To Sir with Love ( My version ).

A few senior boys and their thugs stormed into the school during interval/recess time to beat up a classmate, when we were in grade 10.

We did not say nor do anything to avert but watched in shock as we did not know what to do.

The chemistry subject was the period immediately after the break and as the master entered the class, we knew that he was not in a mood to teach.

He was silent for some time and we waited for him to say something.

Then he asked all of us a very simple question.

"What kind of young men are you, watching your fellow student being beaten up by thugs on the school premises and doing nothing?"

There was no chemistry lesson that afternoon and some enjoyed the break but a few started pondering the incident seriously.

Having enjoyed success the previous day, the seniors and thugs revisited during the interval with the idea of bashing the poor fellow up a little more.

What happened thereafter is well known in the school history and that was the last time we had thugs visiting school or seniors flexing their muscles.

The chemistry master came to class grinning from ear to ear after the interval that day.

Recently, we had an old teacher’s felicitation ceremony but sadly he could not be invited for obvious reasons.

The value of unity and standing up against injustice were two lessons we learned from that great Chemistry master.

(May our old Chemistry master attain the supreme bliss of Nirvana).

What have they been trying to stifle for centuries?

What hopes can we have
What inspirations can we get
From the message and belief,
If innocent aid workers
And journalists
Are being killed in cold blood
To protect the message?

What are they so afraid of now?
And what have they been trying to stifle for centuries?

Freedom of expression
Or the desire of living beings
To have something better
Than their prevailing conditions.

I count my blessings today
Because I was born a Buddhist
And exposed early to Buddha’s teaching,
Especially the Kalama Sutra.

Kalama Sutra set me free
And it can set anyone free.

When someone resorts to cold blooded killing of his own people . . . !

When you resort to cold blooded killing of your own people, while crying at the top of your voice for the world to hear, “ My neighbour is killing my people ”, it does sound bigotry to me.

Sadly, today this world is full of such bigotries.

Next Windfall

Human feces and snakes were all I dreamt last night,

Elders say those are good signs,

Just before a windfall of some sort to come,

Many have seen them in their dreams,

What would be my next windfall?

What Have We Learned ?

We were at each other’s throats 100 years ago,

Two fissions and two cities obliterated,

And almost annihilated the population 69 years ago.

Vietnam, Cambodia and Rwanda a few decades back,

Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria are still burning,

And not forgetting Gaza.

We go for other’s throats

When more than half of the population is looking for something to eat,

To quell their hunger.

Nuremberg trials and international court of justice,

United Nations.

What have we learned from history?

Just to shake hands and issue flamboyant press releases

In front of 1000 flashing bulbs and

Nothing.

Blind hunger for a Degree of some sort

Blind hunger for a Degree of some sort,
Irrespective of whether the much needed grey matter
Perseverance, discipline and or endurance
Are there or not, is something sad to watch.

Fly by night Colleges and Universities
Springing up at every street corner is fuelling the frenzy
Making everyone want to hold something
Whether the capacity is there or not.

Engage society in a useful manner
Not always endorsing everything.
Encourage intellectual rivalry
Stop following trends, and be different.

One may end up sans a hood or a cloak
Few photographs to adorn the walls
At the end of the day.

But when push comes to shove
Degrees earned in such a manner
Will hold their ground better
Than the ones bought cheap on street corners.

Decency is the Bone Marrow of Society

Decency is what, our parents taught us
While we were growing up
It should be in every man’s bones
Like You & Me
Resting in our marrows.

Decency is the bone marrow
Of living society.

Marrow starts a war as and when
The defence of the body is breached
Kills and destroys the harmful
Invaders.

Decency should work the same way
What marrow does for the body.

As and when society is threatened
By indecent invasions
Do not wait for others to cast the first stone
Or to fire the first salvo.

Let decency
Our parents taught us
Let decency
Imbedded in our bones
Come to rescue and save society of
Becoming indecent, insensitive and intolerant.

Decency is the bone marrow
Of society.

Decency is what, our parents  taught us
While we were growing up.