The dive

From atop the precipice
I step forward
And I dive...
Dive deep into the depths unknown

I close my eyes and feel
The air caressing me
The swish...and my body
Before "I" am smashed to smithereens

And then -
I shine like the pale blue dot
Suspended in the sunbeam.


Yoga
11/15/2011
PS:- Pale blue dot is the reference from one of Carl Sagan's space episodes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p86BPM1GV8M

Let us

Weep, weep our hearts out
As the numbers and statistics
Keep coming like the tears unstoppable
Let us weep, weep our hearts out...

After all they are just the numbers...
Numbers of the dead
Dead by innumerous means
Like the opportunities this country has to offer.
Numbers of the hungry
As they wail like the highway
When run over by our luxuries this country has to offer.

After all they are just numbers...
Numbers lined up at the burial ground they live in
What they call it their homeland in its eerie silence
As silent as our indifference to the suffering that unfolds.
Spilled out like the bullets dropping
From the arms of the arms traders and economic hitmen
Entrapped in their games like we are in the daily play

After all...they are just numbers
Numbers that keep piling
Only to become a reference
Of our eventual helpless impotence...

Let us weep, weep one last time
One last time...

Yoga
11/14/2011

PS:- Bertrand Russell wrote, “The mark of a truly civilized human being is the ability to read a column of numbers and then weep,”

The moon rises on the other side of the bay

As the day melts

In the golden gleam of this city

And the reddish hues of the sky,

When the night cozies herself

In the blanket of the stars

Meditating in the long silence...

With your thoughts lapping on my heart

Like the notes of the Gnossienne,

I smile resting in peace as you shine on

Like the moonlight on these still waters.

And bathing in this moonlight I forget

That the morning is just a few hours away...

Yoga

08-18-2011

Horn of Africa

Recently some articles on the famine situation in the Horn of Africa in general and Somalia in particular have caught my attention. Two of them are by Nicholas Kristof and another from the global poverty blog. I am posting the links below:

Glimpses of the next great famine
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/18/opinion/sunday/kristof-glimpses-of-the-next-great-famine.html?_r=1&hp

On top of famine, unspeakable violence
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/opinion/sunday/kristof-on-top-of-famine-unspeakable-violence.html?_r=1&scp=5&sq=nicholas%20d.%20kristoff&st=cse

Too little, too late
http://www.globalpovertyproject.com/blog/view/482

It is very heart rending to read and feel the conditions of those fleeing Somalis. The common theme in both is the predatory conditions in which Somalis are living and how even attempts of aid are not much successful. You would be very astonished to know those conditions - rape, mass murder, roving bandits and the militia, choice of being killed by one (the marauding militia or bandits) or the other (starve to death). Even in this world today when total food production is more than that can feed its entire population, situations like these can create extreme cognitive dissonance. All articles warn of the impending disaster of at least 750,000 Somalis about to die in the next few months and as I write this piece scores are perhaps dying already. For every sigh of mine perhaps an unfortunate child's breath is stopping in the other part of the world.

Kristof's description of the situation on the ground is poignant. He brings the human element to the plight. They are people for God's sake, our people (we could have been there if the stroke of misfortune somehow in the larger scheme of things hasn't just passed by leaving us untouched) not just numbers and predictions.

"WHAT’S most heartbreaking about starving children isn’t the patches of hair that fall out, the mottled skin and painful sores, the bones poking through taut skin. No, it’s the emptiness in their faces.

These children are conscious and their eyes follow you — but lethargically, devoid of expression, without tears or screams or even frowns. A starving child shuts off emotions, directing every calorie to keep vital organs functioning."

And in another article he writes:

"... I often write about the need for more family planning, but Somalis have eight children partly because they know that several may die. If we help save lives now so that parents can be confident their kids will survive, family size will drop. Likewise, educate girls and they will have fewer children."

This is an important insight I gained contrary to the conventional understanding on family planning (addressing the  root cause of why they tend to have more children). The fact that not many may have a chance to survive could perhaps be a strong incentive. 

Coming to the blog article by Katy Ho on http://www.globalpovertyproject.com/, which rightfully mentions the importance of policy making to prevent famines:

"In the World Food Day Message given by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the focus was on the accessibility of food, and the impact of political instability and price volatility. This is an important reminder that along with international aid to relieve famines, we should also focus on policies to prevent famine in the future."

And what are those policies?: Irrigation projects, rainwater harvesting, land ownership to women, and preventing the staggering amount of food wastage. Any rational person can agree with these policies - nothing new there. I am not sure how land ownership to women can make it any better as I believe that is not the issue here and for the reasons explained below. It is highly probable that the majority of women that are being referred to are part of the family that owns the land but officially not in their names. In any case that's beside the point - who owns the land doesn't matter but the ownership being protected is what matters. Disclaimer: I have nothing against women. I am just trying to say that the problem hasn't been understood correctly. 

In what could be the main reasons behind the economic success of the western world, Niall Ferguson in his Ted talk mentions (http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/niall_ferguson_the_6_killer_apps_of_prosperity.html), one very important reason being property rights. Now how is this related to the current context?

In all these articles, there is a passing mention of the political instabilities and the role of militia (Al-Shabab) as to how it is crippling all aid efforts. Kristof in his article gives up - 

"Refugees told me that the Shabab was widely disliked, and one solution to the famine would be stronger international backing for the weak and wobbly government in the Somalian capital, Mogadishu, in hopes of nurturing stability and replacing the Shabab. But that seems improbable." 

So, this is where the main problem seems to lie. Most solutions are focused on symptoms and the strategies are very reactive. If people live in constant fear, don't have freedom, nor their property rights protected from marauding bandits and militia, how would any aid programs work or how would who owns a particular resource matter? That freedom is fundamental to development emphasizes my friend and economist Atanu Dey in his book Transforming India,(http://www.deeshaa.org/2011/06/09/transforming-india-the-book/) a book which explains why India is poor. One really need not be a trained economist to recognize this. But the sad part is that the most obvious truths are always missed from being noticed. 


Coming back to the topic. In fact, any aid there of would be usurped by these bandits and/or the weak governments - who would maximize their own profits driven by venal motives. Gazillions of aid money could end up in their hands either directly (corrupt channels) or  indirectly (via an incremental improvement in the economic situation which can potentially incentivise maximization of the loot). Lot of aid money has been going into Africa and the results are no where to be seen. For both - the seemingly weak governments as well as for the militia this status quo is best for their own benefit - and as always the common man suffers. It would be naive to not assume that significant chunk of aid money circulates between the two and both need the other for their existence. 

The key  therefore is to call spade a spade and eliminate the militia and oppressive governments. If efforts are focused in this direction in a rightful way, there will be a hope to see light at the end of the tunnel. How to get there? One way is to cut off the arms supply to these militia and bandits and perhaps smoke them off from the face of the earth. How much ever easy it may seem, the interests of arms suppliers come into the way - and the very countries that agonize over this poverty problem and pump in gazillions of aid dollars are the biggest arms traders themselves. So, it is not in their interests to end this. A conflict can always be beneficial for the ones fomenting it at the cost of the conflicting parties destruction. Besides, when the powerful are engaged in needless wars over oil and spending there of, why would the death of a malnourished child somewhere in the tiny corner of the horn of Africa be of any significant importance? It is unfortunate that the debate on militia and property rights with stable governments is missing in addressing this scenario. Any funding given to the "weak" governments to make them "stronger"would not reach the people as it is obvious that there is no incentive for them to be strong to begin with. The status quo always benefits the "weak" governments and/or the dictators, and the militia.


One may get a sense of satisfaction by this "do-gooding". How much ever giving is necessary, if it does not go to right hands, the status-quo would not change. Understanding the problem is as important as giving.

Is there a hope? May be not until until the problem is correctly understood and efforts are focused onto where they should be exerted. And yes, being an optimist, I do hope that can happen in my life time. 

Yoga

10/16/2011

You and I

The mortified youthful dreams-

Flicker like the dim light

In these dusty lamp posts

Staring at the changing colors...

The still morning

Frozen by the overcast skies,

Like the curtness

Masking the ingenuous smiles

Seems to paint itself

As thoughts in our minds...

Let us then walk you and I

On these soft sands

Listening to the rumbling leaves

When the sun showers

Being one with the colors

As we morph into each other

When the gross boundaries cease

Like the writings on these sands

Dissolving in these waters.

We shrink - our poem grows,

The "I" wanes -

Our love blooms...

Yoga

10/11/2011

Recommended readings:

(somewhat influenced by the poems below)

http://public.wsu.edu/~wldciv/world_civ_reader/world_civ_reader_2/eliot.html

(TS Eliot's The love song of J. Alfred Prufrock)

 We shrink as our poem grows is borrowed from a poem of Tomas Transtromer - see links below

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/07/arts/two-poems-by-tomas-transtromer.html?scp=3&sq=transtromer&st=cse

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/07/arts/tomas-transtromer-an-appreciation.html?ref=arts

Dead

In the moments of creative expression

In the heart beat of the worried and the castaway,

In the glistening tears of lost love,

And in the warm blood flow of merciless murders...

In the fire about to die

Flickering in the stomachs of those

Millions of motionless bodies

And emotionless eyes,

And in the crescendo of

Their hungry sighs...

In the reddish hue of the twilight hour

During the few seconds of the vanishing horizon,

In the complexities of conflicting emotions

And in the torturous presence

Born to the union of past and future...

With every infinitesimal breath

As (my) life manifests instantaneously,

Petal by petal I lay my wreath...

Yoga

10/5/2011

The Sunset

Coloring up the sky,

Laying the golden path

And calling me silently...

The waters caress my feet

Drawing me into the presence

Of the moment intense...

A moment to weep

And a connection so deep-

How pristine, how innocent!

With the last look that lasts

As you go beyond the horizon yonder...

With a wistful optimism I wonder

If these un-reciprocating waters will ever cease

Giving me that eluding moment of peace...

Yoga

10/3/2011

Atma Shatkam Follow Up - 2

My friend Ishita asks:

"I am curious ... How does one apply this in day-to-day life ? Say for someone who is in a financial crisis (or undergoing any kind of hardship for that matter)".

In addressing this question, I guess its important to now verify the theory and see if there is any empirical evidence that supports it. In the process we can see how it relates to daily life in general. Its not hard at all to find empirical evidence for this if we just start looking around.

The identification process:

The identification process is pretty straight forward - from our personal experience as well as a glimpse at the profiles in any social networking site can give a good idea. More recently it has taken a more obsessive form of people identifying themselves with all these unreal identifications and even committing suicides (recent news of an IIM-Bangalore student is one of the examples) and a google search on facebook suicides gives enumerous links of people committing "virtual suicides".

Obsessive identification and downfall:

When we start identifying at gross level, and take it to an obsessive level, we begin to see great falls - of people in various walks of life. Identification with money and power - The Raj Rajaratnam scandal says it all. Rajat Gupta, Anil Kumar, Rajiv Goel and other cohorts in the game. I am not trying to be judgmental here. Although I don't see any remote possibility of me being so rich or powerful like them, say for example (one can always dream or free! comes at no cost:-)), if I do become like them, there is a likely probability of me falling similarly too. I can't judge unless I am in their shoes. I do respect them a lot. People with razor sharp intellect, hard working, super-human ambition and powerful. The point here is that one can easily get carried away by these obsessive identifications - money, power, status, pride in one's own achievements, etc. The case of Dominique Strauss Kahn also could be seen in similar vein. A man of great intellect, leadership qualities, charisma, and compassion (yes if you see the documentary Inside job you would realize his genuine concern for the poor and the frustration with the way the whole sub-prime mortgages were handled leading to the worst ever economic crisis in the recent times). Until I clean up skeletons in my own closet, I guess I shouldn't be too enthusiastic in judging :-)

Atma Shatkam and Hardships:

Now addressing hardships. The same principles above that may bring people down can also lift them up during hardships. Here the Buddhist idea of "This too shall pass" can be very apt (this applies to even happier times - neither they do last all the time). Obsessive identification with the hardship can end up doing otherwise - a fall from which one can never rise. So, is there an empirical evidence to this as well? The best example I can give is Viktor Frankl who pioneered the development of logotherapy.

His book "Man's search for Meaning" is a wonderful read. He describes life in concentration camps. How the first day they are stripped to their bare naked selves and all of their identifications so far are destroyed so to speak - all their possessions, family separated (most of them lost their parents, spouses and children), their degrees, their money, homes, everything that could be taken away from them was taken away. Only identification is their jati (Jews) is what they are left with for which they were forced to suffer. The closest of all identification elimination in its stark reality. They don't even have names in the camp - only a number that is given by which they are identified and recognized. They had no other option but to endure the suffering if they can or perish (and many perished while some survived). It is then after pondering on the existential questions, Viktor Frankl inspires himself and others that although life is full of suffering, and one need not identify with this state of affairs that are never permanent. Life beyond this suffering exists, every man should find the meaning of his life. Anything can be taken away but not the basic freedom of how we react to the hardship.

The other examples are Jonas Salk (inventor of polio vaccine) who refused to patent polio vaccine he invented and gave it away for free, the old wise investor - Warren Buffet, and if we keep searching we could find Zen masters like that in our very immediate circles - just look around and we will find them. I do.

Death also can be viewed dispassionately. Loss of kith or kin, or even fear of death wouldn't make any sense when when we are not this gross body any more. In any case if our life wasn't our choice, then why should death be?

Story of a Zen Master:

Sometime ago I read this small story of a Zen Master in Japan (I believe it was from Eckhart Tolle's Power of Now book). There was this Zen Master living in a small town in Japan. He was highly respected, wise sage and many people sought him for advice and guidance in all matters big and small. One fine day, a neighbor's teenage daughter becomes pregnant. Her parents (understandably) get exasperated, afraid of ignominy and embarrassment, threaten their daughter and force her to confess who the father is. The teenage daughter (understandably) being afraid quickly blames it on the Zen Master. The parents go to the Zen Master, ask him and abuse him and say that he should take the responsibility of the child. His response: "Is that so?". He eventually takes the responsibility of the child raises him like a loving father and time goes on. He is maligned, called a charlatan, and the very society that once respected him shuns him. One day, the daughter realizes her folly and confesses the truth that he is not the father. So, the parents and the daughter come back to the Zen Master and seek forgiveness. The Zen Master's response: "Is that so?" and returns the boy to them.

Moral of the story: Get on with your life being untouched by its vicissitudes.

It is definitely easier said than done but worth pondering and making an effort to live like one (Zen Master or also called as sthitha prajna).

Conclusion:

So, in conclusion an understanding and appreciation of the Atma Shatkam can give us an optimistic view of life, recognize the oneness and the perfection in the functionality of the world (which implies one need not be perfect - the interdependence of this world will take care of one's imperfections), recognize that we can choose to remain unaffected by life's vicissitudes, accept it as is, recognize the futility of things can be easily taken away from us (and given to us also - this is implied), the futility of being greedy, covetous, etc. Once we recognize we are not the vicissitudes we face in life, would it be any wiser to be bothered about them?

If we recognize and negate what we are at gross level, then it follows how unwise it would be to focus on those identifications and eventually suffer.

I may have sounded preachy enough already but I guess the topic itself is such. Am writing mainly for my own fun and refining my thinking.

That said, I am posting a recommended reading below:

http://www.deeshaa.org/2010/10/24/the-pale-blue-dot-2/

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/02/opinion/sunday/how-yoga-won-the-west.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=vivekananda&st=cse

Yoga

9/29/2011

Feel free to comment. Keep it neat, decent and respectful

Atma Shatkam Follow Up - 1

So this is a follow up post on the Atma Shatkam interpretation written previously. It generated sufficient interest amongst a group of my friends and I feel it requires a separate blog post (or two).

Before that I must admit I am enjoying this intellectual exercise. Engaging in discussions like this carries a danger of being perceived holier than thou - the last thing I want given my own fallibilities! So, just consider these posts as an intellectual exercise written to clarify my own thinking and my own benefit to begin with. So, I appreciate the feedback from my friends. That said, I am open to being corrected - if my thinking has flaws or if I have a wrong idea, do correct me. In short I am not impervious to learning:-).

My friend Deepak asks via email:

If it is consciousness, my natural next question is - what is consciousness or "Atma", I guess I have to become more spiritual to understand that... My analytical mind says consciousness = Mind and thought, but then Verse 1 rules that out - leaving me wondering what it is?

First off I don't believe that one needs to be "more spiritual" than one already is to address and/or understand these questions. Coming back to the main topic now. Consciousness by itself has been a subject of in-depth study. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consciousness gives an idea of this abstract concept. I couldn't really get a clear understanding of it. Seemed too detailed.

So what is Siva (in Sivoham = Siva + aham = I am Siva):

I may have been a bit callous in my previous post in interpreting Siva to be the eternal consciousness. I admit I don't have any expertise on Advaita to check what Sankara actually meant. However, thinking and probing the matter further and thanks to a good feedback and discussion from another friend of mine Arun (his troublemaking cynicism notwithstanding:-)), the closest we agreed was that the answer could be energy. The Shatkam does mention it somewhat in the last verse, that "I am the vitality behind the universe". So, the closest answer to "What I am?" could be energy after eliminating all what is not. The energy behind all the nature's existence and operations? And let's see why this could be so.

So, I went back to freshman Physics textbook (Feynman lectures vol 1) to refer to the chapter on conservation of energy. Quoting Feynman (bold emphasis mine):

"There is a fact, or if you wish, a law, governing all natural phenomena that

are known to date. There is no known exception to this law—it is exact so far as

we know. The law is called the conservation of energy. It states that there is a

certain quantity, which we call energy, that does not change in the manifold

changes which nature undergoes. That is a most abstract idea, because it is a

mathematical principle; it says that there is a numerical quantity which does not

change when something happens. It is not a description of a mechanism, or anything

concrete; it is just a strange fact that we can calculate some number and when

we finish watching nature go through her tricks and calculate the number again,

it is the same."

And further:

"It is important to realize that in physics today, we have no knowledge of what

energy is...It is an abstract thing in that it does not tell us the mechanism or

the reasons for the various formulas."

The key point is that (total) energy does not change - can neither be created nor destroyed. Now, the Atma Shatkam also in the attempt to define "Who am I?" also eliminates all those identifications that are not permanent (that can be created and destroyed). From the rudimentary knowledge of Advaita I have, it professes that anything impermanent can't be real - it is an illusion. What is real is what that does not change.

Prajnaparomita Hrudya Sutra and Atma Shatkam:

The Buddha also in his Prajnaparomita Hridaya Sutra espouses exactly the similar points as in Atma Shatkam. At some point I will dig up how tarka shastra (treatise on logic) describes what is the end point after all this elimination exercise. From this, it seems to me that energy is the end point of all this elimination exercise in finding the answer to "Who am I?". And to me it does seem logically consistent and could be explained easily now. In fact, we cannot deny that we are energy and all natural phenomena are because of this abstract concept called energy - which again no one has defined what is!

Isn't it a very enlightening and amazing feeling that we are actually the manifestation of an indestructible natural phenomenon and by being so, aren't we also invincible? Would anything else matter? Aren't we the omnipotent divine beings? Should we really look for someone up there residing in heavens to take care of us? Aren't we the ones who are in control of our destiny? Perhaps a good point to ponder...

Conclusion:

That said, probing further and further we can fall into the trap of missing the forest for trees and struggling ourselves to find the answer to "Who am I? - energy, then what is energy?..." will no more be helpful. The best we can do is to understand its manifestation and find a pattern. It may be a good intellectual exercise but of what use would it be?

So, the right question to ask is how to does this help in understanding human suffering, strife, life, death, the differences we see and relate to daily life. And this is where the question of another good friend of mine Ishita, made me thinking - which I will address in the next post.

Yoga

9/29/2011

Nirvana Shatkam (Atma Shatkam)

In one of the google groups I am a part of, one of my good friends Deepak, asked me to explain what I think of Nirvana Shatkam (also called Atma Shatkam). So, breaking the tradition of writing only poetry in this blog, I am attempting some prose for the first time...

The Atma Shatkam defines what one is by defining what one is not (typical way of defining some fundamental concepts in East Asian traditions). Zen is also defined the same way in his attempt to bring it to western world by Alan Watts in the book "The way of Zen". The best analogy is a sculptor carving out the sculpture from a stone by eliminating the "unnecessary" (what is not) stone to reveal his intended design (what is) such that what is manifests by itself when what isn't is removed.

Also note that it is Shatkam and not Shatakam (most websites make this mistake). Shatkam is a group of six verses while Shatakam is about a hundred verses. The beauty of Sanskrit - a small error can change the whole meaning.

The context:

So lets start with the context of the Shatkam. Legend says that Sankaracharya composed this when he first met his Guru Govindabhagavatpada. This journey by itself is consdered a very inspirational and eventful journey where Sankara traveled from Kerala in the south to the banks of Naramada in Gujarat. There is a separate treatise on this journey Sankara Vijayam or "The Victory of Sankara". It is considered to be very inspirational reading (unwavering dedication to achieve your goal). Coming back to the topic: Govindabhagavatpada asked Sankara who he was and he apparently answered him with this six verse group. What an elegant way to introduce oneself! It can be safely said that this is one of the best compositions that deals with the existential question of "Who am I?" in a very lyrical, concise and profound way.

Short Summary -

"I am not this gross body, nor the intellectual self through which I experience this world, nor the ego. I am not what I aspire to be in this world, what I compete to be, I am not my likes nor dislikes, where I come from, my jati, my institution, nor am I my profession. I have no birth, no death, I am no parent, nor teacher, nor student, I have no relations so to speak. Then who am I? I am eternal bliss, the consciousness that resides in all beings, the vitality behind all living beings". I would define eternal bliss as the "flow state" by which the entire universe works in perfection. The essence of the composition is a profound universal message in the oneness of all and the impermanence of nature. In that sense it makes me sometimes wonder, are we all really different? Are we just manifestation of the same consciousness in different forms from time to time?

You could perhaps skip to the concluding part after verse 6 below if you'd like :-)

More Details

A bit more into the details now. If we ponder on it, we realize that the Shatkam follows an interesting structure. It starts with mano budhyahankaara chittaani naaham...". If it is all about defining what one is not, then why should it matter how it starts? So, let's ponder on this for a bit. Seriously, just ask this question to yourself - "Who am I?" and after sufficient thought you may realize and appreciate the composition. The fact that we even can question implies we are thinking beings. So, it follows: are we our mind? Are we our intellect, thoughts, ego?...and the questioning can begin from there. I will write below what I think of the structure below.

Verse 1:

I am not my mind, my intellect, nor ego, I am not the sense organs. Now it is important to recognize the significance of this. Once we start thinking and questioning, we begin to realize that we experience this world through our sense organs and that is why the questioning is possible in the first place. So, are we the sense organs then? No... (nacha shrotra jihve na cha GhraaNa Netree...). It continues to say that I am not the five (gross) elements (panchabhoota) of nature (air, water, fire, earth, ether].

Verse 2:

I am not the praana vayu (the breath that sustains life), nor the gross body made up of bones, flesh and skin...I am neither my organs of action through which I sustain myself and procreate. Here Sankaracharya mentions panchakosa...I don't have a deeper understanding of Advaita to clearly define what it is, so it can be checked from the reference below to get a reasonable idea. I leave it to reader.

Verse 3:

Once the basic identification (and negation thereof) exercise of body is done, then the composition proceeds to basic emotions. Am I what I like and dislike? Am I the passions I have, Am I the greed, the cravings, the envy? Am I the arrogance, the frailties have, am I living for aspiring the purushaarthaas?. Unfortunately it is hard to define the purushaarthaas in plain English - I leave it to the reader (If you are an Indian, you might appreciate easily and if not write to me offline and I will do my best to explain or simply google!).

Verse 4:

Once the basic emotions are also negated, them am I my profession? Am I a collection of good and bad (deeds that I do), am I the vicissitudes of life that I go through? Am I my daily duties that I (have to) do? All these identifications are also negated.

Verse 5:

Then the identification proceeds to jati, birth, parents, guru, and students (or in today's context - the institutions we come from and/or where we work), our kith and kin, the different roles we play in different contexts. Am I all of them? Do they define my identity? This is negated as well.

Verse 6:

After negating all the above, here the definition of what is is attempted. I have no form, I have no thought, I have no attachments, nor am I detached, I am not definable, nor measurable - I am all inclusive. I am the eternal bliss and the consciousness behind all beings. A bit more detail here: the state of being without thought has eluded lot of seekers from time immemorial (the more recent mindfulness theory is also related to this). Yoga is being without thought - yogah chittavritti nirodhakah as defined by sage Patanjali.

Now come to think of it - how beautiful the composition proceeds! The logical sequence is amazing. Eliminating all the typical identifying factors that we consider when we start defining ourselves.

References/acknowledgements

1. http://www.svbf.org/journal/vol2no4/nirvana.pdf

2. Inputs from my mother Dr Sita (Retd Sanskrit Prof)

3. And of course my friend Deepak...

Feel free to comment. Keep it neat and decent and feel free to write to me if need be.

Yoga

09/27/2011

Poem for Yamini

The falls of Yosemite,

The hue of these Utah mountains

When hugged by the evening sun,

The colors of the Yellow stone...

I see them all

In your chatter, patter

And in those pranks big and small

Your cherubic smiles rain on me

Like the snow showers adorning the lone Shastha.

Your pristine innocence binds me

Like the silent Pacific bounding these turbulent shores.

These long roads that never seem to end

Are like my yearning to see you, and play merrily

As you snuggle into my arms...

And those cuddly hugs, the soft pecks

And the chirpy frolic-

Are memories that never fade

Like the notes of some songs

That I grow up with as life passes by...

Yoga

09-04-2011

PS:- Yamini is my dearest niece - the cutie pie born to my best buddy Narayana and his wife (and my dear sister) Divya on Aug 9th 2009. I've been thinking of writing a poem for her ever since I made a long drive camping trip to Yosemite and Yellowstone in July of 2010. I dream of going on a long drive with her - a trip across this beautiful country when she grows up to be a beautiful sweetheart and learn much more than I'd ever know...

Home Sweet Home

When the innocence is drowned

In the world of incentives and infinite choices,

When spontaneity is doomed

In the maze of rules, schools, and growing bruises

Where happiness is nothing but schadenfreude,

And wistful serenity, a mad man's brood aah!

Where nothing that was yours seems to last

Friends, love, and mates all gone and lost

Like the maple leaf shivering

Holding the shining dew drop

In fear as you keep walking

With your confidence as the only prop...

Come my dear,

My sweet heart,

My dear child...

Into the warmth of my bosom,

Come running,

Tearing all the cloaks acquired all along

Like the falling rain drop

Dancing happily...

Come to your home, home, sweet home...

Yoga

08-24-2011

Me...

I latch on to a passion-

Like the froth on the mighty Colorado

And thrown into the mighty ocean

To drown away in the abyss...

Like the last bit of fire

Flickering in the gusts of winds

To fade away in the darkness...

My life is too short

To know who I am

I live and die in the present

Like a spark of fire

Fleeting in the fleeting moment

Yoga

PS:- Not sure exactly when I penned this down. Took it from my (deactivated) facebook acct...

Poor man

I am the silent water fall of Big Sur,

I can only see the sun and moon setting...

Behind me they say is the California verdure

That I can never dream of knowing...

I shiver in these cold nights

Scared of the song,

The dirge I sing for these waves

Torn asunder and devoured before long

And I become the undertaker

Of those who could never make it...

In the (wall) "street" games that the gods play

Trapped by the naked truth

That never seems to turn away...

Yoga

8/7/2011

Somewhat inspired from the documentary "The inside job", the economic crisis...

Wail my Mother...Wail

As your people rip

Your breast they fed on

Bleeding you to death

As your children

Emaciated, moan in agony

Like the dead leaves when trampled on

Wail...

As the skewer is nailed into your flesh

To be eaten bit by bit

With the wine of your blood aside

Wail my Mother,

Wail...

Hoping a son worthy

May conduct your funeral

And a mournful dirge

Breaks the silence of your wail no more..

Yoga

07/13/2011 (been very disturbed by the latest Mumbai blasts).

చరమ గీతం

పాడవా...

ఒక్క పాట!

ఒంటరి తనాన్ని

తనివి తీరా తాగుతున్న

నా మనసుని ఆహ్లాద పరుస్తూ

పాడవా...

ఒక్క పాట!

లిప్స్టిక్ ఎరుపుని

కసిగా జుర్రుకుంటున్న

ఈ గాజు గ్లాసు నుంచి

రాగాలూరుస్తూ

పాడవా...

ఒక్క పాట!

చుక్కలు నింపుకున్న

ఈ యామినిలో

విరిగిన మనసులతో

విసిగిన మనుషుల

పార్టీల ప్రేలాపనల్లో

ఆనందం శఠిన్చే వేళ-

ఆ చరమ గీతానికి

పల్లవి కూరుస్తూ

పాడవా...

ఒక్క పాట!

05/18/2011

యోగా

అముద్రిత కావ్యం

కన్నీటి అలలు

చెరిపేస్తున్న కలలు

నా గుండెల్లో దాగిన

అముద్రిత కావ్యాలు

-యోగా

PS:-నా ఆప్తుడు, స్నేహితుడు మూలా సుబ్బు కధ చదివాకా తట్టిన కవిత...

http://www.koumudi.net/Monthly/2011/may/may_2011_kadhakoumudi_2.pdf

క్యూబన్ చుట్ట (Cuban Cigar)

నీ చేతుల తో తాకి

నిప్పంటిస్తావు!

నీ పెదవులతో

నా జీవాన్ని, జవాన్ని

కసి గా జుర్రుకుంటావు...

నీ మోహానికి, వ్యామోహానికి

నేను కాలి తెరలు తెరలు గా

తరిగి పోతూ

నీ నర నరాల్లో సమ్మిళితమై...

కృంగి కృశించి పోతుంటే

నీకు ఆనందం!

నా తావి ఉన్నంతవరకే

నీ మోవి కి, నాకూ ముడి

******************

వివాహం వ్యాపరమైనపుడు

విడాకులు కొనుగోళ్ళు అయినపుడు

ఆలుమగల సంబంధం

ఒక చట్టబద్ధమైన బంధమే కదా!

యోగానంద్

02-03-2011

ప్రవాహం

పెను లోతులు తవ్వుతూ

అక్షర శిల్పాలను చెక్కుతూ

అనర్గళంగా ప్రవహించే

కొలొరాడో నది లా -

మస్తిష్క లోలోతుల్లో

నేను పయనిస్తూ ఉంటా

ఆనకట్ట లా!

నాకు లొంగి

నాలో కలిసిపోతాయి!

నా శక్తి కి రూపాన్నిస్తాయి...

నన్నందరూ గ్రహించలేరు...

కొందరు మాత్రం-

నాలో మమేకమై

మళ్లీ జన్మిస్తారు

అగ్ని గర్బం లోంచి

పుట్టిన సెకోయా చెట్ల లా

ఆకాశాల్నేదిరిస్తూ

పైపైకెదిగిపోతారు

సంశప్తకులై...

కవులై నిలుస్తారు!

03-31-2007

యోగానంద్

ఈ కవిత కి మూడేళ్ళ క్రితం వంగూరి సంస్థ వారి కవిత రచన పోటీ లలో మొదటి బహుమతి వచ్చింది. ఇది ఇక్కడ (నా బ్లాగ్) లేదని గ్రహించి మళ్లీ ఇక్కడ పోస్ట్ చేస్తున్నా...