Enigma

At times I laud my strength
It gets me to walk the length
And reach for the stars.
Even a leaden sky
Fails to halt my stride
As I venture afar
One day I want to stop
But I can't pull out sops.

At times I rue my strength
The years and years spent
Riding waves merrily
In a playful mood I was god
in mortal frame, omniscient
Till I slow down pace, wearily
Then one day I want to stay
I turn, but the shore's far away.

At times I curse my strength
It makes me blunder on
Treading where angels fear to go
Turning my days wrong
When I look for staff to lean
All shoulders turn away
"She's strong, she'll live
She has the ways and means."

Charaiveti Charaiveti

Charaiveti, Charaiveti
The journey goes on
Mountain or river
Desert or ocean
Each a sojourn:
The journey goes on.

A friend or a lover
All lives under cover
The din or the song:
The journey goes on.

Gladness and sadness
These moments of madness
They die once born:
While the journey goes on.

The path is the joy
Pleasure unalloyed
That walking along
As the journey goes on;
The journey goes on.

Adieu

I came as a stranger
wide-eyed, apprehensive
waiting for experience:
I leave as friend
bits of pain in heart
leaving afledgling life:
in between the learning
of venturing out alone
of witnessing truths
of different worlds lived;
I carry with me
memories of mountains
and plains and bad lands
a few slices of hurt
at injustice done,
a few sparkling gems
of moments of laughter
of connect and thought
like meals partaken
from a single platter:
the winds will blow
the sun will shine
when I'm gone
and when snow comes,
under those white blankets
I did not wait to see
I hope I leave behind
a snuggle of warmth
for you and me.

Senseless

Gossip and chatter
and words that dont matter
a sackful of useless"wills",
or a smatter of chit chat
from minds that wont still;
A humdrum refrain
with nothing to gain
just thousands of slaves
who live in their graves
as days march by, unheeding,to die
in skirmishes that last
to the kill.

Comings and goings
and meaningless bowings
gestures and postures
in day to day matters
a blot or a spatter
no healing, no dealing
as water goes spilling
from overfilled pots
seeking to fill;
abandonned, forgotten
or just plain and wanton
ending it all in nil. 

সখীর কথা

শোন লো সই, রাইকিশোরী

তুই কেন কেঁদে মরিস?

যাক না কানু মথুরা ধাম,

মোহন বাঁশি লুটাক ধূলায়

রাজার মুকুট উঠুক মাথায়, 

যমুনা তট ডাকবে রাধা নাম।

প্রেম পিরিতি আমারা বুঝি

হিয়ার মাঝারে অগাধ পুঁজি

সে কি জানে না মূল্য অনুমানে,

তাই যায় সে চলে কাজের ছলে

থাকে ভুলে গোপী কুলে

কপট প্রেম ভরা তার প্রাণে।।

Fetid Fear

Fears bubble up like sewer water
from overflowing gutters
fetid, unsaoury fears;
tip toeing over unpleasant flow
I walk a mile, trying to forget.
That smell lingers
in hair, on clothess and body
overwhelming; spotting
lush meadows with
patches of hell
centirfugal and centripetal
commitment and freedom
act simultaneously
crush and pulse in each heartbeat
A dream of ife: a life of dreams.
At fifteen a wait-
Prince charming is on his way
strong arms ready to whirl away
Then at twenty two
a quivering heart anticipates
a blossimg into full blown lotus;
Twenty nine or may be thirty
the dye is cast and mold set
in unbreakable steel
imperishable stone
no one could tell:
hidden aspirations
submerged desires
worked a wonder
corroding, gnawing from within
and a butterfly left chrysalis;
till fear ripped out
ephemeral wings.

Suitcaseful of Memories

As I left home I cried.

My tears flowed for

The three odd decades

I spent there;

For each moment of turning

That house into a home;

For dreams of permanence

Of love reciprocated

Of wishes fulfilled.

My tears swelled with memories

Of shared laughter,

Of joy of setting up house;

Of arguments and quarrels

Of coming and going

Of friends and foe

Now carried away

In twin suitcases

To be dumped carelessly.

Unstoppable tears

That ran in rivulets

Down exhausted cheeks

Let loose from a rock heart

Evidence of years of

Dammed up emotions

Behind closed eyelids

A kaleidoscope of thoughts

Past, present future

Colours mingling randomly.

And time passed with the flowing
Visible tears subsided
Deep within to etch
Ravines in splintered heart
With ghosts from life long past
Incarcerated.

Silent Revolt

Sita was never weak or in need of protection
Yet you drew that Lakshman Rekha around her
to protect her you say; a niggle of doubt lingers-
was it not to limit her, to bind her to your ways?
You feared she'd stray away from paths you prescribed.
I hear your protest, your unspoken outrage
for you went to do her bidding, the manly thing to do
Why not let her go chase her own Golden Deer
run wild and free in joy, taste excitment
stumble, fall, conquer her own kingdoms.
Sita knew your ploy: she stepped out
She was not the helpless one
crying to the world for resscue.
She was woman enough to leave a trail
Her new found fire kept Ravana at bay.
But after the battle you reclaimed her body
That walk through fire you demanded
released her soul, set her free
And in the end she remained untouched
unclaimed and unclaimable for evermore.
You and I, the trampled people
bear her legacy of silent revolt
your boundaries as useless as her Lakshman Rekha
Your pretence of concern revealed
in each false move we recognize
Those walks through fire
those trials release her spirit
to keep us unclaimed, unclaimable.