Anubavangal: Oru thaai pillai

Anubavangal: Oru thaai pillai: ஒரு தாய்க்கு பிறந்த பிள்ளைகள் ஒரே வீட்டில் வளர்ந்தவர்கள் கூட சேர்ந்து விளையாடியவர்கள் குத்துச்சண்டை போட்டவர்கள் தாய் தந்தையிடம் மாட்டி வைத்...

Anubavangal: Kurangilirundu pirantha manithan

Anubavangal: Kurangilirundu pirantha manithan: மரம் தாவி . நொடிக்கு ஒரு வித்தை காட்டி ஒரு நிமிடம் நேரே மறு நிமிடம் தலை கீழே சாய்த்து இது குரங்கா, மனமா? குரங்குபோல் மனமா? ஒரு சிந்தனையில் ...

Anubavangal: Poo Malarattume - Let it Blossom

Anubavangal: Poo Malarattume - Let it Blossom: "ஒரு போர்வைக்குள் மூடப்பட்ட அந்த பூ காற்றுக்கும், வெளிச்சத்திற்கும் மன்றாடிய அந்த பூ ஒரு அன்புப்பார்வைக்கு ஏங்கிய அந்த பூ தன் மணம் பரவ அல்லா..."

The Inner Space

I stretch my hand
To reach out to you
But away you step
Leaving me to rue

I look up and smile
See you look away
A knife twists in my heart
Unsteadily I sway

Others hand me a bouquet
Clap and pat and say
How wonderful! Good job
Keep it up always

You smile wanly
Amused at others
And me for being thrilled
As if I had done wonders!

When I slip and fall
And look to you for help
You clap your hands
As if this is what you expect

This space between us
Love fills it, I thought
Clutching it with both hands
Not seeing there is naught?

Is it the mind
That plays this trick
Making me feel love
Making me tick?

I turn inward
Breaking all contact
Find love has seeped in
Filling up my heart.

The Wait

The wait, the long wait.
At the window of life.
For a whiff of fresh air
For an exciting sight
For fragrance sweet
For golden light
For showers blessed
For visitor awaited
For changes to life
For love destined
For exciting youth
For comfortable old age
Something, anything
Different and bright
At the window of life
The wait, eternal wait.

The Turnaround

I greeted it with warmth
Making sure it was all there
After all it had grown
With so much love and care
Fed on delicious sweets
And luscious oily fare

All the wrong foods

And exercise rare

And then one morning

Clothes refused to cover

Stretching tightly across

Making me shiver!

Has this come to this then?

The thought made me tremble

And disgusted I thought

I saw it also quiver!

Ambitious and determined

I put on my shoes

Walking long stretches

In the faint hope

That what I had nurtured

I can now undo

So that I can wear

All the pretty dresses

Anubavangal: Tharaasaippola vaazhkkai - The Beam Balance

Anubavangal: Tharaasaippola vaazhkkai - The Beam Balance: "தராசைப்போல் வாழ்க்கையும் போகும் மேலேயும் கீழேயும் இதைவிட தாழ முடியாது என்று வருந்தும் பொழுது திடீர் என்று ஒரு மாற்றம் வானை நோக்கி ஒரு ஏற்ற..."

The Beast Emerges

Godzilla, he is not
Neither ugly nor fearsome
Not emerging from deep seas
Nor from the belly of the earth

He walks this world
Looks like you and me
With a friendly smile
With a similar gait

Angry one moment,

Laughing the next

Dining and wining
Behaviour at his best

With similar fears
Similar feelings
He is one of us
The same love and lust

Watch out!
For there lurks
Under the skin
A beast evil

Ready to snatch
Our babies away
To hide in corners
And have its way

Tearing their innards
Killing them easy
Dumping them
Walking away freely

Sated, and yet not
Looking for the next lot
To feed the inner beast
With the smile of a human

Gaurd well,
Be a hawk
Let them not stray

Into the dark

Though it is day
And there is light
In his mind
It is night

His shadow falls
Causing blight
Killing the innocent
Shutting out light

In this modern age
Of science and progress
Lust throws up
A Beast, a Monster.

Note: Two stories within a week in the newspapers - an 8-yr-old boy and a girl, in two separate incidents, molested and killed. Two of many that go unreported?

Anubavangal: Iru Mugangal

Anubavangal: Iru Mugangal: "ஒன்று வெளியுலகம் பார்க்கும் சிரிக்கும், பொலிக்கும், யாவையும் கண்டும் காணாமல் ஒன்றும் அகாததுப்போல் நடிக்கும் இன்னொன்று உள்ளிருட்டில் தத்தளி..."

Sizzling and Hissing

Yet another shaft
Finds its mark
In the heart's centre
All hopes shatter
As the arrow
Pierces the armour

Only a tiny pain
No blood?
I think
Turning inward
Looking for answers
In wonder

A mail, a post
Timely reminders?
That in God's altar
There is a purpose
Hidden and obscure
But future secure

The wheel of time
Taking its course
Natural, unhurried
Marching to its beat
Driving us on roads unknown
Using us to achieve its goals.

Not ours,
It has no use
In the scheme of life
It serves no purpose
Driven by time
And not the mind

Mind control
Is all pure drivel
An illusion
That we fear
To break and see
The truth within

And yet we strive
To prove otherwise
Can we pause
The flow of time?
Change the course
This nature of mine?

Can I stop
The flow of words
Sizzling and hissing
Like oil on skillet?
Waiting to pour out
On paper white?

Write then
Till the fount dries
For maybe a purpose
Unheard cries
Like a glowworm
Meant to die.

The purpose, the purpose!
You well ask
But is this outpour
Really a task?
Just the joy of creation
Isn't that why this inspiration?

Take heart
Keep faith
There is a reason
Why you fail
Only to learn that
There is another way.

Anubavangal: Maadu pola manithan - kavithai

Anubavangal: Maadu pola manithan - kavithai: "கழுத்தை நெருக்கியது வேலை அது இல்லை என்றால் மட்டும்? சொல்லுவோமா, நல்ல வேளை? ஓடி ஆடி திண்டாடி இங்கும் அங்கும் வேலையை தேடி அலைந்து திரிந்து மன்..."

Two Drops, One for Each

It is strange
The eyes are wet
Not a cross word
Has passed the lips, yet

Just the thought
Of those little ones
Struggling to learn
To face the world

Making friends
Making enemies
Challenging work
That test their abilities

Will they be able
To cope with them all?
I wonder if I have
Prepared them well.

When to intervene
When to step back
When to be firm
When to be slack

Who gives training
To mothers to deal
With the day-to-day
Upbringing ordeals

To be the god
They are made out to be
Hiding their feet of clay
Under the wings

That keep their little ones
Up in the air
Till they sprout
The wings to fly.

Anubavangal: Urugum Manam

Anubavangal: Urugum Manam: "அலை எழும்பி ஓய்வது போல் நிலைக்கும் அந்த மௌனம் குழந்தைகள் கிளம்பி போன பின்னே திரும்பும் வேளையில் கலக்கும் நெஞ்சம் எல்லாம் சரிதானே? சிரித்த..."

The Flowers

A gardenful of flowers
Uniformly pink
With hues of gold
Embellishing from within
Petals open
The pollen exposed
Watching the sun
Cross above

A hand plucks one
Smells the fragrance
Taking in deeply
As memories galore
Of lovely sunshine
And beautiful moonlight
Of childhood days
And the happy adolescence

Another plucked
By an anxious lover
To see if he loves me
Or loves me not, dear
Plucking each petal
Hoping for the odd one
To tell her he does
Do not fear

A few more go
To make a bouquet
Creating a riot
Of beautiful colours
To be given to someone
Loved or feared
To be kept near
The heart's centre

The ones who remain
Sway in the breeze
Still safe, untouched
Withering naturally
Why not me
They think wonderingly
I am made the same way
As all those who went away

Their lives seem emblazened
In a path of glory
To be handpicked
To be nurtured carefully
And yet they died
As naturally
Forgotten once their purpose
Was served fully

Wishing they had
Remained free
Of this attention
Forced as it had been
First there was joy
Happiness and glee
And then came the time
They were forgotten likely

Rotting in bouquets
Torn of petals
Dumped and crushed
In the hands that loved
Their purpose served
They were needed no more
These beautiful flowers
That were cherished once before.

From Darkness to Light

There was scarcity
Of food, water, comforts
Roads were narrow
So were the minds
The rich grabbed
The poor envied
Eyes were on others
Counting the wonders
God had blest them with
Leaving them in tatters.

Fifty years since then
We are happy, amen
We travel, we have fun
We eat well
Everything at fingertips
Just ring the bell
And yet our eyes
Hunger for more
Counting the joys
That come to others

The roads are wider
But packed to the core
So is our mind
Cluttered with chores
With thoughts that muck up
And confusion galore
Through luxury and comfort
We are but beggars
Craving, yearning
Demanding for more

Grabbing always
Pushing others
Showing off
Our empty riches
Yet not happy
Pondering always
If the other man isn't happy
A teeny weeny bit more
And losing sleep
To catch up sooner.

Science and research
Have given us progress
In material things
Increasing our comfort
Who will find out
Where that button is
To lifelong contentment
That rests within us
From darkness to light we travelled
But left our minds behind in dark ages.

Anubavangal: Ayyo paavam, kadavul

Anubavangal: Ayyo paavam, kadavul: "என்ன நினைத்தாய் நீ மனிதனை படைக்கும் பொழுது உன்னைப்போல் ஒருவன் உன் உருவம், உன் குணம் என்றெல்லாம் திட்டமிட்டு ஆறறிவையும் கொடுத்து நிறைய வள..."

Meeravin Mudal Prayatnam: Maatti Muzhikkum Pethai

Meeravin Mudal Prayatnam: Maatti Muzhikkum Pethai: "வேலை என்ற பெரிய பொறுப்பு சில நேரங்களில் மிருதுவாய் பூப்போல் மேலே உதிரும் நாம் செய்தோம் என்ற திருப்தி தரும் சில சமயங்களில் பாறையைப் போல மேலே..."

Meeravin Mudal Prayatnam: Narumanam - Kavithai

Meeravin Mudal Prayatnam: Narumanam - Kavithai: " காட்டின் ஒரு மூலையில் பெரிய மரங்களுக்கு நடுவில் ஒரு சிறிய பூச்செடி அதற்க்கு பூமியே தாய் வானமே தந்தை காட்டு ஜீவராசியே நண்பர்கள் அதில் ஒரு ..."

Awaiting Rains

Dry, barren
Sucked up fully
The earth looked up
Hopefully at the sky

Passing clouds
With nothing much now
Light and fluffy
White and hazy

They drifted leisurely
With no cares
Fleeting through
The skies carelessly

They gathered slowly
In great masses, steadily
Expectant and oppressive
The air became charged

The earth went still
Waiting for the lash
The thunder and the light
To change its plight

Mother of all storms
With much light and noise
Filling up its wellsprings
Giving life, rejuvenating it

All life waited
For the rain to abate
And then slowly drank in
From the waters aplenty

Green trees, lush and beautiful
Buds blooming into bright flowers
The ground wet and fertile
The birds singing a thousand songs

Human eyes look up to thank
The merciful skies for their bounty
And hope to see their fortunes change
To one of comfort and aplenty

The Petal

The wind blew it across
Entangling it with my dress
Mingling it with my heart
Embalming my being
With its fragrance faint

I caught it between my fingers
Let it go, my mind warned
It brings trouble, you will be harmed
But the fragrance was enticing
The petal soft against the skin

I caressed it,
Pressed it against my cheek
Relishing the feeling
When no one looked
A secret joy just for me

I safely tucked it in
Into a velvet pouch
Casing it in a casket
With designs intricate
And hid it deep and safe

Letting others peep
Only when it seemed
Safe for the petal
And the foolish heart
Within the foolish me

Who cherished the petal
As something very precious
More than gold and silver
Even platinum these days
And all the diamonds in the world

With time it lay forgotten
Buried under debris
Of everyday happenings
Thrown on it carelessly
Drying and crushing it

But sometimes it protests
Lets out a whiff
Rustles under the weight
Catching my attention
Reminding me of its presence

Should I peep inside?
Or let it rest in peace
Giving it a decent burial
As it maybe needs?
As should past be

Or take it out
Stroke it
Stoke the fire
Bring it back to life
And burn everything around?

Oh beautiful petal
It was nice when you lasted
But your time is over
And you are best forgotten
Buried deep inside

For newer things grow
As time flows
And every fresh day
Brings a new flower
From where blows a petal.