Back to School

 Looking out of the window I see, on green

Turf, a file of Peacocks march across in a single

File like soldiers on a drill, the air, fresh on my

Face, memories of the pandemic driven away!

A Hornbill calls out in a raucous tone, out of

Sight, but all the more there, like a bugler 

Announcing the end of the hostilities. But the

Birds were always free, unlike us, unaffected.

A Kingfisher calls out insistently away in the

Distance, its insistent call like an urgent alarm

Marking the end of  hostilities by a viral enemy

That had relented from its onslaught on humanity.

Children play on green turf, bowling and batting

Calling out loudly like real teams fighting for the

Trophy. It all seems like the new normal has given

Way to the old one, as old times might once be!

And in the corridors you meet children flowing

Down, calling out, "Good Morning, Sir," and

It looks like School again, not some boxed up

Gizmo of virtual sounds and pictures to look at!

It feels nice to to hear the corridors echo with

The sounds of children, like lambs rushing to

Lush feeding grounds eager to learn, hear and

See rather than watch from a flickering screen.

It feels good to be back at school, for once

dressed up, marching up and down corridors

And staircases, greeting each other, looking at

Real smiling faces. glad to be back at school.

Gaia on Life Support - A Poem

 

She lies on her back, monitors beeping insistently,

Her veins clogged with sludge created by one selfish

Being. She gasps and chokes on smoke so thick,

So foul, so pungent, wondering why he would want 

To harm her so!

The rivers that slaked her thirsty fields now move

Sluggishly, as dark as tar, too thick to flow, the air

That carried with it scents so sweet, now carries a stink

Of rotting carrion, and burning garbage. Alas! One she

Fostered harmed her so!

She lies on her back too weak to move, her life ebbing

Away. Gaia, they called her, mother Earth, supported of

Life, but stabbed her in the back for a few gold coins.

She wonders why the ones she loved most would want

To harm her so!

Lying on her back too weak to move, she drifts into a

Deep sleep, dreaming of a world where the fresh air

Was laced with the sweet scent of flowers, the streams

Glided, as clear as glass, white clouds scudded across

The clear blue sky.

The world was then a garden of paradise, where all

The beings lived in perfect harmony, watched by a

A smiling cherubic Gaia, in all her glory handing

The gifts of life, health, joy and prosperity to all.

And she smiles in her sleep.

Mother Earth, they called her, Man and Woman,

And she bestowed them with the responsibility

Of protecting, preserving her garden from blight. 

It was a green world with blue skies, crystal streams

And white clouds.

She smiles in her sleep as she remembers the world

Of her dreams, her cheeks brighten, and her heart-

Beat steadies. She breathes better, taking deep breaths

From the cylinder that stands by her side. A deep resolve

To mend things gone wrong.

She will punish those who had betrayed her faith in them.

She will send the temperatures soaring, unleash tidal waves,

Drown proud monuments that dared to touch the sky. She

 Will teach the Man and the Woman whom she trusted a lesson.

She is Gaia, kind yet firm!

In her dream, now strengthened with new hope and resolve,

She makes her decision to restore the world to its rightful

Tenants, the birds and fish, butterflies and whales, animals

Shrubs and orchids. And she will banish those that betrayed

Her, she is Gaia, benevolent and just!

For unless you be like the animals, birds and trees you harmed

Mankind will never be forgiven by her! Gaia, the life-force of

The Earth can never forget what the world was before Man took

It for granted, and she will set it right even if it means burning it

To make Phoenix rise from its ashes!

A Morning Walk in the Park - A Poem

 A Morning Walk in The Park

A walk in the park, each morning, is like a learning walk.

The gentlemen huddled in a corner discussing the latest

In politics, a glimpse into the world in crisis. In the middle,

Another group of gentlemen, practice Yoga - "breathe in,

Breathe out - all is well with the world, just breathe calmly".

And as you wonder about the new world order, you look

At the people, meeting each other in the mornings, sharing

Greetings like they've met after a long time. You realise that

Life is a collective act of sharing and appreciating life together. 

Solutions to problems might come from a morning walk in a park.

A fresh wind blows onto your face like the caressing stroke of

One loved. It brings with it a hint of Jasmine, tempting you to

Take yet another circuit of the park. Time slows, a tapestry unfolds

Of scents, trees, blossoms, birds and people. A mellowed lady 

Passes by and is overtaken by a young girl walking briskly.

In this park, the old and the young complement each other,

Bringing in life's diversity as they participate in a common act-

A morning walk in the park to start the day with. As others doze

In their beds, you catch the day as it unfolds, breathing the fresh

Air and the scents that waft by, ready to start the day with zest!

 In the park you see a young girl instruct a few mellowed men

In the art of breathing, which they follow meekly! Breathe in

Breathe out she calls out in a surprisingly calm voice and they

Obey meekly like little children. This is a park where the grown-

Ups become children and the children become the grown-ups!

For once we need to change roles, to seek advice rather than

Give advice, to open your senses to what the trees and the birds

Might offer! The fresh air with its scents of Jasmine and Rose

A better therapy than that offered in a hospital. And as you walk

You burn those calories to get a slimmer, fitter, beautiful you!

Twenty-Twenty, A Poem

The winds of change begin to blow, slowly at first, but then,

Working up the clouds into a roiling mass. Churning up 

Even the blue sky into a gyre that gathers speed, alas!

Not even seen by those that pass below, unsuspecting, 

That the times are changing. A virus stops the world in its tracks.

Yet they continue their games to play, tasks to do and ratings to win.

The blast that flattens a skyline leaving untold suffering,

While nations stage economic wars and wars with bombs,

Even the greatest dams cannot the floods stop!

Not all but few do see the spinning circle that swallows all.

The vain do boast of science so strong,

Yet before a tiny germ do hang their heads with shame.

The schools shut down, students struggle, focus on screens,

While teachers tackle technology and ignore the lesson.

Even the best can create merely a virtual world out of a film!

Not even history did see an exodus, so long, of migrant workers 

Trudging a thousand miles with kith and kin to be.

Yet the powers that be, focus wars with others not caring about the sick.

The Factory barely ticks, the jobless wanders, another one dies

While they prepare to unleash the dogs of war. Recession depression 

Even inflation, lead to wars. Have they forgotten lessons of the great war?

Now he needs to unlearn, learn, upskill and re-skill all from scratch,

The teachings of grandfathers of no more use. A.I. Algorithms rule the day

Yet as we continue to be drawn into an unforgiving quagmire of data.

The world teeters on the brink of change, a chasm that will 

Whittle away all that makes us human. For we need to adapt

Ever so fast to new things, competing with machines that

Nip ahead evolving and changing so fast, shedding obsolescence 

That too without a conscience. Soon like them will we have

Yet to forego, memories and relations just to live.

The man holds his head in his hands, how long, how long

Will he have to start anew? At an age when they thought

Even to retire. He started with garments to suffer loss

Next went  to electronics, suffered loss, imported stuff

Then suffered loss, a victim of market forces, intent to destroy.

Yet, now he needs to go to a counsellor to tell him what to start.

The chaos sucks all into a gyre, that spins faster and faster.

Whole worlds whirl, whirlpools spin faster and faster and lives flash by

Even as those that pause to watch grow dizzy by what they see.

Now, this is the new world order, where AI is a new religion,

That has algorithms as its acolytes - each one of us is a mere

Yoked data point, an ingredient to be whipped, into a  soup.

The winds of change have arrived, at last, they bring 

With them, confusion, chaos and perplexity, 

Even as children, teachers, businessmen, doctors and

Nurses stare bewildered, at plastic worlds on plastic screens,

That siphon  them into a virtual soup feeding hungry maws of

Yet invisible machines that crunch data into a mish-mash.

The new world order teeters on unstable heels,

Which threaten to topple all into one dusty heap.

Eliot would have recognised the wasteland that we're getting into

Not even the gods of Greece and Rome can find a way out,

They're replaced by a greater one that eats data and spawns algorithms.

You all are nothing but digital data to be hacked and secured!

There is something even worse coming, an entity that feeds

When we sleep, a succubus, on the  human spirit,

Even Einstein in his wildest dreams wouldn't have thought that,

Not, even science at its best could be stopped from turning into  a competitor,

That too of its maker that would turn him into a beggar and a jobless man.

You all know how businesses failed as data predictions swayed choice.

There is, something weird about planes falling, ports exploding

Waters roiling, oil spills spreading and forest fires spreading.

Even countries turn enemies eye-balling  each other hatred 

Nurtured by desire and gain, of other's lands and resources.

Times have changed, People drift apart, humanity, forsaken.

Years squeeze into minutes, memories compressed into bytes.

Terrabytes squeeze in Gigabytes, human limits explode,
Who can squeeze the brain into a pinhead! Moore's law
Now fails, and human beings are hacked! Those people
That ruled the world now mere slaves to machines a few
Years ago they created, human minds fuel and drive machines!