Halt a moment, Stop! Save a child, Listen to the lament, Life for love is meant, Rise above discontent, Revise your intent, And choose to be, The One to help To nurture and care, And let each of us To the 'other' Be truly'God-sent'.
Relax. Life happens. Life takes care of itself. Follow your heart.
Life is not about just having. Life is more about living. Life is more about experiencing rather than accumulating. Money is no doubt very essential for enabling empowerment. There are no two things about it. But to live less in order to earn more and just have more at the cost of too much stress and no fun is where we need to truly reflect and slow down on the chase, if we have inadvertently fallen into it in the first place. Life is more when you follow your heart with your mind open and in control. Decide where to draw the line. Its your life and your time on the planet is your greatest gift to live it fully and fulfillingly. Balance is the key. But do not wait too long to do what you really feel like. Do not keep pushing away your heart’s desires too far, too long. Go live well and live more💝.
May you find your Voice and ways to keep yourself in balance and in good spirits always.
When in life, There's no rhythm There's no rhyme No laughters chime, A tear glistens You can't even sigh, Your breath feels muffled Each time you inhaled It felt like an effort And you struggled, At that juncture, When every nerve You feel will rupture, Just be in silent plea Really pray to the Divine and sense the silence And hear the quiet, Say to self, One day, at a time.
The disarray The discontent The disturbance The depression All lie deep within.
Silently peep in And seek the sunken Heavy moments And beckon Half-buried memories, This heap of 'hurts' Lift one by one, And gently release, Just let them go.
Emptied of these Feel free, Feel light, Declutter and cleanse, Find peace immense.
Baarish aayaa Dham dham dham, Paani mein khelu Mai chhum chhum chhum Mamma banaaye Pakode yum yum yum Rain please Come, come, come To the puddle I run, run, run. Taking my new chhatri To school is fun, fun, fun.
Getting older is inevitable. But growing older is slightly different, because when you grow older, you don’t lose the sense of humor, the ability to wonder, feel the curiosity and the sense of enthusiasm as well as the sense of marvel. Are you growing older or getting old? It is a decision. Your decision. Isn’t it?
This O levels exam Isn't as instant As a soup sachet Of Maggi we heat & blend, Not as instant, As we click an icon In a mili-second On WhatsApp to 'send'.
Yes,study long hours For coming weeks, Read and revise, recall and repeat, And I am impressed As you prepare daily, With focus indeed.
Do practice and write, Sometimes use a mind-map, Other times, You may memorise These last few weeks, I am relieved to see The essence of effort You do realise!
Then follows a break, And results we get Hopefully its mostly Grades 'B' or 'A' And we celebrate.
Education is Life-long learning, You know, right? Not as easy or as instant as an FB 'like'.
But dedicated work With a good grade You'll carry With such pride, All your life, All your life!
On the purple couch She does belong, And she sings along, Between numbers divine- Ruth B's 'Lost boy' She plays again, And humming Trampoline, By amazing Shaed and Zayn, My princess shifts, In the next moment, Taylor Swift's Melody drifts.
Outdoors, the Virus Covid 19 corpses pile, Indoors 24 by 7, Locked down we cope To keep alive hope, Try home remedies so naive, Praying they do survive, Days elapsed more than Three Sixty Five.
I keep glued my eye To the 15×17" screen, On the digital 'virtual' platform I 'Meet' strangers, And also my own, Our voices low, Our spirit sunk, With cameras off On Zoom, Our world's shrunk Into our living room.
Her O level Exams In 2021 scheduled, How short a reign Childhood ruled! I feel cheated By Time, fooled.
Am I ready For the silence That will follow soon, For Papa Johns pizza, No more sulky tantrum, No one over-the-moon?
Am I ready To say goodbye As she'll pack My heavy heart In her backpack?
Are moms able To recall How to thrive? Or do they amidst A mount of Muted memories cry?
Will I pretend To smile and survive, Counting each day, Till my kid beloved, For a short visit Will arrive next May? Is that how I'll Suddenly, rapidly Go wrinkled and grey?
Till then, Though listless, Am I suppose to Just breathe, And glance At lifeless doors And dull chores replete Just repeat, repeat, repeat, and repeat?
How do I thrive After my nestling, Far away will fly, Into a distant sky?
At 4, she ruined my lipstick, scribbling ‘Mamma I ❤ you’
Its not just about How long you are Glued onto the screen That I shout, But more about What valuable work you actually did, Was it important indeed?
And more about How you forgot To take healthy breaks And remind you Actions back a dream, I am most concerned, Can't you listen My silent plea Need I scream?
Its not just about What rule to abide You simply refuse, But that you confuse The difference between Yelling and telling, And how to say nay.
Its not just about Clock hours you miss But more about keeping promises And convey in actions All your heartfelt apologies.
Its not just about Questioning your choices But more about Keeping low prices And lower voices.
Its not about Criticising you But more about Perfectly preparing you In order to realise Your full potential To ensure you make Decisions wise, And higher and higher You always rise. Its tough love I know As a mom I too grow, My duties' call I hope you realise, You are my beloved My joy in your Empowerment lies, How do I pat my back otherwise? ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Missing the kuhu kuhu melody Of the hidden Koyal among fresh mango leaves, The squirrels running bindaas on the nariyal trees, The squeaky groan of the overloaded rusty swing never kid-free, The temple bells' reassuring chime, The next-door school kids' In chorus sing everytime, The 'rain, rain go away' rhyme.
The aromas from the kitchen stronger than any fancy appetizer, Recipes of monsoons are mixed with Granny's stories making us wiser, Mom's 'go get samosa' orders, From time to time, I am running chores, Picking up the umbrella heading outdoors, Venturing out in heavy downpours.
Dad turning newspaper pages, My sisters walk in, soaking wet, With angry drenched faces, With 'how the rain stopped the train' Stories grumbled out of pouts with grimaces.
Quickly drying the feet, First of all, to the kitchen heading, 'I am starving-pass the chutney', Then cosily cross-legged On the dining chair sitting, Slurpping chai, Kadak, mitthi adhrakhwaali. On the phone, Mom grumbling, 'Bai tu aaj pann nai aali? All biting into garama garam samosa, Yummy and mast teekhaa zyaadaa.
Missing home would include, Missing the unique dudhwalla excuse, Kal se dudh kyu hai paniwalla? The loud honking of the pick-up-at-doorstep riksha, 'Jaldi karo' prompts the impatient rikshawalla, Missing the calls of the rusk toast bhaiya,then the 'costly' bhajiwalla, The postman uncle greyed and smiling, Chatting and chitthi-delivering.
Missing the singing chorus of 'yere yere paavsaa', And the bacchoos hurriedly, Notebook ka page tearing, Busy with paper-boat making Dancing in puddles, their feet splashing.
With all the thunder and lightening, Arrey baba light gaya oh what a commotion So, lagta hai Humlog episode miss hoga, The clock ticks, the endless wait now for -light kab aayega- Like a mantra we repeat Hoping to watch Chitrahaar at least!
Swinging in the verandah, chatting, Killing mosquitoes and just chilling, For bunking work tomorrow no excuses-finding, Starting antaakshri and fav songs humming, Losing the game and then memories visiting Biting into kaju-katris, Recalling lost raincoats and stolen chhatris.
Evening Aarti in the temple begins, Aunties on the way to worship, Waving, and by mom invited,coming in Saying 'paaus bhaari hai So OK will come in Bas just for 2 minutes', Then for hours waiting,
'Tchtch tchtch...'
'Why these showers so heavy, 'Baarish rukney ka naam hi nahi,' And about mom in law's abusive treatment revealing, Few moments of heaviness, With glances exchanging, A loud silence, a sigh, Then a ready 'OK' for an aadha cup of chai, Back to lovely samosas and chatter and laughter, Memories made in moments of bonding, Gulping tears with tea And moving onto factual 'khichdi' Cooking impromptu details with assal ghee, Savouring masaledaar gossiping.
In so many more ways untold, Missing my parents of course, Missing friends and folks for sure Putting together all this, 'Home' it is, Yes, yearning for home-coming, Being away from my ghar is hurting, Missing all this Connecting and caring, Home is so healing, so healing.
Sundrops bless this endeavour, My intent backed with effort, I spent hour after hour, In gathering Voices In these pages, Poems to discover, From the 'limited' time Before my knell does chime, I spend it in Poetry, soft and sublime. May you pick your favourite lines, In this collection I offer moments held Fresh insights and subtle rhymes. May the universe conspire And may sundrops Bless all my endeavours.
Oh my God! A tingle of sheer joy! IMPRESSIONS AND EXPRESSIONS has reached top 50 list of Contemporary Poetry on Amazon Kindle! ON ITS VERY FIRST DAY! Have a look: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0988RG125
The disarray The discontent The disturbance The depression All lie deep within.
Silently peep in And seek the sunken Heavy moments And beckon Half-buried memories, This heap of 'hurts' Lift one by one, And gently release, Just let them go.
Emptied of these Feel free, Feel light, Declutter and cleanse, Find peace immense.
Swift and swifter, In so much hurry You little creature So cute and furry, Busier than a bee Up the tree Down the tree, On your daily nut-gathering spree, Living in the moment, You are truly free!
Mango moments, Those delicious Inhalations deep, Of aromas sweet And the mouthfuls Of mangoes Haaphus, Totapuri, Langda, Badaami, Kesari, Paayri.... The colour The texture The taste The luxury Of more, even more Mango delicacies, How lip-smacking is aamras Pooris hot dipped in... Home grown Rajapuri, Homemade garam puri, Home concocted Pannah, Home made chhoondaa... Home made aambe wadi, Home made mango barfi. Milkshakes and ice cream, Dip in a dozen mango pickles, Savour on my tongue, Mango-sour tickles Finger-lick fajeto The ultimate mango kadhi, and bowls of brinjal dressed in mango curry, Hot mango-orange, chilli-red and sizzling! Me, the mango maniac, Me, the mango devotee.
Between knowing and doing, Between promising and fulfilling, Between silence and expression, Between sharing and sparing, Between realising and accepting,
Between hearing and listening, Between dreaming and performing, Between commiting and delivering: If there is a distance, A gap, Just close the gap. Just do it. That is integrity. Makes all the difference.
I have always looked back at what are the ingredients of success? Most often we hear ‘hard work’ but I would like to refine that a little more. The necessity of hard work is unquestionable, but so is smart work. Not just donkey hard work. It is consistent work with genuine interest to just do a little more. The ‘extra’ in the ordinary is ACTUALLY the extra work that is not expected of you. Also, with this, being a YES person. Venturing out there. Keeping on moving. For just a little more. And I cannot emphasize more on doing NEW things AND doing same things in a NEW WAY Success, actually follows you. You just follow what you love to do. So, what ‘new’ did you add to your day?
As the pandemic scenario is bleaker and dampening our spirit, it is now all the more reason to challenge ourselves to rise up and remain stubborn in the war. Rise up to vaccinate self an d encourage near and dear ones to do too. Rise up and help the needy to pay and vaccinate. Rise up and ritualize a new routine and re-examine how best to manage gatherings with social distancing protocol in place. Rise up to respect our healthcare professionals’ safety and do not burden them even further by risking going out unnecessarily. Rise up and embrace new ways of doing and being in ceremonies and groups. Rise up to making your day no less meaningful and purposeful by setting up goals for yourself to become a better version. Survival is not just about the ‘physically’ fittest alone but your presence of mind and your well being of remaining mentally and emotionally resilient and fit are of equal importance. Rise up and remain prayerful. This too shall be overcome.
It is almost 15 months since the pandemic. Life is on indefinite pause. I wonder how we will have changed when ‘life as we know it’ will begin. How many ways will we have changed, and for better or worse…
It has been a challenge and quite some watchfulness was required in becoming an observer of my thoughts and detaching from them and choosing which ones were unwelcome. But the effort has been worthwhile. I am sure with time, we can change the thoughts and see the extraordinary effect of the shift within and without!
The extraordinary power of thought. It is amazing. Wayne Dyer writes about changing our thought and changing our life. Indeed. A subtle change in our outlook shifts us to higher vibes. Choose constructive, optimistic, thoughts of ‘possibilities’ rather than anything else. I am an individual who emphasizes on doing just a ‘little more’ and ‘doing it whole heartedly’. I choose to blog as it reaches like minded readers and connects me to other enthusiasts who are evolving in this journey of life.
AMITA SANGHAVI'S POETRY AND MUSINGS BLOG: Impressions 