Almost

For the moments that rarely find mention because of their inherent lack of glamour - the almosts, the not quite there yets, the protracted in betweens:

Why do you need the falling and the failing to feel?
It is phenomenal to rise,
But braver still is to continue walking
After brushing past failures and victories
Touched, yet unaffected;
Almost.

Why do you talk of yourself in metaphors?
It is brave to feel,
But kinder still is to continue loving
The parts of you you want seen as if through a curtain
But never touched;
Almost.

Why do you look for beauty in everything you do?
It is kind to conform,
But fiercer still is to continue talking
Despite the stammers in your speech
Soft, but unbroken;
Almost.

To be continued

Act I

Hold my finger, said they.
Yes, please! said She.
I have to outrun the sun, said She.
Be back by dusk, said they.
there’s only so fast we can run.

Act II

Hold my shoulder, said they.
Yes, please! said She.
I have to create new colors, said She.
Don’t spill, said they.
there’s only so much we can clean.

Act III

Let me anchor my boat, said She,
you are my shore.
No, said he,
you are your own shore.


But She was scared
and this was not a movie
where a boy could find Her 
and save her.
So, She continued to float.
Riding some ripples,
and creating some.

Act IV

She met swans
who knew of their beauty.
And crows
who knew of their destination.
And some swans
who saw beauty in their destination.
And some crows
who saw destinations in every journey.

She met a doctor
who travelled not places but people.
He knew nothing about healing
and sought only to save himself.
But the universe rushed to save him
because he walked with the universe on his shoulders.
And told the swans about the crows,
and the crows about the swans.

She met a painter
who painted questions.
So, She fixed the color of the sun for him,
and started to float.
But the painter looked at Her
incredulous.
He showed Her the water.
And for the first time,
She saw.

She saw the ripples in her reflection
and the beauty in every question
She had ever asked.

Act V

She was the sun
and the colors waiting to be created.
She was the swans
and the crows saving the doctor.
She was the shore
and the water.


So, She continued to float
because there were more questions
looking for an anchor.

Limits of Law

Who made law the province of old men 

When forces stronger than their words 

Dictate what should make us happy?

Who made law the commander for order

When chaos louder than their voices

Reigns over what should make us happy?

Who made law the harbinger of justice

When morality denser than their reasons

Governs what should make us happy?

Law, equally blind to all

Law, liberally unjust to all

Law, legally limited

Fails.

What does it mean to be human?

Philosophers and Poets

And Sciences I will never know

Keep running after the same old question –

What does it mean to be human?

Clones and Machines

And Intelligence I will never comprehend

Keep blurring the line –

What does it mean to be human?

Trans-genders and Trans-sexuals

And Identities I will never be able to protect

Keep expanding the definition –

What does it mean to be human?

Horrendously self-aware

Of the frailties

And the fragilities.

Abysmally optimistic

Of the flights

And the failures.

We forgive each other for the monsters we raise,

And we forgive ourselves for the monsters we become.

And we love and kiss and smile

Fighting the fragile monsters within us

Failing and finding our way back to the question all over again –

What does it mean to be human?

Why I Philosophise

You know how once you leave home

what you miss

is 

what you cherish. 

Maybe that is how it is for them;

The freedoms once lost

missed greatly, 

But only by those that lost them. 

I will never know how it feels to spend years calling gulag home.

I will never know what to write to my mother from an Indian prison in 1976. 

I will never know the smell that comes with marching troops, falling houses and empty classrooms. 

And so I will philosophise and theorise 

I will attempt to unravel that which makes wolves out of men

I will write about morality and law and constitutions

Hoping,

To prevent little kids from the losses of my ancestors.

Using,

The reasons of the fortunate to cure the maladies of the oppressed. 

Knowing,

The futility of my pursuit.