The six blind men of Hindustan

Perecption and points of view vary from individual to individual.
We had a poem about this topic in my school English text-book.
I am reproducing this poem, of course, I claim no credit for it - and I hope to have credited the person correctly at the end of his/her poem...

Here goes :

The Blind Men and the Elephant



Key Ideas: Hindu, respecting difference



It was six men of Hindostan,

To learning much inclined,

Who went to see the elephant

(Though all of them were blind);

That each by observation

Might satisfy his mind.



The first approached the elephant,

And happening to fall

Against his broad and sturdy side,

At once began to bawl,

"Bless me, it seems the elephant

Is very like a wall."



The second, feeling of his tusk,

Cried, "Ho! What have we here

So very round and smooth and sharp?

To me, 'tis mighty clear

This wonder of an elephant

Is very like a spear."



The third approached the animal

And happening to take

The squirming trunk within his hands

Then boldly up and spake:

"I see," quoth he, "the elephant

Is very like a snake."



The fourth stretched out his eager hand

And felt about the knee,

"What most this mighty beast is like

Is mighty plain," quoth he;

" 'Tis clear enough the elephant

Is very like a tree."



He fifth who chanced to touch the ear

Said, "Even the blindest man

Can tell what this resembles most;

Deny the fact who can,

This marvel of an elephant

Is very like a fan."



The sixth no sooner had begun

About the beast to grope

Than, seizing on the swinging tail

That fell within his scope,

"I see," cried he, "the elephant

Is very like a rope."





And so these men of Hindostan

Disputed loud and long,

Each of his own opinion

Exceeding stiff and strong,

Though each was partly in the right,

And all were in the wrong!



John Godfrey Saxe (1816-1887)

RIP MJ & Thank you for the Music!

Three generations swung to his music.

Three generations saw a dancer like nobody else.

He crooned with energy that a 100 strong men could not have mustered. Yes, he was not just just a once in a generation performer, he was also the performer of the past century. Some people might throw in names like the Beatles, or even Elvis - no disrespect - none of them had $%^t of this guy.
He left them all behind with his cool moves, and a singing style that made it hard to decipher words, but you know what - people never really cared about what he was really singing about : It could have been about ghosts ghouls and goblins [as in Thriller] or it was about something touching [I'll be there] or it could be the raunchy seductive. His amazing singing skills were on display primarily as a child artiste. But if you want to know a man who was born to rule the mother of all stages of the world, then it was MJ.
Whaddaman, the ultimate performer.
Hhe could sing in that amazing voice, he could moon walk, and then stand on his toes.
His live shows could only be described at 2 hours of continuous adrenaline pumping through his veins. This man cut across so many geographical borders, that I wont have any trouble believing that even people in far flung North Korea, Ulan-Bator, Swaziland or Peru would have trouble connecting with this man - his music and his novel dance moves. Heck even my dad knows a few of his songs, so universal is his appeal!

The man leaves behind a personal void for me as well. I spent some of my early years in NY before I came back to India - Michael's Thriller on LP is one of my most prized posessions [although I honestly don't know if it is still around - the cover with him lying done, and on the inside is a picture of him and a tiger. MJ's music videos were trailblazing and way ahead of his time : Even when I see some of his videos [thriller, black or white, smooth criminal, scream], I can honestly tell that modern day music-videos are flaky and made more by studio honchos and less by imaginative people.

The man screamed and "Shamon-ed" his way into our hearts and minds. His controversies may have dimished MJ the man - but MJ the artiste truly lives on. And for once a supposed child molestoer actually has my sympathies because quite frankly his father treated him and his brothers like a bunch of performing poodles.

I hope history is kind to you MJ and you've meant so much to me - as a child of the 80's. I swear : 50 years from now we can look back and say - there has since been no other and there probably never will.
I see no harm in letting my guard down and shedding a tear for you.
Since the days leading to your tragic end, I hope you've find peace at last...

Trust

Bonds of trust
Lay cruelly mangled
In your web of lies and deceit
Whither is loyalty
When all you do is cheat

Bonds of trust
Of an Unholy alliance
What was between
Just me and you
Is now lain out for all to see

Bonds of trust
Easier broken than mended
For my wounds so deep
Are not easily forgotten
To your own you've tended

If I were a Transformer Auto Bot

This is perhaps what I would look like
P.S the eyes are actually from a photograph of mine :-)

Pontificatory Purgatory

Sadness fills this stoic heart
Heavier it grows with every blow
Beseeching ye of soft currents
Calming, as o'er me she flows

What wounds dost thou carry
And scars of everyday
Why hurt are you by every human?
What saddens you in every way?

No more a facade of stoicness
Weathered by humbling disgrace
Wallowing bowels of self-pity
Shames ye in to your filthy place!

Now under you ye truly carry [they say]
Catharsis for thine soul
Just reach down - [a heart asundered]
No your heart won't really know

Why [does this heart] cry in sleepless nights
Whats makes thee go insane
Is this life so sad you wonder?
Is it worth living with this shame?

Turned around out of living hardship
Ye be fallen by the wayside
If living isn't living what be it be?
Anything but surviving suicide?

AUTUMN : where art thou?

The slightest breeze,
Coaxing dew-eyed buds
Out of their sleepy slumber

Dancing tulips swaying
The cool autumn zephyr
The rhythm of birds & bees

The nippy wind, the cool accent
As I walk down streets of cobblestone
Gazing into the river deep
As I stand by the bank
The autumn wind lulls me to sleep...

Brave Kitty

I was headed out for lunch to Chenab - its at Whitefield. Not much for the food. It was what happened when I was driving to get there. Saw a little grey kitty - leap ferociously across my car in less than a bound - and I am talking little kitty no more than 8 inches long from head to butt.
It crossed over the median and then hopped over to the other side. It dodged a bus, and a car, but somehow managed to bang its cranium into a lousy-ass slow two wheeler - it misjudged the speed of the lame-o Uncle driving it. I thought Little Kitty was done. But lo and behold in less than a second - kitty woke up, dusted itself off and was off to the other side - probably something worth Kitty risking one of its precious 9 lives to get across. Kitty surely expended 3 of its get-out-of-jail cards with that run.. Amazing... I wish I had a video of it..