Why

Why do we weep when there’s so much to smile about?
Why do we hurt when it’s really not worth a cry?
Why are we forlorn, inspite of all the beauty around?
Why allow melancholy when there’s music playing in the background?

The key to our happiness we place in someone else’s hand.
Like a puppet we move around lacklustre and staid;
So much to lament about, no time to see the grace;
Who is to be blamed but I, me and myself.

Why do we stand in the way of the shadows?
Why doesn’t dawn herald a new start?
Why do the flowers fail to make me smile?
Why does the bird’s flying make me cry?

A dusty vision, a sight gone bad;
Nothing seems to go the way I planned.
The routes gone askew, new roads I dread;
Walking the trodden path I don’t find savoir faire.

Why do we worry, get stressed and strained?
Why do we live like we’re here forever to stay?
Why do we hate, despise and scorn?
Why do we not be nice to all?

Nobody said there’d be shine and no rain.
No promise was made of life being roses all the way.
Salt and sugar, spice and sweet, sour and bitter
Melt together to make life a big tease.

Why do we not look beyond the faults?
Why do we look for perfection in all?
Why do we shout, scold and deride?
Why do we not live at peace with ourself?

Life is to be lived, like actors on stage;
Play each role to the hilt and leave with grace.
You’re not the acted, mere acting you do
Discover what you are behind the mask and costume.

- Rukma

The Journey of Life

The journey of life is a mysterious one
Turns and crossroads we come across
Some easier to fathom than others
And at some we just have to turn around
Jump over the boulders or get stuck.

With the eyes on your goal the obstacles seem small
But the obstacles loom large when the vision is switched off
Often tired, sometimes forlorn, I keep going inspite the odds.
Giving up is easy, it’s beckoning so enticing
How easy it would be to just relax and do nothing.

But that’s not what I’m here for, to make a difference I stand
My birth would be worthwhile only then, I have to oft remind myself.
Breathing, eating, procreating and dying…even worms do that.
With a human life comes a great responsibility
How far I fulfil it remains to see.

- Rukma

A Long Life: To Live or Not to Live

Come birthdays and wishes for a long life are showered upon you. And if that’s not enough, the ‘you’ll live a hundred years’ when you appear just when people are thinking or talking about you go on throughout the year. Come to think of it, is a long life really a blessing? There are two points which come to my mind.

To begin with, I would any day choose a good life over a long life. Whatever number of years I live, may those be happy and industrious. I’d choose a short but good life, over a long mediocre one. My spiritual teacher M once said, ‘If at the end of your life you have just four people vouching that their life has been better because of you, then your life is fulfilled.’ I don’t know if I have four people who would vouch for me at this moment, but I sure do make a conscious attempt at it in my everyday living. When the moment of departure does arrive, I hope I can say that life has been worth it.

Secondly, at the alarming rate that environmental destruction and climatic changes are occurring I dread to think of a long, long life. This year I experienced the most unbearable of all summers! My body just couldn’t handle it. I’m sure many would agree with me. During my recent trip to Uttarkashi I didn’t get a chance to even take the light sweater out of my suitcase. It was alarming! Just five years back when I visited Uttarkashi in the month of May the weather was such that we were all wearing light woollens. And now, just five years down the line, it was late September and blazing hot! If this is how it is now, what do we have in store for us? The environmentalists are prophesying lack of water, unbearably high temperatures with their resulting illnesses, unhealthy changes in the weather and what not…a deadly future indeed! And you want me to live long? No way!

Bless me do, but for a healthy, happy and fruitful life. The longevity I can surely do without.