SIGNATURE

I've been imprisoned for being the king  Of the vast stretches of Serengeti A land where my clan reigned for eons Being a king was not at all easy You need to strain every nerve I did kill, I did eat; I didn't kill, I did starve I was an unruly lad With pride in head and pleasure in heart I ruled, I frolicked, I fought Sometimes I won, sometimes I lost Ah! Those were the days And then they came The intruders with greed in the eyes  And guns on the shoulders At first I didn't like them as I was a family man Who respected the privacy I thought they would become my prey And their metal didn't mangle my mettle Sooner I sussed, they were the predators My mettle melted before their metal And every wild beast surrendered to them And here I am Detained in an alien surrounding And sh…! A zoo this is so no grrr It was hard to live here at first Then I adjusted, later I adapted And now I acclimatized Here I have caretakers, doctors and visitors I have a diet plan; nutritious I mus...

Oh! Broken Bansuri, would you play that gentle music once again  To instill in me the serene tranquility  When my mind is afflicted with torrid emptiness And to ease my wound when I lose all my strength  And to endure the time I resort to you, Soothe me with your celestial bliss...

Pin back your ears when the rustic clock Strikes the ides of the night When the Zephyr plays melody on the Grain stalks in the fields A jingle could be heard darkling Accompanied by the indistinct rhymes and faint chimes And step out for a while and behold A glimmering bonfire could be seen from the distance. Troubadours they are!  And I live in their songs I'm a myth...

മൗനി നാം എന്നു മുതലാണ് മൗനികളായി മാറിയതെന്ന് നിനക്കറിയാമോ? ബാല്യത്തിൽ നിന്ന് നാം നടന്നകന്നതുമുതൽ ഋതുക്കൾ വെറും പ്രതിഭാസം മാത്രമാണെന്ന് കേട്ടതു മുതൽ മഴ കാലാവസ്ഥാ മാറ്റമാണെന്ന് പറഞ്ഞു തന്നപ്പേൾ മരങ്ങൾ തടികൾ മാത്രമാണെന്ന് കേട്ടപ്പോൾ മണ്ണിന് ആത്മാവില്ലെന്ന് കേട്ടതു മുതൽ അങ്ങനെ നമ്മൾ മൗനികളായി നോട്ടുപുസ്തകങ്ങൾ പഴയ നോട്ടുപുസ്തകങ്ങൾക്ക് ജീവനുണ്ടത്രേ! ആലസ്യത്തിലണ്ടുപോയ സിദ്ധാന്തങ്ങൾക്കപ്പുറം താളുകൾ മറിക്കുമ്പോൾ കാണം ഏറ്റവും മികച്ച തത്വചിന്തകൾ സൗഹൃദത്തിൻ്റെ കലഹങ്ങൾ രഹസ്യ പ്രണയ കവിതകൾ പിന്നെ... പിന്നെ കണ്ണിരു വീണു മാഞ്ഞു പോയ മൂകമായ അക്ഷരങ്ങൾ ദേശാടനപ്പക്ഷികൾ ഓർമ്മകൾ ദേശാടനപ്പക്ഷികളാണത്രേ! വർത്തമാനകാലത്തെയുപേക്ഷിച്ച്, ഭൂതകാലത്തിൽ നിന്ന് ഭൂതകാലത്തിലേക്ക് പറക്കുന്ന പക്ഷികൾ ഇന്നലെകൾ ആ ചാമ്പയ്ക്കാമരം ഇന്നില്ല ഗൃഹാതുരതയിലേക്ക് നടന്ന്  വഴിയേറെ ചെല്ലുമ്പോൾ കായ്ച്ചു നിൽക്കുന്ന ആ മരം കാണാം ഇലകൾക്കിടയിൽ മറച്ചു വെച്ചിരിക്കുന്ന ചുവപ്പും വെളുപ്പുമായ ബാല്യകാല സന്തോഷങ്ങൾ ആ മരം ഇന്നില്ല സൗഹൃദങ്ങളെ എന്നും വരുതിയിലാക്കി നിർത്തിയിരുന്ന ചെമ്പകവും ഇന്നില്ല അരളിയും, പിച്ചിയും, കനകാമ്പരവും, വെള്ളക്കൊടുവേലിയും  ...

Mind is a crowded railway station Filled with the rumbling racket of the trains of thoughts Some are like express trains That pass by the station briskly With lots of ruckuses Some are like passenger trains That trundle across the station Dragging its heavy bogies Some are like trains halted for a long time Waiting for the signal to proceed Some trains make no appearance Only the sound of the horn can be heard These trains come and go quickly Some are from far far regions Some are from adjacent places And I'm the lone inept station master Who lost his flags And unable to control the trains that speed up and down I remain as a mute spectator

How many more Summers do I have to wait By surviving the sultry days and steamy nights With this monotonous methodical mortal coil Of terribly the same melancholic fool's errand How many more Autumns do I have to wait By shedding all the hopes on tomorrow Groping for nothing in the glimmer And to live bare and barren How many more Winters do I have to wait By enduring the piercing pain of nullness And witnessing the blazing ghastly white everywhere In the state of sleepless hibernation How many more Springs do I have to wait By being indifferent to the vernal freshness And how many more tedious emptiness do I have to pull through Suppressing all the agonies and afflictions

Sour Ganges, run slushy While we are plagued by the worst pandemic, You are festering by the fetid turbidity, Putrefied by carrying the bloated floating bodies Mangled, deteriorated, decomposed mortal remains Bodies that still await their destiny As the members in the food chain stand by impatiently In the form of speeding fishes that are ready to devour The vultures that hover are preparing to swoop down The stray dogs that keep vigil on the banks  To check for the bodies that wash up While the rich smoke from the ghats fogs your air, The stench from the flesh chokes you The dealwoods too are all too extortionate these days And these are the souls,  Too penurious to secure a single twig for a pyre Then they had to resort to you for a repose And to gain the promised salvation While we are immersed in this eerie loop Of horrendous epidemic You are bearing the brunt of it By bearing the blanched bruised bodies And when both we are toiling in our own way A solace is far far away...