Explorations of a Homely Being

I have a very big house,
I haven't seen it completely.
I was exploring it, but got bored.
Through the walls, out I tore...
And wandered into the unknown woods

How far am I from home?
Will I remember the way back?

Just then I saw this wonderland,
Walking through it,
I explored the games,
the bright lights at night.
Everyone seemed so... happy.
Is this what heaven is?
Can I stay here?

But I was just an explorer,
Or perhaps only an observer.
I knew this isn't where I belong.

Where do I belong?

Can I find my way back to my big house?
Is there another path to it I don't know of?
Only one way to find out...
Let's start walking.

Movement in Stillness

People may talk of importance of stillness,
But with stillness, movement is important too.

Perhaps movement is more important.

Movement in your stillness,
Movement, in this moment to the next.

In both journeys, internal and external,
If you ever turn back, no two moments must be the same.

But if at some juncture you are stuck,
Something unknown, unexplained, is stopping you,
From the next stage to make it through,
Pause for a moment and feel,
Either your internal or external journey,
Will still have it's wheels turning.

Don't wait for the other to get mobile,
Hop on to the moving wagon.
Hoping the other journey will restart at some point again,
And will catch up. Even if it means, it has to fly.

An Apple Like Me

As I lay under the tree,
I saw this apple staring at me.

We started a conversation,
Both talking about our lives.

After a while both of us realised,
We were but brothers in disguise.

Here's what the apple told me:

I was once a seed,
and then slowly grew into what you see.
Some of my friends rot.
I was lucky, I did not.
Some of us look similar,
but when we ripen - so different.
Soon .I will fall down,
Maybe on you! Feel free to eat me!
Most of the times when we are eaten,
people throw away the seeds.
But some, bury the seeds in the ground.
And a few lucky ones grow up into this kind of a tree.
In who's shade someone like you will lie, and talk to an apple like me.

His Monologues

Talking to the wine expert,
He again heard what he already heard,
"Wine - it get's better with time."
Pat he replied, "But doesn't time get better with wine?"
All in the audience smiled a bit,
But there was a smile that went unnoticed.

Things would have been different,
If he would have noticed that grin.
Perhaps that wasn't to be,
Or else the universe would have made him see?

Frank Sinatra had a few regrets he once said,
I wonder if they were big enough to make him dread?
I guess even with regrets it's not always quantity, but quality.
Perhaps having a few crazy ones is better than having a sea.

"What? What are you mumbling?
Frank Sinatra? Wine? Smiling?
Wake up! You have none right now.
Go to the shed and milk the cow!"

Making his coffee he had another dumb monologue with himself,
"Jesus made wine from water; I made coffee from water - now no rest."

Working in the shed, he had a blissful thought,
"For what is a man, what has he got..."

School of Life

Most of us walk in a line,
All through our life just walk the line.

Lost in petty matters and issues,
Like which is the best toilet tissue!
We try to fit in the diverse world,
Trying to be like someone of whom we've heard.

Who we are, is lost in the process,
The strict school of life has no recess.

But sometimes there are those who dare,
Who in the eyes of this order are ready to stare.
And may even bunk the school,        
Others look up to them - they're 'cool'.

Is it a coincidence that most of the successful people I know,
They left school early or perhaps didn't go?
Maybe that is why someone once said and I agree,    
I was born intelligent but education ruined me.

One Step Inside

Through the valleys and the mountains,
There is this energy that runs.
An energy, stronger than a thousand suns.

You can feel it if you try.

In the breeze that hits when you dive in to a valley,
In  the clear sun, on the top of the mountain.
In the aroma of mud just wet by the rains.

All you need is one thing to experience it.
Belief. Not in anything external, but yourself.

Inside you, the whole universe dwells.
Look inside and you can see farther than the end of the universe.

When will you believe me this earth is just a well you are living in.
There is a sea out there bigger than the universe you know.
How do you reach there?
Start with one step. Inside.

भोर

आते जाते वाहनों का शोर,

वह नाव इस छोर से दुसरे छोर,

सावन आज, कल से ज़्यादा घनघोर,

जैसे सब राह देखे तुम्हारी ओ भोर!  

कब आओगी तुम इस प्रश्न में घुमते,

कभी नाचते हुए, कभी झूमते, 

यह वाहन, नाव और बारिश की बूँदें, 

सब के सब जैसे तुम्हें हैं ढूंढें। 

अब और न तरसाओ इन निर्जीवों को, 

इनके असमंजस को अब मिटा दो, 

कि अब आओगी भी या नहीं तुम? 

मन ही मन यह गाते तुम्हारी धुन।  

कहीं इस घनी रात्रि ने तो नहीं छुपाया, 

अपनी काया में तुम्हारा साया? 

आज तक प्रतीक्षा का समय इतना न हुआ,

तो क्यों न सुने तू इनकी और हमारी दुआ? 

ए भोर अब आ भी जा तू, 

सब्र की परीक्षा न ले यु।  

क्या प्रवेश मार्ग से तुम्हारी वाणी सुनाई दी है? 

न जाने क्यों, तुमसे पहले आज तुम्हारी सुगंध आई है।