Thursday 25 April 2013

NARROW ME


In the comfortable corner of my embracing couch


Relaxing, reposing and rejoicing!  


I curiously wonder!  How long can this ignorant bliss last!


Trapped in the invisible net of my prejudice


Lost within the shadows of my own perception


How will I ever see, the magical magnificence of the morning sunshine?


With feeble eyes that only sees what’s in its mind


Hearing only those words which please the ear   


Believing blindly what " I " egocentrically choose


With Pleistocene senses and a selfish single-minded simplex brain


 Biased and incapable; to cope in the modern web of information


Seeking empty solace, in joining hands with those who agree


Yet claiming the unattainable trophy of the golden truth


Tell me! Oh mind making "me" !


How much narrower can my perspective be!


How much smaller can my bubble world get!  



SUMMER STORM


The storm of summer has arrived



And the rain drops keep falling



Through queries of the morning



The rumbling of the evening



And the cravings of the night



Drenched yet mindful



The raindrops keep tumbling down 








EMPTY NEST


The mountain spring is ever fresh




The garden of love is always green




But when the little bird flies away




The empty nest silently rots ! 





Friday 12 April 2013

ENTANGLED STRIFE

Tricking, mocking, forsaking!



The Other and the self!



Lost to greed hate and delusion!



Entangled within, in all this strife!  



Just to cling on, to this evanescent life? 




TRANQUIL CACTUS


In this hotness of the raging summer


Days and nights go by


The hills and plains are left  dry  


The bushes and grasses whither


In the cracking cakes of  parched soil


Leafless trunks are scattered


There is empty blueness in the vast cloudless sky


Yet! Within the thorny greenness of the resilient cactus!


The tranquil water reigns!

COURT OF SANCTIMONY



In this court of sanctimony



Where ego wears the crown



Ministers of attribution



Mislead the distractable jury!



Blaming the neighbor for its own manufactured misery



As the naked truth is buckled up



While it’s the crown, that should have faced the fury



But it’s the poor man who carries the cross!



While the feeling of knowing runs amok



Claiming victory over the highlands of truth



Queen Memory elopes with imagination



And comes back gravid with confabulation



As the orphaned reality is led astray



And misbegotten confabulation claims the crown



The court is lost in the bliss of self glory



As the country as a whole runs aground! 



In this court of sanctimony



Where the jester wears the crown



Tell me dear friend



Who else is left to call the bluff?










PHANTOM ARMS


Shall I die today?



Die today in your arms



Die to all suffering



With this final embrace



Shall I die today?



Die today in your phantom arms!  

















HALLUCINATION


A brighter universe!



Surreal colors!  



An everlasting fountain of life!



Never ceasing never tiring!



As I often doubt



Never even existing!

Thursday 11 April 2013

WRINKLED REFLECTION





Gray hairs poke out of the battered hat!




Wrinkled skin; sunken eyes




 Softer words; kinder deeds




As Wisdom peeps within   




Another face is reflected in the mirror!










EMPTY PATH


Walking the path of mindfulness


Many a time I wander


From here and now, to yonder


Loosing track and finding new ones


 Watching thoughts that ponder


 Cross roads and signposts


 Of feelings and emotions


To the land of greed-less, hate-less and self-less awareness


 Oh wandering mind of mine


To this bliss of emptiness and awareness; Let my paths lead!



















MURPHY SAYS


Murphy says! In time!



What’s fragile with break



What’s possible will occur



What’s alive will suffer 



All uprisings will finally fall!



So dear friend



Murphy says!  Let it be! 














Sunday 7 April 2013

IDEA OF JUSTICE


Oh lady Themis!  How great is thy balancing act!

Blindfolded and unbiased in the marble you seem!

Yet, in real life, can you ever level your tilted scale! 

 Can two faces meet, when two heads are turning away?

Two torsos pulling in opposite directions

Two hands, yet hoping to shake and greet!

But tell me oh miraculous one!

Can your scale of justice be kept at balance, in this world of inequality!

In a world where existence is inequality!

And inequality is existence!

From night and day, to food and water

Unequal are properties

Unequal are qualities

Unequal are resources

Unequal capability; unequal availability

Yet, what equality can you claim; when you claim justice!

 Justice is fairness; and fairness is justice; once said Rawls

Equal rights for basic liberties he says

But who decides the scales of the basic!

Greatest advantage to the least advantaged, he says

But, what qualities do you choose

When conflicts arise, with multiple choices!

Many are disadvantaged, based on many a different property

Which one of the many will one choose? 

With limited resources and multiples of disadvantaged

On what basis does one comparatively distribute?

Can one compare pain with poverty?

Can one compare hunger with disease?

Who can compare; and who can choose!

Can anyone be just- when he can just choose?

The Rawlsian veil of ignorance; hiding its inherent quality

With reasoning minds   and rational beings

Within the cosy fair comfort of the original position

Even to an omniscient man, with omnipotent capability

Are they not finer points of imagination?

The hard problem of justice is real; and when its reality strikes you

It strikes you hard as a rugged rock

To chisel into this,  justice must deal with the rocky reality of the real man

The shrewd man next door; the unkempt man round the corner!

The man within; still grappling with greed hate and delusion!

The man with a preference for us over them; family over friend; friend over stranger

A preference for the known over the unknown

A preference for the fearsome over the fearful; more over the less

With limited resources and limited facility

With Limited   man’s cognitive capability

Can any real system of man,  ever be Just!

 Upholding the hands of justice on the Indian ground

Nyaya and Niti have long been around!

Tested and tried to be sound

Nyaya and Niti are wisdom profound!

Nyaya aims at fairness; Niti goes by the rule  

Niti is human society’s only protective tool

Protecting the powerless from the powerful

Limiting the reign of power; and setting the rule of security

Nyaya on the other hand is of implementation

Nyaya is of practise : Nyaya is considerate

Nyaya is comparative; Nyaya is compassionate 

To be effective and just in, wisdom and action 

Nyaya and niti  must  go hand in hand

Nyaya and niti;  hand in hand  to control power

Aiming to restore equal opportunity, in world of inequality

Striving for equanimity, protecting the weaker from the stronger

Nyaya and niti   ultimately aim at balancing power!

But to handle power and balance it , one must accept its inherent  responsibility

For the hard handle of Power is attached broad basket of responsibility

The Power to utilize; brings in responsibility to conserve

The power to access; brings in responsibility to share

The power to influence; brings in the responsibly to be truthful

The power to distribute; bring in the responsibility to be fair

Responsibility produces motivation

Motivation produces the will

The Will produces action

And If action is non violent and the will is good

And motivation is devoid of greed hate and delusion

Action tends towards the ideal !

And the ideal tends towards the idea!

The ideal idea ;  the idea of justice!

Tell me friend!  Is this not a pragmatic solution?

Only a pragmatic solution to the mere idea of justice!