Returning Home

December 19, 2006 | Filed Under Poetry | 2 Comments 

I have come back to this room,
Hoping to find a home.

I see many shadows lurking around,
Left behind by people who came and left.

The shadows have a society of their own,
They entice my shadow to join them.

But my shadow can’t relate to them,
The bohemian shadow prefers its own company.

I thought, I had lost the key to this room,
But then I remember this room never had doors.

A lonely bulb hangs in one corner,
The yellow lights are on the verge of extinction.

Soon the authorities will take the yellow bulb away,
And replace it with a less hungrier one.

I wonder what will happen of the shadows then,
White light makes them dull.

I wonder why I have come here,
May be it is a search of some kind.

I don’t know if I will find what I am looking for
But coming back was a journey itself.

A journey much easier than I thought,
I feel comfortable here.

Will you come to my room my friend?
But do not get your shadow along.

I will be here, waiting, demystifying these shadows,
And enlightening my life.

Bear v/s Mob

December 18, 2006 | Filed Under Point of View | 2 Comments 

Today morning on a news channel, I saw a bear being beaten to death. His fur was also set on fire. The incident occurred in a village in Kashmir. The bear had come to eat walnuts from a tree and apparently had also attacked a few villagers. The villagers to protect their kin and the walnuts, killed the bear mercilessly.

India’s most well known animal activist, Maneka Gandhi, was contacted by the TV channel. She has been more infamous than famous and people like me have mocked her at times. But today I realized, how she served a major function in society.

Maneka was very fair to the mob and attributed their ruthless killing to a sense of fear and possibly to loss of income. She also said that the bears too had nowhere to go, since the timber trees are extensively cut in the region. She pointed out that authorities are totally useless in such circumstances using very strong words against them. It was only when such killings are shown on the TV, does the world take notice. She knows for sure that at least 5 such incidences have happened in the recent past. She also said that the pictures shown on TV, were actually from a Nov 19 incident. It just struck me, how well informed she was.

It’s not that she cares for animals more than human beings, but she serves an important function as an animal activist. Social activism is actually one big forum. Leaders of different causes should come together and form a forum. They should all join hands and become one big function of the society. People who are dedicated to a cause should strive towards it, while people and youngsters can work for different causes, more than one if need be… in a kind of resource allocation way. This forum that comes together should be the permanent opposition party of our country. This power will give their movements a voice and will be more relevant in making the country a socially progressive nation.