RISE AT DAWN

Little children,rise at dawn-
Behold all the joys of morn!
An early bird chirps or sings;
Fragrance rides on airy wings;
Pearly green grass tops aglitter;
Colourful butterflies all flutter.
Children dear,do not miss
Morning's glory and its bliss!


(I wrote this small poem for my son Shankar,when he was a little boy)

SUN--Translation of Subramania Bharati's Prose-poem,'GNAYIRU' translated by R.NATARAJAN

                                                  SUN

Oh sun !
What have you done to
darkness ?

Have you
               driven it?
               slain it ?
               or
               gobbled it up ?

Did you conceal it
in your kissing embrace
with hands of rays ?
 
Is darkness your 
foe or food?
Is it your lady love
dismayed at your
absence thro' the night   
and thus
turned black ?
 
Overjoyed at your
emergence,
did it imbibe your
radiance and blend
with you ?
 
Are you both 
children of the same mother?
Did your mother
ordain
both of you
to protect the world
by 
coming in turns?

Are the two of you
immortal ?
or the
divine elixir
itself? 

We hail you both!
 Oh sun!
 We hail you !

LORD KRISHNA!!!

                                           

The mellifluous mesmeric music

flowing forth from your

magic bamboo flute

transcends time and

thrills our palsied hearts

through the passing aeons.

Your sweet little childish pranks

on the perennial Yamuna banks

have become delightful legends

drenched with dews of

divine nectar.

Anklets tinkle, bracelets twinkle,

 your tender feet sprinkle

dust

which dispels  births  and also deaths,

as you start

dancing.

The playful smile on your

charming cherubic face

cleanses us of all our

karmic sins.

You are at once the simple

cow-herd boy and the

celestial holy incarnation.

Your Gita is at once the

gateway to worldly knowledge

and the grand,

graceful culmination of

great spiritual wisdom.

Our hearts, like balls of butter

melt by the warmth of

ineffable love  and intense devotion.

Krishna! steal our hearts and grant

salvation to our

suffering souls !  

Life is a fairy tale

Flights of imagination carry young children to their exclusive world of fun,frolic and fantasy.

It is the fairy tales which lend colourful wings to their imagination.There,in the fairy-land,children come across mischievous elves,treasure-guarding gnomes,diminutive dwarfs and awe-inspiring ogres.With bated breath they witness daring princes and dainty princesses atop flying horses and weird witches casting evil spells on hapless victims.

Whenever I see acollection of fairy tales my memory races back to the good old days.When I was a small kid my father got me a big volume of fairy tales from calcutta(kolkatta).I still remember vividly all the minute details of the book.It had a fine glossy green cover with pictures of winged fairies hovering over tall flowers and lazy elves leaning upon huge mushrooms Clear bold letters and catchy line drawing illustrations made the stories more attractive.

The first story was "Jack and the bean stalk".Every time I went through it,I was afraid that the giant might catch hold of Jack before he could climb down the bean stalk. I felt greatly relieved when Jack chopped it down with agility while the giant was on his way down from very great height. I could still hear the 'THUD" of the giant's downfall.I felt like warning the innocent Snow white against the guile of her step-mother queen and the naughty Goldilocks against sleeping on the cosy cot of the "little bear". The emperor's new clothes greatly amused me and the "three little pigs' taught me a moral.

As I reached the high school level,I had an interesting encounter with a fairy when my eyes fell upon "La Belle Dame Sans Merci",the lovely lyric by John Keats.In it Keats talks about a "faery's child" who enslaves a"  knight at arms". She takes him to her "elfin grot" (cave of an elf) and lulls him to sleep. Finally she vanishes leaving him "alone and palely loitering". All this wonderful descriptions took me to an altogether new world.

There are many who might think that these fairy tales are merely":sweet nonsense", not deserving any attention or interest. Cold logic stuffed deep into them has displaced all the subtle sensibilities and sublime feelings.It requires the innocent fancy of a child or the ecstatic insight of a poet to discover the true worth of these treasures of joy.Hans Christian Andersen,the giver of great many fairy tales,rightly observes,"Every man's life is a fairy tale,written by God's fingers".    

.

aagaayak koorai

விருப்பத்தைத்   தெரிவித்தா  பிறந்தேன் ? கூட்டை
             விட்டுயிர்தான்  போம் நாளும்   அறிதல் உண்டா ?
கருப்பையை  விட்டு வெளி   வந்த  நாளாய்க்
             கா டடையும்   நாள்வரையில்   ஏற்றத்  தாழ்வு
திருப்பங்கள்  வந்துபோதல்  இயற்கை  அன்றோ !
            செருக்கடைதல் , துயரடைதல்   இல்லை, இல்லை !
உருப்படியாய்  வாழ்நாளில்  உலகிற் காக
            ஒன்றேனும்  செய்தபின்பே  உயிர்துறப்பேன் !


வேதனைகள்   வாழ்க்கையிலே   வந்த  பின்னர்
           வெம்பிமனம்   புழுங்குவதால்  பயன்தான்   என்ன ?
சோதனைகள்   அடுக்கடுக்காய்  உற்ற  போதும்
           சுமக்கின்ற  வலுவென்றன் தோள்கட்  குண்டு .
சாதனைகள்   புரிந்திடுவோர்  புகழைப்  பாடும்
           சரித்திரத்தில்  நிலையான  இடம்பிடிப்பேன்!
ஈது எனது  கொள்கைஎன   ஆன தாலே
         எதுவரினும்   சந்திப்பேன் , வெற்றி   கொள்வேன் ! 


இப்புவியில் வெற்றிபெற  வேண்டு மென்றே
        என்னுள்ளம்  கருதியபின்  தடைதான்  என்ன ?
ஒப்பில்லா  உள்ளம்தான்  உயர்ந்து  விட்டால்
       உரைக்கின்ற  சொற்களுடன்  செயல்கள்  எல்லாம்
தப்பின்றித்  தவறின்றித்  தளர்வும்  இன்றித்
       தகவுடனே  நொடிப்பொழுதில்  தடை கடக்கும்
அப்பொழுது   நெடுங்கடலும்  குளமாய்  மாறும் !
        ஆகாயம்  என்வீட்டுக்  கூரை  யாகும் !!!
 



 
 

A MORN IS BORN

Heralding the birth of  yet another day
Thro' the window peeps a stealthy ray!
Perched atop a hut, the cock crows!
The cow from its shed loudly bellows!

At the dawn when this world looks vibrant
Mother Nature's beauty is simply exuberant !
Methinks no earthly language can sing her glory.
Words fail when emotions prevail is the usual story

The red sun rising from the green sea down
Looks like a ruby on an emerald crown!
It embellishes the excellence of Nature-
And fills me with joyous rapture!

The eastern canvas is full of hues-
How many reds ,yellows and blues!
Can any painter of the rarest kind
Imagine so many shades even in his mind ?

The invigorating breeze of the morn
Gently soothes the hearts forlorn.
Come on! Cheer up! Here's a New Day!
When the sun shines,let's make hay!

HUMAN ZOO

I am a zoo by myself
But, with a difference -
domestic and animals wild
reside side by side.

The buffalo in me
wallows with glee
in the cesspool of life -
stagnates and rots.

The fox vile
cheats with guile
all the while.

The hounds of desires
bound after
fleeing and fleeting
formal pleasures,
fame, fortune and
filthy lucre

The brutal tiger
kills even the good,
if it is food.
The weak and the tame
are here for its
mere hunting game

The cage of  hatred
does not allow
the peace-loving dove
to spread out its
silken wings in the
serene sunny sky.

Yet,
From the withered shed
the tethered cow
still calls the calf
to come and drink the
milk of endless kindness.

P.S: This poem was awarded top prize in the in-house journal of my organization.