Soaked!

It’s been some time. I haven’t posted in ages. Thinking about it brings numerous topics to my mind. I can write about things which have caught my attention for different reasons. But something that I would like to share, which is interesting as it is worthwhile is my trip to Shiva Samudram falls near Bangalore.

The journey was memorable with two of my best buddies, friends for a long time who probably know me better than most people and of course the new additions to the family- Shireesha, my prospective wife and Ann, Sethu’s prospective wife. Without getting into any anecdotes about camaraderie, let me come to the point of fascination.

Trip started peacefully. The roads gradually change from pucca roads to kuccha roads. The landscape changes from that of a highway with well marked milestones to that of a rural one with passing bullock-carts and mopeds carrying huge loads of grass for livestock. The weather was dry with a faint breeze in the air. It was just about right, with a few beads of sweat trickling down every once in a while.

Few signboards and a couple of bends later, we reached a clearing with milling crowd and intermittent vendors hawking tender-coconuts, chilli powdered goose-berries and blue-berries. After a brief lunch, we moved to the viewing point for a sight of the falls.

I am trying to capture my thought process or rather reaction after the sight of the falls.

“Gentle stream moving to the quick…impending drop at the sheer precipice

Freefall as is birth, the birth of a waterfall…

I am born with the earth below as my father and the cliff above as my mother…

I live but for a moment…dispersing my energy in all that is in-between…

I have now grown to become mist,…with age making me finer by the moment…

I leave my brothers behind and spread myself in the wind…

I embrace my father who takes me within…

I am now that which I was before…

I am water and I search to be born again.”

I am not able to explain why, but I am always fascinated by water-falls. And every time I see a water-falls, the gentle coolness of the water-spray, or the sight of it cools down my mind. The gentle sway of the stream, the gentle gurgle of water as it moves between rocks, the gentle hum of water as it weaves it’s way down a rock face, the impressive roar of the rapid as it huffs and puffs in the mountains or the sheer magnificence of a water-fall which delivers itself to a spectacle which will leave you soaked for a long time come. Each and every facet of water leaves me thrilled and yearning for some more.

In a city like Bangalore, with numerous water-falls around, the very thought of my next trip leaves me excited.

You beautiful devil

You beautiful devil,

Where were you all these days?

Seen so many days,…day coming in and going out like leaves being cast off by tired boughs.

Never seen an instant in a thousand days as when I spend minutes into hours with you.

As though I were unborn and born unto each minute with you, is but a feeling.

Drops of me, little by little, trickle back into the life that I never knew was possible.

Where were you all these days?

Let it be

Let it be, for it is not yours to start with.
Let it be, for you are not alone.
Let it be, for you do not understand.
Let it be, for we were never there.
Let it be, for it is how ’twas meant to be.
Let it be.

Blackness in the air and people with their hearts pulled out. Fetid odour lingering in the air like a black shroud. Fear was lurking in everybody’s face. One stepped in and stepped out in equal time. The scene of a close friend no longer possible was too much for them to bear. Kith n kin lay outside unable to grasp time. Friends were long gone in time, memories playing out in each one’s mind.

What was the last time he spoke?
What was the last time he smiled?
What did he look like?

And then

Why did he do this?

-Me, myself and all the people I know.

black is not empty

Twilight zone and breeze in the air. Breeze gains strength to rustle the leaves. Steady hum in the air. The heat recedes from the clutches of the day which is dying by the minute. Life lays still for a brief whistle from the trees.

Leaves are touched by threads, woven in knots by distant thoughts. Form moves in the strength as personified by the better half of shakth. Tresses traipse down in the wake of energy, smothered by oil tenderly strewn half a day ago. She is walking away with her back as foil for my fancies. She is wrapped in a black saree which seem to drown everything that I feel for her. Thoughts seem to reach her and she stops for a moment.

A gentle movement and she turns with her brightness making itself evident over her shoulder. Graceful hand makes itself felt on the branches of the tree nearby. She gingerly shifts her lovable hips and lets the tree hold her for one eternal moment.She looks up and seems to sense my presence in the air. She pauses for a moment, as though teasing me.

She turns to show her full face and her beautiful nose ring shines like the half moon on a clear night. While her lips play with my eyes, I stand in abeyance, in fear of the moment when she would turn back to leave me forlorn.

The wind turns abruptly and she responds on the quick. She turns with her saree trailing behind those dainty steps. In the folds of her saree, she carries my hope that I will see a night like this,…yet again.

This one is for Preethi Pupala

Wrinkles on the snow,

T’is but an instant,

Ephermeral as the dew,

Like drops which escape the ledge,

Diaphanous as thoughts,

Close to my heart,

The tongue speaks and the ears listen,

What could be sweeter?

Than the mirth tht u spread??? (Preethi,….)

Morn@2500 mts above mean sea level

Drizzle in the air.

Ululations in the landscape.

Wood crackling in the hearth.

Booze in my veins.

Like iron being worked in a furnace,…ideas are born.

I speak and forget at the same time.

Two to tango, but one to live.

Thick scent of blood, sure is thicker than water.

Mind is free and the shroud of life is but a thin veil.

Wander for a moment, what seems like a moment.

Back in a few hours.

I sing to myself,

“C’mon baby light my fire!”

Oh Man!

Smell of beer in my mug,

Mug is empty and none around,

The beats are but echoes in my wires,

Dark in the fore,

Legs astride and my hands akimbo,

Aware of the hours and the mist of Gold,

Matter of time before shadows become life.

Breathe,…breathe,…