Friends

A mould of clay, in inertia of rest lay, passing night and day, to know a better way,

to become a human, to be the only one, with all thoughts done, to shine like the sun, 

and give to mankind, what they didn't find, in the dark lust blind, let my story unwind.

Once upon a time, I found a pal of mine, whom I could mime, in every virtue or crime. 

Came the person two, a pal of mine too, whom I would woo, and trust to be so true. 

Came a person three, I got many pals free, thou be my talking tree, thou be my thinking spree.

It's the verse third, now I am flying bird, the philosophical nerd, the perverted shepherd. 

The clay my wings shed, washed in an emotional flood, in tears had been bled, let it go enough said. Thanks for being by me, I'm not me I'm we, let us celebrate this chi, oh that is the peace key.

Kites and strings

A bright day and the sun was up, the cool winds blew west.
The kite took flight and in moments and joined the rest.
I watched at it from very far, to see the kites' random dance.
And now I don't rejoice my great flight, no more lost in the trance.

I lived by a pond with a lot of fish, most of them were bland.
I wanted to know something new, and flew across the land.
It's been a long time I've moved out, tasting every prey,
my feathers have worn out, my white wings are now grey.

On my way, I met black feathers and many such kites.
I've made many friendships and enjoyed my rights.
Now I see that I am lost, there's no more bland fish,
to return to my own old land shall be my last wish.

Oh, look at all these kites that are bound to their own,
and yet by breezes are brought up and flown.
After the day is done and the night has come,
they have a place called own where they are from.

It is good to fly long and free, to hover and soar,
and to fill yourself with the storms' lightening and roar.
But where you come from and who you are,
is all you shall not forget when you travel far.

Unique

Would it take a thousand pictures to tell a good story?
Would it take a million people to make history?
Would a hundred people at once make a hangout better?
Would a random bunch of words make a love letter?

Would a cat jump the same wall if not for the ancestors?
Would a soldier be as proud if all were Nestors?
Would one man lone in thought change the human mind?
Would one tooth alone, a bunch of peanuts grind?

Wouldn't all the dishes suffice one hunger?
Wouldn't all the leaves in one breeze linger?
Wouldn't all the worlds follow the same law?
Wouldn't all of us end under the same claw?

Wouldnt the same twine have many knots?
Wouldn't the same art spark different thoughts?
Wouldn't the same victory be the result of all games?
Wouldn't the same randomness be given many names?

There are many there is one,
there is none for there are none.
The duel of one and many is not ending soon,
it's moon after the sun and sun after the moon.

There is one for many there is many for one,
would you not believe if I say it is a lot of fun?
Swim out of the ocean and sit by the beach,
you will see you follow what you will preach.

Speed thrills

The breeze had carried away the seed, tossed it in lands where stallions speed.
Thousands of seeds later was a sapling seen, to thrive and grow was its destiny keen. 

Time had watered and the luck was in favour, years before such fruits could a stallion savour. 

The nature likes changes steady and slow, such lives last long standing many a blow.

With great might does the sea rise, to gulp all the land at once, cheese to mice, 

only to recede and end up where it began, such is madness, chaos without a plan. 

Every marsh would sprout up in an year, such hasty changes, Mother Nature does not fear. 

The nature hates changes frenzy and fast, the faster the future, the lesser the past.

We wasted millennia to cover our skin in silk, to be alive on love, warmth and milk, 

and only in a century are reverting back, to shelters under rock and building a shack. 

We flew and communicated in air, and left the ground for heavens stair, 

five generations later we changed sand, into costing more than an acre of fertile land.

For we are changing faster by being smart, we will end up soon busy in our own art. 

For victory came like a lightning in the sky, wait to fear the thunder rumble, wait to cry. 

The human race shall end faster than we think, think before you wink, think before you blink, 

for tomorrow there will the earth be, but what about us, animals like you and me?

Knives and bulbs

Most discoveries in the history of humanity have their roots in two key areas. 

1. Accidentally stumbling upon a new ideation. Let me say, as humans of 1800s, we started observing that heated metal radiates visible light. Then we understood that a high resistance high current filament produces enough light for a room. We would use this technique and improvise it further to make a light bulb.
2. Desperation to solve a problem and creating a method to it. Or let me say, as humans in a parallel universe, we created automobiles before bulbs, and hence needed light devices that'd not blow off, don't need oxygen to burn and produce a lot of light. We'd work our brains for 60-70 years and end up with bulbs yet again.

We are busy taking a thin metal strap and heating it to thousands of Kelvin and when we observe that it starts turning red, we simply put it off afraid of melting, hammer it into a knife and use it to slice bananas. No, I am not speaking about metal and light. There are alternatives, we can come up with LEDs later. I am making a point against how we are teaching our kids. Yes, we can come up with alternatives like AI later on that can solve every problem by themselves, but does that mean we should discard our own human race and let machines take control? Isn't the entire point of civilisation to have humans last further in balance with the nature?

We have been trying to come up with an education system that makes a student master the math and science as Pandit Nehru must have dreamed. And when they do, we are trying to turn them into engineers, masters of systematic design, problem solving and logical thinking. For one essay, I'll ignore all the gems we have forced into engineering and end up with random campus placements. I'm speaking about the minority, the real gems who continue to shine, often more brighter after their engineering entrance examinations, by being the gem students they were taught all their life to be. I'm speaking about the 99.9 percentile diamond of a gems we would find in our raw material who are sharp enough to find feasible solutions to the limitless problems of our savaa sau karod desh vaasi.

When the metal finally reaches the perfect temperature, the perfect college farewell moment, we switch the circuit off, we hammer the metal, stressing it to our shape in the name of reservations and family constraints, cooling it in the waters of brain drain until we've lost a sharp mind into a sharp knife. Yes, we are still making good knives, but out of filaments that could've been lighting a home, helping an entire generation come up who'd have designed a knife, sword, pistol, ammo and a whole lot of nuclear silos for us.

P.S.:.No, I'm not a direct victim because I've found a problem to solve and I'm working against odds to make it happen. However, being from an elite college where these gems rot for years, interacting with many Indian-bred engineers working to create marvels abroad as a part of my work, and working in the batteries that input the educational heat into these filaments, I write the above based on my observations collected over 3 years and a moving article I read this morning.

Reference : I do not agree completely with the author's views but I quote for inspiration. Of course, a real beautiful article to read and think about..

http://www.zeading.com/story/what-more-could-i-do-cat-99-36-and-still-no-iims