Living in the Urban Paradox

The broken wooden staircase
leading to a flashy store
The old paint chipping away
but the
the new glass abutting the window
the metal laminated cladding
A mismatch to the
Decorative exposed brick wall
The old street that houses the cozy book shops
and the old house rented out to the new pizza shop
The footpath that houses the beggar
and the
The polythene awnings tied to a tree
qualifies for the shrine in the middle of the chowk
Under the auspicious Peepal tree
the devotees that throng the temple
and the footwear that crowds the entrance
The elite glass building that contrasts
in the same visual frame as
the ad hoc jugaad of the chai tapri

The chaos amidst the order
And order within the chaos
Unpretentious streets which define
Living in the urban paradox

Feeling blessed

Some days are unforgettable
Some people cannot be replaced
For all those who believe in me .....
I am grateful .....
and feeling thoroughly blessed

Dreams

And the story unfolds
before the sun rise
and dreams reach out
and catch you by surprise

and the glory of dreams
that leave you yearning for more
because all it takes
is the call of the wake

To tell you its time
to pursue those dreams
To show you that's how
your supposed to live
To help you with the way
that you were supposed to find

Its the faith in the dreams
That keep you going
Its the truth of the dark night
that the morning reveals

"May happiness,
pursue you,

catch you
often, and,

should it
lose you,

be waiting
ahead, making

a clearing
for you."

A. R. Ammons

trust

Why does life
always present itself
in a manner
that hasn't been seen before?

If only things were
like  a routine theatre act
and well rehearsed and timed
and everything ran smoothly
like clockwork precision
Predetermined and pre-run
practiced over and over
till one got it right
All the characters
who know their roles
all the equipment in place
and the effects added by experts
and the costumes designed to perfection

If only one was the actor
who knew what to expect


If only one had the strength
to trust the journey till the end

Signs

Wild thoughts 

Encounters 

Some unknown

Some familiar

make me wander

make me walk 

endlessly 

searching for clues

looking for signs 

that show the way

that the road leads here 

that the road leads nowhere

that this turn is risky 

that the road is uphill

that valley is deadly 

and this one leads to  

to a river that flows

and flows and flows

Groping in the dark 

looking for the signs

they are right here

hidden somewhere

they told me to look out  for them

that its easy once you get there

they told me that  its so very clear 

that once you see 

then you just know

But

then I must be blind 

to what beckons me

or the signs that reveal

they may be lost

or in a language 

that I never learned

or in words that I 

cannot decipher 

In a mystery that

I havent yet discovered

Aihole-Pattadkal-Badami-Hampi-Bijapur