A song

A song,

A very beautiful song,

of such subtlety

that I fear

singing it wrong!

So intricately composed

Golden laced words

so aptly prosed,

Chords so resonant

a soulful reprise

of peace and contentment!

The song still remains,

unsung, unexpressed

holding with it

the best emotions suppressed,

I wonder if it ever manifests?

Maybe on a Utopian day

When stars shine more

a little more brighter

is every sun ray,

Or the song is such fated

that it will never speak its story

and die down silently
with its unsung glory?

A Tear

On the edge of my eye

stays one tear,

made with water of misery

added to salt of fear.

It never falls 

off the eye,

a constant reminder 

painful and sly,

It resides on 

a bleak hope,

deriving a dream

quite out of scope.

With bow held up,

arrow aimed right,

sole visual of target

bets a winning hit

but then the tear plays

its game,

It blurs my vision

threatening precision

right in the moment

before I could launch the arrow

it sets the focus haywire

a reprise of life's satire

The same old tear

holds for years now

Almost like a part

of me

but still could not

build the apathy 

to deal and carry on

with some impulse

it hits back

intermittently

slyly disrupts upon

On the edge of my eye,

stays one tear,

made with water of misery

added to salt of fear

A Thing of Beauty

A thing of Beauty is joy forever. I never realized how firmly, lines from John Keats' famous verse had established themselves in me, in the form of an unconscious bias, until this very incident happened. While hiking in the lush green terrains of Coorg, with my relatives, we came across a huge, meticulously woven spider web. Trapped in it was a beautiful, most angelic ever butterfly we had seen. The butterfly was fluttering its wings, trying to make every desperate effort to disentangle itself from the web of death. In the corner, sat the owner of the mansion, the spider, staring the prey with most ruthless eyes.

Almost like a reflex, my instinct decided to free this beautiful creature. All my sympathies lined up for the butterfly and I decided to be the hero for this damsel in distress. Before I could make another move, words of wisdom echoed in my ears, with my uncle, standing besides me, suggesting that we should leave it as is and not intervene with the default ways of nature. This kicked off a full-fledged debate with me and my younger cousin teaming up for butterfly's cause; my uncle solely holding the rein for the other side of the argument. His view being very clear that since we are trespassers here, we reserve no right to indulge in what was naturally destined and designed. He tried explaining to us the most intricate and subtle interplays of Nature, the way it works to maintain balance across all living species. He emphasized that there was absolutely no need for us to feel the indignation. This is how laws of forest operate and they should be allowed to, unaltered by any form of artificial interference. With one part of me conceding to his logic, I extricated the other rebelling part by reasserting my authority and accepting his discernment. We continued the hike, leaving behind the spider with its prospective dinner.

The episode got over but the larger moral dilemma still perpetuated back and forth through moral and logic. If it was a small ant or some other ordinary creature from the entire taxonomy of insects, would we have even noticed it. If yes, would that trigger same level of keenness to perform the saviour act. Around us everywhere we see hundreds of spider webs, I never bother to look at the poor souls trapped there and pity their misfortune, let alone the thought of freeing them.The very reason we noticed the spider web and the following debate, was a thing of beauty - the butterfly, which caught our attention. Living as a fully educated individual in a free society, I felt we continue to unknowingly caress some biases we develop over time. It requires many maturity updates to install to your psychological system, and at times conscious efforts to develop a really good sense of judgement. I was small at that time, but with age and experience I absolutely understood and approved each and every word, my uncle said that day. As humans, we already have crossed our line in disturbing the balance of nature. Saving the butterfly that day wasn't obviously any nature-harming act per se, but it was borne out of the same larger tendency to interfere in Nature's activities by exercising control out of one's defined scope.

Extrapolating the thing of beauty bias in a more broader sense, I realize how public wave of sympathy sits on the side of the accused, if he is some popular person, especially a silver screen hero. Mercy is demanded to reduce the harshness of punishment taking into account the stigma on his career and stardom. Although, Law has to be unbiased but building public sentiment of that scale is powerful enough an indicator to prove how unconscious biases can hinder our rational judgement. Time and again, I feel there is a need to identify and curb such unconscious biases, which invisibly influence our decision making. With help of eye-opener incidents followed by some thoughtful introspection, we should ensure that our rational sense of judgement really remains rational.

The Flame

In many of my visits to nearby Ramaswamy Temple, I couldn't stop admiring a small flame which burns day in and day out in Lord Ganesha's chamber.

If you stare at it, it looks so calm and steadfast, unaffected by the myriad of problems in the world, in the minds of devotees who pray to Ganesha for their resolution. (Thats why Ganesha is called VighnaHarta).

The turbulence/storms in the minds and lives of devotees doesn't seem to affect the intensity of the flame.

As a human, we suffer from pain, emotional upsets, hardships which potentially destabilize us at times and over the years the internal spark in us eventually starts to dwindle. But this flame stands as an inspiring icon of how to keep shining amidst all the turbulences of life. I found a teacher in the flame, preaching the entire philosophy of life.

For many devotees
came and went

some with prayer

some with complain

some with wishes

some with pain

it saw all types of players

from life's uncertain game

but it watched silently

in Lord Ganesha's chamber

an unwavering dutiful flame

Ganesha's is the most primal chamber

In the entire temple's setting

the flame radiates equanimity

a reverent silent member

Adorning the deity

are flowers of brilliant hues

and the divinity so ecstatic

an escapade from karmic dues

The chanting of mantras

and the sanctity of the place

the musical hymns

with most austere phrase

Amidst all the enchanting aura

burns the nonchalant, divine flame

A flame untouched by storms

emotional upheavals

which the devotees come with

peaceful as it burns

a symbol of solace

a way of redemption

Today, staring at me

the flame gave me a smile

fathoming my curiosity

started talking awhile

"The secret of my happiness

is ultimate trust in god,

which is meant to be yours

will be yours

then why this humanly anxiety

for what this psychiatric chaos?"

"Child, suffering is inevitable

for who is born will have pain

the faith lies in the sunshine

after the stormy tempest rain"

"Right time will get

the destined things

your duty is to work

appreciate what it brings!"

With this the flame

again went to the meditating state

burning the amber oil

with stable, constant rate

On the wall on left

I read the hymn with god's name

the flame, it watched silently

in Lord Ganesha's chamber

an unwavering dutiful flame