February 12, 2012

Masquerade

Slowly, involuntarily I slip down-
Into the abyss of unconsciousness.
Cognisance erased, a masquerade takes over;
Smiling at a blur of a seemingly human surface.

A mask so tight; moved mountains to get it off,
The unrelenting wretch smirked as I tried away.
Too late in the day did I realize,
Life is but a masquerade all the way.

Don’t trust a happy face, for it lies;
Through gentle glances and warm smiles.
A camouflage it is; through which joy it betrays.

Even as the suppressed darkness travels along,
An unwanted companion, it lingers around 
For a long, long stay.

Divya Rao
February 12, 2012
Mumbai

November 10, 2011

Faith and Fraility

Strange are the expectations of life
The world evidenced expects faith from the lot;
On that which is unseen, unheard of.
Intangibility craves for believers; and turns earthwards.

What I give is what I show – or so it goes;
Belief’s a tricky playpen, a maze even;
I’ve been running a race for long
But at every turn – a dark blind alley, it’s been.

Skepticism annoyingly asks-
“Show me the source; I’ll lend you my belief,” it promises.
But who believes these words – not even a believer!
Is faith such a dark continent of tricky travails?

Lead me to light, lend me a hand;
I’ll join in, if the journey is till the end.

By
Divya Rao
November 10, 2011
Mumbai

November 28, 2010

Eyes

Piercing through a sea of faces,
Eyes that hit a sullen heart,
Mellow down in a flushing rain;
Of soft notations and mysterious somethings.

Seated across a barricade of power,
They darted forth in cruel recklessness,
Driving up an untouched veneer to the pinnacle,
Of unknown pleasures and unfamiliar trepidations.

Blinded by the single slight,
One crept into dreamy fogginess
With throbbing thoughts from a single encounter,
Of enigma, of flawless madness.

By
Divya Rao
July 25, 2010
Chennai-Mumbai

Loyalty and Dilemma

A dilemma of choices poses threat
To an able mind with reason and practice -
To be or not to be asking the question,
Probes the mind in eternal conflict.

Memories from a beautiful past
Seem to threaten the existence,
Of promise of an opulent life.
Ahead lies assaying the two, a mountainous task no less.

Loyalty is no one-way street
It demands two minds progressing in tandem.
Cherished were those values, although now eroded
By toxic ways of a devious behemoth.

By
Divya Rao
July 25, 2010
Chennai-Mumbai
_______________________

Making a decision once out of a conflict can never be easy. Least of all when attachments hold you down and make you rethink about a word given, a promise made and a decision enunciated. An immediate thought occurred to me even as I was flying back home, back to all that stands for security and love. I had to pen the first words that hit my mind, even if it meant scribbling on the paper bag in the safety kit!

July 06, 2010

Surviving Democratic Protests

Living in a progressive democracy empowers its citizens with various forms of freedom. Information, education, employment and standard of living are enjoyed as fundamental rights. Freedom of expression is exercised by citizens for the most part of time. It is this right that allows people to speak their mind (whether honed or not!), communicate their ideas (sometimes brilliant, sometimes wacky), express their opinions about the Government, wars, economy, colour of the season and on various others. It also hands them a strong hand to protest if internal Government or foreign policies do not make much sense. Somewhere in the making of the constitution, the clause on the permissible methods to protest was forgotten. So, now we have people burning effigies, running a cycle rally, protesting in weird clothes (always better than none at all!) and calling for strikes and total stoppage for a day or sine die. Total stoppage? How would that serve the purpose, many may want to know.

Today, Monday, the 5th of July 2010, when friends and relatives in the USA are enjoying the extended weekend celebrating the American Independence Day with fireworks and lights, here in India the situation is vastly different. Extended weekend it was, but it started with a precaution from Sunday, when commercial establishments – read malls, shops and transport services closed down by dusk. One had to literally ferret through thinning traffic – a rare sight, especially in the Maximum city – and a line of immobile cabs, to return.

Mondays have never been popular with people. With a reputation of getting people blue and turning the day grey, this particular Monday started with the not-so-happening news of all establishments being brought to shut down operations. Schools and colleges were notified in advance that by not studying / teaching for one day, the students and teachers would in some way add thrust to the protest against gasoline & petrol price rise. Certainly, somebody thought this right through! Offices and factories declared a forced holiday on the beginning of the week. Sure, no employee would be heard complaining of the Monday blues. But has anybody given a thought to the Tuesday tiredness?

There were a brave few who were all set to make the most of the extended weekend by taking off some place for a short break. However, in many parts of the countries, there were certain “Protest volunteers” who were deputed to ensure that people protested in the right way. Except for the media houses that worked overtime to cover the situation – to what percentage the Strike was successful (how does one calculate that!) in which city, etc. it was almost as if people were coerced to protest living their lives!

When a country is repeatedly referred to as the biggest democracy in the world, it works on the interests of the people, for the people and by the people. Instead, when a crowd calls for actions in the name of people’s interests without informing the latter of the decision – especially one that can bring life to an insipid and annoying halt for an entire day – it is time to rethink the basic ideals of democracy. Maybe it is time for retrospection with the help of an image consultant on the modes of protest, because the verdict on today is two thumbs-down.


Divya Rao
5th July 2010
Mumbai