a poem?

Yesterdays...

I walked along these ways,
Just walked..,uninterested...
There were trees trying to green me,
Some birds spoke something
Which I did not understand,
Some flowers nodded in anticipation,
But I turned my head back,
The ground was dry,
Me too.

Today...

I felt my journey,
I heard the music in the air,
The birds are singing,
And I understood what they sang ...
About joy and love,
The flowers, Oh, those tiny beauties,
are wishing me all the time
The trees are in full bloom
Telling me that the spring has come
The earth was fresh and glowing
with affection.

The spring has come!

The Creek and the Mountain

"I'll stay here...",
Says the mountain to the creek,
"I can't leave the bloomed forest,
the butterflies and the morning mist...!"

"But tell me, dear,
don't you love me..?
As you flow round the valley,
laughing sweetly..."

The creek murmurs...
"Oh! dear,
I want to grow, and join the ocean...
To be a river! that's my dream!
but, sure only if no one
will block me again...!"

With the heaviness of love in his heart,
the mountain collapses down...
And gives way to the creek...
He flows with the creek
As stones, sand and mud...
The creek grows to a river...
And in the midst of giggling river,
the crushed mountain consoles himself...

The river flows along...giggling and singing...
The butterflies and the withered forest
hide their tears in the drizzle...
And tries to smile with the river.

The Tree on the hill top

Here I am -- On the verdant hill top,

With thoughts of loneliness

Filling my veins

I do not hear the babblers' calls...,

I do not hear the wind's song...,

I do not see the dense clouds

Which may  wash away my sorrows

I do not feel the misty grass

Swaying on to my feet to kiss...

I think I am alone,

here on the hill top..

Earth day

From Ruskin Bond's 'The book of Nature'

"Is Nature your religion?' someone asked, just the other day. It would be presumptuous to say so. Nature doesn't promise you anything--an after life, rewards for good behaviour, protection from enemies, wealth, happiness, progeny, all the things that humans desire and pray for. No, Nature does not promise these things. Nature is a reward itself"

-Ruskin Bond.

At Ponmudi.

[ " Ponmudi" in Malayalam means 'Golden peak'. It is a peak in the Western Ghats, near Thiruvananthapuram. When there are no hooligans around, the place is so serene....]

At Ponmudi
-------------


The heights of the ghats,
Dusk,
Sleepy Sun,
Whispering winds
And a sole kestrel daring the winds...
Music of silence...,
Now,
No memories,
No dreams,

All things have
Fallen in to
An ocean of evening mist,
Left on the shore is
My soul.
Alone.

The Toxic Legacy: No More Bhopals!

23 Years ago, this day, in the early hours (perhaps the same time), when India was sleeping, the worst industrial tragedy in human history, was slowly unfolding its toxic hood over thousands of people in the city of Bhopal. I still remember the newspaper story the next day, a big heading laid in black background. I felt sad, but never understood the gravity of the accident then. There were no discussions about it in the school, and it was 'just another accident' for us.

Years later, on the 15th anniversary of the accident, there were widespread campaigns and through my friends, I learnt more about the tragedy. The injustice to the Bhopal victims and the survivors was so shameful that the protests were widely noticed worldwide. No one can forget the photo of the baby, and the story of Sunil Kumar Varma. I was attempting translation of a few articles on the campaign for the NGO thanal. The campaign was based on the slogan "No more Bhopals". It was a revelation for me. I read many reports, most of them were convincing scientific reports, which clearly showed the thousands of Bhopals happening everyday around us. Industrial pollution and pollution due to pesticides are killing thousands, if not millions of people every year. Eloor, the town near the Periyar river in Keralam is one of such places, which is so heavily polluted that Greenpeace has declared it as one of the world's toxic hot-spots. The village Pedre in Kasargod, is another place where the deadly pesticide Endosulfan has killed hundreds of people.

It is disheartening to see that the toxic legacy still continues in various forms, and the shameful politics and businesses have given no relief to the suffering people and environment. The governments are more inclined to corporates and their rich owners when it comes to compensations and stricter law enforcements.

We are made to believe that Pesticides and deadly chemicals are integral part of our lives and that we cannot live without them. It is all the play of a powerful industrial lobby who cares for dollars and rupees more than life. Among all these political and business propaganda, we, as human beings, have to realise that we are not even fighting a battle for our future generations. No one would love to watch the face of her/his baby on that poster next time. But, the toxic tragedies happening around us should at least force us to that dreadful imagination. Only then we would start reacting.

Bhopal was an outburst, of an irresponsible business greed, a toxic volcano. But the Bhopals around us are slowly happening, perhaps without our knowledge.

This day, we have to realise that a Bhopal is happening slowly in our neighbourhood and that we have to stop it!

It may be the apparently simple, but stupid act of burning plastics in your backyard, or looking down at a protest against an incinerator in your town, or spraying pesticides on a rose in your garden, that is going to add up to the tragedy later.

So, act now. Discuss, and act. Adopt sustainable ways of life. For most Indians, especially those have a village background, it is not a formidable task. You just have to "remember" your old ways of doing things.

Please convey the message to your friends, and write another blog post, a letter to the newspaper, and educate people.

No more Bhopals here, or any where in the Earth.

Watch a music video on "No more Bhopals" here.

Watch a short video on Landfills here.