River

With a soft tread
She drifts along her course
To the barren banks
A green charm she blows
And then with zeal and zest
Life follows!

Twinkling with silver beads
She etches a gentle path
The air around fills
With mild fragrance as she flows
And then with zeal and zest
Life follows!

With a brave heart
She crosses every barrier
Flowing silently ahead
With struggle only she knows
And then with zeal and zest
Life follows!

Defining enchantment, endless
Beauty and boundless courage
You are the life giver
With reverence we all bow
Oh! mother river guide us
So we may follow!

How so strange!

So strange are the ways of the world
Who knows or who cares about growing old?
But as age catches up we look around
And the world seems so lost and found!

So strange are the ways of men
They know not when they hurt others so often
But scream they would at the slightest hurt to them
And wish to be treated as the rarest gem!

So strange are the ways of our life
Who knows when it begins and when it ends
Though it begins with a cry and ends thus
Let the meantime be spent without much of fuss!

So strange are the ways of the maker
He is the law maker and hence the law breaker!
Kind, most of the times, cruel sometimes
But fair to all creatures at all times!

The beautiful struggle called life

What is life without a struggle
Ain't it lovely, Ain't it beautiful
That sometime later when we are wiser
We recollect the tough time with a giggle!

What is life if always smooth
Everyday just as normal as the one before
Neither rough weather nor heightened joy,
Nor a moment to be a little uncouth!

What is life without humour
Let the others laugh when you fall
Don't bother making a fool of yourself
Just brush aside untrue rumour!

Live life one step after the other
Enjoying your hard earned success
And introspecting on failures alike
Life then becomes as light as a feather

Winning ways

What is this fuss about discipline?
Is not having it a sin?

How is discipline defined?
Can you call it a behaviour so refined?
Is it the rules of life personified?
Or something waiting to be demystified?

Let me tell you where it is
Just search inside and you won't miss
It is there inside me and inside you
Only wanting to come out on a cue

Set a time for each task of the day
And discipline walks into your bay
Like the egg cracking or flower blooming
From within you it should take wing

For, if imposed from outside
You will kill the life inside
Discipline follows you as a guiding light
Bringing success well within sight!

The Past, the present, the future

When I had lived long enough

Or so the maker thought,

There lay the long winding path I had traversed

And the battles I had fought!

God descended upon me one day

Took me with tender care

With a deep sigh I held on to my creator

And saw a sight so rare.

In front of me there lay the path

I had so far traveled,

The patterns, at places, looked like a labyrinth

That I naively marveled!

Some of the path was long and straight

Not a turn, not a bend

I looked at the patterns more deeply to study

What it could lend

Finally, I asked God himself to explain

The shapes that I saw

He began with the straight road ahead

I listened with dropped jaw!

That was the time when I looked ahead

Living for the present

“What about the labyrinth I see there?” I asked

Wondering what it meant.

Those, my child, were the numerous times

When you were confused

Thoughts from the past criss-crossing with the present

Hmm…, I mused.

“Oh God, When did I make those spirals?”

I asked him to explain

Planning for the future that did not exist

Coming back in vain.

You came back to the present which had moved ahead

That explains the spring!

“Why didn’t I walk straight more often”, I wondered
Adjusting my wing.

“There you go again”, said God with a smile

Making labyrinths even now,

On your way back home from all your learning

Smilingly, I took a bow!

Habit, you see, I told Him to which he replied

“Never mind

You will see many more labyrinths as we go

That has made me so kind!”