lebanon, july 2006

he has just lost his mum
to a rocket from israel
that tore his world apart in seconds
she gave him one last embrace
before she left
calm shatters
insanity reigns

dying, hand in hand

they lay in their bed
holding hands fondly
tears in eyes
hearts heavy
minds laden with memories
their lives long filled
with hardships, neverending

they struggled daily
from job to job
no one wanted them
they were too old
they were too slow
there was not much earned
there was not much to eat
they were always hungry

fear filled their hearts
with every new day
of what it will bring

help was hardly there
the cc asked for forms and forms
to fill
to prove they were poor

they were just tired
of their daily heartaches

as the city bustled awake
as the bmws roared down the streets
as children wore nikes to school
as the civil servants sat down to another meeting
as the cc staff had another cup of coffee
they decided to leave
this heartless city
that ignored its poor
that was slow to help

they lay in bed
hand in hand
tears in eyes
breathing in gas
until
there were
no more
heartaches

india, oct 06, part 2

arriving in kashmir
on a drizzly afternoon
serene dal lake
sits besides the mountains
their peaks blurred by grey mist
its dark waters
littered with fanciful houseboats
and choked with lotus plants
while shikaras quietly flow by

a quiet beauty
uglified
by soldiers
by guardposts
by army trucks
by checkpoints
everywhere

a country torn apart
by the militants’ bombs
by the army’s bullets
killing innocents
thousands have died
and many are still dying
the poor live in tatters
with scarce work, food, money

the children still smile
the children still laugh
the shadow of death remains
they just want their
country back
they just want to play
with no fear

a child of joy

Little child
Going to school
Eyes bright and cheerful
Grinning
Walking ungainly
Arms flaying

born, with an imperfect mind

his joy
forever
untainted by
unaffected by
a dark grey world

india,oct 06, part 1

landing in delhi
on a hot and dusty afternoon
the smog filled the air
the sky could not be seen
the streets were clogged full
of cars, scooters, rickshaws
and creaky buses from days gone
all fighting, honking to get ahead

human masses were everywhere
rubbish lined the streets
roadside carts dished out rice and dhall
bones-sticking-out cows ambled along
connaught place bustled
with the young and trendy
in mcdonalds, kfc, cafes
feasting on vege burgers
chandhi chowk was
a mess of traffic, people, cows
and the temples filled with the faithfuls
and the fried pakoras in oil-filled woks
and the lime juice carts
and the sellers hawking stuff
and the rickshaw drivers that took you nowhere
but emporiums where they could get a commission
the metro zoomed, clean and slick
an underground of peace
karol bagh was bright and neon-lighty
with indian delis, pizza hut, mcdonalds
and budget hotels
and well-fed ladies in sarees streamed
into shops, stockful with clothes
and wedding jewelry

street dwellers
poor, forgotten, abandoned
slept, ate, drank on roadsides
their young ones
palms stretched out
pestering, but faces smiling

india
at first glance
is a shock
a shock of rich and poor
a shock of dirty and clean
a shock of packed roads
a shock of cows and humanity
a shock of dhall and vege burgers
a shock of little ones, homeless

free expression

Command
And control
Is how they always do it
Command
And threaten
Is how they always do it

They say they listen to us
They say they get our views
They say they let us write freely
They say they let us speak openly

But then their views are already firm
But then their thoughts are already set
But then their decisions are already made

You cannot always say what you want to
You cannot always do what you want to
You cannot always watch you want to
You cannot always read what you want to

Unspeaking, like parents
With cane in hand
After little children, unspeaking

dark glitter

on saturday night
amidst the glitter of bugis junction
amidst the bright lights of the library
amidst the dark gloom of middle road
stands a woman
asking passer-bys for money
she is hungry

we pass by
she stop us
she ask us
we walked on
unsure

some distance on
we stop
ponder
she could really be hungry
she could really be in need
we went back
gave her some money

moon above, dark
shines no longer
on our streets

a sign that says death

on roadside
sits a sign
picture of car hitting motorbike
asking for witness
to an accident

a sign that says death
a sign that says sadness
a sign that says heartbreak
a sign that says regret

the sign
waits
in gloom

rain of joy

this evening
on way home
saw a little boy
looking skywards
palms upstretch
jigging up and down
trying to catch raindrops
hooting with joy
as they drop
on his hands
on his face

lebanon.early august 2006

the islamic countries
rightly
condemned
israel
for slayings of the innocents

but

they forgot
to
rebuke
hizbollah
for the same crime

they forgot
to rebuke
the militant muslims
for the bombay slayings

they accuse united nations
of double standards
but they forgot
they also play the same game

lebanon. end july 2006

the rockets fire
the bombs rain down
homes blow up into dust
little children cry
and die
while israelis and hizbollahs
continue
their hatred
continue
their slayings

the trees refuse to grow
the flowers refuse to bloom
the doves refuse to fly
where children
no longer sing and laugh


Technorati Tags: Lebanon, Hizbollah, Israelis, Slaying of Children

lebanon. mid july 2006

The children are distressed
They are scared
Their parents are distressed
They are scared
Of bombs landing near
Of homes crumbling into dust
Of their lives going up in smoke
While
Their leaders
Play war games
In comfort

bombay killings

no matter what
they do
no matter how
many bombs they explode
no matter how
many innocents they kill
We
will pick ourselves up
and move on
with life

entrapment

Luring one
Deceiving one
Entrapping one
To commit a crime
is despicable
is crossing the ethics line

respect
and trust
in those who
are supposed
to protect us
is
lost


Technorati Tags: Singapore, Entrapment, Poem

Living Unhindered

Living
A life
Unhindered
Unchecked
With no fear
With no intimidation
From religious zealots
From over-the-boundary officials
And laymen bigots
A life
Denied
To most

death comes

Death comes
uninvited
At times
One moment, you are here
And the next, you are gone
Leaving
No time to ponder your life
No time to say your goodbyes
No time to say sorry
No time to see the world
No time to splash in rain puddles
No time to see friends not seen for long
No time to behold the grace of trees
No time to admire the beauty of flowers

the east coast

Along the east coast
Wind blows from the sea
Dirty swells rush up the shore
Clouds gather in the sky
Burning sun dims somewhat
Airplanes glide down noisily
Bladers zoom down the paths
Cyclists pedal up and down
Patchwork of families lie
On the grass
Looking at
Some
Golfers in pretentious garb
Shoot balls on expensive greens
Out of reach of many
In hands of the few

just let us go

the hustings are over
the ruling party has won
many of us have not much choice
between a known and an unknown
easily going for the comfortable known
but we still wish
the known
will do more for the real poor
will do more for those who slip between cracks
will give equal healthcare to all
will give equal education to all
will respect the rights of all of us
will give us the right to talk freely
will not snoop on us in the net
will rely less on the paper-laden elite
will talk more with a heart and feel with us
will talk with us and not talk down to us
will treat us as adults
will treat us as partners
and
will treat us not as their children
who need to be whacked at times
and
will just let us go

the dervish whirls

over the blue sea line
the sun rises
a yellow burning glob
day comes

across the dark blue of sparkling stars
the moon races
a shimmering white
at night

day, night
watches over
the clouded world
where
the muezzin calls for prayers
the tibetan horn drones
the hindu bells ring
the church bells toll
where
they sing the hymns
and the torah
and the bhajans
and the mantra

each
in awe
of the one heavens
of the one sun
of the one earth
of the one moon
and one One
who makes all
spin

the dervish whirls endlessly

they are the same

god loves all his children
be they
sunnis or shites
hindus or moslems
christians or jews
catholics or protestants
black or whites
gays or straights
brahmins or dalits
aristocrats or farmers
man or woman
city folks or gypsies

in his eyes
they are the same
they are equals
though we insist
on making it
otherwise

sunburned and drenched

huddled on the backs
of lorries and pick-up vans
they sit
cowed
under the burning sun
drenched when it pours

coming from the poor rural
in china and india
they flock here
doing hard work
building our towers
repairing our ships
sweeping our streetsc
cleaning our homes
caring for our kids
earning
for their kin back home

but
some of us
abuse them
scold them
beat them
make them slog unstop
with no rest day

losing
their rights
their respect
their dignity
at our hands

saving face

sitting across the straits
uncomfortably
the two chinas
both rattling their sabres
and mouths
each its own nation
one clamours to add on the other
saving
face
becomes more important
than
its people
welfare

elections time 2

It's elections time
New candidates
Come on board
Again

Each
Imposing his own religious values
To shape
To bias
His interactions
With the people
He represent

elections time 1

huddled in a corner
of her one room flat
munching some dry biscuits
with a glass of water

the morning light
Seeping through the window panes
shining
into a room bare
a lone mattress on the floor
a crickety fan
a light bulb dangling

last night
the election candidate came
knocking on her door
asking her
to vote for him
promising her
flat upgrading
if she does so

she worries
more
about her next meal
about getting more cartons to sell
she cares not
for the voting
for the elections
for the upgrading
she has no money
anyway

the elections come every four years
the candidates come every four years
inbetween
they leave her alone
they leave her lonely

faiths, blindly

Pray, tell me
How keeping my hair, unshorn
How keeping a beard, uncut
How wearing a turban
How wearing a tudung
How eating kosher meat
How not eating pork or beef
Will make me more pious

Should I not
Keep in touch
More
With my inside being
With my conscience
With my morality
Than
Just
Retrofit
My external façade
To please the
Cannot-be-questioned
preachers of faith

black pot, black kettle

it is odd
when china castigates japan
for its wartime misdeeds
and yasukuni shrine prayers
when its own human rights record
in tibet
is
blemished

little girl

You were only two
When your life was
Snuffed
Out
Suddenly

Little girl
You were born poor
You never knew happiness
You never played with Barbie
You were often sick
You seldom laughed
You woke up at nights
Frightened
Of the darkness
Of your family
Of getting scolded
Of getting beaten
This was your world
You never knew it was wrong
You thought it was the norm
It was the only life you knew
You never got to know a child’s fun

in china, in india

Thousands and more
miserable and cold
poor
no jobs
gnawing hunger
unwashed
sleeping on the streets
under the moonlit skies

while

their countries
proudly
shoot satellites into space
fly the latest warplanes
flirt with missiles
and nuclear bombs

a pride
crumbling on
two wobbly
bony
legs

Disregarding

you cannot choose who you are born as
but you can choose the life you want to lead
but you can choose whom you want to love
but you can choose the happiness you seek

Disregarding

some people out here
who believe they can speak for god
who believe they can proclaim what is right or wrong
who believe they can impose their religious views
on others

the gods are confused

the gods are confused
as the man they created
fights with his fellow man
blacks against whites
indians against muslims
shites against sunnis
protestants against catholics
sinhalese against tamils
chinese against tibetans

all arising from the same seed
all having the same blood
all made up of the same dna
all beseeching the same god

yet
each claims he is better
each says his faith is better
each tramples the other
in the name of faith, power

ignorance prevails

Hypocrisy

When Faith collides
With vehement words
With denigration
With orgy of violence and arson
With self killings
With explosions

When Faith cannot tolerate
When Faith cannot accept
When Faith wants to chain
When Faith wants to slam
Other Words

Then Faith loses respect
Then Faith loses acceptance
Then Faith treads backwards

Whales

In the deep cold waters
Of the Bering Straits
The whales were swimming
Peacefully with their young ones
Their bodies arching gracefully
As they leap out of the waters
Splashing back thunderously
Throwing millions of spray drops
Into the air

The calm shatters
When the whalers came
With their harpoons loaded
Shooting them into the waters
Piercing the whales
Bloodying the waters
Dragging their bodies
Onto their boats
Hacking them

They tell the world
They do this
For whale research
But we do know
It is no more but
A yearn for whale meat

Cheating the young

There is a need
To be wary
Of pseudo-religious groups
Masquerading as civics organizations
Imposing their religious views
Of sexuality and contraception
On our impressionable schoolchildren

But they underestimated the young
Who came back furious
With their opinions on
How these groups attempted
To twist their minds
Instead of just giving them the plain facts

Ready to Leave

She lay in her hospital bed
On clean white sheets
Stirring left and right in pain
And discomfort
Tangles of tubes crisscross her body
Into her nose feeding her
Into her veins pumping her with drugs
Monitors with blinking lights
Keeping her going

She was old
Her body was aching
Her mind was drained
Her heart was beating tiredly
Her organs were straining
She had enough
She wanted to leave

But they kept her going
With their tubes and machines
It was their duty, they say
Regardless of her sufferings

It needs a heart to let go
When it is time
To let go
Not a brain
Rigid with its straight line of rules

At the emergency

At the emergency
They come crowding
With broken bodies
With broken bones
With broken minds
Seeking healing and solace

They huddle in corners
On plastic chairs
Some alone, sad
Some with kin in tow
Waiting for their turn
For healing and solace

The doctors, nurses
Scurry up and down
Left and right
Just another busy day for them
Providing healing and solace

Some are compassionate
Some hardly look at them
Talking through them
And poking them
Like mechanical objects to be put right

They came needing healing
They came needing solace
They came needing assurance
They came wanting to be put right
They are humans, simply