The Latest!

So here I am, back with a new poem. This time I've made an effort to add more of my pictures to the new post. The new name of the blog 'Wandering and Pondering', gives me more freedom to post pictures of my wanderings.

Poem: A Man atop a Mountain

A Man atop a Mountain

Sat a man atop a mountain,
And looked around to ascertain,
Whether there still lay a chance,
That we’d wake up from this trance.

To his left there were railway tracks,
Elephants crossing it were oft subject to train attacks,
The forests all around, high and near,
For timber and agriculture had been cleared.

Every snake spotted was beaten,
With clubs, sticks and batons,
(The crow-pheasants, kingfishers and the paradise fly-catchers,)
Those were once seen aplenty,
Weren’t sighted as often lately.

All the rivers and streams had been damned,
By sand mining, water pollution and the large dams,
While into the ground we drilled deeper and deeper,
As the confined aquifers receded further and further.

This did leave him quite aghast,
But he realised that all was not yet lost,
There still remained trees to cut and elephants to kill,
And ground water and oil wells to drill.

The fly catchers and pheasants still were seen,
Even though not as oft as it had once been,
The leopards, snakes, and tigers still were spotted,
Even if it were only to be hunted,

Things are bad,
But do not be sad,
Let’s be the change we want to see,
After all it’s drop by drop that you make the sea.
 
We humans have been blessed with everything we need,
Maybe just not enough to satisfy the greed,
But as long as you have everything you really require,
Then what pray is the reason for all these selfish desires?

Mukund Palat Rao, 24th September ‘10

All photos courtesy Mukund P Rao

The latest on the blog.

So here is the latest news on the blog. As you might have noticed the name of the blog has been changed. The blog is now called Wandering and Pondering. The explanation for the name is given at the top.

A few lines of my poem Accusations of a Caged Leopard have been edited and modified. This was done after I received some feedback which alerted me to an instance where there was an improper use of language in the poem. Thank you for your valuable feedback. To check out the edited version of the poem please click on the link below  http://mukundpr-mytheories.blogspot.com/2010/06/poem.html

Warm regards to all of you,
Mukund

Poem: A Dog's Life

All photos courtesy Mukund P Rao

                     A Dog’s Life

Amongst the sights that you see oft,
Here is one I like a lot,
And pray if you enquire as to what it is,
Here would be my reply,
‘A dog with a dirty tail.’


Jeez!
What is it about a dog and its hind quarter,
That evokes in me such mirth and laughter?

Imagine yourself as a dog,
On a hot and dusty summer noon,
The sun is blazing; your throat is parched,
And your paws are scorched.
Then all of a sudden as though a gift from God,
Beside the road you spy a puddle,
And there you go and jump and play,
Maybe sit down and take a nap for the day.

Aah!
What bliss,
As you feel the coolness engulf you,
You look around and notice people envy you.

A strange joy spreads across my heart,
When I see a dog take such a delightful bath,
And especially when a dog all wet and wagging tail,
Comes upto you and drenches you like an upturned pail,

A Dog’s life on days such as these,
Is one of relative ease,
And I would quite willingly trade,
Our places, so that on that puddle I could have laid!

Mukund Palat Rao (September 7, 2010)
  

P.S: If you live in Delhi and are inspired by my poem, right now isn't exactly the best time to go and jump in a puddle and have a siesta there. Might end up with dengue.