ಭೂತದ ಭೂತಗಳು!

ಬೆಂಗಾಡು ಬಾಳು
ಬೆನ್ಬಿಡದೆ ಕಾಡ್ವ ಬಾಳ್ಗೀತೆಗಳು,
ಬರಿ ಪ್ರೇತಗಳು
ನೆನಪಿನಂಗಳದಿ ನಿಂತ ಭೂತಗಳು!

ನಾ ಮುಂದು, ತಾ ಮುಂದು
ನುಗ್ಗಿ ಬಂದು, ಮೈಯೇರಿ ಬಿದ್ದು
ಕಳಚಿ ಓಡ ಬಯಸಿದ್ದರೂ
ಬಿಡದೆ ಮನದೊಡಲ ಕಾಡ್ವ ಭೂತಗಳು!
ವಿಷ ಬೀಜಗಳು,
ಹಳೆ ನೆನಪುಗಳು, ಬಾಳ್ಗೀತೆಗಳು.

ಎಂದೋ ಎಲ್ಲಿಯೋ ನಡೆದದ್ದು
ಹಿಂದೆಂದಿನದ್ದೋ, ಇಂದಿನದಲದ್ದು
ಬಿಡಲೊಲದ್ದು, ಬಿಗಿಹಿಡಿದದ್ದು
ಇಂದು ಹಿಂದಿನ ಹಗೆ ಸಾರ್ವ ಭೂತಗಳು!
ಕರಿ ಛಾಯೆಗಳು,
ಕ್ಷುದ್ರ ಚಿಂತನೆಗಳು, ಬಾಳ್ಗೀತೆಗಳು.

ವರ್ತಮಾನಕ್ಕೂ ನಡೆದು ಬಂದು
ನೆಮ್ಮದಿಯ ಬಾಳ್ವೆಗೆ ಭಂಗ ತಂದು
ನರ ನೆತ್ತರು ಹೀರಿ, ಅದರೊಳೆ ಮಿಂದು
ಭೂತದೊಳಗೂತು ಹೋಗಬೇಕಿದ್ದ ಭೂತಗಳು!
ನರಕ ತೋರಣಗಳು,
ಮನ ವರ್ತುಲಗಳು, ಬಾಳ್ಗೀತೆಗಳು.

You liar!

Picture credit: www.hiren.info

          Arguments are the bread and butter of the angel and the devil. One fine night, as they stared at the stars, they embarked on a conversation.
"Why don't you worship God?"
"Because, he is a liar!"
"Can't be. He has bestowed me with this blissful life of mine. I adore him. Why, why do you brand him so?"
"When I was landed down into this world, he asked me to walk to my right, facing the pole star to find this mountain peak which would be my abode. But the peak was to my left."
"Come on, I too was told the same. I am here because I followed his directions. And so should you also be."
"I doubted him, so walked left. And that is how I am here."
"Nay, you lie."
"Why should I?"
"Because I walked as was told and have found this abode."
"And I walked in the opposite direction to the same abode. You too lie, like the one you adore."
"Nay, neither do I lie, nor the one I adore. But you do!"
"You liar! How dare you say so?..."
"You liar! How dare you call me so?..."
"You liar!...."
"You liar!...."
....
....
        The fight went on late into the night and the earth below laughed to herself because she knew neither the angel nor the devil lied.

Folly to be wise.

Rowan Atkinson as Mr.Bean: Wise or Unwise!

     "Sorrow is knowledge, those that know the most must mourn the deepest, the tree of knowledge is not the tree of life." - Lord Byron 
 
       We are overloaded with information from all sides. Every now and then, there is a dosage of information awaiting to be consumed by us. We are extremely privileged if we have the freedom to choose between consuming it or simply denying it. Because, as I see it, not all information is knowledge, and not all knowledge is wisdom. Above all, its not wisdom alone that drives our lives.
         Living in what is dubbed as the 'information era', I have due respect to the power of information and knowledge. I have been witness to incidents where the phrase 'knowledge is power' has lived up to its literary description and even beyond. But sometimes I do wonder how much of knowledge is sufficient power and does the excess of knowledge lead to disastrous consequences as does the excess of power?
       Though I doubt the absolute validity of Ernest Hemingway's statement "Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know", the statement is not without its share of truth! Knowing much of a thing/event/person, beyond what is necessary neither adds to knowledge, nor serves any purpose. Or does it? I do not have a generalized answer yet and doubt if I will ever have one because its more of a circumstantial question. But I doubt if Obsessive Attention to Detail (OAD), which is advocated by few new age Gurus as an ingredient to the so called success, is really worth all that attention! Maybe in realms where it pays off to know, it is worth to know and in other arenas, it is simply best to shut up and enjoy the show!
          If you are an Engineer, and the more of the technicality you master, the better is the product you design. Now that is a case where 'you take care of the small things and the big things will take care of themselves.' But if you are married and you decide to dig into every detail of your spouse, then is it not a sure recipe for disaster? The small thing to take care here is not to interfere into their sphere of autonomy and not to dig deep because 'the devil is in the details'!
        The happiest of all are children. (These days, peer pressure and hyper competition seem to be screwing up their happiness too.) And why are they so happy? Because they do not need a reason to be happy. Its their innocence that leaves them lot happier than most of us can ever be. They dig either into the earth or into the walls but not into the details!

        Most acts, however kind and altruist, when dissected to the finer details and analyzed critically may reveal some gray shades. Rather than looking at the darker side of things, it is up to us to choose to appreciate the beauty of the brighter side. Is it such a huge crime to have few gray shades, after all we are all mortals and it is our love for our own selves that characterizes us!

       It is not that I advocate ignorance. I do not think any issue has a single, one-dimensional solution, unless within the covers of a text book! The solution of every issue has to be pursued on a case by case basis, considering its circumstantial and consequential factors. So, there is no legitimacy in claiming ignorance to be a pragmatic solution. But I find myself agreeing with Thomas Gray, who penned these lines -

Yet ah! why should they know their fate? 

Since sorrow never comes too late, 

And happiness too swiftly flies. 

Thought would destroy their paradise. 

No more; where ignorance is bliss, 

'Tis folly to be wise.

           Life is simply all about walking on the Razor's edge. We place our feet too hard, the razor pierces our feet and we bleed. We walk too lightly, we loose balance and fall. The only way to walk on it unharmed is to place our feet as hard and as soft as is required! Maybe there in lies the detailed secret!!

Dreams crown our thoughts.

Picture credit: http://www.vaboomer.com

Dreams crowned our thoughts, we were children.
As we grew, aspirations and inspirations took hold.
Now that our blood boils, we talk of passion and compassion.
As life gets dizzy, maybe the chaos of adulthood calms our blood!
Will then be waiting in line those days of midlife crisis?
Caught in the confusion we deny, maybe we yearn for peace.
As age takes over our body and regrets take over our thoughts,
We look back and wonder where those dreams got lost?
Only to find out dreams still crown our thoughts
And we are still children in our hearts!

Search of joy.

Away from here, In all seclusion

Is a world of beauty, a spring of joy.

I wish with all heart I could be there

Free from bonds that do tie me here.

But the recluse of the land denies me entry

For he seems to know, what is beauty

And what is seemingly joy today to me

Need not, days later the same seem,

When in nostalgia I stroll down time's dream.

I shall seek new lands then

As have I since who knows when.

Wander into wilderness, loose sight of shore -

Abandoning what I thought was joy

In search of what I think would be joy!