Poem: A flash of light

A flash of light

You hide a little, behind a misty cloud,
And then all of a sudden light the world,
And then go back,
and hide again.

The tension in the air is palpable,
The rustling if the leaves,
And the dancing of the trees,
all indicate you presence,

Then again you reveal yourself,
Flash another million watts,
Whilst I searched for the perfect timing,
You moved on and I missed another shot.

Our relationship is always an up and down,
Sometimes the timing is perfect,
Just like the lips coming together before a kiss.
On the other hand sometimes it’s a total miss.

When I try to capture you,
You grin at me from behind my back,
And by the time I turn,
You are no longer there.

Dear Lightning!
We always tend to try and control everything,
But you remind me,
How things are always unpredictable,
But with patience love and dedication,
In the end you’ll always get the perfect shot.

Mukund P Rao (April 29)



(P.S Here are a few of my efforts to photograph lightning. Unfortunately my camera hasn't been working the past few months but with the rains here tonight, I felt this urge to take pictures. Thus the poem.) 

The Curious Case of a Dog's Pronouns

Ever noticed the difference in a person who owns pets or likes animals and person who does not own a pet. The difference lies in the pronouns they use. A person who owns a pet will generally refer to a pet by using the correct sex. For example if you own a dog and a guest comes comes over. If the guest also owns a pet they would ask you, 'What is her/his name?' On the other hand if a person who doesn't own a pet comes then they'd say, 'What is its name?'

It is very easy to figure decipher if someone owns a pet or not because for a person who does own one, the pet is always a part of the family. So the pet/animal would always be referred to by the appropriate pronoun  which is either he or she.

Poem-Mukund P Rao

Back where I belong..
A long time ago,
I was here,
but ‘twas so long ago,
my memories are now like mist and fog.
 
But in that blur I do remember,
green grass and an ol’ wooden house,
and also a scary one sided bridge,
over a stream into which I thought I’d fall.
 
After thirteen years when I do go back,
to the place I once belonged,
so much has changed,
but yet, some of it has remained the same.
 
A weird sense of déjà vu passes upon me,
I feel I have been here before,
but it was so long ago,
I don’t remember most things anymore.
 
The house is there,
in shambles,
the stream is there,
all dry.
 
All the green has turned to yellow,
and the trees are now all dry.
I feel the sun blazing down upon me,
and feel I just might cry.
 
Through the neglected fields I walked,
through which I once had run, I heard a cello behind me,
as it played a sad welcoming song.
reminding me that I was back where I belonged.
 
Maybe I shouldn’t have come back here,
and let the sepia memories remain faded,
so that all things would be as I imagined,
and the truth I never would see.
 
On the other hand maybe,
'twas good I went.
To see for myself how things really were,
and then comfort myself and say,
‘I have seen the glory days’.


Mukund P Rao
April 18, '10

The Project Paradox

The Project Paradox

Many a time a student is oft faced with a complex situation where he/she is supposed to do a project as a part of a group. Now the problem is that the all the other group members refuse to work and time is fleeting and the submission date is around the corner.

What does the student do?  Does he or she sit and do the whole project alone or does he or she just do their part of the project. If he or she does the whole project alone then it is done with the realisation that the project is being prepared whilst all the other group members are 'busy' having fun. On the other hand if he or she decided to only do his or her part then it is at the risk of obtaining less marks in the end because the project as a whole below par.

So what would you do?
Who you toil hard alone, knowing this time could be better spent or would just do your part and reconciling to getting poor marks.

Now a scientific explanation to solve this problem would be that doing the project alone would help you in the long run. You will learn the topic (/software/concept) much better because you are doing it alone and also putting in much more effort.

Looking at the problem from a different perspective you might feel ten years down the line who will care about how many marks you got for this project. You might still remember the amazing party you attended instead of doing your work.

Unfortunately on this hot April night, with no exciting parties in town, I'd rather finish this scientific proposal presentation. I don't exactly like the idea of making an arse of myself on stage on Monday.

I just do hope that someone does return the favour 'in the near future'.

Poem-Mukund P Rao

Let the journey be the aim

Sometimes in life we wonder,
where this quest might lead us?
and when we sit and ponder,
we find we haven’t an answer.
All our lives we always work,
a destination in our minds.
How ‘bout once you drop the aim,
and let the journey be the final aim.
Sit back and then relax, live every day,
knowing, God paid you to play today.
Life will move much slower then,
and you can drink it to the lees.
Enjoy every moment then,
and do not worry about what will be.

Mukund P Rao

Written while I was supposed to be doing a humanities assignment and my mind wandered a bit.

P.S. I never worried about getting the vase shape for the poem. It wasn't my destination. I just wrote the poem and the shape just came along the way. I did alter a couple of lines at the end though but most of it happened on its own.