Why does one want to know about the author? It is the writings that matter. But if my words have held your attention and aroused your curiosity about who wrote them, then I may as well say a few words about myself.
I belong to the middle class, which makes me feel I hang between two worlds that grab the world’s attention, so I can retain some anonymity in saying what needs to be said. I stay in the national capital region of my country, but have spent much of my life in smaller cities. I hold a Master’s degree in English Literature, and can communicate effectively in three Indian languages. I love these languages, and their words and their nuances influence me enormously in subliminal ways when I write in English. Music is a dominant influence, and it gives me my moments of ecstasy, happiness and peace. I yearn for the beauties and splendour of Nature, immured as I am in the confines of concrete and glass.Â
Why does one want to know about the author? It is the writings that matter. But if my words have held your attention and aroused your curiosity about who wrote them, then I may as well say a few words about myself.
I belong to the middle class, which makes me feel I hang between two worlds that grab the world’s attention, so I can retain some anonymity in saying what needs to be said. I stay in the national capital region of my country, but have spent much of my life in smaller cities. I hold a Master’s degree in English Literature, and can communicate effectively in three Indian languages.Â
Why is our earth getting so war-ridden?
Isn’t there any answer out there hidden?
But we keep on asking again and again
Like some parrot that has gone insane,
Yet knows what sought is outside cage.
So do we, if we could but turn the page.
Some think it lies in missiles and drones
In rockets and bombs, exploded phones
I am a migrant,
Wife n children
I live in my tent
They in heaven
I drink no water
Eat a little grain
When I’m thirsty
Sip from a drain
The virus will, sooner or later, play itself out
We repeat that, in spite of that nagging doubt.
In the meantime, it will take some of us along
Whether or not we have done anything wrong.
The game of life has ever played out like that
Sickness will always pick some out of the hat.
You are on the highway, crouching over the wheel. And your car is hurtling down the centre of that dotted white line. The miles are racing away, captured by the minutes changing in slow rhythm on your watch. A speeding car a hundred yards ahead looks still, its red lights flicker intermittently.
Minor blemishes on the road are taken in stride by the car, and you sense vibrations occasionally over tiny bumps littering the road. You lean slightly as the highway bends in a gradual curve.
Vantage Rock lived up to its name all right! Gaunt rock, pervasive in panorama. Stark and sheer rock. Peaked crags that grabbed the first rays of the sun and wrapped them round their flinty heads. What hard and minatory faces, that plunged to barren earth thousands of feet below!
The sight-seers came in droves, hemming into a promontory that overhung the canyon. A planked platform spaced out over a wide overhang. A railing, high enough to ensure safety, ran along the edge.
One day a sparrow came, alighted on my balcony railing
I, behind stirring curtains, saw her settle down, was glad
That of all the houses standing together, she chose mine.
To rest awhile, and with darting eyes take a second wind.
She saw me, and I knew she would take wing if I blinked
Kings and Kin’ is a collection of fairy tales for grown-ups.
Surprised? That’s because these tales can be best understood and enjoyed by them. Not that children can’t read them of course, or have them narrated. If I have written true, they too will like them. These stories are based on common themes, but deal with them in a manner that can provide food for further thought.
A king so busy, that he seals the most remarkable bargain to gain more time to serve his people. A peddler who exchanges joys for sorrows, with the most intriguing results! A king who decrees that his people must always wear happy faces, and is at last brought face to face with the futility of his law. A king who is challenged by a dwarf, and comes to realize that he may not be the tallest in the kingdom.Â
Kings and Kin’ is a collection of fairy tales for grown-ups.
Surprised? That’s because these tales can be best understood and enjoyed by them. Not that children can’t read them of course, or have them narrated. If I have written true, they too will like them. These stories are based on common themes, but deal with them in a manner that can provide food for further thought.
When old dogs call it a day, go away
And finally reach, who knows where?
Some of them are quite likely to say.
Rather stay with my folks down there.
If that cannot be made to transpire
The Lord may stretch a point for us.
When we are set to mount the bier
Make sure we are on that same bus.
Tania had always been at the top of her class, even after shifting from a neutral system of grades to an aggressive one of ranks. In the new arena, a few girls jousted bitterly every year for the pinnacle with ill-concealed ferocity that crackled with venom and was spat out sporadically in dour confrontation.
This year, Tania had set a taut mouth to the task, juggling with both inspired and slog work. Despite a slightly distressed demeanour after the math test, she looked smug enough for the top spot.
i walked my land in wonder,
and all along the way,
i saw a thousand faces
or more, throughout the day
i prayed to God in a hundred
temples, mosque and church
a dozen tongues did greet me
and asked me what i search
Why is our earth getting so war-ridden?
Isn’t there any answer out there hidden?
But we keep on asking again and again
Like some parrot that has gone insane,
Yet knows what sought is outside cage.
So do we, if we could but turn the page.
Some think it lies in missiles and drones
In rockets and bombs, exploded phones
I am a migrant,
Wife n children
I live in my tent
They in heaven
I drink no water
Eat a little grain
When I’m thirsty
Sip from a drain
When the flags of freedom fly
They surely must evoke
Visions of that valiant tribe
Who fought to break the yoke.
When the songs of freedom sound
They surely call to mind
Thorns they took away with them
The flowers they left behind.
Somebody recently said that Felix is my pet
That’s because she hadn’t met the beagle yet.
Or else, she surely would have clearly seen
How badly mistaken she had actually been.
A little study of the domestic order of the peck.
Would’ve revealed the collar around my neck.
Have you ever been held to ransom by your own?
Two children fought hard on a street
Neither would give up, beat a retreat
I intervened, and gave one my hand
Other went down, soon bit the sand
Gave other hand to wipe those eyes
Doled false hopes, soothed with lies.
God saw it all, sent seraphs with wands
They became swords, cut off my hands
There are just twenty of them, would you believe!
The rest are restrained, why not allowed to leave?
Maybe the score bears numberless grains of rice
To fill million stomachs, a little left over for mice.
Divine intervention? So meagre is thy daily bread
Madam Miss, welcome to my beloved land
Thank you for buying all of my humble fare
But that is about the most that I could spare
What is left, not enough to hold in my hand.
What is that you are asking, I could not hear?
My home? Yes, I would much like you to see
I will be honoured, it’s next to the old maqui
That is no longer there, and none other near.
The virus will, sooner or later, play itself out
We repeat that, in spite of that nagging doubt.
In the meantime, it will take some of us along
Whether or not we have done anything wrong.
The game of life has ever played out like that
Sickness will always pick some out of the hat.
The interior of a clinic- cum- residence. In the front is a living room to the left, and two bedrooms side by side. All rooms have open faces towards the audience. The first bedroom has a door to the living room.
Between the bed rooms is a small space where a door can be seen leading to a third room. The front door on the left opens into the living room on its right, and a glass-fronted office chamber to the left.There is a passage beyond the office to the left with a treatment room on the left, and other rooms to the right.
You are on the highway, crouching over the wheel. And your car is hurtling down the centre of that dotted white line. The miles are racing away, captured by the minutes changing in slow rhythm on your watch. A speeding car a hundred yards ahead looks still, its red lights flicker intermittently.
Minor blemishes on the road are taken in stride by the car, and you sense vibrations occasionally over tiny bumps littering the road. You lean slightly as the highway bends in a gradual curve.
Bailiff: All rise! The Court of Honourable Justice Pandava is now in session.
Court clerk: Case No.15326, Kabirs vs Dayal of 2020.
Judge: Are both the petitioner and respondent present in court along with their counsels?
Court clerk: Both the petitioner and respondent are present and have decided to represent their cases on their own.
Roy shifted his briefcase from one hand to the other as he approached his house in the less-peopled recesses of Sanctuary City. He had consciously bought an outskirts house because it was within walking distance from his office.
Besides, there was the added advantage of getting a large house at a low price. Yet another convenience was that he could walk back from his office for lunch at home. He had never liked taking a tiffin box to the office.
Vantage Rock lived up to its name all right! Gaunt rock, pervasive in panorama. Stark and sheer rock. Peaked crags that grabbed the first rays of the sun and wrapped them round their flinty heads. What hard and minatory faces, that plunged to barren earth thousands of feet below!
The sight-seers came in droves, hemming into a promontory that overhung the canyon. A planked platform spaced out over a wide overhang. A railing, high enough to ensure safety, ran along the edge.
One day a sparrow came, alighted on my balcony railing
I, behind stirring curtains, saw her settle down, was glad
That of all the houses standing together, she chose mine.
To rest awhile, and with darting eyes take a second wind.
She saw me, and I knew she would take wing if I blinked
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