Haiku: Red

water on petals
pearl upon a bleeding heart
throbbing song of spring

Haiku series: Blue

flows out like lifeblood

a languid soul spilling out

a pool of desires

like a lotus bud

eagerly waiting to bloom

tenderly restless

dreams forgotten

lost in a chaos of voices

drowning my own

caught in a deluge
I'm losing sight of the shore
half wishing to drown

rainfall upon leaves

soft footfalls on wet pavements

silence in my soul

... a friend says, blue is the colour of December.
  
  ... "It's blue. Blue is the colour of love." -Disco Pigs

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.