Have never sketched. Did not think I could. High school drawing class was misery and perhaps played no insignificant part in this. Year-end slow-down unrelated to COVID-19 helped bring some pause to an otherwise tumultuous year. Two doodles from the hills.
I can press like on one
and retweet another
with ease;
practising my likes & retweets
requires grit and strength
that I am still trying to gather;
tired of pointing out
everything that’s wrong with the world
and realise
that I’m complicit to what I point…
I stand tall
Atop shoulders
Of giants.
I see far
I see wide
But alas a shame…
I miss the elephant in the room!
A prayer to the lord
Whom I haven’t seen
Nay a prayer to myself
Far & wide ain’t enough
Look within,
break the blindness
Of power,
of ego
…the elephant appears.
Continue readingटुकड़े टुकड़े हम नहीं, तुम्हारा टूटना मुमकिन है
– उमेश श्रिनिवसनयह जो बैर के पहाड़ खड़े किए हैं तुमने
सोचा होगा के हैं हिमालय से भी बुलंद
हम नहीं जियेंगे इनके साए में
नफ़रत के टुकड़े कर देंगेटुकड़े टुकड़े हम नहीं, तुम्हारा टूटना मुमकिन है
जाओ रेंगते उसी गुफाह में
जहाँ से साँप बनकर निकले हो
तुम्हारा ज़हेर ना होगा हमसे हज़म
आतंकवाद के टुकड़े कर देंगेटुकड़े टुकड़े हम नहीं, तुम्हारा टूटना मुमकिन है
खून बहाया, मौत भी बाँटा
अब खामोशी में बर्दाश्त नहीं
ना होगा ख़त्म हमारे खून का कोष
भेदभाव के टुकड़े कर देंगेयह टुकड़े टुकड़े हम नहीं, तुम्हारा टूटना मुमकिन है
Further to the lovely poetry and music that the recent protests across the country have been producing (see my recent post on Madara’s Tukde Tukde Kaun?), here’s two more that we ought to celebrate. The first one is (possibly) by Vishal Bharadwaj that he recited at the Carter Road protests at Bandra (Mumbai), that apparently also had several hundred Bollywood/TV personalities. And the second one further below is Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna by the poet Bismil Azimabadi, popularised in the Indian freedom struggle by another fellow Bismil, Ram Prasad Bismil. Both translations are by Umesh Srinivasan (email).
Continue reading