The distinguished

In a desert, in a red sand stone palace,

Greenery abounds and shows me several shades of the colour, 

Birds of different feathers sing their own tune,

The amazingly beautiful perfect peacock, 

The slightly colourful pigeons, 

The grey sober wood pigeons, 

The vibrantly green majestic parrots,

A migratory bird here and there,

A couple of mynahs too,

Never a sparrow to be spotted,

Not a single crow came by,

Do you really know why?

 Royalty will never accept commonality,

Strange are the ways of the world,

The common sparrow and the common crow,

Must find their own space.

These trees, this bit of sky 

Is only for majesty, beauty, and the colourful birds

An exception is the cuckoo which though not pretty has a lovely voice,

Is accomplished and so is distinguished and is accepted.

Even as you live life well, 

Do stand out in the crowd,

Or the world will pass you by,

As a has been, a bystander, and an also ran.

Although it is said,

They also serve who stand and stare.

EIGHTH OF AUGUST.

Today is my daddy's birthday,
Had he been here,
He would still be cheerful, full of life,
Still teach us how to take it easy,
and never run away from strife.

His favourite quote was,
"khudi ko kar buland itna, ki har tadber se pehle,
Khuda bande se yeh pooche, bata teri raza kya hai"

I have tried all my life to follow in his footsteps, but I still have so many wishes.
I wish I had his cheerful attitude, which was very infectious,
I wish I could forgive people as easily as he did,
I wish I could accept the adverse situations of life,
I wish I would not allow people to break my spirit,
I wish I had his resilience,
I wish I could fight back and never accept defeat when wronged,
I wish I was as patient as he was,
I wish I paid more attention and learnt to be like him,
I wish he was there at the other end of the phone,
I wish I could hear him say,"Uke here" once more,
I wish I could see that child like pleasure again,
That delight, that fun and that eternal call for a cup of tea and moongphalli.

Today I wish all of us a very happy birthday daddy,
I know you remain in our memory, and live on with us,


I shall try to follow in your footprints, I will continue trying forever,
Because that is my real tribute to you, my dear father.

MY POWER - MY LIFE

What is this inner voice, antar atma, khudi?

Is it ME? 

Am I the most powerful? 

My inner voice, my antar atma my khud?

Atm and atma,  khud and  khuda?

Param atma is my inner self  which is supreme,

Have I just conveniently named it God?

I have the reservoir of power,

I only allow that power to lie dormant, supine, resting.

I now know, every prayer is to my own self,

Every puja is to awaken my supine power,

Its that time when I am alone, focussed,

And fully trust my own self,

My atm and my atma,  my param atma, my power.

I have the power to achieve what I want,

I have the power to succeed.

It is me, and I alone,

Who is responsible to reach my goal,

I am an island in my own self,

So I live with harmony, adjustment and acceptance.

My world is mine and I from within determine how I live in this beautiful place,

A brighter tomorrow, a better scenario, a lovely sunset leading to a beautiful sunrise,

Is that not what I  want?

I trust my inner self and just leave it at that,

I decide, trust and believe....

I am now allowing  my "destiny" to be written by the power within me,

That "me" will determine my sorrows and my joys.

My power, my will, my life.