Old man who stares at mountains

Old man who stares at mountains

Sitting here on Debu-Nandita’s balcony

I feel

The late Spring sun on my back

I hear

The distant cow-bells

As stunted cattle go out to graze

The melodious mating call of the mountain mynah

The sibilant whisper of the breeze

Caressing the fronds of cheerh trees

I watch

The frenetic flight of the swifts

The languorous lammergeyer on its wings

The hurried fluttering of the hummingbird

Competing with the butterflies

Raiding the red rhododendrons.

And with my focussed-unfocussed eyes, see

The rolling hills, terraced fields and verdant valleys,

Distant Trishul and Nanda Ghunti

Playing hide-and-seek,

Perfectly content

With the evanescent frames and unchanging vista.

Harvard, oh!

Harvard, Oh!

Object of wet dreams in callow youth

Far, faraway, unattainable, 
Object of desire in middle-age

Still far away, too far for sparse means

Finally there, at the end of life

Desires cling to the red walls like ivy.

Spires that inspire

Intellect that astounds

Sincerity that surprises

Beauty that captivates

And memories to carry away

And cherish.

Biker’s song: Nameless Pleasure 1

Biker’s song: Nameless Pleasure 1

I love

the wind’s roar in my ears,

the sting of its lash on my face,

as I hurtle down the highway.

From the tiny bits of rubber,

that grab and scrabble

 with the tarmac and win,

the flickering needle on the tachometer,

the inanimate hunk of throbbing metal,

and me,

I am one.

The exhausts beat a transient tattoo

on the walls of silence.

A whiff of scorched rubber,

 a thinning trail of smoke,

Proclaim, even though for a moment,

I was here.

Biker's Song: Nameless Pleasure 2

Biker's  Song: Nameless Pleasure 2

My inherent liking for unstable equilibrium,

Where you cannot take status quo for granted,

The titillation of flirting

With the immutable laws of physics,

Specially on mountain roads

Where bleed the speed, brake, downshift, take the turn

Build up speed, up-shift become a litany for the limbs,

Where the mind is a coordinator, focused and

Concentrating its powers on a point

Twenty odd metres ahead.

Eyes remain focused/unfocussed;

Ears revel in the comfortable chawanni-athhanni in my pocket

  cadence of the valve-train,

Overlaying a sewing machine buzz,

offset by the bass burble of the exhaust on engine braking

and banshee scream on acceleration

a divine orchestra!

You exist in a flow, moment by moment,

Conscious of nothing but that moment.

Surely beats meditation!

Caveat: Biker’s Song

Flirting with the immutable laws of physics

Is fine till it lasts.

Daring Newton often, Bernoulli sometimes is OK, but

Law of averages has the tendency of catching up!

Phases

You carried me inside your body

Brought me forth to this world,

I was told.

You fed me, held me

I snuggled instinctively.

You held me, drew me close,

I reciprocated, sought you out,

I remember.

And so it went on, till

Topsy-turvy teen age and

the incipient moustache on my upper lip

made me shun and even protest against

 any physical display of affection.

A little later there were none at all.

I grew in to manhood and you into middle age.

Then came marriage and fatherhood followed

And too soon, middle age is here for me.

Your passage to old age, was it easy

Or painful, I did not have time

To find out, or probably the inclination.

I have come a full circle

And sometimes long for your healing touch

On my scalp, my face

Where life has etched many lines, left many scars

In its wake- Maa.

Haiku: Time

Here is a Haiku, dedicated to my student-friends- VGSOM Placecom05, Sumit & Mahesh, Tarak & VGSOM 2011 batch:


Haiku: Time

Four wristwatches

gifts from loving students

memories of good times.

My Movie

This is my movie
this movie is mine
directed by me
screenplay by God and me, in that order
storyboard by Life
acted by me and supported
by a whole, big cast-
blood relatives, friends, well-wishers and...
not-so-wellwishers, strangers
Acting the entire script,
it's great feeling, watching in flashback
the sepia-toned images
elapsed years have taken out the harsh edges
and makes them slightly hazy, mellow
almost erasing the actual pain, trials and tribulations.
Zoom in to close-up
is at my free will, but
I cannot flash-forward,
will have to wait.......
Don't stop the movie now
Don't take me out of the hall,
there's so much more to come,
see!