Poetic Effusions

Echoes of my river..

2010-08-28T02:27:00.000-07:00

"I sit beside her..I am a better man”
sings my heart as I stand here..
All I see is a parched rock
some dead grass here and there
All I hear is the echo
of a long dried river..

Years back when I first came to the cave,
sat at the footsteps, dipped my soiled hands
in the magical river...
..she treated me in her arms
pleasant as heaven
That day, I found a new friend..
That day, I found myself..!!

As life went on...
I grew with the river..
Rushed my days
To catch a glimpse of her face..
Sit by her side
see myself in her eye..
She washed my hands..
and lit the lines I never knew
It was her way to show
who i am.. where I am..
It was her way to say
“Go, win the world..i’m with you”

Not the dirt in my hand..
but the cloud in my mind
She cleared.....
became a part of me...
and I a part of her.

But there came a day..
in my village,
Land slid as if rocks were clay..
Some died..many cried..
Din't know back home,
my river also mired..
The cave crumbled
and came in “Our” way...
My river..wasn’t there..
All I could see were the rocks..
Crushed and wet with her tears,
All I could hear were her echoes..
Dried..pleading to come out.

All “I” was left with the hope
The hope she sowed in me..
And the same hope that
I'll sit by her side,
and be a better man again...

Another White Hair!

2008-09-07T05:46:00.000-07:00

That morning, you saw me
and smirked..like i'm surreal..
combed and moved on..!
realised when your pal noted me
yes, here i come..
no more a thread..
I am what I am..a white hair
a part of you, a part of truth

The truth that..
you fear me and hide me
hate me and wanna kill me..
but listen...if
you cut me, I'll grow more
you color me, I'll show more
so, accept me, accept me!
for i'm here to stay
here to sway...!

This morning, you saw me
and ignored..like i'm surreal
combed and moved on...!
and there I stand in the middle
of your head, of my bed
all alone..but
I am what I am..a white hair
a part of you, a part of truth

The truth that..
you chase white skin
but hate my kith and kin
the truth that
I cant die..
for 'm here to stay
till the end of the day...!!

~Ankur~

Story of a stone

2007-11-10T13:04:00.000-08:00

This is the story of a stone,
that was left alone..all alone...

One fine day,
on the beach of Kaskasa bay
arrived a ship with thousands of workers,
who picked up stones and boulders
and dumped them in the ship.
And amidst of all this,
one little stone got thumped by feet,
went under the sand and never picked.
Tried to implore but no one ticked..

Cast away on the beach,
the stone was pushed beyond anyone's reach
Where no one can hear it's voice
and no one can see it from the sky...
Time passed by...
Ships came and went..But...

And as years rolled down
our little stone started losing it's brown..
Old and haggard
it took a corner for itself,
Gave up hopes for any kind of help......

Only a miracle could unite it
with people he grew.....
Orr...was it a miracle ..years ago..??
that left it alone..only to tell:
"You don't need anyone to glue,
for you'll always be different, always new"...!!

..and it so happened, that while others joined hands to form skyscrapers, our little stone turned out to be a precious stone of the era, one of it's kind, said all the archeologists...

~Ankur~

Excerpts From Illusions

2006-03-20T12:25:00.001-08:00

Here are a few picks from the book Illusions by Richard Bach. It's mostly the quotes and pieces of thought-provoking dialogues between the guy called Richard in the book and the main lead - Messiah, who's just another next-door guy but with time and expericence of life that he's seen, he's gained supremacy over his mind, and in the eyes of the world can and has actually done some of the most miracullous things that we ordinarily would think beyond imagination. He credits all suck feats to one and only one thing and that is mind.

The quotes are what Richard comes across as and when he leaves through a book called "Messiah's Handbook -- Reminders for the Advanced Soul", which obviously belongs to Messiah.

Care to read these pieces with some care and thought, as I think they indeed are too good to have missed all these years but at the same time so powerful that they can make up all you have lost and in the end touch you deep down your soul.
Hope you have a nice read..!!

~~ Quotes ~~

Don't be
dismayed at good-byes.
A farewell is necessary before
you can meet again.
And meeting
again, after moments or
lifetimes, is certain for
those who are
friends.

Every person,
all the events of your life
are there because you have
drawn them there.
What you choose
to do with them is
up to you.

The world
is your exercise-book, the pages
on which you do your sums.
It is not reality,
although you can express reality
there if you wish.
You are also
free to write nonsense,
or lies, or to tear
the pages.

You are
never given a wish
without also being given the
power to make it true.
You may
have to work for it,
however.

Your
conscience is
the measure of the
honesty of your selfishness.
Listen to it carefully.

The mark
of your ignorance is the depth
of your belief in injustice
and tragedy.

Dying is like diving into a deep lake on a hot day. There's the shock of that sharp cold change, the pain of it for a second, and then accepting is a swim in reality. But after so many times, even the shock wears off.

~~ Dialogues ~~

All of these pieces are said by Messiah to Richard.

"So just because something is hard, you don't try to do it; Walking was hard at first, but you practiced at it and now you make it look easy."

"you will wonder why some people are unhappy. They are unhappy because they have chosen to be unhappy"

"Look, you don't worry about the crowds. They can't touch you unless you want them to. You're magic, remember: FOOF!-you're invisible, and walk through the doors."

"You don't do anything. Cosmic law, remember? Like attracts like. Just be who you are, calm and clear and bright. Automatically, as we shine who we are, asking ourselves every minute is this what I really want to do, doing it only when we answer yes, automatically that turns away those who have nothing to learn from who we are and attracts those who do, and from whom we have to learn, as well."

"He was going to suck my blood!", said Richard, when a creature bit him.
"Which is what we do to anyone when we tell them we'll be hurt if they don't live our way.",said Messaih.

And now, the big thing....at the last page of the book - "Messiah's Handbook -- Reminders for the Advanced Soul", there was also a quote : "Everything above may be wrong!". Now what do you have to say about it? What would you like to believe..?? Most of the quotes said above or would you like to wrap-up saying the last one was true?

The White Hair

2005-10-20T10:50:00.000-07:00

Among the bushes of side-burns
lied that meandering white hair
just around my right ear,
giving me so much of fear.
On the roll was
my contemplation,
my day-dreaming
as i started thinking
Of those teeth
that would be gone,
Of those wrinkles
that would hone
and...
Of those bones
that would be week
and no-longer hold on to this geek..

As my thoughts crept into the grey days,
with the dusky sun burying its rays,
I looked at life...
those 'young', old days,
And before I could cry,
I smiled at myself...
looking into the mirror
that unveiled my hair
All I saw was just a thread
playing around,
grey and dead!

~Ankur~

Tides of my Mind

2005-08-31T20:32:00.000-07:00

With a mind so ambitious
And the list of to-do's..
spilling over, i know
what i ought to do..but
The fact that I still
find myself biting the nails
And
failing to keep myself occupied
Is just adding to my agony,
Making every moment
of life even more itchy...

With mind so vulnerable to nostalgia
I know how I am staying,
Every moment denying
it from prying,
my soul, my space.
Let me tell you,
This nostalgia
takes me for a jolly-ride
backwards on the axis of time
Just long before I realize
the change in the drift of mind..

Throughout the day
I remain in limbo
lost in navel-gazing
and those cobwebs
of contemplation,
that too woven by me..
And, with all these things said..
I often wonder
..if I get kicked
out of the race..
or be slapped on my face..

At the end of the day
I realise, I'd been brooding
over such petty things
that have gone, about whom
nothing can be done.
And after such a rusty brag
my mind is nothing but a torn bag
lying at the edge of a shore,
and my eyes
are looking for some door
that opens into
a world of hope!

Hope sustains life
so do I, when
serenity shows-up
only for a moment out of the sky,
Its time when i feel full-of-life
with a picture-clear vision
and a sense
of deep realization
dawning upon me
and rousing a grit
enough to get-over things
and flip around the wings.

~Ankur~

Mindgame..

2005-04-27T09:03:00.000-07:00

Its around the time of internship last summer when instead of being neck-deep in work we were busy bein idle and the idleness started mounting on my mind ...paving a way to this poem...!

At times I feel sick
of long day I have to spend
and no work, as such, to blend
simply being a couch-potato
all day I just sit
in front of the dead screen
punching the keys
making my limbs freeze.

At this point of life
I’m afraid to say
but my mind is in total affray
how can it be
that people around me
are all busy-bee
and only I am an
empty tree.
It is so agonizing
as I m simply
vegetating my life
cruising through time
like a sluggish knife
I know very well
that time gone
never comes back
still I m stuffing
my idleness,
my boredom….!

Well said that
empty mind is devil's box
but why is all this
a part of my socks.
With only writing
being a succor for me,
I don’t know
how to get free
from the tentacles
of this inactivity.

I think there’s a tunnel
full of darkness,
ahead of me,
blocking my vision,
standing in my way,
like a stubborn child
tantalizing me,
like a bull-fighter,
every time when
I start my day’s work.
Otherwise how come
My mates are living happily
And I m feeling the prick
Of this unabated-passivity.

~Ankur Garg~

Wanting to be a writer..!!

2005-04-15T13:40:00.000-07:00

I wish i get up someday from the mid of my sleep
and start typing, endlessly....
without any sense of space and time,
without any sense of the world around,
capturing every little thought flashing my mind
like a speed of light....
i want to give words to what i think,
what i see, what i feel
give life and soul to what flows in my head,
my imagination, my cobweb and my life..

isnt' there sooooo much to write in this world
so much to understand, realise and observe..
there are millions of thoughts, directions, people
everyday so many things take place which may be ordinary to one,
but at the same time important to some
want to marry every such instance of my world around
want to sing every such song,
want to see my fingers move swiftly,
fixing words for the world's best unknown thoughts...

at times this thought strikes my mind
that i can be a writer one day
that i will have a book published in my name
that i will be famous and enjoy a writer's fame
at times this thought strikes my mind
that although engineer by profession
somewhere down the line i'll find time
and garner some thoughts and some rhyme
and write a few poems,
and a couple of books
besides what i'll be doing to earn my breasd
and pay salaries to my cooks

its such a rich feeling to be feeling different from the world
from people, from mases, and being in totally different world
though being there itself
it feels like a bliss to be so thoughful
such a thinker, a writer...gosh am i already a writer..???

~Ankur Garg~

The Ominous Number : 13

2004-08-08T11:31:00.000-07:00

..about the challenges that a group of guys faced on a Mumbai-Darshan…making it really adventurous..

Men were seventeen
and the day was June 13.
With mumbai tour
in our minds, we all
started off with bus
but what a fuss
the boarder’s made,
almost forced us
to get down
and walk
all the way to the town
had to break the journey
at cost of money.

Were fined three hundred bucks
for trespassing platform rules
wonder how
we all had been fools
heading for ticket counter
from the wrong bay,
that was not all
curtains drew for the next act ,
we threw third card of the day
to get some head-way
got on to a local bus
all but adding to its rush
landed at a station called dadar
tired and haggard.

With nothing eaten since dawn
we continued to play
the role of "pawn",
Trying to cruise
every bad omen
that came in our way
making us sway
from our trip,
from our plan...!

We also ran-into a fate
where in, we
rescued one of our mate
involved in an affray
with a road-side rogue
thank god that
all went rite at "haji-ali"
for the place is too charged
to return safe.

Later in the evening,
a bunch of guys
ventured in a bar...
giving final touches to our tour
But, omen of number 13
was ubiquitous,
Shaking the drinkers once again
when a whopping cheque
came there way...
A few items being priced,
they had not expected
And, guess what...
their wallets sum-together
fell short of the amount.

We didn’t want to believe
But were clueless..
Number thirteen was active still
Because Rs 562 was our bill
n just see..wat we had..
5 + 6 + 2 also equaled 13..!

To sum it all,
we all were hapless
at the hands of "resistantialism"
Succor came our way
only, after the turn of day..
when we reached our rooms
around two in dead of night
and took a sigh of relief
With hi-jinks laughs,
reminiscing the events
the day unfolded for us.

~Ankur Garg~