Charpoy under a village tree

Cool breeze sweeps through the fields
And sings lullaby in my eager ears
The love birds perched above, appear to share food
Not sure whether it was food, for smooch for good.

The lazy toll of the bell in the cow's neck
Even as the jumping calf crosses her trek
Lush greenery as far as the eye can see
Ohh, I want to do nothing, but just be.

I lay skywards, on the charpoy under the tree
The droning beetles appear to make a plea
" Forget your tensions, and relax here for free
And go back home, with heart full of glee".

Indeed the appears to open, right in front of me
Far away from the maddening pace of the city
No more worries to handle , no more office deadlines
No more frayed tempers, no more hypertension signs.

No more financial liabilities, hence I had thought of this
To quit the city and enconse in this ethereal rural bliss
No more facing the banker's demanding hiss.
No more hospital bills to pay, nor the boss's dismiss.

This charpoy, I can no more afford to give a miss
I doze off into the netherworld, ignoring the flea's kiss.
But no sooner had I gone deep into soporific bliss
The shocking yell shook me from the dark abyss.

" Are you not going to work today", yells my wife
The morning sun through the window feels like a knife
I scamper to the bathroom, ready to face the boss
I should not forget to give the hospital bill a toss.

What a dream it was, replete with green and blue
Peace, happiness and bliss did seem to stand in queue
As I sit on breakfast table, reminiscing, with caffeine brew
Did someone say that morning dreams do come true?

Ramnavami

You built a bridge, brick by brick
Across the Palk Strait
To recover you Love
From the hands of the enemy

Your followers are destroying, brick by brick
An entire "structure" in your place of birth
To recover their faith
From the hands of fellow humans.

You were busy,
Upkeeping Kshatriya Dharma
And showing the world
The art of righteous living

Your followers are busy
Debating whether you
failed Sita, by abandoning her-
Conveniently forgetting your virtues

You showed the world
That nothing else matters
Other than your Swadharma.

Your followers are showing the world
That nothing else matters
Other than your place of birth.

You believed and swore by
The fact that implicitly obeying
Your parents, is cool.

Your followers believe that
Swearing by Ravana,
Not by you, is cool.

Rock on, O Rama!
The world needs the high benchmarks
Left by you -
Just as a stark reminder of
How far we are moving away from you.

Panama Filter Kings

Until it is conclusively proven to the contrary, I refuse to believe that Amitabh Bachchan is culpable. He has, so far, come across, as a man of integrity, even if laced with the occasional foolhardiness.

Panama papers, to me appear more like Panama Filter cigarettes. They clearly have filtered out people from OECD countries
(mostly). I do not know the objective of this filtering, but even a child can see that the list has been selective.

And , by the way, Panama is, but, one of the many tax havens- Liechtenstein, Cayman Islands, Swiss Banks.... the list is endless...   just because a wealthy person does not figure in Panama Filter Kings, does not necessarily mean that he/ she is clean... it may well turn out that the money may lie elsewhere, and so, "out of scope".

This is a global issue, and no country has been effectively able to put a lid on unaccounted money - Basel III, Basel IV, Anti Money Laundering Act etc etc...      it is funny that I am asked a thousand questions, while transferring even 5000 dollars into the USA for legitimate reasons, but the billions in unaccounted money appear to go scot-free.

60 years of misrule in India by the Congress has created it's own perversions. Sample: Just shut off the Mauritius Participatory Notes channel, and see where the Indian Rupee will end!!!! Mauritius has been consciously allowed to be the conduit into India for black money returning as white.

chod na sakoon

पैमाने से ज़्यादा नफ़रत कर बैठा , कि
कभी पीना चाहूँ तो भी पी न सकूं  | 
किसीसे ज़्यादा प्यार कर बैठा , कि
जुदा जीना चाहूँ तो भी जी न सकूं   | 

अश्क़ों को ज़्यादा ही ज़ाया कर बैठा, कि
कभी तन्हा रोना चाहूँ तो भी रो न सकूं  | 
किसीको सीने में समाकर बैठा , कि
खुद को खोना चाहूँ तो भी खो न सकूं  | 

An ode' to a friend

Like the wild jasmine in the woods
That continues to spread fragrance
It's sheer nature - it needs no audience
You too continue to spread abundance.

The pupils in the schools that you manage
Continue to pay you daily homage
For giving them a life to look forward to
For you, service to children, is service to God unto.

You exude professionalism while at work
But do not forget to mix pleasure with business
You bring life in front of my eye
Everytime you go behind the camera's eye.


You efforts in popularizing Tamil makes me wonder
If Tamil Sangham has shifted from Madurai to Kolkata
You have brought Bharathi and the Cauvery
Ever closer to Tagore and the Hoogly

Those impromptu poems from your keyboard
Those passionate political polemics
Those straight-from-the heart pourings
Those malice-towards-none moorings.

God surely has given you an awe some path
Continue to blaze your trail, dear Sampath!!