PARISHES OF MY MOTHERLAND

As the smell of the harvested crop
Wafts across the landscape
Somewhere, far away
A gunshot shatters the silence.

As the heart of an Indian village bleeds
Another village celebrates.
The cries of the dead farmer’s family
Are drowned in another’s prosperity, success and hardwork.

As the ravines stretch for miles together
And the lands cry out for liberation
Morgues get filled, bodies decay
With no place left to bury them.

As the debt rises
Many others take the drastic step.
Names of the dead are noted
And are thus, lost in the pages of history, forever.

Two sides of a village
Exists in India.
One that celebrates the good growth of crops
Another that mourns the death of farmers.
One that produces aplenty
Another that is plagued with famines.
One that performs customs, rights and rituals
To appease the Gods
Another that lights the pyres of the dead.

YVONNE

As she stood near the lounge door, wearing a gorgeous white blouse and a pair of blue jeans, I stood at one corner of the room, mesmerized by her beauty....

Her melodious, lilting voice floated like sweet symphonies in the air, drowning the cacophony of voices. Her tantalizing perfume which wafted across the room made nerve endings tingle. Her luscious black hair danced as she swiveled her head.

As I stood rooted to the ground, unable to take my eyes off her, she passed out of the lounge door, leaving behind an aura of tension, fire and effervescence....

FAR FROM THE URBAN CHAOS

As I stand on the edge of a massif
Oblivious of time, the sky, moon and earth
The distance between ephemerality and death fades
As I look down at the prodigious ocean below.

The illusion of being segregated from mankind evaporates.
The endless skies above, the shimmering water below
Are in perfect concord;
Untouched, untroubled by the urban chaos.

PAINFUL MEMORIES

As I walked along the dusty bylanes of Lahore
Memories of the worst came back to me.
The sight of men bleeding profusely, shops burning and charred bodies
Shook the base of secularism in the country
Made me realize how fortunate I was
To escape the wrath of mankind
When I saw dust gathering on the pyol of a burnt house.

Ten years ago, to that fateful day of 12th March, 1996
Lahore was up in flames.
Men who belonged to different religious backgrounds
Had often prided themselves in unshaken solidarity
And then..... the very voice of humanity
Was drowned in the drumbeats of hatred and brutality.

As I looked onto the horizon
In my quest to calm the raging spirit within me
I found no answers as to why
In a world blessed by the Almighty
Is there so much of vindictiveness, agony, and turbulence.

THE BACKGROUND INCONSEQUENTIAL

As I walked along the snow-covered path
I felt a queer sense of belonging to an unknown entity.
My connections with an illegitimate part of sorority
Made my soul heavily palpitate
As I looked onto the celestial abode
The gargantuan, endless skies.

The frigid, austere winds that blew past the path
Made me heavily shudder.
A vast spectre of persecution and viciousness
Lay enshrouded in a deathly mist
Somewhere, faraway tribulations shattering the silence.

As I walked along the frozen riverbed
I heard my compunction telling me
That aeons had passed between
My happy, innocent childhood
And a clueless, wasted adulthood.

THE UNFADING IMPRESSION

As the green buds
Replaced the dead autumn leaves
I saw her peering
At the profundity of the ocean.

Her face was like the force of nature.
She reminded of those who
Crusaded for the good of humankind.

She held herself in a manner
That seemed inconceivable then
The infinite skies above,
The boundless ocean below
Seemed to obscure all forms of distinction.

And as I stood on the edge of the massif
I was reminded of a certain someone
Who, perhaps, emancipated humanity
From ethical and intellectual imprisonment.

TRAVERSING BACK AND INTO ETERNITY

As the stars play with the silvery water,
As the sun lines the immeasurable horizon
I stand on the confluence of crossroads
Unsure of the path to be taken...

As newer vistas signal changes millionfold
I wonder, full of apprehensions
Whether the chosen road
Will bring me unparalleled success and supreme happiness
Or lead me to a point of no return..

While I still contemplate on my impending decision
Thoughts of your goodness and humility
Fill my soul with warmth and nostalgia
Those endless fights, childish pranks, piercing screams,
The unceasing stream of tears and all the madness
Which seemed so preposterous back then
Now appear like intricate and inextricable vignettes
Carefully interwoven and nurtured over the years...

As I walk along the chosen path
Still wondering if choosing the other paths
Would have made all the difference,
Another bend in the road, another nook in the city
Will one day surely bring us together once again.....