In the world of learners and teachers

As a child, I remember how possessive I was about my polished, evil looking, wooden scale. When my mother used to be busy in the kitchen and dad used to be out for work, I would passionately hit the sofa seats pretending they were my students.
Yes, as every other child, I wanted to be a teacher. A teacher personified power, poise, knowledge - a conglomerate of attributes that i wanted to pursue.
My grandfather was a Math Professor. His sister, worked as a science teacher in a school and my aunt is a head of the department for math in a well established school in Delhi.They are gifted with patience and skill, I have gathered. This sort of a background might have influenced me to think so highly of teaching, as a profession.
I also happened to have some of the best teachers at school, who were not only knowledgeable about their subjects, but were also passionate about helping their students to attain great heights. They instilled in me, the values of hardwork, respect and ambition, which have shaped my life.
However, the best teacher I have ever had, is my dad.
When i recall those moments, I have spent with him, crunching numbers into my calculator, learning about fractions, discussing economy, I am filled with pride, for no particular reason. He used to be as passionate about getting an answer right, as i used to be, as a high school student. He used to be as nervous as I was, before an exam. We would plan out work, for a week and stick to schedules, then.We would cling on to difficult problems for ages, sometimes. We used to fight over methods. We used to engage in long discussions about math exams, once i was done with them.
When I became old enough to call myself,an adult, I realized, I have gained much more than problem solving capabilities and I crave to be what my father has been to me.

EVIL

Guarded by the know-alls,
This world’s so beautiful
Flickering hope and discovery
And fire blazing through.

Here, the craving mind finds the altar,
Roars with pride, yet in symphony
Visualizes the pinnacle that none can see
And uplifts spirits and fancy.

Yet, in this path of the ultimate,
Crippled is the self
Subdued and assaulted
By the image of the righteous.

Then I wonder in horror- Is the evil in me or around?

Vicious thoughts then encompass my fragile mind
Sodden and lost- by whims,
It struggles to win ‘thee’
And everybody!

But they identify me, just as matter,
Pretending their values to be absolute.
They negate the existence of the ‘other’,
While their poverty stricken soul watches aghast.

Then I wonder in horror- Is the evil in me or around?

I dig up the graves of ugly wounds
Just to stare and gasp..
Load it with some more ‘red’
And watch the pain in motion.

Then I wonder in horror – Is the evil in me or around?
Then I wonder in horror – Is the evil in me or around?

Nothingness

An abyss I see at a distance,
Mocking at the beam of light.
It knows not the splendid dream
It surrenders to the crave, within.

It nods in approval to the failed saints
Their penance count only in the heaven.
They rush, they pray, they give away in dismay
It’s poise strengthens the will to depart.

An abyss I see at a distance
Watching scornfully, the saga of survival.
It cares for its reign and so shall you see
While it provokes the serene mind.


It gathers dust and smoke under the sun,
And lauds the martyrs with contempt.
They reach the crest and fade away
So, it dances for the rueful song.

I stand and stare at the abyss
As it triumphs over me.
It is no more at a distance
It’s now fueling its glory.

The Time Traveller

Through the flood of wanton sight,
he soars past the stars.
The one who challenges the might
of those who laughs at his scars.

He sails the vast blue skies,
free of space and time;
Desolate fury and fright he fights
to clean the seas of their slime.

Rays of light he strings in his bow
and battles against every chance,
Riding the void and every hollow,
to fill them with the shine of his lance.

The savior of fate and glory is he,
beholder of respect and fame;
He was, he is and he is to be:
The time traveller, or so is his claim!

Life, the Universe and Everything

If you are an atheist over the age of thirty, this article is not for you. This is because I believe that once you are thirty you have passed that critical age beyond which your opinions on matters such as these are so full of conviction that new ideas just bounce off you without causing so much as a dent.

Why do men today choose to not believe in God? We have these so called ‘rational thinkers’ and ‘men of science’ who publish papers after analyzing what they observe using the complicated process of absurdo ad reductum! This is a reasonable approach as far as the sciences of everyday occurrence go but when applied to something people witness after several lifetimes of devotion (or determination) it fails miserably. Again we come to the question - Why do men today choose to not believe in God? They think it is a problem in statistics. They ask half a billion people around the globe – Have you seen God? And they reply – No. There you have it – QED! No one has ever seen God: hence he doesn’t exist. It is, in fact a statistical problem. The sample space is too small; you need to ask this question to all humans on earth for several centuries before you get a reasonable number of people who say they have. The ratio will still be astonishingly small (No small thanks to the atheists).

The argument they propound has such a gaping fallacy. It is like wondering if a star of a certain brightness and mass exists somewhere across the universe. It is impossible to prove its existence unless you spend two billion dollars and thirty earth years in a spaceship. But suppose there is a willing astronaut and funding from some rich fool. The man travels across space, sees the star and returns when he is ninety. He proclaims to the world – I have seen the star; it really exists! Hardly anyone is ready to believe him. Where is the proof? How can we be sure his descriptions are to be trusted? The pictures he has here may have been taken in any other part of the universe. And so on…He gives up trying to convince them and says – If you want to know the truth, go find it yourself! Of course no one bothers with the effort. They are content with not believing. Today, we lack men of faith. Just have faith and put your heart and soul into it and you will achieve what you desire. You will see God - that’s what our forefathers said. It is well worth the effort.

Thief!

"The chill is in the nightly air", he mused
though t'was his heart that was cold,
As he set out on a forlorn path unused
towards that cursed house so old.

Two and forty years of age was he,
a good thirty more were they;
His masters were the village couple;
he was their servant by day.

Now upon his agile toes he slunk,
for the lighted window he made;
There by the lamp sat she
polishing the golden idol of its fade.

Smitten by greed was he at this
blinded by malign was he;
The thief in him leaped in joy
Now a murderer he was to be!

He raised the shaft and drew the knife
forward still he crept,
But alas! he missed his hold on it,
when onto the window sill he leapt!

Maybe it was the noise, or god above
that woke up the old man in the hall.
He snatched up his bow at once,
and thus at the traitor he shot, knife and all!

With a noiseless scream of pain he fell,
down to the realm of remorse he flew
Into dark, fading shades of hell;
as the world around him withdrew.

Under the Australian Sky

I met a doc- an Indian- Australian, in 'Canby'.Her husband, a researcher at my uni, works with AI,which is well beyond the boundaries that my commerce brain can take me.
This association, to say the least,has brought me
-close to the life, i have been curious about...
-brought me to understand 'bogons' ( somebody who is dressed pathetically, only good enough to drink n make merry) and 'cozzie' ( a swimming costume!!)
- appreciate the dark forests n scary bushes
- be conscious abt the running tap n the bushfires
- and most importantly, to be INDEPENDENT
Yesterday, I learnt how to fill up petrol into a car and wash it - something I would have never learnt in Bangalore.
I was also introduced to the concept of barbeque.. we went to the river side, paddled in the water, cooked food in the dark, ate without having the slightest clue about the bread, salad, tofu n cooked vegetables.... under the moonlight(while incessantly spraying the mosquito repellent.) The drive back home was absolutely refreshing but got me very very nostalgic. I quietly prayed and struck a deal with the moon. I promised him a rendevous with the one i love under the same sky.
I like the light that the first dawn is bringing in. I hope the warmth, does not turn into heat, though.