WAKE UP, ELSE YOU’LL SLEEP FOREVER

(Written after the devastating Uttarakhand tragedy in June 2014)

I’ll find God, when to a temple I go

Allah will bless me, when in a mosque I bow my head low

When I pray in a church, Jesus shall keep me in the hollow of his hand

I must visit Amritsar, for it is the Guru’s land!

I shall take an arduous route

The one that goes through the mighty mounts

The one that crosses the gigantic waterfalls

I will reach my God if I take all pains

When I travel along the plains

Or row my boat on the rivers

When I climb up the mountains

Or make my way through the forest

I shall think only of God

My mind, waiting to be sanctified

My heart, wanting to worship

My soul, ready to be purified

Not once will I look at the trees

And weep, for they have been cut down to make way for me

Not once will I observe the rivers and lakes

And moan, for they change their course so that I travel my path

I shall reach my destination

I shall like to believe I am with my God, my creator

I shall pray to the Almighty, for my peace, my protection

For my safety, my future, the fulfilment of my desires

I shall thank God for all that I have

For my family, my friends, for those who love me

I shall ask for more

A big balance, a bigger car, the best life

Not once shall I care about the bounties of nature

Not once shall I express my gratitude for the air that I breathe in

Not once shall I feel humble for the water that quenches my thirst

Not once shall I vow to take care of my God’s world

But I should be safe

My needs should be satisfied

My wants must be fulfilled

My miseries should be dispelled

I pray for all that I wish to possess

And thus begin my journey back home

The potent mountains seem to stare

The raging rivers give me a glare

And then……

‘ RAINS PLAY HAVOC ‘

‘INCESSANT RAIN LEAVES PILGRIMS OF KAILASH MANSAROVAR YATRA STRANDED’

Newspaper headlines point to a ‘natural calamity’

Experts figure out the loss of a thousand lives due to nature’s fury

Yet again, nobody spares a thought to human’s recklessness

To exploitation of natural resources by humans

To our sheer negligence

To us, being the predators; nature’s only the prey

Who said victims don’t rebel?

Who said tolerance doesn’t have limits?

The Uttarakhand tragedy was nature’s response

We have our wakeup call

It is time to address the concern by us all

It is time we start erasing the long essays of destruction that we’ve written on this Earth

And write a whole new poem of preservation, protection and an eco-friendly existence!