Freedom?

Roam away, pleasant leaf
Now aloof, from mother tree
The ties, that you felt bondage,
Hark, protected but night-day

Cut-off, do not wither thou
Freedom sweet, for seldom few

Born to nature, in this world
You already are in Karma bound
Freedom, freedom, then what be freedom
Be where you are, it be state of mind

Our Leaders Short-Sighted

With deep respect, and a flag flying beside
Have I stepped in, chest bloated in pride
Where freedom fighters tread, their heads held high
They said with their lives, this is yours not mine

That India today, a nation in progress
Is still beseiged but, by the enemy within
Bigger than the enemy, anti-social and terrorist
Is that of corruption, and politics divisive

If our leaders today, use strategies of our captors
Who is to blame, for the lack of focus
Easy to blame us, as their voters first
But around that they created, an influenced ruckus

This Life..Miraculous Life

My son Shravan was born 4 months back. And with his birth, has yet again dawned the realization of how miraculous this universe, this Earth, Nature, and especially our Life is.


Small things about how Life portrays itself, through my son's actions and behaviors, have left me in awe. When he was born, he was was this bundle of chubby cheeks, dimpled chin, rosy lips, and sweet little hands and legs, popping out of mummy! Just that evening his position was not right (head-down), and I'd prayed to the miraculous Sun-God for a normal delivery. How did the baby hear..

Just as they say, he was crying like anything immediately after being born, when they were cleaning him up, and I, was smiling, happy as never before. As a lactation later said, if you'd ask him then, where he'd prefer to me, it would be back in the mother's cozy womb.

And just like the medical staff had told us, when he's consoled and placed on his mother, he instinctively knows his way to her breast, and to suck milk off it. Where there was none before..nature had nurtured a conceived-life into the cute baby boy inside Jyothi, so how it produced milk when that child came out, was in comparison the least surprising..

Shravan's hunger cues will always remain fond in our memories. The boxing-action and the side-to-side head-jerks, wow! I don't know if we've got it video-recorded, but doesn't matter, that's only for memories we could forget.. :-)

Time's flying by. I've always kept telling him, let time go slow, but he keeps making sure he grows fast. Each day brings us a new joy. He used to smile in sleep, and now he smiles in recognition. Both are most beautiful to watch. He's trying to converse, to his best possible ability right now at 3+ months, a baby talk which is a mix of cooing and babbling. But the best is when he communicates through body language. Each twitch, lip expression, eyebrow movements, leave us wondering who taught him all this! But still knows the best way to demand, is cry out loud! :)

Shravan still bundles his hands and legs into a small cute package, but also is active a lot other times; kicking and moving hands. He's turning over now, but is still scared to turn back after that. :-)He loves his massage. Bathing, on and off, but always loves the water on his body. To take a step back and think, the baby was in a water environment when inside his mother. With birth on Earth, came the ability to breathe.

He loves the same things in nature as we do: the greenery, the water, the light and wind. These, I'm sure, have lasted longer in his soul through past births, than the parents and others he sees now. Through him, I see what a gift Life is, and our time here. I see how powerfully we all are equipped, right from birth. And how nature gives birth to the parental instinct, when the child is conceived, and then born. How life gives the parent enough time to watch each step of the baby grow, while all the time nurturing the growing child with complex physical, physiological, emotional and mental powers.

It dawns on me, nature has a purpose for us. For each of us. She invests so much in us, has gifted us with so many qualities, and the most important of qualities, to instrospect and change! Makes me realize, that just as with any gift, life is a responsibility! To search for and fulfill our unique purpose in this lifetime, is what will give the soul peace.

Talent Blooming Late

And far out, a talent was blooming late
One that would become a force to reckon

He had kept searching a meaning to life
Kept saying to others, but forgot to listen
That this purpose forever had lay within

Something that I would do for free
Is writing, but yes, oh why indeed
And missing am I, in lack of this deed
Did my son just reveal, the secret is this

A passion to write, be it verse or word
Is God-given, and language, only a medium
True joy lies not, in hours of sleep
It lies in joy felt, at the hour of sleep

This Journey with my Child

My baby dear, my first born child
Is it really me, that created you
Or were you born, of that bright light
which created us, made all the rules

You are not me, but still a part of me
And of more value, than me the whole

To protect you, why this instinct in me
For are you not, just another soul

A journey I began, that you will start
Or is it just, a single thread
I will continue Life, just in your heart

A journey strange, is life and death
And how each being, came to evolve
All these instincts, this complex thought
Why are we living, purpose bereft

So baby dear, I welcome you back
For I must know, you were once here
I hope to help, your search as mine
Is achieved in full, with us hand in hand

Unfinished..

In the darkness of the night, while my wife and child sleep
I sit here brooding, thinking, instrospecting
Call it whatever your mind suits
In temples I'd been, and received great bliss
Generations of souls had venerated greats powers in these
But answers lie empty, my role unfulfilled
If a purpose, a path is shown, I would readily tread

Of what use an existence where there is no purpose
what is left behind, to remember me by
Fame and recognition is what I aspire
Footprints left in progress of time and life...

Krishna

Under the blue moonlit sky
Coloring the water and ambience in blue
My Krishna your temple bells
Are the very sounds of the environ around

Walking by the giggling river
Soft grass caressing my feet
When all one can think of is embracing one's love
Dear Krishna how did you live separated from Radha

A beautiful night, sweet breeze blowing by
Further cooling the sandal-paste on my forehead
And intoxicating fragrance of the Raat-rani flowers
Reminds me Krishna, what bliss would be like

I feel like laying down, where am I hurrying to
Breathe in the life, a gift I am born to
And then immersing it in, closing my eyes
Playful Krishna, I'll finally embrace you

Poetry of Youth

Why do I miss, the poetry of my youth
One look at a girl, my heart would miss a beat
The sight of a green leaf, would make me pleased
Fresh fruits felt tasty, so did reaching them on trees
Even crowd and dust, not disturb inner peace

I would run hard, feel tired, yet be at bliss
Water felt like nectar, or was it really nectar
The air had a fragrance, with no flowers around
Reading and writing felt ecstatic, as only simple pleasures can

No, it wasn't love, that caused the happiness I felt
I know the age was 24, when contentment met
I think I know the reason now, it has lay within
I feel I was in touch, with my very self and being

Lazy to Pursue?

Of late I have thought, where gone this love to write
To Put pen to paper, to look around and smile
The art is there, the ideas come
But lazy to sit, have I become?

My aims crystallize, my family flowers
As god-send the purpose, I was born at last
But still at distance, is the cause I crave
At least a family, I have as keepsake

Verses for the Day

From ashes rises a phoenix
I thought a lot of the meaning
And then realized that for true change
We must first destroy the old

No point in going fast
When the next light could well catch
Have an aim and goal
But know that life could fall short

I looked at the mirror, and keep looking at it
Sat down to write, but wondered why
There has to be, surely a deeper reason
Why I came, I looked, sat down to write


Rakshasa, dear Rakshasa, you exist within me
As Ravana, in Ramayana, you play your role with ease
I need be good, I need be evil, and evil you are in me
For only good, and only evil, will leave the world diseased


I understand this world, this nature, this existence
They why this self-doubt, this safekeep, this hold back
A purpose fulfilled, is what gives most peace
Not money, not progress, not relations we upkeep

A Single Life

To kick a stone, to crack a twig
Wherever went, fun of life alone
Simple pleasures, to read and write
Down to earth, but dreams abound

I climbed a tree, I ran afree
I swam a sea, I sped alike
A single life, needs know no fear
What is now called, lack of maturity

Why Free Market perhaps is the Right Way to be..for Health Care

There is currently the huge debate of health care embroiling America. And I've thought through of the battle of the ideal versus the practical. To put it briefly, the president's health care law aims at providing coverage for those without. But the main counter-argument to this is, but what if they cannot afford it? Now the government proposes, albeit obscurely, that innovative means would cover for that. All the while reasserting, that those with insurance currently will not see their premiums increasing. But popular, and pragmatic logic, says otherwise. Including the insurance providers who'll have to cover those newly added.

It is easy to be initially pained by the numbers. 15 percent of the country is uninsured. Many of them, children, the torch-bearers for the country's future. A government exists to look out for its citizens, and if some are unfortunate in wealth, then at least very basic needs of food, shelter, and health must be provided for by the government. If this implies, that part of this cost is borne by those more fortunate, then so be it. It'd be like applying a higher rate of tax for covering those uninsured.

But the counter-argument exists that such a cost cannot be afforded by the country. We have seen communism collapse in the past, as do we see socialist countries today in Europe. The law of free market is the law of nature: Survival of the fittest. If you try to kill the snake to protect the frog, the ecosystem would collapse. The only reason America is the most powerful and richest country of its time, is because it adheres to this law to the fullest. The system is there: public schools, infrastructure, lack of corruption, and a government that encourages entrepreneurship and innovation. If a person does not make use of these opportunities and falters in life, why should the hard-worker bear this person's expenses, including health insurance. And popular vote will resist it; only government will and leadership willing to flow against the tide can make this happen. And in a democracy where popular vote elects its government, the opposition is bound to come to power and overturn such a direction. If the government wants to avoid this, it takes up the cost, adjusting it by some means, which in the long run will be eyewash, as much of government revenue is taxes in income (individual or business). The other easy-way-out for the government is to push this cost to the private sector. But a private business exists for profit, and will certainly push costs to the end consumer by means of increase in premium for existing members. Which is what we are looking at right now.

Cruel though it is, perhaps life was never meant to be this way. And you just have to look at nature to know that as I said before. A government's primary responsibility is to ensure the country's survival. And if social committments come in the way, then a sacrifice to that respect has to take place. Basic needs could be food and shelter; health to be individual responsibility. Universal health coverage is not possible;dependants (children and hopefully seniors) can. Coverage to ensure immunization and hygiene (to avoid larger societal catastrophes due to epidemics), can.

All in all, the same rules apply to a country as to a business, in order to survive. Unless you innovate, you cannot survive. You have to let go of your weakest. Survival for the fittest, is indeed the undeniable law of nature, and as long as we live in nature, it will continue to reflect in our financial systems and social order.