Why Complain?

There is an iron mold

hard, stiff and cold

they all have to fit in

goddess, bitch, 

wife or whore

each in their own frame

and why complain?

they have the pedestals

the whore-houses

homes and tombs

what good is empowerment

 without a man

work for him ,birth progeny

provide pleasure

take his name

why complain?

Feminism is only

for the mad single women

who waste their lives

asking questions

in vain

you the good women

must be seen not heard

you the "devi"

the maa and the behan**

why complain?

*mother, ** sister but here used together to indicate sexist abuses in Hindi

" Why doesn't God come to help little girls?"

It was an innocuous query from my four years old daughter,she had just watched a news report with me on TV about an abandoned girl child in a Kashmir hospital.

" Why doesn't God come to help little girls?"

I did not know the answer to that ,"maybe because.....",and I struggled for more words.

but the question has been haunting me since and I can think of so many instances when neither we as a society nor our Gods come forward for our girls.

MARYADA- मर्यादा

मर्यादा -पुरुषोतम  भी
ये दुसाहस
नहीं कर पाए थे

सीता को त्याग कर
उन्होंने  ही शायद
नियम ऐसे सुझाये थे

उसके साथ अन्याय
हो जाये तो भी
उसको ही  दंड मिलेगा

आज भी दुसाहस
रुके नहीं हैं

आज भी नियम वही है
दुर्बल कहते हैं जिसको
वही आज भी

मर्यादा का भारी
बोझ उठाये खड़ी है !

SUFI

About 33,100,000 results (0.26 seconds)
says Google when you key in SUFI

seek HIM quietly
no kilobytes needed
no light and sound

a calm descends 
and in the warm mist
of divine clarity

all wrinkles 
of the soul
get ironed out !

GAMES

the simple joy
of cracking open
peanuts on her own

a cardboard box
becoming a bus
for paper friends

My little God
and her new games !!

A QUESTIONNAIRE FOR GOD

I usually refrain from writing about God on this blog no because I am an atheist but because I am not religious.This time the inspiration comes from an unusual quarter- OH MY GOD ,the film.


Isn't it strange that over the years most of us lose the distinction between God and religion.We pray and worship,do the rituals,participate in the festivities ,basically are our religious best most of the times but we never really come close to God,we ask and apologize but never just talk or just listen.

I happened to be born into a Hindu home,had a christian missionary and convent education and am lucky to have friends from various cultures and backgrounds.So with due respect to all religions,the ones that I directly know and the ones I don't here are my set of queries for Mr.God :

• Do we need loud blaring bhajans set to filmy tunes and glaring lights to show devotion?
• Does God bother if a few human beings get inconvenienced by his over-enthusiastic devotees stalling traffic or being plain rowdy?
• What would Jesus prefer, a cathedral full of candles or a quiet candle lit dinner in a needy home?
• What would Krishna want more,a chapan bhog(56 course meal) alone in a temple or a handful of chanas shared with a Sudama?
• What makes a Gurudwara grand,its highest or shiniest dome or its open doors for all?
• Did Allah or Lord Rama actually permit violence in their names?

My list is very long but for now....a few answers would suffice.

MORNING

The winter daybreak is still

a couple of hours away

The charming chill of the night

longing to kiss

the warm lips of dawn.

The stoical slumber

of the city being shuffled

by only some wandering vehicle

or stray dogs.

The silence is soon

pierced simultaneously

by Azan, temple bells

and morning prayers at the Gurudwara

once the gods

refresh the world

to welcome another day

the human activity begins.

fragrance of fresh ginger tea

the spluttering of a breakfast menu

the gurgling of a shower

the school buses

and the newspaper boys.

in an instant

one can taste , smell and sense

India - the peculiar multiplicity

of its silhouette

glowing in the glorious sparkle

of another hybrid morning.