A Hard Life... Lived In Vain

She keeps reckoning, through and through
That life, the life she knew was hard
She saw many days of misery
Days when the sun would stay hidden
Dark clouds threatening to break
Yet the rain never came
Nor light to ease her pain

She saw through her ways, her weakness
The children have grown up now
With families of their own
There were days when she shared
The laughter of her children
Her tears have dried up
For today there is no one to wipe them

She used to cook and clean endlessly
Happiness stayed in her kitchen
All the blessings of youth and health
All the parties and the people
Painted her as a queen
Old age came as a curse
And the throne was taken away

She has no words of wisdom left in her
A dried leaf blowing in the wind
There are no smiles left
No one to care if she does
Her children find her troublesome
Her husband wants her dead
And all she has is regret

She knows her life was never perfect
Faults everyone chooses to forget
Today she is reminded
Everything catches up someday
In loneliness she realizes
Born alone into a world of many
Dying alone is her fate

Another Republic Day gone by...

Sixty one years have gone by since India as an independent republic chartered its own Constitution. Yet, what have we got to show for ourselves, besides the endless political tirades and the tyranny of a corrupt regime pretending to be an honourable system pertaining to the need of the masses.

Over the years, so many people including myself have become tired of the circus parade held on this very day, simply because so many crucial issues lie unnoticed and hidden to the public eye, and so the Government’s efforts to sideline these by putting up a massive show to entertain one of the largest democracies in the world is nothing short of an insult to the people’s intelligence. One of the things I abhor the most is the blatant display of the nation’s defence prowess in the various parades held, which clearly show us in detail of the level of expenditure involved in maintaining the several wings. This expenditure is needed more for improving the social wellbeing of India’s children, not in a capitalistic or business oriented manner, but in helping at the grass-root level and bringing ourselves to a stage of self-reliance; definitely, buying more guns and developing bombs and shells is not the approach to building a stable society.

Why is it that we choose to ignore the glorious past of India, for if we were aware of her phenomenal history we would understand that the civilizations that bred and evolved here had a strong basis of peace and harmony, simply through tolerance and acceptance. For thousands of years we persevered against the continual attacks from outside, from various battle hungry empires that chose to plunder us and plague us with their inane ideas, but did we ever give up surviving? Never have we gone on the offensive and attacked another for the sake of profits. Yes, we did fight when the attacks got severe, but never ever did we have an organized approach to defend ourselves, simply for the fact that we knew that in the end peace would prevail no matter what. We gave into the ideas and attributes of others, we included their beliefs and embraced their theologies as our own, but we never stooped so low as to delineate our children on the basis of geography or elitism. Regardless of the differences, we considered ourselves and our ‘guests’ to be one in spirit, and this is the attitude that got us so far. We never showed off, we never proclaimed superiority and we never ever considered ourselves different from anybody or any place on earth, because of which the children of the Indus Valley always pioneered in every aspect of the pure life; we were trailblazers in social living, ploughing ahead in any adversity and laying the road for others to follow. All this without even the slightest shadow of egotism. Why are we then so far removed from our original attributes today?

Firstly, because we are still slaves and we might remain that way forever. We are maybe under the illusion that the Empire was driven off in ’47 and that we are free in our own land, but this so far from the truth. When the West left us, they carefully engineered a system which they had skilfully developed over the centuries of Industrial Revolution and the Age of Reason, a system so deviant in thought and application to corrupt every pure human being into thinking that his or her purpose in life is nothing more fundamental than base enjoyment. The system which abrogates the motto of Indian living which is ‘Existence through High Thinking and Plain Living’ and replaces all our social theories and evolutionary paradigms with the darkest designs of materialism. The system that I refer to is the capitalistic regime that we are all slaves of today.

Capitalism is the new Empire. That which has taken over from the Queen’s rule and has silently been guiding India and her children into the worst nightmare that humanity has faced in its evolutionary journey. Competition, an artificial sense of security and paranoia of being deceived are all derivatives of capitalism, and we are foolish enough to preach and educate the same to our children in the system of education that exists today. According to Maslow, human beings evolve through levels of needs, the basic being our pychophysical needs like food, water, clothing and shelter to higher levels like security, belongingness, esteem and the highest level being self-actualization where a human being tries to understand who he or she really is and what is their true potential. What capitalism does is fix our attention on esteem-based needs and here we are living in a social setup of show and tell. Neighbours’ envy, owners pride, live life kingsize, just do it and for everything else there is mastercard, these are the commandments that kids grow up listening to today. No wonder then that we have to spend ridiculous amounts on protecting our ridiculous way of life. This is definitely not what the children of Indus Valley had in mind, for their inscribed and inherited knowledge is much more profound and advanced than the shit that we learn today. As the Zeitgeist Movement puts it, THE SHIT HAS GOT TO GO!!!

Secondly, because no matter what we do, we have to face these issues. This is our evolutionary journey, to deal with the issues that Nature throws along our way and see if we can pick our way through the maze. We have enough evidence corroborating the fact that Nature and human consciousness is interconnected at all levels of the gross, subtle and causal reality. We create the world as we know it, and so the problems that confront us are not external entities, but reflections of our mental maladies. The world is facing a grave identity crisis, for no one really knows today who they are and why they were born into such a phenomenal reality. As children, we are asked not to question but to accept the fate of the world as it is. This is probably the worst advice ever given and if we do not change our perspective, we may end up as fossils of an extinct species like the dinosaurs. True awareness of our mistakes, our limitations and our negativities are what is needed to correct the deviation from our original path, and kids need to be told about all of this. There is no hiding from them, for sooner or later the more inquisitive ones will come to realize what we have done, and so it is our responsibility to increase awareness and also our potential to become what we are truly meant to be.

This 26th is not a Republic Day or a day when rules were formulated; today is a day of awareness that we are not silly people who once fought for freedom, we are not Kashmiris or Keralites or Indians or Non-Indians, we are not rich, or poor, the down-trodden, urban-rural-metro-cosmo dwellers, the gold-diggers and shit-pickers, the elite, literate, upper-caste or scheduled tribes, south, north, east or west; we are human beings, just like the rest of them on this planet, we are alive and that too for a reason, we have certain innate talents and powers, skills and knowledge not to make a better world, but to better ourselves. Nature is perfect as she is, and she will provide plentiful to the one who cares for her, loves one another and propagates the warmth of life everywhere and in everything. Love is the currency that we seek, not money; love is abundant and there is more than enough for everyone, but only if we give up our bloodthirstiness and profit mongering, our capitalistic strategies and our ideas of war.

The 26th of January 2011 is not different from any other day, and so let us make everyday worthwhile in our transient lives. We don’t need parades and political tirades, what we need are unity in love, in any place and among any people regardless of what differences or diversities may exist. It is these differences which make the canvas of our world brilliant, and the painting that we paint every day, a masterpiece!

Ziggy

Ziggy has a room
With blue and green curtains
Dalmatians on the wall
And Jesus nailed to a cross

I know you're sad, Ziggy
The world may have gone bad
Life's strange in many ways
Yet you and I're here to stay

Ziggy got no kitchen
But he says it don't matter
Pizza's on the way
And beer stacked in a corner

I know you're old, Ziggy
People have gone cold on you
Life's strange in many ways
Yet you and I're here to stay

Ziggy says its okay
Like a toy copter he had once
Propeller's gone bust
And life's not the same again

I know you're dead, Ziggy
Buried peacefully in my head
Life's strange in many ways
Yet you and I're here to stay

What is a Mother?

For ages we have had a profound interest in the concept of Motherhood, as something or someone who is intrinsically linked to our life, tied to our existence with emotional and constitutional value, and for varied reasons the very basis and foundation of our true self. We have always, and may even for all time to come, looked upon a mother as “the beginning” and maybe even the source of all love. Even though in a philosophical sense there could be a shred of emotional logic in this, nothing could have been farther from the truth than this description. However let us try to look at the reasons for this in an ascetic manner, without any intention of degrading or downplaying the importance of mothers in the traditional mode of living.

Before we try to understand the concept of motherhood, let us analyze the roots of parentage and the differences in parity between the parental halves, namely the mother and the father. Of course, the two being intrinsic necessities for a new birth is a given fact, even if the results of cloning technology are increasingly proving otherwise in the current and future ages of genetic modification and revolution. The father is responsible for providing the ‘seed’ which has one half of the genetic information and the mother provides the other half as well as the necessary conditions like nutrition, environment and atmosphere for the fused halves to combine into a suitable ‘whole.’ Even the ratios for survival between male and female gametes are a million to one or thereof. Therefore it is clearly seen that right from the initial stages, the mother has a distinct importance in all viviparous interactions. And then throughout the gestation period till a few months after birth the mother is of great need to the proper development of the infant’s health and social conditioning. It is a common fact that many a times, it is the person indicated by the mother who assumes the role of a father without the need for actual genetic identification and verification, which goes to show the relative unimportance of the patriarchal half in the parental equation.

But considering all these facts, the mother character is of importance only in the conditioning years of the person growing up from the infant conceived. For what has been declared as the social importance of motherly love is nothing but a myth, cleverly conditioned into the infant’s education during the formative years’. If the child were to grow up in an environment of love from all persons involved in the conditioning process, there wouldn’t be a need felt for a personal motherly affection, and what is most interesting is that in very many cases it is the unnatural smothering of the mother to keep the child away from painful situaltions and hardships, the biased approach where a mother’s own conditioning interferes with the child’s formative study that influences him/her to grow up into a particular psyche. No doubt that the character of a mother is of immense value due to her sacrifice of her own body and mind for the growth of the child, and this is what needs to be reciprocated as love towards that kind and compassionate entity, yet there is no reason why the child should be taught to love in different ways. It is this difference in love that provokes a feeling of difference among the various interactions with people around.

So therefore the character of a mother is actually a function, of supplication of honest conditioning without bias, a rendering of help in such a way that self-reliance is taught, a formative shaping of the reflexes by utilizing the child’s inborn tendencies and talents and a generation of universal love without any degrees. This function would eventually give way to another relationship of friendship and support without emotional entanglements that would then be sustained; otherwise the earlier personal feelings that generated love would degenerate as time goes by into invasive dependency on the impersonal freedom that is very essential for the complete evolution of a human being into higher levels of consciousness. In most cases of relationships based on love and not sensuality, the degeneration occurs due to emotional attachment that tries to objectify the subjective reality. The moment we start seeing something or someone as an object and try to impose our conditions, restraints or compulsions we lose out on the experience and thereby whatever love or joy we feel in a relationship is quantified and not qualified. The moment the function exceeds its usage, the need for denunciation or replacement comes up and then the quality of original love would be lost forever. This is what happens in most cases when the function of the mother tries to invoke its importance on all other relationships in the person’s life, the relationship of the mother then ceases to be.

In Aldous Huxley’s Island, he writes: “'Mother' is strictly the name of a function. When the function has been duly fulfilled, the title lapses; the ex-child and the woman who used to be called 'Mother' establish a new kind of relationship. If they get on well together, they continue to see a lot of one another. If they don't, they drift apart. Nobody expects them to cling, and clinging isn't equated with loving.” Of course in certain societies, like in India, the position of the mother is given an unnatural importance, and in many families the mother is seen to be a domineering character who tries to influence the lives of all her children without regard for the damage caused to their lives’ and since this importance is part of a social structure, the children are unable to forsake this domination and any attempt to do so is seen as a social stigma automatically attracting the voices, comments and wrath of the moral police.

What we can learn from nature is that of the mother bird sacrificing herself for the growth and well being of her children till a certain point in their lives when her importance is pushed to the background and she forces them to fly away and live an independent, free life on their own. And as human beings it is our responsibility to be free, think independently and to evolve to the heights of consciousness and love one another, just like how we would love our mother!

A Great Man and his Family of Seven

A great man he once was, and shall continue to remain
Never a word of mistrust, or an action done in haste
A life of communion, deliverance and conviction
Far ahead of his time, the way of life he lived and died
Despite the many flaws which others saw in him
Courage had he to tread the path which he found right
The truth of Existence, and the existence of Truth
Each step along his chosen path, was an example
From he, has evolved a complete line of harmony
So many sons and daughters had he, all fair and just
All humble to the point of fault in the world they lived
Gathering the thorns of criticism from others did they
And yet what their Father taught, never did they forsake
Toiling their lives, always remembering their lineage

His first son of Truth and Benevolence, the alpha male
Leading the way of all, sincere in word and deed
The second son of Courage and Cunning, the wolf
Pervading this wicked world with his knowledge
The third son of Patience and Purity, the diamond
Hard as a rock in trying times, yet soft and caring
The fourth son of Reality and Rebellion, the storm
A constant force heeding no man or monument
Fifth is a princess of Beauty and Sorrow, the feather
How gentleness can suffer the tryst with destiny
The sixth son of Perseverance and Power, the ox
Plying the fields of fate with an iron fist and a wit
Lastly an angel of Determination and Dogma, the whip
Striking righteousness where the shadow of sin dwells

The union of the seven, is the power of that great man
However strikes the outsiders with their delusion
This world may never see the light of truth as he did
And ignorance and greed may constantly blind them
But the great man, and his family of seven perseveres
Stubborn is their will, stronger is their compassion
No harm shall befall any who depend on them
The love that they feel and share with all they know
Taught by the Mother who loved them till the very end
Every new entity is a continuing link in the iron chain
Each soul shall carry the essence of that great man
This world and the outsiders may corrode their spirit
But if only for a second, the realization dawns within
That we are all One, the reflection of that great man.

Beat of the tabla.

Can't register the fact that Girish is no more. For only 25 years he walked the earth, out of which only four in Nitte. Yet it seems like a lifetime or more. Yesterday when I came to know that, I could no longer see him or talk to him, hear his profanities ringing loud in the hostel corridors or the beat of his tabla for the college shows, it struck me that all of us who knew him would feel something precious removed from their otherwise ordinary lives. I, like so many others, probably hadn't spoken to him in months or years, but now that he's gone.... every memory of Nitte would remain incomplete. And I feel sad, though I had the chance, that I didn't pick up the phone or write him a note. Now that its too late, and that shedding a tear will not bring him back, only the beat of his tabla remains....

God bless your soul, Girish!

Where are you, my friend?

Are the footprints imaginary,
The sand beneath your feet, trailing;
Wherever the water has gone beyond,
Drifting into an all too familiar past.
Will you, or won't you look away?
Let the differences fade away;
Can I trust your faith in the unknown,
The paranoia I can take, but not the lie.
Is there any reason in our relationship;
Or are you a drifter passing me by?
I've had enough of your restraint
A constant delusion of my every dream.
Could you please let me live, maybe die,
Or atleast pretend to understand?
A common soul, in a world of the unusual
But why did you leave me alone, now?
No matter where this path leads, further
Whether you'll be there, or not yes?
I shall carry your name to the grave
Maybe then you'll understand the real me.