Murukku and "I"

Sometimes a single picture, makes your stomach feel full. For details, see this .

(photo of yummy stuff by Kavi Arasu)



Perfect spicy petals
whispering
with the wild whorls,
on the recent
hot experience,
while the traditional
spirals
brush off
their disapproving
modern glances
on
their old-style
slightly thorny surface.





Firmly holding on,
to the
maiden name,
"Murukku",
while the rest
of modern types
call themselves
"Crunchies"
on Facebook .....

And the
poetic marathoner,
shuts his wallet,
takes a bite,
and types in a
Facebook status,
saying,
"Eat it,
while the "I" is there;
you will
soon learn
what
to perform everyday,
when the "I"
disappears
from the mind......

Origins of IPL.....

Just in case you think the British invented cricket, and Lalit Modi invented the Indian Premier league(IPL), here is proof, that it may not be so....originally uncovered by the photographer on a trip to South Africa....


(photo by Vivek Patwardhan)
Roots of IPL,
watch those knee pads,
extra high stumps,
being handled
by
a brave batsman,
clutching
the original bat;

But whats amazing
is the cricket ball
huge on the ground.....
Boundaries
beyond the brown,
It's a six
beyond the blue;




And you look
for an umpire,
hands wide
or sometimes
just raised
to
the heavens,
and see
instead,
a cheerleader,
giving the fellow
a piece
of her cricketing mind.....

Rebuilding thoughts.....

Ladakh, at the roof of the world, in India's North, provides a brilliant landscape of peace and introspection. Lakshmi Sharath, a professional travel writer who blogs here, displays the complete brilliant tapestry of Ladakh, captured by her magical camera here.


(photo by Sharath Krishnamurthy/Lakshmi Sharath)






Tearing the fabric,
Destroying structures,
Ill-motivated humans
aiming balls
at a game...
of political
Lagori.... *****






When will they learn
that despite
the howling Northwind
an occasional
icy wave
and erosion of values
all around,
Up there
amidst the
Roof of the world,
Empathy, and effort
rebuilds,
reconstructs,
albeit precariously
the edifice
of peace,
again
and again, and again.....



*****Lagori : Marathi word for a childrens' game where they hit a ball and try to break this piled up structure; and everyone tries to reconstruct while the opposition searches for the ball and tries to break the structure again...

Lighting up a life....

(photo by Kavi Arasu, from his album, " Corridors")




Troubled,
wandering,
dulled by the dark,
stiffening
in apprehension,
uncognizant
of its own,
the mind
searches the
recesses
of the corridors,
in
the long trip
that is life.




A hand
in someone else's
a deep breath,
an assurance
on a stiff shoulder,
and he looks up,
searches.

A step
ahead,
and some more
and he has
turned
the corner....

A blink,
a nod,
and his face
creases into a smile;
this is not
an illusion,
its for real;
the soft light
rolling across the corridor,
applauded from behind,
by the greens,
peering in,
to
put their hands together
for Grandpa....

Cloudy thinking....

(Photo by Sylvia Kirkwood)



Senior Clouds,
some laden with stuff,
some stress-free,
on their annual
sight seeing vacation;
As some,
breathless above Seattle,
float lower,
a few tough ones,
Cheneyish,
a bit up there,
sight
the dazzling snow.




"George ! Holy Halliburton !
I see the Himalayas!
We are in India !"....

And George,
who has travelled
the world,
as the most powerful man,
shook his head,
saying,
"it can't be....
I just pinged the guy
in the yacht below,
and he said
"Move on,
there is Arnold
somewhere down
the road;
as for us
we don't need
a Republican
Rain,
in this lovely
Democratic
spring...

"Thelithopther" Life Stages for Seniors....

A grandfather (retired after a long stint with a paint company) , out for a walk with his granddaughter, amazed at her observations, gets wistful, thinking about a "Thelithopther", that the little girl wants to see... More here....



A thousand moons
ago , maybe,
he ,
a Star,
looked wide eyed
at trains
rumbling by
as he walked to school,
kicking
a stone here,
waving a stick
at a branch,
troubling a
resting dog.





Only to
rise and twinkle
at college
and then ,
in life and work
amidst
a Whorl of Color
and
a Rangoli of Words.

Today's stars,
still learning
to mix
the Colors of Life,
allow
their minds,
like the birds,
to fly...

And they stand
on the shoulders
of the Older Stars,
enjoying the blue,
and the white,
and the green,
mobilizing
for
a Thelithopther Life,
a wonderful exciting
applauded rise
with a rotating vision
taking it all in
while streaking through
a sunny morning...

Old Stars don't set;
Their shoulders are the
Cape Canaveral
for the new
Rising Stars.....

The Mother Tree

Winner of the BlogAdda Mother’s Day contest May 2010




Some say
a new star appears
in the sky
gazing down
in benevolence...
But
now,
no longer
with us,
she is more
the Banyan tree
rooted firmly
in my yard,
in her native Earth....



Gnarled wisdom trunk
rising up
spreading in
green protection
across her children,
and their children,
and new roots,
the earthy sensible sap
absorbed and disseminated
a bit here,
a little more there,
a fine balance
amidst
various willful branches,
some old,
some carefree,
some troubled, and some new.

An understanding shelter
in life storms,
restful shade
on a burning day,
a conspiratory wink
as the neighbor ladies
wound the sacred thread
around her torso
celebrating Vatapurnima;
Bending hugely,
indulging grand kids
swinging
on her,
a glare at
a daughter
trying to impose
her avoirdupois
on a hanging root...

She isn't gone,
and she doesn't need a Day;
She stands,
brave ,
in the wind,
with her young and old,
gathered
in her folds,
a virtual hand
reassuringly resting
and patting
the troubled shoulder,
of someone,
for whom,
everyday,
in Life
is Mother's Day....


Submitted for the BlogAdda Mothers Day Contest 2010 : Selected as one of the 5 winners.(May 14)

A design for living....

A commentary on the traditional design for living, in a simple wonderful world.....

(photos by Kavi Arasu, taken in Madurai)







He breaks out
beyond the hills,
resplendent
in the gilded rays,
rapidly pushing
aside the clouds,
to look down
on what
lies in wait....





Damp cleaned earth,
early aromas
that please
mixed with
the heady ones
of sandal, jasmines,
burning wicks,
and filter coffee.

And He watches,
enraptured, as the
lady in a crisp cotton,
bends
to regulate
the rice flour dots
as they slip through
her thumb and index finger.

Dots in lines,
an artistic turn around one,
figures of eight
joining others,
hexagons,
polygons,
celebrating the
geometry
in a disciplined life....

A sprinkle of color,
and the beauty
of it all
blinds
the Sun,
trying now
to hide behind a cloud,
cooling the garden
as a slight breeze
floats by to watch.

The lady,
adjusts her glasses,
holds her back
and gets up.
It's another day,
another design
by Him above.

Connecting the dots
Following the lines,
filling color
where none exists....
Life must go on.

Cerebral Skylines

Lakshmi Sharath, from Bangalore, India, is a media professional , a traveller, a travel writer and consultant, and performs magic with the camera....


(photograph of Shimla views by Lakshmi Sharath)



Valleys and peaks
in life,
Thick with hopes,
worries and questions,
Green foliage
carpeting
the hidden
cracks and roads
in the mountain.






But life goes on,
the wind stops
for no one,
as you look up
at the horizon,
to see
your future life
again with
lots of ups and downs,
but certainly lighter
and lighter
as the clouds
float in
to mist your eyes....