Mysterious Well

 An abandoned well 

Inside a forest 

Attached to an old temple 

There was no water for centuries

As it was filled with earth over the time 

Astrologers predicted that there is a hidden treasure 

Beneath the layers of the earth in the well 

Some treasure hunters left behind the tools 

Besides the heaps of earth, they removed 

From the well, might be in dismay 

The natives were amused to see water 

During their lifetime in this well 

Native temple devotees see no reason 

To dig the well again  for water 

It might have taken so many days 

To remove that much earth from the well 

Police are now looking for the culprits 

It seems that the treasure hunters failed 

In finding the treasure in the well 

The well is attracting curious visitors now 

This poem is based on a piece of news I saw. The image is taken from mathrubhumi

My Percussion Dreams

 I focus on the layers of drum beats 

When I listen to the songs 

I started my tryst with percussion 

By making beats on a wooden bench

As a kid, emulating tabla in mind 

Given my interest, my father let me learn tabla

I loved those fast notes and tried to grasp

But I was bad at byhearting the notes 

So my learning was slow 

I was so insecure about my tabla skills

That I skipped meeting the legendary singer Yesudas

When he came to meet the music students

It remains a regret that I didn't play for him

When the high school became more important

I had to take a break from the lessons 

I did perform before audiences 

With contrasting  fortunes

I used to jam along with some nice beaty songs 

Then I fell in love with drums 

Bought drum sticks and joined a class

After learning the basics for a few months I quit 

I have two pairs of drum sticks waiting for me to play

Maybe I will learn drums again

And fix the tabla to play it again 

As beats in songs still slip my heart to beat the desk

And I dream to play beats in front of an audience again

Most people follow their musical aspirations. I have left my percussion learning midway. The beats of songs still lure me to try beating the desk. I want to make up for an embarrassing tabla performance in front of a packed audience someday. The images are taken by Carlos Castilla and By Heaven. 

Internet Explorer

 

Goodbye to Internet Explorer

I still remember the first time I went 

To an internet cafe with a friend 

To create an email id 

The slow buffering browser became

A part of my life 

As it was installed as the primary browser

In most the places

You had the monopoly as you came with MS Windows

When I had a monthly internet browsing card

I used to sift through countless web pages 

Checking for sports and other news 

While chatting on some messenger 

I remember browsing at home through 

Dial-up internet at home 

You buffered eternally slow 

While I searched for engineering topics

For my presentation  at college 

Then I moved on to other internet browsers 

With the availability of broadband internet 

But still browsed with you for nostalgia at times

Your monopoly ended when Opera, Mozilla, and Chrome 

Made inroads into the browsers' landscape 

Now that you're gone

I must say, you were very underappreciated

For the job you did during the internet revolution

Though internet explorer was hated by the people due to its slowness and bad features, it played a huge role in the internet revolution. Its monopoly was down to the fact that it came with the Microsoft operating systems and most of the computers had Microsoft OS. People craved better browsers with better features. Microsoft was eternally slow to update IE and others made better browsers and IE ended up in the bin. Microsoft opted to create Bing and IE was bound for ignominy.  

Air Quality

The weather app informs me 

That the air quality is good 

It made me wonder

When did the air become toxic here?

With a canopy of coconut trees around

With plenty of creepers and plants on the ground 

Wind lashing out from the ocean frequently 

Endless rains for weeks every year 

The air was always relatively safe 

But with the growth in the number of vehicles

Maybe, there is some change in air quality 

But I hope that the ocean and rain will keep

The air refreshed 

At least in this small city 

 I have seen the accumulation of black soil 

On the floors in some other cities 

I have felt the breathing of black soot and soil 

Where construction materials create dust 

As the cities grow vertically with high-rise buildings 

Also the millions of vehicles spitting greenhouse gases 

They are still safer than some megacities 

That requires air filters at home 

Electric vehicles alone won't improve air quality 

The industries need to reduce pollution drastically 

Else we will end up living in toxic gas chambers 

Susceptible to lung diseases and other illnesses 

This poem is inspired by the air-quality information I started receiving from an app on my laptop. I was surprised to receive the air quality information. As the air here is relatively cleaner compared to bigger cities. The images are taken by cleanairpartners and breathepa. 

Runaway Wedding

 

I romanticized the runaway wedding 

Breaking away from the societal conventions 

I didn't want an arranged marriage 

And life with a total stranger 

With a decision on a partner taken 

With mere minutes of meeting and conversation

Nor I want to be bought by dowry 

But the girl I loved, chose to run away from me 

And not risk being ostracised by the family 

By marrying me, after six years of friendship 

I still see families avoiding their beloved kids

For marrying someone they loved 

Not talking, not meeting, and not giving properties 

Some families relent after seeing the smiles of 

Their grandkids, they welcome back their kids 

With the runaway weddings involving

Different caste, class, and religion

Many get killed for the honour of the family

More than love for their kids

They take pride in their societal status 

People might cite the failure of many love marriages 

But, I have seen arranged marriages that are hell

People remain stuck in abusive and unloved relation 

For the sake of kids or for the sake of family pride    

I wonder when will the society of my country 

Rise above the societal norms and accept love marriages 

I have come across couples who ran away and got married and led nice life. But my society and relatives are still not very evolved to accept love marriages. The ostracisation of the girl or guy for marrying someone out of caste, class or religion is still a reality. The honor killing of young guys and girls is also prevalent in my country. The image was snapped by Lorna.