Star Arts

"What company would I,
a solitary wanderer, have
when I decide to travel
the length and breadth of the world?
The day is the best for exploration
while night is the time for rest.

What would I,
a solitary wanderer, do
when my travel begins in the night?
When darkness engulfs the earth,
taking light away from lives.
What's the point in travelling then?"

With questions such
in the mind,
I embarked on a night journey,
very much disappointed
there was no beauty to behold.

But recline did I on my seat;
open did I the bus' window;
look up did I at the sky;
fly did my heart away from me.

I felt the same fascination
that made Mozart say,
"Twinkle, twinkle little star"
and made him wonder what it was.

I realized the beauty of the word
'vinmeen' -
like a school of fish swimming in the sea
stars infinite glittered on the vast sky.

With whatever knowledge I have -
a drop of water in a mighty ocean -
I tried to identify constellations.
How do I describe them?
The traditional Tamil 'kolam' taken higher
or
God's way of playing 'connect the dots'?

When I could figure out nothing
in the mad cluster of super hot balls of gases,
Orion appeared and gave me relief -
the kind a mother gets
on finding her lost kid in a fair.

What extent of awe strikes
when you see in person
what you once beheld in
just pictures and videos!

I was, like a madman,
laughing to myself.
The strong gust of wind
threatened to expose
my 'recession' to my neighbour,
the constant upward curve of my mouth
threatened to expose my madness.
But did I give a damn?
Or have I ever?

The beauty of day
lies in the clouds;
the beauty of night
lies in the stars.
Did the beauty of day
envy the beauty of night?
Why did the clouds,
with their foggy veil,
cover the stars?
Wow! Nature has emotions too!

And when the overdose of ecstasy,
borne out of constant stargazing, kicked in,
I wanted to share it with someone.

Who else is the ideal choice
other than the one who's a star's namesake herself?
A star in her own right!
How I wished
she were with me then
and were creating 'heavenly' shapes
like John Nash and Alicia did!

I experienced a brief burst
of love and hope.
My mind wandered
into the philosophical realm too.

I was beginning to understand
what 'contemplating the universe'
really means.

Made in Heaven

Hearts, two in number,
Are connected together.
Priceless are the tearful smiles on your parents' faces.
Prepare yourself for the lifelong journey
You have embarked on through this eternal bond.

"Man came first, woman came next"
And other old wives' tales chauvinists spread.
Read not such stories, read not such text.
Refrain from the fallacies those bigots said.
In joy and sorrow hold hands tight.
Even doubts must doubt whether to enter your minds.
Drink from the ocean of love to see how beautifully life unwinds.

Let truth and honesty always be on your side.
Intimacy unparalleled must exist between you.
Fall in love continuously with
Each other every day, each and every day.


Note: Something I wrote for Surekha akka's (Suresh Padmaraj's sister) wedding. Wish you a happy married life, akka! :)

Vinayam

My mind beams with pride,
my heart leaps with joy.
I'm becoming the man
I was predicted to be.

I'm a trusted friend,
I'm a lovable mate.
I know I'm valued
for the good qualities in me.

I've been given many a gift
by the Lord Almighty.
I still count my blessings
for giving me both hardships and strength.

I'm bound to achieve more.
I'm bound to fly higher.
I'm bound to dream more and more.
I'm bound to make them real.

No matter what goals I achieve,
no matter what heights I reach,
no matter how famous I become,
no matter how much greatness I obtain

I want not vanity
but loads of Humility.
For I must do justice to my name,
and not be a tragic irony.

Without Any Regrets

The day was good;
I had a wonderful time.
Concerts, plays, movies -
spending a lot of time with my friends.

I don't miss home;
I don't feel lonely.
There is not an instance of sorrow.
There is no fear, but only hope for morrow.

I'm ecstatic almost always.
For unending joy, I've found all ways.
My life is full of laughter and smiles.
But I do realize there are many more miles.

I can't kill hope,
I can't kill love
though pain and grief
are their close friends.

I want to remember you
like the air I breathed yesterday -
transient, vital,
yet painless when it left me.

Don't become one with the air anymore.
I don't want to let you in again.
Fly away,
fly away to an unknown place.

I don't want you to appear
in the montage of my sub-conscious thoughts -
my dreams -
when I want to enjoy every second of my wakeful sleep.

I don't want to be moved to tears
when I read Tagore's love poems.
I don't want to remember you
when I encounter anything even remotely related to love.

All I want is
to be able to look into
the eyes of 'the one'
without any regrets.

Sparks and Springs

With a spark in the eyes
and a spring in the step,
I begin the day
with cheer and glee.

The numerous glances in the mirror,
the fresh deo paintings on the body,
the wrinkle-free shirt and the well-trimmed beard
reflect my will to seize the day.

The tender touch of the morning breeze,
the warm blanket of the glowing sun,
the resonating laughter of the jolly good roommate
prolong the cheer and newborn glee.

You're always a part of my conversations.
In fact, you're the heart of my conversations.
Yours is a recurring role in my TT* dreams.
Your thoughts accompany the many cones of ice creams.

What is life
sans crushes and soft corners?
Though some men are content
with just wet dreams and boners.

Still, the magic of love works overtime
when the very thought of you
makes me begin the day
with a spark in the eyes
and a spring in the step.

* - Table Tennis

Hope

Despite being greeted "Good day" by
an unbearable load of agony,

Despite knowing some dreams are out of reach
like the greedy fox that wanted grapes,

Despite seeing so many efforts shatter into pieces
like ceramic caressing concrete,

Despite enduring unexpected acts of betrayal
with a slight smile and stoic silence,

Despite wetting the pillow
with tears as sacred as blood,

Man goes to sleep
when his mind tells his heart
"Tomorrow is another day."

True strength - strong truth.

To Kill an Undying Love

Trying to kill an undying love.
All my efforts go in vain
and I end up feeling much more pain.

It is after all the love
that made me write
poems of love,
poems of hope,
poems of perseverance
and poems of depression.

I love this love:
it brought the best out of me.
I love this love:
it showed my self to me.

But it hurts to see it drown unrescued.
It hurts to see it go down unrequited.

I valued the person
who didn't value my heart.
Ironically, it's the same person
who beautified my art.

I saw my dreams turn beautiful
with her inclusion.
I saw those dreams turn into nightmares
with her exclusion.

My sanity asks to hope no more,
while my insanity wants to hope more and more.

Seventeen months
and three heartbreaks later,
I'm still
trying to kill that undying love.

One Man's Duet

Do you sense
the presence of my love
as often as
I sense
the absence of yours?

Do you think of me
as much as
I think of you?

Well, do you even think of me?

I'm sure you care for me.
Yes, you do care for me
like you care for a roadside puppy.
"Awww.. So cute!" - when you encounter it.
"Which puppy?" - when you are away.

And why on earth
am I running behind you,
wagging my tail?

Is it because
I'm capable of great love
or is it because
I want your love?

I don't mind running.
But I'm running on a one-way track
that has no destination.

I still want to hope,
I still want to love,
But I keep discovering
it's still a one man's duet.

I keep saying, "Good bye."
I keep asking myself, "What's the point?"
But then, do I really know
why I fell in love with you?

The Sea Sees

The sea sees many a wave
rising, falling and crashing
on the shore.

The sea sees many a bird
embracing life by
flapping their wings.

The sea sees many a ship
that either sail smooth
or sink to the lowest depths.

The sea sees many a person
who are happy, standing near it
and unhappy elsewhere.

The sea sees many a star
that tirelessly twinkle
and continue to light up an
otherwise sombre night.

The sea sees everything.
But the sea stands still
most of the time.

Return and Retreat

I go far ahead
and come back to you
like the waves
crash on the shore
and return to the sea.

Railway Station Ramblings

Anxious passengers
await
the arrival of their trains.

Bothersome salesmen
bark
to find buyers for their biriyani.

Carefree children
cry and whine
for the chocolates they didn't get.

'Dashing dudes'
develop tactics
to dazzle a prospective 'darling'.

Everyone is engaged
in some enterprise
or the other.

Some people alone
continue to sleep
even in the presence of light;
even in the presence of awakening light.


P.S: The last verse is a tribute to Robert Graves's poem "She Tells Her Love While Half Asleep"
Click here to read that poem.

Mad Love

Oh yes,
Love is blind.
What can it make you do,
apart from caring,
hoping and loving more?

Mad love,
maddening love,
madly in love.

Midnight Musings

Should I feel sad that
I could talk to you only at the end of a day?

Or
should I feel happy that
it was the beginning of another day?

Bye bye Home!

I lie down
gazing at the stars,
trying to solve their marvellous mysteries
and admiring Parabrahman's handiworks
dancing on the ethereal stage.

Musical notes make a breezy procession
and awake the happy spot in my heart.
Oh! It's his* music!
No doubt this music melts my heart.

One moment, still like the sea;
the next, sprinting like a stream.
Once rising and falling like a fount,
then like a cataract caressing its mount.

Is it his music?
Or His music?
No way to decipher.
I then realize
his music and
His music are the same.

These song records
leave their records
in the heart.

I can listen to his music
and His music wherever I go,
but I'll definitely miss this particular spot
on the terrace, where
I lie down
gazing at the stars,
trying to solve their marvellous mysteries.

* - refers to my three favourite musicians - Ilaiyaraja, Yanni and Yann Tiersen.

Nomadic Horde

A mass gathering of clouds, a horde:
their fluffy white wings I hastily board
and travel to mystic lands yonder.
My vehicle's nature and origin, from there I ponder.

Snowy white, at times they are.
Sometimes, their dark arms stretch afar.
I wonder if the contrast is due to their notions.
Like man, do they have varying emotions?

Sometimes, they act like a truant child.
On other times, they're everywhere and act so wild.
Different morphs do they always assume;
ethereal enigmas they endlessly exhume.

When I'm a mere human, I marvel at their greatness.
When I'm a super human, I marvel at the greatness of their creator,
the One who gifted them as a vast veil
to the Moon Lady who often wants to conceal her shyness.

Signature

The sun,
donning his golden crown,
caresses the sky
with crepuscular rays.

The moon
borrows his silver robe
from the sun
and lights up dark roads
and lovers' moods.

Candles,
by destroying their aortas,
melt themselves
for man's romance.

Fireflies,
with their glowing rears,
fly around
and provide visual treats.

I'll spread my light
the way I want
just like the dazzling sun
and the beautiful moon.

I'll give myself
to spread light
just like the sacrificial candle
and the evanescent firefly.

Don't ask me
'why' I spread my light
the way I do.
I'll certainly not change it
just for you.

Just sit and wonder
'how' I do the same
and think of ways
to spread your own light.

Unspoken Thoughts

To even think of you,
the thought that our souls made an ethereal waltz
at a certain period of my life
gives me the highest pleasure.

Should I have coughed up my unspoken thoughts?
The thoughts knowing
how to come out of their shells,
preferred to stay
in the eerie darkness
of the corners of my heart.

To not see you sad,
to not make you hate me
held the highest priorities in my mind,
making me only come up
with ways to see you smiling.

I feel the kind of dissatisfaction
Direktor Schindler felt.
Having done the best he could do,
still thinking he hadn't done enough.

I don't regret moving on,
but the memories haunt me at times.
The memories that intertwined our hearts,
the memories that gave birth to the unspoken thoughts.

I'm privy to those unspoken thoughts
just like you are 'a miser of your memories of me.'
I'll cherish my thoughts;
sad they'd remain unspoken forever.

Act

Strive
to soar beyond visible horizons.
Dive
to explore unfathomed depths.

Pick
only the path that you want to stride on.
Stick
to your passion, come what may.

Give
to others so that you may gain.
Live
to experience both pleasure and pain.

Learn
to be strong though you fall down, friend.
Yearn
to sustain happiness till life's end.

May God Ease Your Suffering

Alive you are,
Resting like a vegetable.
Unmanly coward is the one who ruined your life.
Never again to live life till death,
Arrested by destiny's horrible clutches you are.

'Sever'e punishment do all sex offenders deserve;
Hot embers sodomy is what will work out.
Aren't there any gods to ease your suffering?
Never ever should the world see another Aruna.
Belief, faith and hopes have been crushed;
All the prayers have gone in vain.
Unparalleled compassion have many people showered;
God must expedite the relief from your pain.

The Mathemagician

She was 'one' of a kind.
Never once was she of 'double' mind.
She always won,
for she only took 'calculated' risks.

She very well knew the 'equation' of happiness
and the 'formula' for success.

For every difficulty,
she came up with a 'theory',
and eventually found the 'solution'.

Whenever her life was caught in tangles,
she viewed the 'problem' from different 'angles'.

She 'divided' her love equally
among her 'five' children;
she 'multiplied' the happiness of the whole family.

She could 'substitute' disappointments with delights,
and make people laugh in a 'fraction' of a second.

In real, she was just an 'average' woman,
but tried to always be in cheerful 'mode'.

No wonder she could 'decimate' her sorrows
even after her days were 'numbered'.

She was a magician.
She was a 'mathemagician'.

An Endless Journey

When you fall down
and hurt your self badly,
learn to rise,
for there is no other go.

When you are shown a mirror,
and get to see your flaws,
learn to change,
for that is the only constant in life.

When you are saved from an abyss
that someone else had fallen into,
learn to thank,
for gratitude works many a wonder.

When you are sure you made a mistake
and realize it has affected someone,
learn to regret,
for you won't do it again.

When you want to spread happiness
and smiles everywhere,
learn to love,
for love is an ever-abundant source of both.

When things go wrong,
and you're clueless of what's going on,
learn to question,
for that's how you become wise.

When life blesses you with whatever you want
and manifolds your hope and positivity,
learn to dream,
for what is life without something to achieve?

When you talk, meet people
and go around living life,
learn to learn,
for life has many a lesson to teach.

Learn to love;
love to learn.

Magical Hands with Invisible Strings

Colourful puppets dancing all around.
To you people's hands are their unseen strings bound.
How real it looks when they make a sound!
Great is the person by whom this was found.

Toys, cars and insects talk.
Meaningfully do all the dogs bark.
Each creation leaves on Earth its own mark.
We all wonder how you fill your stock.

Some creations have made me shed tears.
People's hearts do some of them pierce.
There is just no place for irrational fears.
With each frame of action, childhood nears.

Through all these creations, we have learnt to dream,
to let love flow within us like an endless stream.
You can raise your collars and with pride you can beam,
for your art is one of the most supreme.

The Storyteller

In her solar system,
her son is the sun.
Through spring and autumn,
she hears the tales he spun.

Her son would marvel,
observing nature's bounty.
With many a pebble and gravel
he plays in their little county.

The tales of a flying tiger
and a singing giraffe,
the friends of an old beggar
make him laugh.

The mother showers her love
through hugs and kisses.
We'll never know how
certain things God misses.

The boy knows not boredom
though he has not some features.
Sans word, (his) mom weaves wisdom,
knowing the grammar of gestures.

What a Paradox!

A heart jumps in joy
when it finds the right girl.
Hope multiplies alarmingly;
dreams increase exponentially;
smiles keep blossoming continuously.

Rarely does a soul find
another soul with great similarities.
Isn't it natural for it
to feel elated then?

The soul pursued
talks about hope, optimism and chasing dreams.

The soul pursuing
thinks on the same line.

"Wow! What a match!"
thinks the innocent soul,
dwelling in dreams, hopes and positivities.
Less intense are the other soul's emotions.

And when the pursuing soul
utters words of love
to the pursued soul,
the latter shows no similar signs.

Rapidly flash
the earlier advice of hope
and mockingly laugh
the true state of things.

Ah ha!
What a paradox!

I Dreamt a Dream

I remember the teddy bear I sketched
when I was nine years old.
It held a tennis racquet in one hand
a ball in the other.
I felt proud on completing it.
I admired its beauty at length.

The sewing machine in the bedroom
holds evidence for my interest in verbal puzzles.
The scrambled letters of my father's name
scrawled on the wood in innocent, cursive writing
still brings a smile to my face.

My sister and I 'invented' our own language,
complete with a written script.
We sang songs of being cooks with 'theepettis'* in our hats.

We laughed heartily when she sang,
"Run, run, run
for a bun, bun, bun.
You'll have fun, fun, fun
if you run, run, run
for the bun, bun, bun."

I remember winning essay competitions;
donning the roles of Tiruvalluvar, Shylock,
Puck and Tenali Raman in school plays;
playing the flute for the school orchestra;
being a part of the school choir.

Little did I know
I'd be writing this particular poem.
But I dreamt I'll become a poet some day.
I told myself
I'd become a better poet.

Till date,
I've been tirelessly working on it.

* - matchboxes

The Path

Clueless and not knowing
what to do,
I stood on the road,
trying to figure out
where to go.

I took some time;
I introspected.
I realized what my destination was.

In one path
did I want to travel.
But nothing worked out
the way I wished.

Like a ray of hope
appeared another path.
A path hitherto untrodden.
A path, of which I knew nothing.

Hoping against all hopes,
I took the risk
of walking on an unknown land.

As I started to walk,
I realized the path was uneven
and full of ups and downs.
It was then that I discovered
the journey was going to be tough.

But there was a welcome breeze
that caressed my cheeks
and touched my heart.
It failed not to bring smiles;
it failed not to make me forget the miles (to be covered).

Yellow flowers adorned the beautiful land;
crepuscular rays lit the way ahead.
I couldn't have asked for a better path.
I hoped it would lead
to an equally picturesque destination.

I remembered the words
a friend uttered,
"The path is more important than the destination."

I realized I had fallen more in love
with the path than on the destination.

I walked ahead
with a heart brimming with hope,
and a mind oozing with perseverance.

I smiled.

The Promise

When you feel sad,

I'll dance with you to the tune of Le Banquet.

I'll do my best to see you smiling always.

I'll do my best to sustain your glee.

Your dreams would I see in your eyes

Your hope would I see in your smile.

I'll do my best to see you happy always.

I'll do my best to help you fulfill your dreams.

I'll change what you don't like in me.

I'll enhance what you like the most in me.

I'll do my best to forget some bittersweet memories.

I'll do my best to love you more than I loved anyone.

I'll light your days with passion and cheer.

I'll find infinite ways for you to enjoy every passing moment.

I'll forget the past, humming this elegy to my old love.

I'll embrace glorious hope, singing this ode to the love of my future.