Who Live?

 

In the edge of the night

When the heat stops its fight,

Where mere words aren’t enough,

When eyes sing the song of love

 

Have the courage to look above,

Find that star, my dove!

Run free on the sandy floor by the beach,

The sky is not far from your reach!

 

Closely listen to

The howl of the passing waves

Who are they explaining to?

The summary of our days

 

That we all get to live,

And the ones who spend it,

To give,

Are rewarded with the smile of the receiver,

Which they yet don’t intend to see,

Nevertheless make it their meaning to live!

                                                                                      ~ Kripa Sarkar

  

 

SHE WHO SMILED

 Rustling branches, falling yellow leaves,

A road caked with brown crisps,

Dry air, distressed breeze

 

Lips capable of uttering,

Only complains,

‘ Why live? Why die?

Complete nuisance life is!’

 

Life on ‘ Elims’, the village,

Was as dead as one could be,

Lost was every mind,

Shattered very deep

 

With drought and famine,

Greeting each year to come,

Man had no hope,

Life being a misery, a glum

 

One night, thunder struck,

They all felt joy, but feared too,

An eternity it had been,

That they lived a life in monsoon

 

Dissatisfied, as ever,

Retired every soul,

Unsure of what,

 The heavenly waters would unfurl

 

In the belief of the many,

There was a doubt of worry,

Rain they craved, but Oh!

Chaotic minds!

Conclusions were made in a hurry

 

The so called wise men said,

‘ No one knows what the drops would bring,

Future is unpredictable, the inevitable is arousing’

 

Change, all feared,

And now they feared it more,

So many years had passed by,

Clouds had, yet, become a rare sight!

 

Inside the hut of a hunter-man,

With meagre hopes, stared he at his wife,

She cried in pain, accompanying the grumble,

Grumble that precedes the rain

 

For her belly was protruding out,

As she yelled for mercy in pain,

The beginning of new life,

Soon to begin!

 

As the downpour of crystal clear water,

Showered upon the earth of ‘ Elims’,

The villagers gathered in a chatter,

Outside the hut of mud, their hopes grim

 

Seconds rushed into minutes,

And minutes into hours,

Unnoticed were left, the heavenly showers

All eyes glanced beside the hunter lady’s bed

Where now a newborn lay!

 

What she did, surprised all,

Quiet unsure they were,

To what it was, after all!

 

She widened her lips into a “O”,

It showed her red gums,

Dimples on both sides of her cheeks,

‘ She smiled,’ a wise man claimed!

 

No one knew what it was,

But liked it, anyway,

So they mimicked her,

Doing what they never did

Or putting it the other way,

What they forgot the village meant,

When spelt the other way round!

 

“ She smiled,” the village chorused,

So they all smiled, and the wise men now,

Named her ‘ Elims,’ girl of the village!

You dare not spell it the other way round!

 

Life continued on Elims,

Monotonous as it always was,

Soon all forgot what they did the night,

‘ Elims,’ the girl of the village, was born…

If you ever happen to visit this place,

Don’t forget to ask who “ Elims” is,

For you are sure to get an answer,

‘ Elims is she who smiled!’

The irony being, no one would know what it actually meant!

                                                                                   ~ KS

                                                 

Dusk by the Lake

 Rays of endless warmth,

Shoot from behind the clouds,

Playing hide and seek in the sky,

As dusk arrives by the lake...

Flocks of birds fly home,

Their claws all stretched,

Their dreamy feathers spread,

As dusk arrives by the lake...

The stray dogs howl in joy,

 Bidding the melting day a cry of goodbye,

Sitting straight with their ears alert,

As dusk arrives by the lake...

The petals decide 'It's done for the day',

Soon they droop away,

Leaves and branches close their eyes,

Roots stop their underground chase,

As dusk arrives by the lake...

Now the water turns a deep orange,

Unlike a scenery in the art gallery,

It speaks a language ' Strange',

Ah! it turns green again, 

Although without any flattery,

As dusk arrives by the lake...

I simply stare at the ascending moon,

A creamy white, to my eyes a boon,

Silently it steals my soul away,

I wait for life, as it drives,

For I would only love to live, 

To be a witness of the arrival of,

Dusk by the lake...

                                                                                         ~ Kripa Sarkar

My conversation with myself!

 Life passes by. Time flies away...

No matter what I do, no matter what you do, the cycle of never-ending happenings continue, and will continue forever! What meaning each one us make out of life is unique. Just as I can only live as myself and never be you, or anyone else for that matter, life tends to unfold differently for each one of us. I am a nobody, that is the truth. And I shall remain a nobody, doesn't bother if I become the world's richest person, or if I get an honorable award, or I simply live just as an ordinary, or if I become a famous athlete... what is real will remain the same. What is real is something so blurred out of our vision today, that we believe it is nothing at all. Trying to get appreciation from the world and living a luxurious life seems to be the motive of life itself. It is not so!

It is the truth! It is real! I know not what it is. And, probably I may always be in loss of words to express what it actually is! But that is the very reason of my existence. How bewildering, knowing not what it is, yet living to know it, because I'm just aware that knowing it is the real essence of life.

I may sound like a lunatic, but if penning down all my thoughts the way are, makes me a lunatic, be it so. If deciding to live my life for knowing the truth I am unaware of, makes me unusual and unsuccessful in the eyes of the society, be it so! I have no right to change another's perspective, we are all born with one! Yet the same applies to others. I have a perspective, and it is my choice if I want to alter it, whenever required. The fact is, there is so much more going on in my mind, that it is impossible to make a note of all of it! 

I wish to find a place of peace, far away from the world, far away from the ones who care for me, because eventually, their love and care becomes attachment, which limits me to do what I ought to do, if I am to live the life I wish to live.

I am telling this with experience, I find joy in solitude. Being with myself gives me a joy of freedom, and I know I'm not being watched upon! At least not watched upon by a human; what it is with God, I can't help it, he shall always be glancing upon me. In fact, that is all I wish for. Life would be heaven if I were in solitude, staring at the Omnipresent, my eyes- open or close, only capable of witnessing him, only him! He in return, would shower the bliss of his presence on me, for that shall be more than enough!

No, nothing can ever be enough! It is a continuous process. Anyways, if life would be only this much as explained above, I would be the happiest creature in this multiverse. 

But how? That is a big question. Many of the great souls who have realized the true meaning of life have renounced all their possessions, and lived a life of a saint, meditated for years, reaching a state of self-realization, from where there is never a coming back! I've not reached there, but from what I've read, once you are elevated to that state of mind, you stay there forever. 

What lays beyond, I'm unaware of that! Be it beyond my life, or be it the beyond of my future in this life. What I am aware of is my desire. I know the universe is with me. Because only then do I occasionally come across the books of such saints, whose lives inspire me; gives me a sense of truth in my thought. It validates my desire. Gives me a meaning to live. Nothing else convinces me that I must be alive. The only reason why I am alive today, is because the Universe wants me to. It is slowly guiding me to the direction, which will open my eyes, take off the blur of this material world!

Every breath we inhale, we inhale life. Alike to that, every step I take, the nature guides me, becoming my teacher for life. I have questions. Tons and tons of questions. They shall be answered! I know they shall be answered! The moment for which I await will be answers to all my questions. It is my intuition that says, ' All your questions would stand meaningless when the light of the divine falls on you,' I know that it is true, completely! When the Mahadev will embrace me, with his divinity and love, I shall dive in the ocean of bliss and stay there forever!

Who am I after all! What is it that I can be? What is my truth? I must find it. The journey begins, the journey had probably begun millions of years earlier when I was in some other body, but the soul remains unchanged. I thank Shiva, for blessing me with this quest to know my real self. For not a leaf shall move, nor a life shall be, without the will of Thee!!!