Worshipper of Goddesses

He touches his mother's feet
When he wakes up in the morning
He walks to the river for a bath
Believing she washes away his sins
He touches the ground he walks on
Seeking forgiveness of Mother Earth
He worships Goddess Lakshmi
So she may stay with him forever
He chants the name of Saraswathi
So she may give him knowledge
He prays to Ma Durga
So she may give him strength
He reaps the harvest
Hailing the name of Annapurna
He beats his wife at home
So he may know he is strong
He rapes an innocent woman
To prove he is a man
He kills his daughter at birth
Hoping for a son to carry his name
He is a beast in the garb of man
Fooling the world, with two faces
One that worships the powerful goddess
The other that beheads the "weaker sex".

Also published in Women's Web

Tearing Through the Blue

I looked up
From the balcony
At the blue sky
Clear and sparkling
The mid morning sun
Bright and harsh
Casting its light
Wide and far

The blue stretched
Like a sheet taut
Complacent and invincible
Away from human touch
Making me want
To pierce through it
To tear its complacency
To pull off the mask

My body limiting
My soul breaking free
Like an eagle
Only, heading up
But when I pierce
What do I find?
Another sheet
Stretched as taut?

Frustrated, I dive back
Ignoring the sky
Wanting the clouds
To mar the blue
Better a cover
Than the stark
Which is true
And yet only a mask

Bringing Up

"Wedding in March?" Mother asked Father. "How can we go? Son has exams."

"Ma," Son intervened, "Exams start only towards end of March. Let's go, please."

"No!" Mom said shocked. "You have to prepare. Your exams are more important. Not this."

Son went to his room to study.

**

"How can we entertain people at this time? Son has to prepare for the Math Olympiad. You go in, Son... This is more important than guests." Mother sent her Son in before he could protest.

"But he has entrance exams! I don't think your parents should come now! No, sonny, your exams are more important." Father nodded and called up his father to postpone the trip.

"Son has waited for this trip, Father." Mother patted her college going Son on his head. "We promised him this as a gift for his performance in the boards." Father put off visiting his ailing aunt to take his Son on holiday.

"Your swimming classes...your tennis...your this your that...more important..."

**

"Oh Mother!" Son said. "Can't you see I have deadlines? I can't take time off to take you on pilgrimage now!"

Mother sat back hurt. He had put off taking her to her niece's wedding, her mother before she passed away, and now this.

She wondered why, when she had sacrificed everything for him, placed him before everything else in her life, her Son had turned out so selfish, putting only himself before everything else!

Keeping a Promise

When I last went on the electric train (Leisurely Journey), the desire to do a similar journey and take the kids again was strong. This time, the target was the MRTS or the air rail...which goes over the city.

I also was reading up about Chennai Fort, and was amazed that there was a museum open to the public. So it was a natural desire to make this the destination.

The air rail been here for more than five years - it came up during the previous govt, and I had never been on it. What a loss. Better late than never. From the train one can see the beach at one point, and it passed so close to the Chepauk stadium where the match was going on that we could see the players on the field! Though it was crowded onward due to people using this for reaching Chepauk Stadium to watch the IPL match, it was still an experience.

The Fort Museum - I can't believe that in all the years I have visited Chennai and lived in Chennai, I have never visited this museum. Ironically, I have even visited the fort on work to meet Secretaries of government, but the building (now the secretariat has shifted) was so yuck, so matchboxish, no wonder I never associated it with the British monument.

The museum is no great discovery. But it is very neatly kept, and relics from the British period along with the original wooden model make it a worthwhile visit. It is small, just two floors, and so my two children and my friend's daughter didn't get too bored. Maybe the fact that we fed them just before going in helped too.

There is a St. Mary's Church that was quite and peaceful, with a beautiful garden. I could imagine the 1700 Britain there.

We used a different route to exit the fort and reach the station. And now we saw evidence of the fort ramparts, the greenery and the British architecture. What a tragedy though that Ezhumbur river, which flowed through the fort, is nothing more than a stinking canal.

We returned by train, now quite empty. In the evening sun, the 20 minute journey seemed too short, and immensely "redoable". But Chennai heat had sapped our energies, and I was thankful for the tea my friend - who had come with her family with us - offered.

This trip definitely took me back to the days when we didn't have the taken-for-granted cars and roughed it out in large groups which made us forget the difficulties. The backyard from where we exited took us to places that I had seen from the road but never thought I would ever visit.

What next, my friend and I are wondering. The zoo?

Life and Death

My seven year old daughter wanted to know: If life begins, it has to end too, no? So how and when will it end?

She had me zapped on two counts. One, that she could think such a thought. But secondly, because, I have had three different conversations with three sets of people of my age on parallel lives and death.

I hate to go deep in there because it makes me nervous and taut...it is like thin air - you understand it when you talk about it, but lose the meaning the moment you end your statement. Is this right, is this what you meant? Are what we think "other animals" parallel lives that we don't understand and so consider humans as the supreme creation, because of sixth sense etc? Or are their other planets where our lives are mirrored...or we are mirroring other worlds? Are we part of a reality show, or are we the audience? Are we in the dream, or are we dreaming?

Apparently the book Vasishta's Yoga deals with it...for those who are interested. I myself - I prefer the dream world of fiction. A parallel world clearly dreamt up for popular consumption.

Animal Farm

Somehow, I think this masterpiece will never be irrelevant. Have seen enough of it in a microcosm and at bigger levels. At the heart of every individual hides a desire for power - over something, anything.

I voted today and then wondered if I had selected the right candidate. After all, when in power, will he or she behave any differently? Maybe, initially, yes. But after a while...it will be like the old regime.

After all, wasn't one party kicked out and another voted in with sweeping majority in TN? Yet, history repeated itself and we had corruption on a grander scale, at national level...

If you vote for a new candidate, there is the risk of splitting vote and a weak head of government. If you vote for a powerful party, then you strengthen it further...giving it more gumption to openly cheat...

Hobson's choice?

***

On another note, saw a short piece on animal planet - a weak old lion resting when a herd of buffalos attacked it and killed it. In Tamil, there is a saying: யானைக்கு ஒரு காலம் வந்தால் பூனைக்கு ஒரு காலம் வரும்.

 There is a time for everyone - if the elephant has its day, so does the cat. This short film seemed so appropriate with regard to power dynamics. Even the powerful become weak one day, and the weak will have a field day. But it seemed more pathetic than when I see lions killing a deer. For there is a purpose to that death. This seemed mindless. But these are animals! Why does man behave the same way?

Yet another victim of automation

My gas agency was one place where I could call, give my customer ID, be told when to expect my gas cylinder and be done with it in exactly 3 minutes. But today, I was given a customer care number, put on to automated voice message which made me press 1 and 2 to choose my options, get confirmations that my agency name was x, my contact number was y, and then give me a booking number (which I didn't realise was coming so was not prepared to note) and then rung off. Now I am not sure when to expect my gas cylinder! :(

Maybe for the agency this is some form of simplification, but for the tech-duh me...it has me still shaking. What's happened to the human touch?