptance than you do deserve. May you smile the way you would have loved to. Cheers.

Story of Maharashtra school libraries' a-telling.

A rich tapestry of ideas and a united perspective

'What is a library? What books in our childhood did we read?

What use of books and space? 

With what tools do we all these trace?

Who might give answers to what?

FGD, Interviews, to survey or not?

Peripheral and the centre intertwined such

The study became larger and yet retained focus.

Busy folks, ill ones, all joined forces, 

Shared ideas and promises of more resources

Another meeting suggested

In-person interaction requested

This was such a wonderful beginning

Of the story of Maharashtra school libraries' a-telling. 

- Written on 27 Sep 2022. 
- We had just begun a new research study on the status of libraries in Government elementary schools in Maharasthra. 

The Need for Sleep

A thought revolves each day

Hovers, tempts, berates

Thookam thevaiya?

Jhopechi garaj aahe ka?

Ki ninda di lora hai?

Kya sona zaroori hai? 

Urrakkam avasayamene?

Le sommeil est-il nécessaire?

No matter how it is asked or the times-a-many

My body responds, 'Yes, indeed!'

It shuts down with my laptop on

And refuses to wake up as alarms gong.

It walks slow, thinks slow,

Stays on in sleep zone.

It is a hungry beast

At least 8 hours of rest it feeds. 

- Written on 21 September 2022. 
- Overheard a conversation between students at TISS and came up with this later on. 

Twin Power (Adi Adu)

- win power rocks this land

With hugs and smiles they play their hand.

Winning hearts, they slay battles,

Parting from them, the heart rattles.

They talk, they read, they puzzles solve,

They sing, they dance, they unite all. 

They write comics dark yet with sunny bees, 

They write prophesies of grit and peace. 

They love Gobi Manchurian and mangoes

They are adorable even in midst of mosquito woes. 

It feels too soon to say goodbye, 

Adi and Adu to meet you again soon I will try. 

Stay well, stay safe, stay happy

- Written on 18 July 2022. 
- Was saying farewell to Adi-Adu in Chennai. 

Being Alive

Being alive. What does it mean?

Shallow breaths and head splitting?

Ache and dizziness with every movement? 

Nausea that even water elicits?

Sounds, sights, smells make no impression. 

To register anything feels an achievement. 

Is that being alive, immersed in yourself, 

Floating somewhere in cotton world?

Ah! Bliss. Scored finally. 

Meds obliterate thoughts, focus, personality. 

What pain? Nothing can penetrate

Guilt, worry, deadlines. Everything fades.

 And then you wake up, drenched, drained.

The head throbs as an unmatchable refrain.

Which is better? Which is being alive?

Would you choose suffering or rather die?

It is a choice I have had to make often times

I forego meds that rob me of my mind

What use comfort if there is nothing of you

In that body on the bed, just a shell that is called you?

- Written on 11 August 2022. 
- Had been unwell for sometime and was in a bad shape with a new training to go to in Assam on 15 August. Was worried. 

CLIx Growing

Propped up by meds, I enter the training

A new state for CLIx, we are growing.

I wonder if I will have energy to sustain

There is no one but me for this phase.

Then we begin to converse, building rapport

Concerns are the same in education wherever you go.

Students do not talk in English, they are shy

Afraid of failing, loss of face, they do not try.

They lack vocabulary and grammar know-how. 

- Written on 20 August 2022
- Went to Assam on 15 August for 2 weeks of training. Had been a harrowing month with illness and tiredness and meds. How I managed, I dunno. 

(Happy) Ganesh Chathurthi 2022

This year has been a tad difficult. 

I want to remember, yet not, 

So many challenges, the tiredness, the near rot

The many helping hands and hugs, the will to move on. 

O Obstacle Slayer, to pray to you, I first learnt. 

Your stories I heard galore,

You seemed too good to be true, I deplored :)

With your brother I sympathised, though you no ill-will I bore.

Today, no one is around to remind me of your birthday. 

Not that I celebrated, but there is an ache. 

So from them to you, Ganesha, revel away,

Have plenty, make merry, this is your day, have your say.

- Written on 31 August 2022. 
- Self-Explanatory. 

Happy Teacher's Day! 2022

The last two years showed your grit,

As challenges you overcame with wit.

While schools have reopened,

The learning loss persists.

We have yet miles to go

Before our dreams in reality exist.

We know you will, as you always have,

Strive, persevere, make a difference in students lives.

We take this moment to celebrate you,

To commend, applaud all that you relentlessly do.

- Written on 4 Sep 2022. - Self-Explanatory.

P. E. N. D. I. N. G.

P. E. N. D. I. N. G.

So many tasks unending. 

The road so long, the skies grim, 

Work chokes, eyes brim. 

Even as one sits to write

The mind summons points trite. 

And even that gets not typed

As calls come in with matters hyped.

L. A. S. H. I. N. G.

It seems every moment one takes a beating. 

The world seems against one

As events unravel, things get undone.

P. E. N. D. I. N. G.

That word keeps looming.

Threatening. Sleep depriving.

The word keep taunting.

It is difficult to keep breathing.

Panic is onsetting.

P. E. N. D. I. N. G.

Life is on hold: A thing of past this living.

Joy in work: A thing of past anything fulfilling. 

Pride in professionalism: a gone case.

Quality: A dream so nebulous, no longer need to chase.

P. E. N. D. I. N....

- Written on 4 July 2022.

- Self-explanatory. I do not even want to list all that is due. I seem to be doing something all the while and accomplishing / finishing nothing. Some feat. 

The Best Place

Home is a feeling not just a place, 

The feeling of comfort and love and being safe.

It is the sheer acceptance of loved ones,

The readjusting of schedules in silence. 

Acceding to a different palate, different tastes. 

Late night talks despite a hectic work pace. 

Thoughtful planning to take precious offs,

Sharing, probing, caring through interactions all.

Letting be, letting in the other into one's personal space.

A place to belong, people warm: a home, when you find it, is the best place.

Thank you for sharing your home with me.

It has become mine too in my memories. :)

- Began on 7 June. (1st 4 lines). Completed on 11 June 2022 the rest.

- I had something else in mind, but some turbulence in the plane took my mind away. 

- This is inspired by my primary hosts in the City of Joy. 

The True Gifts

Memories are made in moments

Silly, mundane, and the fun ones

Through late night conversations,

Groans at bad, very bad, puns.

Noonish jaunts to shops

And buying sprees that hunger halts

Ice creams and kulfis

And late night soirees.

Trips to old haunts,

Bits of a recaptured past.

Co-opting members unwilling or not

Even silences speak a lot. 

Singing sessions (and screeching ones too)

A short stay, so much to do. 

Through all the grumblings, moanings and teasings

One realises afresh one's blessings

So many people to love and cherish

These precious moments: the true gifts.

- Written on 5 June 2022.

- Post a family dinner out with 05 cousins and their families at Barbeque Nation, Acropolis, Kolkata.

The trip 2-7 June has been awesome despite not being well and doped on meds. 

A New Angel in Heaven

A smile on her face and greeted us at the door. 

I looked away blinking furiously at the floor. 

I could still not believe 

We had come to grieve

The death of one so young, sweet sixteen. 

The garland around the photo frame needed to be seen.

She hugged me tight, I hugged her tight too.

I had lost someone recently, but this loss should be taboo.

How does one lose a child and cope?

Yet, as I knew she would, she showed.

With grace, with tears, with smiles and memories

Of cakes baked, videos shared and dogs and puppies.

At the door she sent us off, recommending bird watching. 

I remembered that flamingoes in Aztec tradition represent healing. 

I prayed the family may together find peace

Also a note to an angel above to lovingly guide the new one be at ease.

- Written on 21 May 2022.

- A friend, an ex-colleague, lost her daughter in a freak accident. We went to visit her. 

Mizoram - May 2022

It was misty, it rained, it was windy

But people trudged on willingly. 

Helping, up the hill scrambling

Clicking, posing, admiring, chattering.

The beauty of Mizoram is to be seen in person

The cold winds and warm people is a wonderful combination

Today as we climbed down I thought

This camaraderie can never with the same set again be got

As I mulled, I became sad

The views then soothed me glad

I have said this before

Memories stay, even if people go.

'Till we meet again' sang Team Mizoram

'I hope soon' sang my heart in response.

Will miss you MZ and MZ Team (old and new)

Oh! I so hate to bid adieu.

- Written on  14 May 2022.

- Work trip that was filled with so much pleasure. 

#Mizoram #CLIx #nature #beauty #ReikTlang #Aizawl #TeamBuilding

Posted on FB first

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10158175266861230&id=692626229

Mother's Day 2022

Mother's Day!

She taught me to ponder, to question, to fight. 

She taught me to speak up and not compromise. 

She taught me to revel even in small glories of life

She taught me to see the inconsistencies, the humour in strife. 

Death or Life is what one makes of it. 

The beginning is an end and the end a beginning.

She taught me to respect myself before others.

She taught me self worth was the best among all treasures. 

She taught me to improve, she criticised like hell.

Oh the times we had when at each other we yelled!

The next minute was tea time and we were at peace.

She taught me to compartmentalise thus with ease. 

"She is gone, you must miss her," people say.

But I can still hear her tell me that I am turning her hair more grey 😂

She has left a legacy that I cannot live up to

But then I am only making her words come true. 😜

"Potential wasted", "Head up in clouds" 

Her voice still resounds. 

But I know I can go onward for she gave me hope and faith. 

She taught me there was nothing that could stand in my will's way. 

She taught me that we never really fail. 

She taught me to chart my own path as I set sail. 

I can never be as good as her. 

I also did not learn all from this teacher. 

But we had loads of fun along the way. 

And people may go, but memories stay.

So thank you, Amma, for so many gifts

Treasured moments, togetherness even admist rifts. 😁

For teaching, persevering, challenging, 

For befriending, supporting, understanding. 

May you be free (in all senses) now

Wherever you are, take a bow 😜

For this too a scolding; I can construct the litany. 

But hey, it is a free world, and you taught me to push boundaries. 😜😂

- Written through 7 night -8 morning May 2022.

- Self-explanatory. 

Celebrate: This is not a loss.

'How do you feel?' 

'Be not strong, let go', say people

But the legacy left me is courage

To try, to smile, even when afraid.

To accept gracefully

Fate's decree. 

To not lament one's lack. 

To focus on blessings had. 

To strive to be better. 

To not let limitations deter.

Some who know me, know

How I have had to 'go with the flow':

To struggle to even walk,

To hold a pencil or to even talk. 

Through dark times and the times of happiness

Mom was a powerhouse relentless. 

Do I miss her? I know not.

I can still hear her at me scoff. :)

Maybe when memory fades

When of her voice, her face, there is just a faint trace.

Then I will mourn the distance. 

For now she is painfree. 

Charting her new path and as usual making merry. 

For now I am glad she won her toss. 

On her terms came death: Celebrate. This is not a loss.

- Written through 23-28 April 2022.

- Self-explanatory. 

Amma — Kamala Ramanathan

Sometimes words fail

For emotions are complex, thoughts frail.

A flat line can say a lot,

Gone. Breathed her last.

A relief from all the pain for her. 

For newer, better pastures, checked out of earth.

As people recount their favourite memories

I realise afresh her rich legacy:

A life well lived

With amazing grace and grit.

She was fading anyway

She to a shell was changed.

So, this is release.

May she be at peace,

Long lost, hard won. 

Cheers to my friend, my teacher number one.

Amma - Kamala Ramanathan

16 Sep 1951 - 20 April 2022: Earth journey marked done.

- Written on 20 April 2022 

- Self-explanatory. 

May whoever gets her eyes and skin stay blessed.

The End of an Era

The end of an era,

The end of Lata

The beloved voice of India

Irreplaceable, revered, multi-talented womaniya.

From the tumri to the ghazal,

From pop to classical

Her voice mesmerized

She sang and we rejoiced.

She could bring us a tear

She could emote pity and fear

She could make us laugh

She could inspire us to strive hard.

Itni shakti hume dena daata was an assembly prayer

For greatness, to better oneself she made us care. 

She took us on a journey of Ajeeb dastaan

Never wanted it to end, this beautiful samaa.

Romance was defined by the voice of this spinster

Tragedy to comedy she added to all intricate layers.

 

Her awaaz is her pehchaan

Ti gaati kiti chaan, ti hasti mahaan. 

With 50,000 songs in 14 languages

She has won the world through all ages. 

Bharat Ratna to Padma Bhushan

Awards could not catch up with this talent.

Death too cannot win, for she is legend.

Lata Mangeshkar, you will live on in the songs we listen.

- aWritten on 6 Feb 2022.

- Self-explanatory. 

Happy New Year - 2022

Happy 2022 Everyone!

_________________________________

For my annual diatribe read ahead. I really have not much to recap this year, though. There are more personal or local memories than global / national  ones currently. 

2021 - Goodbye time is at last here

You gave us hope and so much fear

You carried the 2020 legacy

You built on the pandemic driving us crazy

As more vaccines arrive in the market

More variants continue the lockdown effect.

Each time we thought the wave was done

You gave us a grander, newish one.

You have changed forever some of our industries

Not that it helped address climate change activities. 

Ripples will be felt for many a generation

As school children seem to socialise and learn have forgotten. 

Resilience is a word that we learnt to live

We again saw medics give and give. 

Essential workers have been our heroes

Sanitation workers, teachers, couriers - each the world so much owes. 

As families were locked in, neighbours stepped in

A new society, new ways perhaps has set in

Our world has both contracted and expanded

Home and work can they ever be now be separated? 

Protests work proved farmers as they fought steadily

The Left is still the choice of the Keralite and the Bengali

Sports is still dominated by news of Kohli

21 years later Ms Universe is from India happily.

Taliban rule in Afghanistan - a blow to democracy

The attempted coup in America - more evidence of fragility. 

2021 you have not been kind, 

There is so much to tell, but no words I find

As cases rise, we are never free

Of the vaccines and boosters' unending story

Events galore and yet just one lore

Covid-19 is still at the fore

Omicron, RTPCR, lockdown, section 144, isolation

These words have become a part of everyday conversation.

We are so weary as we ring you out

We so very much want to the pandemic rout.

2022, may you bring us cheer

May we see in-person our near and dear

May the world be healthy and safe

May education never ever again await

May peace and prosperity reach all

May happiness be your clarion call.

- Written on 31 December 2021.

- Self-explanatory. I am so very tired. I had a million events (it seemed) to record and I lost the thread as Omicron cases kept rising.