My search for beauty begins here...

I live in a concrete jungle but i do not crib
My search for beauty begins here
I find symmetry in the neatly twined wires
laid ready to take on the concrete
I find perfect synchronised harmony
in the working of the road layers
who can do their 'do' in a jiffy
I find empathy in the action of the worker
who places a plank over a pit
enabling us to cross
I find god's grace in the babies
that survive in the rubble
its here we live and i choose to love it!

the lovable

we know, we know
you are innocent
caught in the eye of the storm
lashed you, hounded you
for six long months

yet stoic and subdued
not a voice you raised
you endured!
you endured for him.

sons of politicians ring
death knell for fathers
but
a father for his daughter
unheard of until now!


we understand! we understand!
your love for him sealed your lips
submerged you under his favours

but you are a wife
also a mother
you owe them that much
your name to be cleared!


raise your voice
clear your name
you owe yourself that much
you will! you will!
we know
you will!

ratnaprabha r raykar

Anna ...as seen by a twelve year old

I am twelve
I do not know what the 'hullaboo' is about
'corruption' is a word alien to me
yet I know it will spew thorns in my way


but..I feel it in my bones
Anna is right!
I see honesty shining in his eyes
uprightness in his thoughts
hard is the road chosen
but steel is his will

bouyed by thundering voice of the masses
Anna has arrived!
and
corruption muzzled
Ratnaprabha r raykar

as the evening meets the dark

As the evening meets the dark

mysteries of night turn deeper

bats and owls turn up their antennae

so do the vices of the world

the drunkard and the beggar don different roles

they turn kings with their bottle of hooch

their dose of hooch erases the boundary between them

young rag pickers slip into worlds unknown

with a tube of whitener

broken corex bottles tell another story

the painted butterfly lingers around

waiting for its prey

the prey creeps sheepishly

the deal is struck and sealed

I shudder to think of vices more vile

as I lie ensconced in the warmth of my home

the hearth made warmer by the love of my kin

Almighty my state is your dole

Ratnaprabha r raykar

the flower woman of today

an auto laden with packs of flowers fled past me

in it sat the flower woman of today

so to say the hi tech one

traverses she alone and brings blossoms abound

dispensing it among women

who tie them up for wages

she bundles up the trussed flowers

and sells them in the square

making a tidy sum

saving for pygmy, insurance and all

and some for her mates toddy too!

bribing him for letting her to the square.

While the flower woman of yore

with a moth eaten bag

trudges heavily to the market

bearing only a bagful

she struggles to tie them up

sometimes imploring her kin to to do so

she sets to convey them to abodes

which are her regular forte

always in debt and dearth of money

but hearts she has picked up a many

she can tie a wreath of them

not for anything would I change my old for the new

Ratnaprabha r raykar

You are watching this post, click to stop

two little twittering twitters

Two little twittering twitters

hop in and hop out

never stopping for a moment

rest they know not,play they must

chomping away on munches

differ they though in tastes

share they without fail

funny games,serious games

frolicking, slippery water games

amidst small and big tiffs

make up they do within moments

outcome big 'sorry' cards

sweetened with chocolates to butter up

Again they are one,as though nothing transpired

go twittering do they more robustly

I ponder.....

quarrels are involuntarily

but making up?

ego ties us down

owning up our mistakes,never can we

hoping they will make the first move

but it never happens

elders are elders,

kids we should be!

a special mother for a special child

often swelled with pride did i

patting myself for being a mother perfect

crediting myself for all their highs

until....

sighted I a mother with a special child

anticipating his wishes fulfilling them

strengthening him to catch up with the rest

providing a firewall around him

shielding him from the onslaughts of the world

sharing a special bond with her child

more close to her loved one

than I to mine

my garden

dreading the worst, i stepped into my garden

steeling myself for a situation grave...

after lastnight's rainblast

fearing for my saplings small

big ones did not merit my fear

but stood still I.....

the saplings seemed refreshed as after a coffee

big ones shone with greenery,

if green could

and the lawn seemed perfect

I need not fear...

as almighty cares

I need not fear for my young ones too

as the Almighty that cares for THEM

cares for MINE too

Me, in my morning rush hour

cook scrub and clean

a nightingale amidst a concrete jungle

screams and orders me to stop

to listen to her melody

'stop your chores,spare me your ear

i thought you missed me'

my ties with the nightingale

began when i lost mine

its melancholic tune chided me, irritated me

for i wished to enjoy nothing

as i lay grieving for my princess

days passed , years passed

i started seeing my princess in the nightingale

whenever i herd its melody

i felt as my princess was visiting me

as i changed houses

i thought i lost my visitor

the sharp sound of the nightingale

seemed to be angry with me

it seemed to complain

' you have forgotten me !'

no hardly ever

my wound of losing my princess is as raw as it was

and your tune as melancholic as always

Ratnaprabha r raykar

A poem on Arundhati Nag

i would like to give a very small introduction to the poem This is about avery famous theatre personality arundhati nag who strove very hard to raise a memorial to her husband Shankar Nag who died tragically in an accident, who was a famous filmstar of kannada cinema. I was inspired to write this poem when i watched her on the occassion of the inauguration of Rangashankara her memorial to her husband

A poem on Arundhati Nag

your face shines with irridiscent glow
--the glow of a bride
smile in your eyes, spring in your step
as you skittle here and there
awaiting the arrival of your beau
waiting to be complimented for a job well done
your beau's presence pervades the whole Rangashankara
you have made him immortal

the very next moment you seem like the bride's mother
assigning tasks,overseeing them
nothing to be short of perfect

One with diadem raised a mahal
in memory of his begum
his means had no tandem
it seems not very great
your RANGASHANKARA --a living memorial
surpasses it
Ratnaprabha R RAykar

my world revolves around them....

I had a spat with my kids

thrusting a few grands in my kitty

i rushed out, promising myself

that i'll enjoy myself for sure

i entered a mall

frantically seizing packets upon packets

dropping them in the basket one by one,

wearing a smirk for having shopped alone

but..

as the packets came up for billing one by one

i was amused....

each of them were my kids favourites

oh my gosh i realise suddenly

my world revolves around my kids

i am no world without them

the moon

I gaze in wonder at the luminous moon

so pure, untouched, calm

free from the bustling world

so happy, so contented,clamouring not for more

promenading in the suns reflected glory

it seems to chuckle at our trivial squabbles

our greed for success,our frantic race for it,

our obsession with 'I' 'ME 'MINE

shrivelling many as we succeed

Ratnaprabha raykar

hands

hands

I look with awe at worn out gnarled hands of a labourer

how well have they have served their master

mesmerised am I by a doctors hands gone rough with formaldehyde

how many lives saved they have

go green do I by matured hands of an elder woman

how many mouths have they satiated

watch with disbelief at hands of young village girls

who finish with alacrity a hundred tasks

smitten by love am I small tender hands

which raise only to touch with love

but.....

swept with pity am I by delicate manicured hands

which know only to look pretty and nothing else

Ratnaprabha Raykar

my dad

i searched in vain for pictures of my dad

pictures large and small

pictures painted and sketched

pictures zoomed in and maximized

lacking the spirit he had

none showed him as he was

it made a dismal me

later, later,later

I found him painted in the hearts of people

he loved and was loved

etched in their memories

even after a decade

me an old house

demolishers descend upon me with chisel and crowbars
strike me where i am vulnerable most
they look at me with glee
deciding which part of me is juicest
out come my doors and windows
which lineup with SALE labelled on them

devoid of walls i still live on
hoping my walls will rise again
but hey what do i see
walls rise to reach the sky
shaping cubicles large and small
each vying with the other
trying to glean shoppers from each other

My spirit is tattered between them
am i living or dead or multiplied

ratnaprabha r raykar

god give him strength

God give him strength As I was lighting my diya in front of Ganesha I had only one prayer in my heart God give him strength Give him strength to bear the immense trust and hope in him reposed HE is their messiah-their deliverer turbulent times have shaken them troubles and misery has trickled into their lives they look upto him for redemption silken gossamer dreams woven they have Make him god tread carefully and steadily make their dreams come true ratnaprabha r raykar

Pure white I cannot fathom
the multihues you hide within yourself

On a baby swathed in white
you take on the colour of innocence and joy

On a pious man
you are coloured with selflessness

On a doctor you take on the colour
of efficiency,confidence and dedication

On a nurse
You are service in person

A widow's clothes tint you with
sadness and helplessness

A postmortemed body in white
wringes pain in the heart

Who are the real YOU
HE saw seven colours
But I see many many more

Ratnaprabha R Raykar

Reply

Forward

LET US......... The fanatics are but a handful Let them not hold myriads in a fistful Let them not desecrate our realms Let not their tentacles crush us The fanatics are but a handful Let us defeat them in their demented schemes Let us diffuse their phantasms The fanatics are but a handful Let our discern eye when somethings amiss Let us be wary of stealthiness Let us kindle our perceptions to any trivial scruples Let not the rabid handful prevail We have acess to bastions that the guarders have not They alone can quell them not Come let us all together lend a hand to snuff out the insidious PRABHA RAYKAR -- ratnaprabha raykar Reply Forward

woman thou art precious

--

Woman thou art precious
Do not disdain it as something trivial
Defer not its presence
Let not the fear of chemo deter you from disclosure
Let not the doctor's scalpel panic you
woman thou art precious

Hear not to frightening accounts
Its not as difficult as it sounds
Its but a passing phase
And the sun will brightly shine again
You will blossom again like spring

Garner all you strength and join hands with your healer
to fight the mutant in you
Let it not get the better of you

thou art precious
Prabha raykar