January 1, 2025
(These poems were written while I was on the cruise last month. I jotted down my feelings as they came to me, without much intervention from the mind.)
SUNSET AT SEA
Sunset at sea,
The collage of black, white, red, yellow and blue,
Something beyond horizon I see,
Divine intimation to which I have no clue.
The setting sun brings a feeling
That life is a stage passing.
It is the motion that is calling,
To horizons now far reaching.
Light now is fading, things getting dark,
Bringing a feeling that nothing is enduring,
Does not matter how much we brag,
Written on stone our destiny unfading.
But in darkness I can see light
That transcends surface brightness,
As both continuum from Supreme Light.
Now feeling serene, gone restlessness.
COLORS OF LIFE
Life comes in all colors,
Black and white and red and blue,
In shades light and strong,
Million varieties of which I have no clue.
At times it is boisterous, noisy,
With all blood and vitality soaring,
Emotion overflowing and tears rolling,
Life on the edges, full of daring.
At times it is melancholic,
As if there is no meaning in living,
Things look dark and gloomy,
As if death is calling.
It is the red passion of the warrior,
It is the shining of the sword,
It makes the battlefield red,
With the dance of death, with no word.
It shines in the forehead of the wise,
Creates the white passion for peace,
Gives birth to prophets and sages,
It is the miracle in the divine dice.
It shines in the sweat of the laborer,
The producer of crops and goods,
In the world of toil and drudgery,
In the earthen pot, burning of the woods.
The peacock moon is colorful,
So also the shades of life.
The color the individual embodies,
Reflects their path and the fight.
Blue is the color of sky,
Also the color of widening mind,
The mind of the thinker and explorer,
The reflection of the nobler kind.
Living life in all its colors,
Is it possible?
Ask Krishna, the divine-man,
The king, friend, lover and adorable.
Life is red rose of love,
Causing epic wars.
Turning friends into foes,
Building and destroying empires.
Life is full of colors,
I cherish and salute all its hues.
We are all but puppets,
On its altar paying it its dues.
Have we asked life,
‘Life what you want?’
Have we soared high enough,
Or just the moth to be burnt?
SEA
Sea is beautiful,
Whether calm, rough, sunny or dark,
Pleasing to the sense of eye,
Whether you spot or not a shark!
Seeing the sea is not just the sea,
It is the vast and wide ocean,
Brings a feeling of vastness within,
Does not matter if you see or not a dolphin!
Sea tells me to open my heart
And shun all narrowness,
And embrace the blue sky,
To see the world through a new lens.
The ripples of the water,
So beautiful and adorable,
Not just ripples, but dances,
Life multitudinous and subtle.
Sea marries the sky at the horizon,
The heavenly nuptial tie,
Transcends pleasure and pain,
That love which I often vie.
Sea, may I ask you?
Do you never get tired?
You cherish myriad lives, ripples, storms,
Your magnanimity unrivaled.
On your breast were million voyages,
Discovered were colonies,
To be explored and exploited,
Learned so we civilization stories.
Sea, you witness,
Wars of pirates and kings savage,
Voyages of commerce and trade,
Also of missions and pilgrimage.
A young monk of thirty,
With a deep heart and vision sublime,
Crossed distant seas,
To Chicago, to speak words divine.
It was the young sage,
Wide browed Swami Vivekananda,
The illumined man from Calcutta,
And the reincarnation of Ananda.
Sea, I love you so much,
You gave birth to civilization,
Witnessed barbarity and magnanimity,
You taught me equanimity and calm reflection.
I and my kin will be born and die,
But you are there for eternity,
For me, you are a sign of serenity,
Calm you are, epitome of beauty.
PRINCESS CAYS
The beach is bustling with life,
She is Princess Cays,
Belongs to the family of Bahamas,
Full of laughter and joy.
The beach is now the world,
Cultures, peoples, smiles mingle,
Strolling, swimming and snorkeling,
All at once, leaving none single.
Tour guide, canoe man, hair-bead woman,
All are smiling and welcoming,
Eager to make your life rich,
By dint of their labor, so charming.
The Princess is beautiful,
Warm air and warmth enrich her beauty,
As I lie under the sun and look at sky,
I wonder about Her bounty.
The turquoise water,
Young and old swimming and playing,
With boys and girls serving,
Colors of life, I am enjoying.
I think and say to myself,
Such a wonderful world,
The beach, not monotonous and dull,
Full of joy, love and manners gold.
SUN IS RISING !
Sun is rising!
Sweet light reflecting on water,
The sky is getting clear,
The nature is filled with rapture.
Sun is rising!
The silvery ripples on sea dancing,
Pleasing to eyes and charming,
Beautiful wonders of the nature.
Sun is rising!
The horizon is bright,
As if doors opening to new vistas
To opulence and unknown sight.
Sun is rising!
Also rising the colors of life,
Commencing million movements,
Writing new stories far and wide.
Sun is rising!
I see lightning piercing water,
As if a sudden marriage
Between bright light and salty water.
Sun is rising!
This huge machine is moving,
Rising and moving forward,
As if nature and machine negotiating.
Sun is rising!
Rising since time immemorial,
Telling me a secret,
‘Man, you are immortal.’
Sun is rising!
Also rising the destiny,
The destiny of the collective kind,
To the real sun-divine.
Sun is rising!
Red-bright now is water and sky,
Also occasional lightning dancing on waves,
Bringing sweet ecstasy.
Sun is rising!
The rising sun tells me,
‘If I can rise and bring light,
You can rise and find your true meaning’.
‘I am the sun, the giver of light,
You too are the sun,
The son of All-Sun,
Kin of me, full of illumination’.
‘I am singing the song divine,
I don’t remember since whence,
O’ son of God, arise,
Reflect your inner light, awake’.
Sun is rising!
I salute you, O’ rising sun,
Please don’t forsake us,
Indebted we are, O’ bright God!
O’ rising sun
Please teach us the art,
How to dispel darkness,
And how to move forward.
PEOPLE
Proud are they,
Who are like the sea,
Deep in thought, wide in heart,
And hold their head high and free.
Epitome of energy are they,
Who are like the sea,
Full of dynamism and loving care,
Not touched by jealousy.
Orderly are they,
Who are like the sea,
Like ripples on the water,
Their smiles ripple, full of glee.
Ponderous and wise are they,
Who are like the sea,
Respectful of diverse ways of life,
Never shelters vile and jingoism.
Laughter and vivacity natural to them,
Who are like the sea,
Like the sea harbors all life,
They mingle with all without malice.
Err I not, I must say,
O’ sea how much I love you,
You are the giver of life,
Never want to lose you from my view.
HOW MUCH FOOD?
Do we eat to survive?
Or, do we survive to eat?
The questions hunt me on the cruise,
Exploring answers, I can’t idle sit.
Some questions are perennial,
Of the essence of human existence.
They intrigue me often,
Goad me to explore life essence.
Abundance of food is here,
Buffet, sweets and drinks,
Plates and cups and glasses overflowing,
But how much we need, me thinks.
Sad to see the waiter,
Collecting food half eaten or left untouched,
Sheer wastage of life force,
While millions outside remain starved.
I wonder and ask myself:
This intriguing human nature,
Why can’t we all think and act,
That of whole world we are and the world ours.
Our ancients say,
God is in every particle of food,
Wasting food is demeaning God’s creation,
We must think of our kin and common good.
OCEANIC FEELING
What is meditation?
To meditate on an object?
To meditate on a subject?
Or just contemplation on vacant?
It is all the above and more,
It is not just a state for minutes and hours,
It transcends binaries and divisions,
The perennial state, never wavers.
The wise says,
Meditation is when there is no meditator,
Vanishes the distinction of object and subject,
And also the media and the mediator.
Can one truly describe meditation?
Perhaps not, as it defies definition:
One calls it oceanic feeling,
And the other calls it illumination.
I believe,
One can try defining,
Our rational mind asks for it,
But the wise insist on practicing.
How can we define the indefinable?
Human mind fails to capture the whole picture,
Shards we pick up,
And misjudge it, thinking we are sure.
We are all meditators by nature,
Ceaselessly meditating
On things we desire,
Unmindful of integral whole, which is lacking.
We must learn to unlearn,
The conventional thinking and drudge,
And learn the higher algorithm,
Where all divisions converge.
Division and union gain new meaning,
When we are in mediation,
They become the precious stones,
In the masonry of the supreme mason.
Meditation is little theory,
It calls for arduous practice,
It is not a momentary fad,
But lifelong learning, fails all artificial device.
Our life is a meditation,
Day, night, hour, minute and second,
Exploring the true meaning,
And purpose of living in the world.
All life is meditation.
It is a state of divine consciousness,
The divine, serene, beautiful, universal,
I pray to Thee, please shower Thy grace.
(The words, ‘oceanic feeling’ were used earlier by French thinker Romain Rolland in one of his correspondences with Sigmund Freud, in which he tried to convince Freud of the reality beyond the purview of psycho-analysis.)
