For Pt. Ravi Shankar

dragonflies dancing

sitar notes sparkling like water

soundtrack of our lives

Winter in Delhi

A cold rainy day.
No thunderous drama in the sky
Just pale grey clouds weeping,
Moaning as winter creeps into
My rain soaked soul.

On dreary evenings

Ever since I woke up this morning, an incident from Brecht's play the "Good Person of Szechwan" is coming to my mind. The one where Shen Teh tries to stop Sun from committing suicide. Sun is trying to hang himself from the branch of a tree, and Shen Teh comes and tries to distract him. He asks her why she is so eager to stop him from killing himself and she says,

"It frightens me. I'm sure you only felt like that because the evening's so dreary.
In our country
There should be no dreary evenings
Or tall bridges over rivers
Even the hour between night and morning
And the whole winter season too, that is dangerous.
For in the face of misery
Only a little is needed
Before men start throwing
Their unbearable life away."

Delhi is such a dreary city, it takes courage to wake up in the morning and face the world. Perhaps all cities are like that. Perhaps life is like that. It's not often that a Shen Teh comes in to distract a Sun from the dreariness of life. Most of the time it's just someone crying out into the dark night, unseen, unheard.

Golden autumn sun

Playing on my eyelashes

Gone in a moment

Sweet songs floating in

Speak to me of tender love

Linger in silence.

Aami chini go chini tomare

My take on Rabi Thakur's song. (An Assamese inspired to translate a Bengali poem):

I know you, oh yes, I know you,

Maiden from a far off land;

You live beyond the oceans,

O maiden far away.

I’ve seen you in the autumn mornings,

Seen you in the summer evenings,

I’ve seen you, within my heart,

O maiden far away.

I've lent my ear to the skies

And I have heard your songs;

And I've offered to you my soul,

O maiden far away.

My travels have come to an end,

I've arrived in this new land,

A guest standing at your door,

O maiden far away.

I know you, oh yes, I know you,

Maiden of a foreign land;

You live beyond the oceans,

O maiden far away.

Yeh Duniya Agar Mil Bhi Jaye To Kya Hai?

This world of palaces, thrones and crowns
This world, the enemy of humanity
This world which hungers for riches
So what if I were to win this world?

Each body maimed, each soul thirsty
Confused eyes, sorrowful hearts
Is this a world or is it chaos?
So what if I were to win this world?

Here we are nothing but toys
This is a world of dead idols
Here even death is cheaper than life
So what if I were to win this world?

Youth wanders like a sinner
Young bodies dress up for sale
Here love is nothing but a business
So what if I were to win this world?

This world where man is nothing,
Love is nothing, friendship nothing
Where love means nothing at all
So what if I were to win this world?

Burn it, burn it
Burn it to ashes. 
It's your world. 
Keep it for yourself. 
Do whatever you want with it. 
Take it away,
Take it out of my sight.
I don't want it. 
It's your world. 
I don't want it. 
How would it matter? 
If I were to win the world?

Have you been writing?

You ask me

If I've been writing.

Well, kind of.

What do you do

When something is, so to say,

At the tip of your pen?

You write.

You write everything but that.

You search for it

In every line,

Every gap, every curve,

Every comma, every period.

They say,

Life is what happens

When you plan other things.

If that is true,

Then yes, I am writing.

Well, kind of.