Aathmaanaam: Translations from Heaven and Hell

The talk I can drive a cycle I can drive a bus I can drive an auto-rickshaw Caught between the buses the auto will topple I can drive a car Hitting the bus the car will crumple I will run and sit on the driver's lap Oh yeah accept it let's all go in a bus Note : What a playfully beautiful poem

The foreigners The foreigners have arrived said the helper Let them inside I said Removing their hats two came in I asked them to remove their footwear and come in Switching on the A.C. I asked them what they wanted Whiskey they said I told them it is all local here They turned around the letters on the table and said what are these Indian letters I told them those were all translations Laughingly they asked who was he who asked Can the prosperous Tamilians suffer What for that now I asked In Estonian language and Swahili we have come here to translate that they said From the paper bundles that lay like garbage I took out it's translation The local arrived

The suburban A day when no one is expected no great work to do was able to turn a few pages The audio player played time went by Evening siting on the stairs the world was moving in sweat A woman of the Kurava tribe picks her firewood the schoolgirls without their uniforms the cows that eat papers the humans who have skewed faces from their crumpling work on the returning buses Some clear faces on the starting buses my radio is heard With the small organizations peace prevails The evening dailies roam around in furore In the tea stalls politics is served hot with no partiality to any party The common man is satisfied Apparent riot confusion mystery with nothing of this sort The suburban crawls in peace

Truth It has been ages since the old lady who said when you speak the truth God is within you has died When I speak only the truth for this world You are a liar You are an opportunist You are an antisocial You are a traitor and several other The only lie I said was There is God

Achievement Have you achieved asked a question I do not have an answer now When my body dies before the tombstone that arises ask this

Two Poems Near the library desk a man is reading a book He is reading a different book You are reading a different book Some day you both all will read only one book That will be your book      With the fluttering pages      the letters morphing as words      the words morphing as sentences      the meaning was realised      After the meaning was realised      the world ruined      and a new world was in vision      The meaning was realised in a moment      when that moment too was lost      I see the same world which I saw before      with the fluttering pages Note : Two poems in a single poem which could have been made into two poems with a connection ... That said language, meaning, books and interpretation is a consistent subject that is beautifully debated here

I am VeeraKesari* I am VeeraKesari I spin my sword that was sleeping in the sheath and tear your thin dry stomach I place a straw and suck the blood With the sharp claws I cut open the stomach pull out the intestine and throw them to the dogs that wander for leftover leaves The boneless flesh has a lot of competition from the eagles I tear with a blade the remaining pieces of the body jump and kick and push them to the mosquito filled drainage On the moving parts of the body with a double barrel gun I keep shooting You keep watching Note : * VeeraKesari is a 1963 Vittalacharya Movie in Kannada - does it have any relevance here? Kesari means Lion in Tamil - does it have any relevance here? It is also a symbol in Srilankan flag ... is this an outtake on Tamil Eelam ... There is a daily by that name as well A violent and dark tone The powerful can do anything to the dependents

A conversation with a plant A plant smiled at me I too was fascinated by a new introduction It asked me who I was I ... I .. I didn't know what to say I let off a sigh Why do you suffer like this Be at peace like me The wind hugs me I too sway and shake and be happy Within the place you exist heaven beckons The wind is light it fills the body with coldness The wing keeps flowing It doesn't know to stop or flow The wind that loves me loves this whole world My leaves with the welcoming of the wind dance in delight Ma - Why does the wind love us is a never a question asked by the leaves Even the rain is like this Time and again it nourishes me The rain that showers at winter titillates As if the wind and rain nourish me even the sun with it's diamond rays looks at me pleasantly sometimes and with presence of mind at times With the light of my my leaves he is the one who offers it to this world I don's have any kind o...

Peace Peace - 1 Peace Peace Universal peace When it prevails this moment Not even the sound of your breath within the dark caves in the deep valleys echo loud Your breath tidied without sound extending time silently Make it come out Music Dance Art Literature all these are to entertain us Today apart from the the mountain dwelling tribes no one suffers from hunger Truth Don't be tensed Who's life has submerged now Peacefully pleasantly silently blow your breath For a prosperous future without labour to progress The national lottery's new series has come Why are you tensed Peace Peace Note : Not even the / sound of your breath / silence - a haiku. His another expressively written masterpiece.

The question mark Praying for rain In my writing Commanding for rain I wet the ink In a pale green colour it spread on the paper It was raining in colours On a part I sprinkled the blue On another side I shed the black On another side the red Colourfully the rain was showering At that time a thing came in between Rain became that thing's colour Pausing a moment I thought of what the changing rain's first colour would be The rain was showering without colours That rain without colours was cold Continuing that rain was showering in my mind Outside the colourful rain Every moment I paused A thing without inside and outside took shape

They, All of them, I know They, All of them, I know The lorry company's owners The Omni bus proprietors Large mid and small scale artisans The officer who luxuriously returns in a car The Superintendent who returns in a scooter The artisan who walks back with his bicycle The Engineer The Doctor The Lawyer That person this person The street picker The school and college professors who focus just on doubling the money The aunt who returns from the temple The tea stall master The person who runs a gas agency The person who supplies the milk The person who delivers the daily newspaper The boy who delivers the newspaper The cycle shop person The person who does vulcanizing The firewood depot person The black Mariyamma Devi priest The traffic of the big city The employees of the traffic of the big city Taxi and Auto Rickshaw drivers The departmental store person The nationalised banks The savings bank persons ...

The Prohibition The prohibition with it's own confidence is declared Nobody should stand in a crowd No gatherings Apart from religious and funeral processions no other processions shall be conducted As the loud speaker from the Auto Rickshaw yells The public was purchasing vegetables The commoner does not respect anything So as that is this In this country when four people get together and converse the things that come out are well known Why this riot There has to be a respect for the prohibition To a person who just thinks from the sky (day dream) why this prohibition Arson to the bus Riot Lathi-Charge Teargas Gunfire unless these occur we don't have to touch it Let us value a prohibition Let us be respectful As I walked by this news fell into my ears Twelve people who were fired from their jobs were on hunger strike until death

The News is being read by Kamala Padhmhanabhan  Street Trees We progressed counting 236 Ash tree / Loong Tree 237 Tamarind tree 238 Banyan Tree 239 Palm Tree 240 Tree without a caste The ignorant trees did not mind At a distance the mountain forests' smoke sees the sky Grow a tree per house Trees are our country's asset We will auction the forests to the tree brokers Do not construct your houses wide Construct them to touch the sky This is the year of the environment Gardens are needed Playgrounds are needed Parks are needed Until March 22, 1982 1,82,48,352 saplings were planted by us As per the new order whoever cuts the trees will get a rigorous imprisonment for two years The Leader's message today manufacturing should increase toxic industries should be eradicated Let us prevent the Ganges water from being polluted Let us leave the manufacturing of axes to small scale industry artisans The price of trees has increased ...