My Musings

My Musings

Garden of innocence

Let the garden be filled with the laughter of children

Let the house be filled with innocence

Let the pristine waters flow in the streams of our hearts

Till

life takes over

children grow into adults and mirror the grown

The corrupt forces of the world takes over

And

The house that was once filled with joy and innocence turns into a formidable abode of gravity and sobriety.

My beautiful green land

Never fails to enthrall me

Never fails to inviogour my senses

Never fails to bring me that nirvanic sense of cleansing

As I leave my suffering and discontent in a barren foreign land.

I return to peace and tranquility in my beautiful green land.

Fragrance of Green Apple Tea.

The  fragrance of freshly brewed green apple tea gave me that moment of exhilaration

lifted my senses to the realm of the divine and the unknown

Promised never to let my tears overcome me

Promised to seek happiness  in every day moments such as these

As I sipped my green apple tea in my blissful journey through my soul.

Between two lost souls

Two lost souls

 travelled across mind spaces

&met mid way

They sang, laughed and toiled together

There was magic and love

Between the two lost souls

But one new morning

The colours dried up

from the canvas

The laughter went away

The souls were silenced

Emptiness engulfed

The soul cries out

To belong once again

To that intimate world

Of warmth and comfort

Between two lost souls.

Left my soul behind

Where am I going

The road ahead seems closed

The road travelled was long and tough

In this eternal strife to keep the intellect stimulated and

to imprint my footprints on the sands of time.

I have left my soul behind in my native land

I wait to rest on green grass

Soak in the fragrance of the jasmines

Feel the pristine waters of the river flow beneath my feet

Let the wind play with my hair

And dance merrily on the sands of time

Every morning -a new awakening

A new dawn on our troubled hearts

A new hope

 our being filled with energy

As we wait for the day to unfold

its mysteries

Tell its stories...

Will there be magic

Will there be miracles...

The unknown keeps us moving

In this finite circle of sleep and awakening

and the infinite circle of death and life.

Dark clouds of death

Nothing makes sense to me any more

Can’t live an other day

Dark clouds of death beckon me

Silence beyond signals peace

The noise within stifles me

I’m choked, I’m breathless

In the abyss I travel far below

Is there light beyond

Is there hope

Is there life beyond

Will the sun rise again

From this sea of misery

Will I be happy again

Slumber forever

Every cell breaks apart..

body is weary and mind is numb.

As I slide into a deep slumber...

I hope that the sun will shine on a new body

and brave mind.

Another voice within says

let it be slumber forever..

to take me to another world

and never to return again

to this present world which is rife with sorrow

Sounds of the Pandemic

I wake up in the middle of the night,

To the sound of the ambulance rushing past,

And I pray once again for the life of the victim, in these times of panic and pandemics.

 The sound and fury of death engulfs us,

Staring at our face like never before,

It cautions, it terrifies and in the end consumes.

Never before has our lives been so fragile,

Never before has our  mortality been under threat like today.

This is a clarion call,

To preserve and protect our planet,

our lives and it’s offerings,

As the moment of truth and end is inevitable

& sudden.

Let’s all move to a new world order,

Where only love and peace prevails

Where only goodness thrives,

Where we live for our needs and not our greeds.

There will be a day when we wake up no more to the sounds of the pandemic ,

But to the bugles of a new life,

Where we shall all sing and dance in joy, celebrate life and embrace death.

Eclipse of the Heart

Were you like the moon that

Shed it’s silver rays

 on a love lorn soul

And then hid behind the dark clouds

To create an eclipse of the heart ?

Breeze or breath

You came into my life

Like beautiful spring in autumn

Turned my leaves from brown to green

Are you just a whiff of fresh breeze

That blows across to another field

Or are you going to be my breath

every waking dawn

Far away land

This night seems long

And the day far away

My heart lies in a far away land

My thoughts are stolen away

What is this longing

That keeps me awake

Does it keep you awake too ?

Was it so difficult to create a safe Planet ?

The air we breathe,

The water we drink,

The food we eat,

All reminding  us of our mortality,

Our finiteness staring at our face,

This beautiful planet gifted to us ,

So abused and so distorted!!

Was it so difficult for us

to live in peace ?

love our neighbours?

create seamless borders ?

And hateless hearts?

to build clean cities?

fields and farms?

to live for our need over our greed?

My fellow earthiens,

This is the time for awakening

To reflect on our past

& to build a beautiful future

As we hope for a  new dawn?

 a new civilisation?

A new world born?

bereft of disease and pain

filled  with love, care & happiness

Is this all utopia?

My fellow earthiens, I ask of us

Was it so difficult for us to create a safe planet ?

Love in the time of a Pandemic**

As world reels under the

eerie shadows of this lethal virus..

We as fellow humans,

need to join hands,

Love and care,

be compassionate and kind,

Forgive and forget,

All those mighty misgivings,

and wrong-doings..

And when the

shadows of this pandemic recedes,

And the sun shines again,

On our grieved planet..

With all the love and care,

and new  bonds forged..

We can then together,

march towards re-building a

clean and beautiful planet..

Abounding with

camaraderie, compassion and love.

My fellow humans,

Let’s join hands,

in fighting this pandemic

with love and care

                              *****

** Title is inspired from Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s book titled-Love in the Time of Cholera

From Solitude to Strength....

As the world battles corona

We all have this chance to be with ourselves

As we prepare ourselves for the lockdown

Let’s take this chance to

Slow down, step back and look within

Look at where we are and where we

Want to go

Let’s re connect with our souls

Our skills

Our relationships

And why not

Our Mission itself

Let’s embrace ourselves

And collectively determine

To fight the battle with the virus both outside and within  

Together we can overcome

After this 21 day lockdown

Let’s strive to emerge as

Beautiful souls

Caring souls

Loving souls

With new charters for our lives

Where we find a place for togetherness

Where we work to give back to nature

Where we work collectively towards a clean and loving planet.

Wishing all of you

Strength and Comfort

During this unprecedented lock down.

The Great Halt

Un forgettable days.

Days when life came to a sudden halt. When we gathered our hearts and stayed where we were.

Could we breathe and could we sleep ?

Beckoned the spirits to take us through this tunnel between our lives.

We shall overcome we said and our hope stood by us...

Separation

Across the seven seas, I dream about my beautiful green land,

The rain drenched soil,

The tall coconut trees swaying to the tune of the mighty winds,

Pretty  banyan trees, adorned in  courtyards,

Little boats rowing along the rustic green back waters,

Mighty ships sailing across the beautiful, eternal Arabian Sea...

How long will I remain separated so far away?

Reminiscing the sounds, sights and senses of my beautiful green land?

As I pray  for my land and the world to heal from this  evolutionary catharsis called the Pandemic.

Rain drenched soil

The black clouds over my head

Pregnant with the magical rains

Waiting to drench my weary soul

My feet long to touch the earth below

And my temples to be smeared

with a fistful of my rain drenched soil

To bless me till eternity

The umbilical chord binds me to my

Beautiful land

As I long to dissolve into the waters of her womb

To be one with her—my mother land….

Speeches and Journals

 A little angel is born to the angel god mother.

She opens her eyes to the world outside,

Knowing that one day she will be a  light to another soul, a family, a state, a nation or perhaps even the world.

She is the girl child.

The world begins and ends with her.

The light, the strength, and the joy

Rising  beyond  the challenges of her body, mind and spirit,

Treading above the ordinary and

Leaving her footprints on the sands of time

She is the girl child

The world begins and ends with her.

To all of you wonderful girls there My words of wisdom to you :

You have the strength to scale the peaks of success

to swim against all tides

You have the power to conquer the world

But just remember the three mantras to be successful

Purpose

Passion

Perseverance

Purpose - Vision for your life

Passion- follow that with passion. Don’t rest till you achieve this

Perseverance- you have to be patient and meticulously follow the path. Life is not easy and you have to be calm in the face of all challenges.

Along with this you also need to live your life with

Honour- live your life with dignity

Humility - will take you a long way

Humour-finally don’t take yourself so seriously and take time out to love and laugh.

With these mantras — girls go conquer the world.

I wish the Indian Heights School all the very best and I’m sure one day with this strife for excellence the school will become not only the best in Dwarka but in Delhi and the Nation and the Globe.

All the very best to the school and to all the girls here, wishing to see all of you as leaders of tomorrow and to all the boys support and collaborate with your fellow classmates and contribute by promoting atleast one girl in your class.

God bless you all.

East China & the Canvas of life

As I sip my green tea in the balcony of my apartment hotel, in twilight zone,  in a far away town of Chisui city nestled in the Mountains of East China, I am as always intrigued, fascinated and amazed at this splendour called civilisation.

Sitting under a star lit sky, I can see a well laid out road brightly lit, flanked by tall apartments on one side and a flowing Chisui river on the other.

The sound of criquetes, birds and roosters, the harbingers of dawn, remind me of my land, miles and miles away in Kerala on the tip of the south western coast of India.

I  realise then, that these little creatures of earth, the skies, the stars, the trees and streams is what binds humanity together.

As we pride in our countries and cultures, we must at times look at the skies above and remind ourselves that we are all part of this magnificent canvas called life, creating what best we can, of the little pockets, that we call our own.  little creatures of earth, the skies, the stars, the trees and streams is what binds humanity together.

A Day with Aparajita Sarangi

A glimpse into the great Indian political road show

My deep quest for meaning and purpose in my life led me away from my rather insipid life in Delhi and spend a day with none other than Aparajita Sarangi. My friend, philosopher and guide and now the most sought after leader in Odisha!

She is known in every nook and corner of Bhubaneswar. I found her house by asking after her name at the vendors and stalls. Such is her popularity in this city.

Her day began with a visit to Pathar Badhu slum. Welcomed with traditional tilak and garlands, the sound of the drum beats filled the air with celebration and certitude, as we marched on through the streets, along with the slum dwellers. She gathered their woes and promised them immediate solutions. Her commitments were real.. “Ja kahibo o karibo aar jo karibo na o kahibo na. - I do what I say and what I cant do I don’t say. “ was her reaffirming tag line which echoed in our ears.

A vibrant rally and youth meet followed.  She boarded onto her open air vehicle and waved at the crowd who rushed to get a glimpse of their new political superstar.  Meanwhile, the youth gathered in the sweltering heat from across the State to listen to the leader of tomorrow, on whom they fervently pinned their hopes for a panacea for all their ills. She gave a deep, insightful and powerful oration on how the State of Odisha lagged behind on several indices and harped on the need for change and transformation in all aspects of development in the State, particularly highlighting the need for livelihoods and jobs  that would keep the youth within the State and not migrate in search of jobs outside.

The day ended with Janta ki adalat, where she was to speak on the party’s agenda for the State. I was given a brief introduction to the Union Minister for Petroleum, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan,  and he said I should spend a month with Madam, in Odisha in her campaigns. Who wouldn’t want to .. but the compulsions of my job in Delhi would perhaps not permit such a long break but I  definitely would return for yet another peek through the light, sound and magic of our democracy.

I wish her all the very best as she continues to march amongst the people, in the heat and dust of the State with her indefatigable spirit and dogged will to effect change. Women like Aparajita need to be exemplified for generations to follow. My salutations to you Madam.

Copyright@VineetaHariharan