Lonely Traveller

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Rise of Red....a Reason for us to be Red Faced..

What picture do you conjure in mind when you hear the word 'maoist' or 'naxal'?Is it some creature in fatigues and a red bandana who jumps from behind the bush brandishing a Kalashnikov? He can't appreciate the sleek features of your iPhone or tell apart that authentic Gucci from a fake yet he's also a citizen of India or maybe a Bharatwasi as you can call him.This gun toting native seems to be living in intense obscurity shunning away these fruits of a shining India.To say that the state never bothered would be unjust, the state did try to "develop" him and his community.They brought industries to color the skies and rivers black.Dams were built to supply power to the hungry and deprived.Employment was also given to them as laborers because they weren't skilled enough to survive in the corporate jungle.Lush greenery was transformed into systematic grey of mines and steel.The asthma and bronchitis were the added bonuses that most of the workers shared.Hence the effort has been very commendable indeed,only it made these people more anguished.The lines of their thought and ours seem to be meeting at infinity and the gap is increased when we take into account the benignity shown by our corrupt officials and politicians in matters of rehabilitation and environment protection.If only we had reached out and lend them a ear.This bharatwasi is not here to propound some theory of Mao or Lenin or Marx in the state politics.In fact he's not educated enough to circumspect their implications.I believe he doesn't even care also for who stood for what. All he needs is his forest to sustain his community.He needs relinquishment from the atrocities by state protectors turned perpetrators.He doesn't even need food or wealth as he says nature takes well care of those requirements.However some education in nature conservation and basic healthcare won't go unheeded.Unfortunately this humble being ends up at the hands of some bigoted egoists who readily place guns in hands begging for food.People struggling to make ends meet end up in a protracted armed struggle against the state.It is these people the tribals that suffer the most in the war between the state and those against it.

Tiger tiger burning bright

It's exasperating to see the headlines of internationally acclaimed media houses like BBC announcing "developments" in the Tiger Woods "scandal" everyday.I fail to understand how much involved the earthlings of our gen i are ready to get in totally irrelevant news regarding someone's private life.The icing on the cake comes when you see guilt ridden face of Mr.Woods as if he was caught stealing balls from a golf course.The media seems to have found a new fetish in sniffing around celebrity bedrooms.The latest victims were the French prez Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife.Woods prowess in his game was the root of all his fame and now people seem to have lost track of that and are busy counting his mistresses.It's ironical how a Roman Polanski was left all alone to pursue his artistic exploits and win accolades in spite of being proven guilty in a child abuse case.Media seems to be losing touch with its congenital responsibility of being a social thought reformer and is instead turning into a gossip monger.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

The rose...

Once there was a blossom
in a greenhouse much alive
where life seemed to thrive
but was naively playing possum

started as a bud in pure white
in that sunlit creche it used to hover
peering shyly from its green cover
quivering with curiosity and delight

staring at the clouds fading yonder
soon the time came to be mellow
and the bud bloomed bright yellow
why the bees sing it used to wonder

morning came with greeting dew
butterflies dancing averted to think
made it smile in a healthy pink
rustling away the time flew

the breeze spread a scent of change
with it's furnace of passion fed
the rose turned into a fiery red
unaware it was that life's strange

youth had come with a virtue ominous
and all one saw was that thorn
this made it stand much forlorn
amid primroses and lilies so pompous

sent hurtling into an abyss of gloom
so plagued by this public slack
it settled in a ravenous black
starkly stood serenading for doom

the gardener pitying this plight
cut and shifted it to a cistern
to place it in his moonlit tavern
here it found peace in the night.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

The Godman

Prancing around those eyes shining bright
is it wisdom or the luster of malice
if you are a sheep lost in this vast sprawl
he'll show a way for your spirit to crawl
in case you're reluctant 'cos of a black fleece
he'll get you sheared clean safely in peace
for those of you innocent in white
he'll find a cause for you to fight
Lambs who are as always docile
take the noble path so beguile
blow em selves to get even
with others of the same coven
If you think straight well that's a vice
anyway he can solicit at a price
he may also like to keep it gay
ultimately to err is human they say
I wonder how the shepherd absolves
these rottweiler turned into wolves
wiser it is to seek the morning star
that's the same for whoever you are

Monday, March 1, 2010

Happy Holi!!!

Come Ram come Rahim

bring along Joe and Goldstien

too cold a winter it's been

amass naked O! progeny of the Sire