Being like a fish

I have a problem
I fall in love easily
When the going is good
Almost akin to greed
For what a fellow man
Or woman has to offer

This evening 
At the secluded beach
The fishermen were busy pulling the nets
Their wives threw their lines at us
I got hooked
The push and pull
Went on for a while
At the end they got a bit
Of what they wanted
In return
They gave me enough
Smiles and laughs 
That I did not mind their tricks, their skills
While the fishermen husbands were still at it
With the eternal sea.

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The wives above are based on a group of women from Karnataka who were selling trinkets to tourists in Goa. They were expertly using all their skills and tricks, and even had learnt fluent English because of foreign tourists.

दोहा

दुःखी जन तेरो द्वार, प्रभु देखत राहे, 

प्रभु आये मेरो द्वार, मैं केधो देखत राहूँ। 

दुख-सुख लावे रहे, मैं तहूँ लुपचार  

हे प्रभु कैसन भांगू ,ये मनका कारागार ?

-----------------------------------------

दुःखी जन तेरो द्वार, प्रभु देखत राहे, 

प्रभु आये मेरो द्वार, मैं कहाँ देखत राहूँ। 

दुख-सुख लावे रहे, मैं तहूँ लुपचार  

हे प्रभु कैसन भांगू ,ये मनका कारागार ?

-----------------------------------------

दुःखी जन तेरो द्वार, प्रभु देखत राहे, 

प्रभु आये मेरो द्वार, मैं कहाँ देखत राहूँ। 

दुःख सुख लावे रहे, मैं तहूँ लुपचार  

हे प्रभु कैसन भांगू ,ये मनाचा कारागार ?

------------------------------------------

लुपचार : ये शब्द वास्तविकतः हिंदी शब्दकोष में नहीं है, जहाँ तक मुझे पता है । पर मनगढ़न शब्दों के प्रति कोई मनाही नहीं होने के नाते, मैंने ये प्रयोग किया है। हिंदी में "लूप" का मतलब है दुम या पूँछ। मैं कविता में कहना चाहता हूँ की कवी अपने जीवन और मन में व्यस्त हैं।  एक प्रकार से कहा जाए तो कवी उनका सर उनके "पूँछवाड़े" में ले के जी रहा हैं ! और एक तरीके से देखें तो "लुपचार" के ध्वनि या पकड़ में "लुप्त" और "लाचार" दोनों पाए जा सकते हैं। इस प्रयास को अगर पसंद ना आये तो प्रिय पाठक माफ़ कीजियेगा। आपको शुभ प्रणाम। 

Variations on a stanza in a letter

Time is precious we know

A stranger makes his gamble

Attention scarcer we know

Another stranger, will he gamble?

Time is precious I know

A stranger makes his gamble

Attention scarcer you know

Another stranger, will he gamble?

Time is precious we state

A stranger's stanza spare

Attention a scarcer state

Another stranger, will he spare?

Time is precious I state

A stranger's stanza spare

Attention a scarcer state

Another stranger, will he spare?

Time is precious it states

A stranger's verse spare

Attention scarcer among states

Another stranger, will he spare?

Time is precious I state,

Here in this verse spare.

Attention a scarcer state

Stranger, will you spare? 

Smile

A smile across a crowded street

Stranger with a feel for free things

Lightness and the light within

Buddha in stone outside a library

Reminds even stones can bless and smile

May well hide sadness once in a while

(Sort of hide irritation till can't bear) 

He swears by that smile 

Smiling...

Blessings in Disguise

 Four clever kids a toddler follows every footstep

Prank you outside the neighbourhood temple

Laughter all around, good bye bhaiya for half a km

The clichéd leaf or flower falling

In your lap while you stroll somewhere

In the city

A kind word in the sea of anonymous crowd

A bus ride conversation a long time ago

That flowed freely out of nowhere

The vertical rainbow at sunrise

Cooped up in an airplane coach

Right now

Even the jiggling derriere in front

Along the canal the other day

Who asked for all these riches?

The golden bird gone missing

There was no one day when I realized 
I wasn't any special. 
Work happily told of the many tiny pearls 

in the sea, that they are all beautiful. 

There was no one day when I realized 
I wasn't my young self anymore.
With a knowing smile, Hope again pointed to Grace 

playing hide and seek along the inevitable course of nature.

There was no one day when I realized 
Powers that give you life die or leave
Experience whispered heavily that trudging on
somehow comes off as dignified.

Near the mesmerizing statue,
the golden bird was gone one day.
Wisdom came to console me.
But I was inconsolable that day.

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Funnies + Campus + Early middle age

I noticed a good pile of dog shit today while walking to the office on campus, and marveled at how nicely cylindrical and well-held together it was.