The winding road










(on board a Shivneri Volvo, from Pune to Bombay)


This morning,

As I sit on the bus,

The road leads me on

Through the undulating hills;

I have seen them lush green,

In the flush of monsoons,

But now they are grey,

With specks of green.

At times I think-

Are we like this;

From green to grey,

And back to green?

Ecstasy at times,

Weariness at others,

Taking their place at the driver’s seat?


The bus gives a jolt,

Then lurches forward,

There are people around me,

But it’s a lonely road.

Our worries are our inheritance,

But our journeys our own,

We live to love,

But die for living.


The distant houses

Come and go;

Home is a place

I have struggled to find.

Love is a metaphor,

Life is a maze,

Where is the harbour

That anchors the mind?


The bus enters

A dark tunnel-

Light at the end;

Is that how our lives

Must necessarily be?

Drudgery tolerated

To find delight,

Ages of melancholy

For a minute of ecstasy?


I know not the answer,

I only know I must trudge on,

No matter what,

How heavy the load,

So says the tarmac,

As I look out the window

At the lonesome, weary, winding road.


- Jan, 2012

Somewhere in the Western Ghats, from Pune to Bombay

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lord Shiva- the first bipolar

Image
  Bipolar. A person who is maniac and depressive alternately. Happy at one time, sad at another. The APA ( American Psychiatric Association) of USA, the imposing grand daddy of the global " mental healthcare system “ ,who decide arbitrarily via their network of psychiatrists worldwide as to what constitutes a mental disorder and what does not ( with gentle and not so gentle prodding from Pharma companies) ,says that people with bipolar disorder , " have extreme and emotional mental states that occur at distinct times, called mood episodes." And going by standard psychiatric literature, the occurrence of bipolar disorder is around 3% in the community (again, based on arbitrary and questionable criteria decided by psychiatrists ). Is that the case, really ? To critically examine this issue, let's look at the "case" of Lord Shiva, whom many of us worship daily, in all his glory.Lord Shiva is silent,medit...
Read more

The Spirit-what is it actually

Image
x The spirit does not die. Simple statement of Hindu philosophy, the core of the Advaita tradition. As   said in the Bhagavad Gita, Samkhya Yoga “ Na hanyam, na hanyate ( the spirit does not kill or let kill).”Even while you kill your enemies, your kill their body (and their mind), but never the spirit or soul ( Atman). Bhagwan Maharishi Ramana defines this spirit   as the “ I”,   that which is unique to us all, thus has to be perceived by us uniquely. He defines “ I” as the sole phenomenon that drives the world, the Shiva tattva that is present inside us all , and I wholeheartedly agree with him. The Bhagwan would know- it was this “I “phenomenon which helped him to battle cancer undaunted till his death in 1950 . It was the same spirit which allowed my late father to battle lung cancer undaunted till his end . It is the same spirit that allows all of us to face life’s multiple problems everyday. Without “I”, there ...
Read more

Auld lang syne

Image
Another year is about to start. For some, probably a fresh new beginning; for some, the continuation of an old story; for others, a perfectly legitimate excuse to let their hairs down! Whatever the story , the music is going to come blaring on, the DJs are going to line up their numbers, the parties are going to begin, the wine is going to flow, and all are going to enjoy- the pediatric ( child),geriatric (old),) and psychiatric ( wacko) populace included. I remember the year we had spent New Year’s Eve dancing around the bonfire, non-alcohol induced, with family friends, at a forest in Jhargram, West Bengal, where probably the only lights today during New Year’s Eve would be that from the Maoist lanterns. It was perfectly safe and normal to spend holidays there in those parts during those days, just as it is unsafe today. I had told my wife (then-fiancée) that I would have rather spent the night in the company of “ spirits”, and had got an earful on the virtues of not drinking. Today,...
Read more