Fire Walk

A pit in the premises of a temple

Filled with red hot charcoal

Resembling the molten lava

A crowd waiting eagerly

With their souls dedicated to prayers

An aura of spirituality fumed in air

In the darkness of late night

They are all awake in anticipation

Even the stars and moon watched

With curiosity

As the priest blessed the chosen ones

Dressed in the holy colors

Totally immersed in devotion

The spirit of the crowd rose

The chants of applause

Cheered up the chosen ones

They had their eyes on that pit

It shined and lured

Them like expensive jewelry

They took bunch of neem leaves

In their hands

And lined up to walk over that hot bed

Nobody had the fear of burn

Only one thing in mind

Pure dedication to the task

To show their affection to the god

One by one they walked

They didn’t run

They didn’t cry

Even when it seemed like burning

They walked and returned for more

The chants of devotion reached new highs

As prayers conquered the whole area

As they felt the presence of ultimate energy

At the end of the ritual

They applied holy ash on their legs

And rested in tranquility

With a sense of satisfaction

About fulfilling the pledge

Taken during some tough times

That they will do this if they succeed

This is just a return of favor

From heart to please almighty

There may be skeptical onlookers

Who question the logic

But ,some times

Belief ,Customs and experiences

Can stand tall as solemn truth

Defying all logics

Fire walk

It’s a divine walk

To defeat the fear

To defeat the sins

To embrace the goodness

To embrace the god

As a true devotee

I was inspired by the devotion of many people who walked over the fire pits during special festivals in certain temples. 

Choice

At every juncture

Life gives choices

Different paths to chose

In different directions

It gives no guarantees

But Just hope

May show footprints

Of those who travelled through those paths

But no real tips

As through same paths

Two individuals may embrace

Entirely extreme outcomes

So it’s down to oneself

To judge the choice

One path can lead to glory

One path can lead to gloom

One path may be safe and trusted

But may offer limited returns

One path may be too risky

But many have made it big

Going through that path

Many succumbed to the pit hole

Some paths are unknown

Waiting to be discovered

Waiting to be tamed

To create history

It’s adventurous but offers only uncertainty

A lifetime decision is on the line

Whether to choose a safe path

Whether to choose high-risk path

Whether to choose an unknown path

We all face this throughout our life

We get it right sometime

To clinch success and happiness

We get it wrong sometime

To fall in the line of regret and tears

But life goes on

Every day we have to choose

And rest of the days depends on that choice

We can’t freeze our life

If we stand to think

Time moves on and the opportunity

We may not get another one

But sometimes

Its all about two choice

Whether to choose something we love to do

Or to choose something that will give lot of money

When we do things, we dreamt to do

We find satisfaction

Even if we have to sacrifice

Things we do out of compulsion is mechanical

But it can give secured feeling

Even access to brighter new world

Different to what we ever imagined

When time is a constraint

When our decision affects many others

It has to be perfect

We can’t be selfish

If we choose to be daring

We shouldn’t turn back at the middle

We can’t jeopardize others dreams

We have to stick with it to the end

Giving the best and hoping for the best

If we are unsure

It’s time to be practical

It’s the time to rise above

Emotions and sentiments

It’s the time to show the courage

To choose what suits everyone

Without any regrets

As years later

We might come across a point

Where we turn and glance at past

We might say we could have done different

But still, every choice is a risk

But we can’t run away from taking it

As if we don’t

Some other will choose our destiny

That will be painful

As it’s beyond us to do anything to change it

So when we have the choices

We should choose the one that suits us the best

Not the one to appease anyone

Not the one to emulate someone

Those who dared to choose

Always found happiness

Those who chocked to choose

Always found regrets

Life is a journey of choices

And we have to keep choosing

Until this journey is over for good

Delightful Nap

Afternoon blues was in the air

A relief of sunshine

After so many rainy days

I was travelling with my friend

On his bike

As we reached a traffic point

While waiting for the green signal

I turned aside and watched

An abandoned nameless memorial

With rectangular base

And reducing height towards top

It was built on spacious median

That was amidst a series of roads

In different directions

The outer brick basement was dilapidated

The grass on its premises were over grown

But the monument was in good condition

Standing tall with a question mark

Do you know why I am standing here?

I wonder if civic authorities have an answer

But it’s a nice little asylum for a dog couple

They were lying on parallel sides

They were in deep slumber

The noises of the vehicles didn’t deter them

Not even the scorching heat of sunny day

Deterred them from a well deserved rest

After their tough efforts to feed themselves

In a busy part of the city

I guess, they had their food somehow

It’s not an easy life for stray dogs in a city

They face the dangers of speeding vehicles

They face the wrath of angry Samaritans

They face the ire of shop owners or securities

But there might be someone helping them

With kindness

Still, it’s a daunting task to survive

Feeding on the dumped waste foods

But looking at their faces

I found the peace and happiness they share

They don’t have puppies

Totally isolated from group of dogs

That I found some kilometers back

They are made for each other

Facing life together with one heart

I felt jealous at those dogs

As we keep running during whole of the day

To get many things done and to earn

But we don’t have the time

To enjoy a delightful nap in the afternoon

We don’t have any peace

To rest with satisfaction

As we can’t rest in laurels

More targets to achieve less time to spend

We have to keep running

I wished that all of us could afford

A peaceful nap in afternoons

As we ride away to our next destination

Once the green signal flashed

Walk

When life becomes a cruel joke

Learn to laugh at it from heart

You can’t catch those lost things

With your craving hands again

You can see them vanishing

In the depths of moving time

You can wait, if you wish

But you know, its beyond you

Try to walk without turning back

Through a new way towards eternity

 From where you stand right now 

Buried Alive

She dreamed like a bird

She smiled like an angel

She thought like a revolutionary

She didn’t lead a revolt

She just befriended a guy

Her teenage heart didn’t see

Anything wrong to talk to a guy

As he was her own classmate

She found the happiness

In a thing her society wrote off as sin

For ages

She never knew

That she must pay a big price

For her innocent mistake

She only saw the bright colors

That life offered to her

But others never tried to see the same

As their eyes were blinded

With the iron curtain of myth

They believe

Men can marry many women

But its sin for women to talk

To unrelated men

They shouldn’t go alone anywhere

They should cover even their eyes

With the golden linen of silence

Showing respect to tradition

They should remain

Within the high walls of forts

Without dreaming any sort of freedom

She just wished to talk

She just wished to mingle

With those who felt as friends

But ,in the name of tradition

In the name of pride of family

Nobody listened to her tears

Nobody listened to her prayers

To let her live

To let her see this world for some more days

Without any support

Her fragile body couldn’t break free

From the chains of power

That simply dumped her in a trench

As she cried out loud for help

Nobody in this world heard it

As they shoveled down lumps of soil

To cover the trench

She glanced at the sky with tearful eyes

She couldn’t move as her legs are stuck

She couldn’t move her hands

As soil covered it totally

Remnants of soil covered her hair

And that beautiful face

Gasping for miracle

She begged for final time

God taught them to show mercy

Nobody dared to show mercy to her

As they shoveled more soil

On to her final moments in this world

The blue sky and colors vanished for her

As soil darkened her vision

And later it disconnected her life

From this cruel world

Granting her the freedom

To explore heaven

She wished to explore earth, though

Buried alive-her dreams

Buried alive-her tears

Buried alive-her world

But they couldn’t bury her soul

She will fly all across this world

To inspire women to dream

To break free themselves from the walls

To throw away the linens of silence

To demand their right to live free

One day

I was deeply moved by an incident that happened in this beautiful earth and that prompted me to write this.

Self-reliant

As I walk

I notice interesting things

With curiosity

From distance, I saw a dad

And his two small daughters

Elder was riding her small cycle

In front of their shop

While the younger one watched

Her sister riding the cycle

It was evening

It was time for tuitions

Dad started his bike

I thought he was going to drop the elder one

At her tuition center on bike

He placed her bag on his bike

But he just took his younger girl

And made her sit comfortably at the front

And he moved slowly

I saw the elder girl riding her cycle

Following him slowly

I realized that he was just

Giving her the confidence

To ride her cycle along that road

So that

She will be able to ride one day alone

To her tuition home

Without escort of her dad

It is quite interesting

As I’ve seen many parents

Always taking their daughters to places

And never letting them to travel alone

That deprives them valuable experience

Of becoming self reliant

As they have to wait for parents or siblings

Even to take them to their friend’s home

One can say it’s not safe to travel alone

For them

But then, nowhere is safe for anyone

Only with opportunities to do things alone

We get to understand our frailties

Then from experience, we become courageous

And in adverse conditions

Courageous people never buck down

They will try to find a way out of tricky situations

I feel we should protect kids

But we should give them confidence

To be self-reliant

As when they grow up, they have to face life

And this big damn bad world on their own

We can’t have them scared then

By over protecting them now

As it can make them too dependent

And it will just keep parents worried

Even when they are grown up

Feeling that they haven’t travelled alone before

Just let the beautiful angels

Learn to be self-reliant

You will see them facing life boldly and succeeding

I wrote this poem after being inspired by a dad i saw on road,who lead his daughter to her class.It's important that girls are given confidence to be self-reliant right from childhood.It will help them to face life in a better manner.

Gold: The fortune metal

Gold 

It shines pretty

It makes women go crazy

Young or old

With one breath, they love it

They want to wear it wherever possible

It’s a symbol of pride and status

Even when silver, pearls, platinum, diamonds

Made their shining presence in the market

Gold is a medium to show some attitude

When some others have stunning designs

It makes them jealous

But it makes them passionate

To get a stylish and costly piece of jewelry

To show their beauty with its glow

At times

It’s price breaks their hearts

Yet they chase it to buy

And keep as safe investment

Here in Kerala

There are more jewelers’  shops

Than utility shops

There are streets with glamorous array of

Glittering showrooms that lure

Keralite women with all kind of offers

Watch the local channels

You will find more gold ads than food ads

With pretty young girls showcasing

All the brilliant artistic craftworks

Created by unknown skilled men

Who melt this metal and shape it to

Unbelievable masterpieces

Here gold gets into the life of a baby

On 28^th day

To commemorate the birth

And to officially baptize the birth

By wounding a gold hiplet on baby

By the dad

In presence of relatives and friends

For girl kids it’s just the start

As there is a painful welcome

To continue the journey

On the ear piercing ceremony

They officially gets their first ear rings

Then further, they get more gold

Depending on the wishes of parents

As they get into teenage

And transform into women

They get more gold

Chains, bangles, anklets

And mothers start buying jewels

Anticipating their daughters marriages

Which are years away

As nobody can predict prices in future

When they reach the age of marriage

The bargaining starts

The handsome guys not only need dowry

But also good collection of gold as well

In order to marry their daughters

Parents arrange gold as much as they can

Those who don’t have money

They will borrow or sell land

But they won’t take risk of leaving gold

Parents see gold as investment for their daughters

In their married life

Groom and relatives see it as source

To get money in urgency

On wedding day

Keralite girls drape themselves with costly saris

Then garnishes them with

Countless gold jewels, which weighs a lot

Yeah if see a jewelry model in a bride

It is an understatement

The grooms get their fair share of gold

And happily weds their brides

By tying a costly gold chain on their necks

Amidst the whistles of women

And shower of flowers from the audience

But the journey of gold continues

When new life starts

For buying land or vehicle or for paying back the debts

The gold is taken away from the girls

By their in-laws

Some guys even marries off their sisters

Using their wives gold

Some might keep it safe in bank lockers

And the countless relatives who need money

Will keep visiting to borrow the jewels

To give as collateral for getting loans

Over the years those girls gold reserves

Get depleted

But those who get into rich families

Will be lucky to get more gold

As their spouses, show their love towards them

By buying costly jewels

Some girls continue their quest for gold

Blackmailing their husbands

Yeah it’s a costly gift for many to present

But for a happy marital life

They make sacrifices

But the fascination for gold remains alive

From generations to generations

As mothers gives their gold to their daughters

It’s more amazing that

We don’t have gold mines in this state

But you bring gold from any part of the world

You will find a buyer here

Obsession for gold isn’t limited to women

Thieves know about the passion of women

For gold

And they know where to look for gold

They loot wedding houses

They loot jewel showrooms

They loot gold lockers

As there are buyers for even stolen gold

Gold economy thrives here

With the spending power of people

Assisted by the cash from gulf and other countries

Where countless keralite work and save money

Gold is a safe asset for many
Banks give loans to buy gold
Private financiers give money by taking gold 
Squeezing money as much as possible
People here will afford loss of money
But will try to retrieve their beloved gold 
By paying over the odds
If not they will be sad 
Forgetting the fact that 
Their urgency was met by the money they got
When it mattered 
That too after paying interests for long
sometimes more than the amount they owe
This is gold's own country

where it is a fortune metal

With status next to god 

This poem is totally inspired by the lifestlye in my state.I always wondered why there is lot of obsession for  gold.As i observed closely,i found that it's a part of culture here.This madness for gold will remain for long long time unless women turn towards diamond or someother glittering metals.