An Idle Observation. :)

What makes you feel home in a foreign land?
That when you happen to hear conversations
Across desks and cubicles
Girls always talk about weight loss
Or about insensitive boyfriends
Then they go on about the biggest sale
Or the shop around the corner of the street
That sells stylish bags

In public restrooms you always find them
Powdering their tiny, medium or almond eyes
Or brushing their golden brown or black hair
Giving each other tips
On how to not let your lips grow dry

And boys everywhere are the same
They talk about Cricket in India
And Rugby in Australia
Trying to solve the confusing riddles
Left behind with their girlfriend's perfume

Yet they are all so different
Like Mustard is from Cardamom
Like Olive oil from Peanut Butter
Same purpose, just a different flavor!

The Australian Accent

It is like words
Looking into the back of a spoon
All groggy-eyed
before breakfast.
Like words
in a boat looking
looking into the River.
Like an Electric guitar
used with classical Music
Like an egg going crazy
in an ill-fitting frying pan
Like English with a lot of warmth
and the alphabet with a lot of Beer

Keep Walking!!

I walk my way out of sleep
And I walk into the morning
I walk away from idle sloth
I walk with the birds chirping
I walk with music in my ears
And I walk for all I have got
I walk to make Peace with Anger
and I walk for a merry Thought
I walk to the Dry Cleaner's
and I walk to the Newspaper Stand
I walk on pebbles in a waterfall
and barefoot on the golden sea sand
I walk with my best friends
and sometimes I walk alone
On crunchy Autumn Leaves
Contemplative and Wind Blown
Sometimes eclipsed by too much food
and sometimes plagued by too much rain
My walks indeed are a stronger lot
for they keep coming back again..and again!
So much for two little feet
that seem to speak without talking
Destination is an excuse to catch your breath
And then you just keep on walking!

Dreams and Work.

I wear a purple Dream
And look into the glass
Does it make me look fat?
Or maybe shorter than I am?
And then I move on to something else..
Crimson,Creme and Lilac
Try on a pin with a dainty Dolphin
or switch to the loyal,slimming Black!

Some Dreams refuse to flatter my wrists
Strong, deceptively petite
Some overwhelm my tiny frame
or insult my pretty feet

And then there is a rare solace
Of fitting into an old one
Finding happiness in smaller space
That overlooks a wider horizon

Sometimes they become too much squander
Chiffons,Silks and Gold Brocade
Across glass windows I stare and wonder
If I am right in hoarding them..

Then I close my fragrant closet
And get into shirt sleeves and cargoes
My Dreams asleep with a scent of Lavender
while gladly off to work I go!

In Doubt..

What is it like to be sure?
Of what is yet to be..
Or to calmly endure
The ill-fitting pieces of Reality

How does it feel to be Certain?
of being completely right
and not have eyes for the Grey
Between the Black and White

What would it be like to make friends
With the Road and walk alone
and trust it to give a dream
across the seas and the timezones

What is it like to know
That even in this man-made Reality
of Planes, Borders and Passports
There is still much room for Uncertainty!

To Friendship

On a cold lonely night as the goofy owl sings
With a dream shattering din
My antique cell phone Rings

Out of a dream or a nightmare
As you make me walk
Stiffly aware
For my best Pep Talk

Or break into my solitudes
Dragging me out of half written preludes
Confirming, without my consent that poetry just deludes

Come to say hello on a crisp rainy eve
And past midnight over me loom
As pajamas and socks for you, I retrieve
You blissfully litter my freshly laundered room

Different hearts with one soul
Digging ice cream from one messy bowl
Unaware of Lifetimes, Oblivious to the Whole

Is it you, or just that I forgo
The critique and the doubt in me
Spring clean the vaults of my Ego
And laugh a laugh of Eternity?


What makes it so deep, really doesn’t matter
That is not what I would like to go after
As long as this moment keeps getting better!

Hiccup

Just as I try to speak
Time stops in anticipation
My heart skips an odd beat
Eyes well up in exasperation
Groping for a moment
That would let me finish my words
Waiting for the torment
To pass and lift the curse
Amidst helpless heartache
She comes when she is due
When I expect her to break
She comes back all renewed
Gulp down sugar and water
Swift, sickening and sweet!
But she outshines and persists
Like a regular drum beat
Think of the dew-kissed jasmine
Or of white hermit peaks
The poetic escapes intercepted
By rhythmic, ridiculous squeaks
Eons go by without hope
It’s easy to leave her alone
Just as I get used to her
I realize that she is gone
Then there is nothing to fuss over
Like a piece of gum or snuff
She leaves a bittersweet longing
The harmless, wicked Hiccup!

July 17th

Don’t judge me by what I write
For all you know I just might
Turn over to the other side
And still sound like I am right

On some days I may tell you
That I am tired of being so persistently blue
And on some, so delirious with joy
That I will get sick of it too

Don’t love me because I hurt
Or I am lost in a maze without a clue
Don’t try to pull me out of it
For I just might hurt you too!

There is no dependable woman in me
That you seek so religiously
In every girl stepping over
Into her foremothers’ legacy

I can sense your dislike for me
As my thoughts gently disperse
But there is nothing I can really offer
Except this transient, capricious verse

The World as Seen by a Dragonfly

It's always what it meets the Eye
The world as seen by a Dragonfly
As I straighten the sheets off the wrinkles I find
I wonder if I could just straighten my mind?

Look at the world from a Butterfly's view
Just the Flowers shivering with tender dew
Look at a face as Eyes and Nose
Seeing through the tear that flows

Walk barefoot on the Rain soaked Grass
and let the easy Lizard Moments pass
Look at the Birds on their Mossy Throne
Under the Sky that is always Alone

Grateful that I just AM..
Right Now, as a part of this Plan
Driving away Confusion and Care
On the periphery of Silent Despair

It's always what it meets the Eye
The World as seen by a Dragonfly!

The Writer's Song

It is just a story after all
That they all read with Impassive Eyes
Giving crooked smiles at the funny parts
mock, criticize and sympathize!

Sometimes it inspires them
at times it gets sickening and sad
They put their hands together on the jokes
and label some parts awfully bad

They talk about it at dinner parties
with sparkling eyes; scandalized!
The Gossipers get it dramatized
and the Rationals have it rationalized.

They talk about it to show off
Their bigger Hearts or sharper Brains
The poets call it tender and poignant
A sky full of silent Rains!

They turn a few pages and speculate
What would happen after ninety eight
And bet furiously slapping their thighs
choking themselves on wine and cake

It's just a story after all
But it's written a Page a Day
Taking care to muffle the Tears
and keep all the weakness away

It's read and reviewed extensively
With Egos floating outside Care
It is rated and discussed for Excellence
An Applause here and a Lashing there

They all are free to Get Bored
To Predict and to Analyze
But the writers cannot choose their plots
Express freely or accessorize

They cannot Edit what they wrote
Or make a Draft for a Future Event
Stuck with a panel of Expert Jury
They only write their Urgent Present

We all get one Book to write
and They laugh at every trip and fall
But then they must have Invisible Pulitzers
For it's a Story after all!!

The Road beyond the Yellow Tree

The Road beyond the Yellow Tree
Is full of an Unknown Joy
Even as the one before
Lets out a tired sigh
It makes me forget what has been
And what still around the corner lurks
Suddenly my mind turns blind
And my timid eyes begin to work

The Road beyond the Yellow Tree
Grows out of the Yellow Tree
With a Mind laden with yellow flowers
Deeply rooted, cheerful and free!
It doesn’t teach us Dreams
Or overwhelm with serenity
It urges us to walk along
And enjoy the walk in its Reality

The Road beyond the Yellow Tree
Bends like a ballerina here and there
As the wind wipes away my tears
And blossoms tangle in my hair
I can smell it sweating under its bark
Its maddening perfume in the air
The Road Beyond the Yellow Tree
Makes me want to go Nowhere!

Photograph by Dr. Ameya Kulkarni. =)
Thank you!

Worry

Worry can be a dot
Sometimes it turns into a Line
And then the crinkle between my eyebrows
Painful although really fine
Sometimes it turns into a whole page
With supplements written for Tomorrow
And then later into a Movie
Unedited and full of Sorrow
If I am to praise her at all; she is faithful
I always find her to my Right
Reminding me of what’s due and what’s not
Waking me up in the middle of the Night
She is unreasonable at times
At times she is a just consequence
Comically irrational at times
Sometimes just a consequence
When people don’t come home
We sit together on a bench outside
Imagining the terrorists who might have taken them
A torpedo, perhaps an unfortunate Landslide
But all of them always come Home
And then Worry leaves me
But I don’t hate her so vehemently
For sometimes, She is good company!

Perennial Light

Darkness is just the absence of Light
It cannot come on its own
It has to wait for the Sun to climb down the Horizon
And then it gets to Rule
At the mercy of the Sun
A little longer in the cold Winters
And a little less in the warmer Summers
It can overwhelm, mislead and paralyze
But only until Light returns.


PS: This is the result of a very long association with Osho books written on the principles of an ancient Indian erudite, mystic and philosopher Patanjali.
Oh yeah, and for all those who think I cannot keep it short, “=P” this is for you.
And with that, I have managed to completely ruin my “spiritual aura” :)

Silence

Silence is so beautiful
White, Blue and cold
So maidenly so quite
Mysterious, untold!
Beyond Time
Beyond Age
Like a perpetual child
About to burst into a ringing laugh
But tamed for a while
Can you guard her from Anguish?
Or a stillborn Fear
Can you offend her icy dignity?
By shedding a transient tear?
She is so charming when she settles down
And takes possession of your mind
Cleans all the dirty cabinets
And leaves the clutter behind
She fills every empty space with nothing
And takes away all your toys
Lets you cry, makes you sigh
And you close your eyes.
Then nothing really matters
It is just you and her together
Without a sentence, without a word
You begin talking to each other
I hate throwing stones in the Lake
And I think so does She
For I keep straightening the House
And She straightens Me.

Traveler

His head bent down, in pensive thought
And a dirty backpack full of Memories
The Traveler going from one Moment to Other
On the dusty road of Dreams and Reveries

He has seen the snow clad silent mountains
And all the pomp of the Gods and Goddesses
Dipped his feet in ice cold waters
And written in his book of all those places
He has met psychics who talked about Death
And fallen in love with pretty women
Cried in vain and winced in Pain
Every time he got his heart broken
He sat by the campfire and sang songs
He relished rabbits, camels and goats
He taught little boys how to fly kites
And helped old women out of boats.
He saw the same Sun
Sometimes behind the Mountains
Sometimes inside the River
And the same Horizon across different Oceans
That always leads him to the Loyal Forever
He saw the same Moon
Sometimes Maddening and Sometimes Saddening
He saw the same River flow
That was called by different names
Until it went where it was to go.

He tried stopping for Wealth and Love
Or to leave something behind
But he knew that the open Skies
Would make it too hard to find
He moves on, He moves along
Rebuilt or Broken Apart
But he never takes the Hurt with him
And meets a New Place with an Empty Heart.

Going NowHere

There are places in our own minds where we have never gone before.
A little higher up, beyond the elevations that lead to our Egos.
Places that let us stay only for a while, but take us closer to God.

Maybe we were there as children, unknowingly
Or after those moments of extreme despair
When the heart starts beating again.
Or in those moments of helpless laughter
That brings tears to our eyes
Mercurial places, Filled with Joy and Nowhereness.

Like the gap between two thoughts
Like the headache that comes with the first bite of ice-cream
Like waking up in the middle of night
And finding the Moon staring at us.
Like a long long train journey
On an unreserved seat by the open window
Like using all the theatre in our blood
To get a few kids wide eyed during a ghost story

We always stumble upon them,
And then we want to stay
But then Anger and Ambition take over
And the I takes us away.

The Rain and The Sunshine

Earlier when it came,
Sometimes in Drizzles
Sometimes in Torrents..
The Blinding, Languishing Rain!
It poured outside the window
Choking every Grass blade
Filling the space between Heaven and Earth,
By an Ethereal Sorrow

Ceaseless Rain, Limitless Rain
Followed by an Awkward Sunshine
Like a Child laughing aloud
In the Abysmal Silence of a Mourning House

It still comes down just the same
But the torrents refuse to haunt
It flattens the humble Grass blades
But it fails to choke and daunt
Even the Self-Conscious Sunlight
Has gathered a Newfound Valor
For it gushes in with a Lucid Rainbow
Defying the Cloudy Pallor

They have grown accustomed these days
The Rain and the Sunshine to each other
Like the long married Day and Night
Sharing Dusks and Dawns together

From now on, the Rain and the Sun
As they please, may come and go
For the Joy has transcended Light
And beyond Rain rests the Woe.

--Saee
15th March 2007

Poojashi bolta bolta type keleli Kavita!!:)

Purple Thoughts on Orange Pages
Thought before by unknown Sages
Golden Sunlight on a dimlit Bed
A little Blue With a little Red

How can I see beyond Tears?
How can I look behind Fears?
How do I know that at the end of this Night,
There waits a blanket of clear warm light!!

I see the Moon under the eclipsed Sky
Or the ambushed truth in a blatant Lie

I know the place where it all ends
where this lonely road gently bends
Where teardrops and Smiles come of age
On this, innocent, compassionate notebook page!

November Rain :)

On damp rainy day like this, I’d rather stay home.
Roam around in my pajamas wearing white fluffy socks
I’d love to have a sip of coffee now and then,
And read a book that sounds like an extended verse.
I’d watch TV when I get bored or just call up a friend
Who knows me from a long ago and who has shared a million laughs with me!
I’d switch off my cell-phone along with the fraction of mind
That worries about office and work..
I wont bother if they use my desk to keep their dirty coffee mugs
I won’t worry about people calling office to ask me random questions
I wont bother about someone wishing that I hadn’t taken an off!
I would cook my lunch looking up the recipe
On an exotic Mexican culinary website
And I would run out of the house twice or thrice
To buy the ingredients of my lunch!
I’d doze off with the book on my face
And suddenly wake up by teatime
I’d put some cardamom and a tinge of sugar
To get my perfect masala chai!!
Early evening will take me out
For a brisk walk in the neighborhood
I would smell the trees that look like
They have just had a refreshing bath!!
I wish I could do things like these
On an eccentric rainy day in November,
My mind says it all but my feet get in the car
And drive me to the same hurry of work
I don’t feel sorry, for everyone’s tied
To what they should and would like to do
But I am just glad that at least my mind
Can stay back at home and have some fun!