For this challenge, I could not resist putting up this photograph of the statue of a man trying to handle four babies at one time- at the Vigeland Sculpture Park, Oslo, Norway
A Time to Celebrate
(I just completed five hundred posts on this blog..)
I started this blog just for a lark
I had no desire to make a mark
Was searching for an outlet for self-expression,
And as reading blogs had been an obsession
I decided to take the plunge and start-
My aim was to write about anything close to my heart
The first few posts were penned in prosaic prose
Then one day, struck by writer’s block, I chose
To put my thoughts in the form of a verse
It was more exciting, so for better or worse
I switched (almost) exclusively to this form
Poems with rhyming verses are now the norm.
**
In my daily life, I take quite seriously
My profession, which forms my identity
But I am so much more than just a physician
This blog helped me extend beyond my vocation
I am a mother, a traveler, a bibliophile-
All these have a major influence on my style
Of writing, on this blog I tend to reveal
Everything for which I have passion and zeal
Then there are the challenges in photography
That spur me to capture in my lens every curiosity
Thanks to this blog, more skill I have acquired
In observing people and nature, now I am wired
To jot down ideas, keep my camera with me
To constantly provide fuel for my creativity.
**
The blogging community has welcomed me
With open arms, warmth and honesty
As the number of followers keeps growing
I am motivated to keep my ideas flowing
I thank all the readers who have chosen
To spend their time reading what I have penned
As I go forward, I hope my writing would stay
Heartfelt, honest and original all the way.
Writer’s block
I dream of sitting by the side
Of a tranquil lake, its expanse wide
Stretching to the horizon
Its waters resplendent in the sun
Writing in my journal, with inspiration
Derived from the picturesque location
Surely the landscape’s sublime beauty
Would spur me to pen soulful poetry
Maybe I would strike a creative goldmine
And the poem would be a masterpiece of mine
***
Those were my thoughts as I sat one day
On my desk, my mind wandering away
As words somersaulted through my brain
In a jumble; I kept attempting in vain
To string them into a verse of some kind
But nothing meaningful could come to my mind
I blamed my surroundings drab and insipid
My desk did not inspire me one bit
Since there was no way I could go to a lake
Thinking I was clever, I decided to fake
My imagined landscape by painting one
Complete with the sands and the sun
It set the creative juices flowing
Yet that was not enough to get me going
Ahead with my writing, I still drew a blank
I was facing a writer’s block, the reality then sank
So I pushed the thought of writing away
With a promise to return to my journal another day
***
Then one day, while on a nondescript drive
Without any preamble, ideas came alive
And arranged them in verses all by themselves
I was in the flow, I did not know myself
How an entire poem I was able to conjure
Inspiration had just come knocking at my door
***
The creative process is unpredictable
Writer’s block usually occurs at the table
While inspiration often strikes when I least expect
Vagaries of inspiration I have to respect..
The Book I Read
“Between the pages of a book is a lovely place to be.”
So I read a book and tears sprung
The story touched me, the words just stung
Somewhere, in between the pages, somehow
Somewhere, between the beginning and now
I had entered the world the author had portrayed
From the realm of reality I had strayed
Into the caverns of a world fictional
But the pain that I felt appeared real
It was as if unbeknownst to me
I had developed a relationship, strangely
With the protagonist, and as I read
I was vicariously living her life instead
When she was heartbroken, I felt the pain
At night, I dreamt about her again
Imagined myself in her place, I confess
Replayed in my mind her abject distress
Such was the power of the book I had read
Of thousands, this was the one where tears were shed…
**
When I read a book, it matters not to me
Its place in literature, old or contemporary
Or its place on the bestselling list of any kind
A good book is one that resonates with my mind
That draws me inside until I attain a state of unison
With the characters in it, when there is a fusion
Between my world and that in the pages contained
There are such books, my enthusiasm has not waned
Therefore, from reading, I am always trying to find
The book that would impress my heart and mind..
Parent-teacher conference
So I am expected to attend
As a kindergartner’s parent
A parent-teacher conference next week
I panic, wishing some counsel I could seek
From parents who have been there before
I don’t know what the meeting has in store
For me, all my insecurities come to the surface
What is in the classroom my child’s place?
Does he listen, learn, behave, or is he
Inattentive, disruptive, loud and noisy?
I know I try to teach him the right thing
But has he picked up some of my habits embarrassing?
I knows he can read a book with me
But whether he reads in class is a matter of uncertainty
Deep down in my heart I am afraid of being perceived
As an incompetent mother, I probably need
Some words of encouragement before I proceed
Into this anxiety-provoking situation indeed…
**
So the D-day arrives, I am anxious as expected
I fake a smile, so that my feelings are not projected
When the report is finally revealed to me
My tension eases, my child is viewed quite positively
In most areas of learning, weaknesses are few
None of this is actually information new
I rejoice, feeling quite elated
As a mother, I feel strangely validated
As first-time parents, we improvise as we go
Afraid of being wrong, so it helps to know
From others that our children are doing all alright,
Their prosperous future is our only goal in sight!
Words..
“What passes without being put into words, without being transformed and, in a certain sense, purified by the crucible of writing, has no meaning for me. Only words that endure seem real.”
From: In Other Words- by Jhumpa Lahiri
When I find myself stumbling through life without direction
When I feel detached, and need to regain connection
When life’s myriad troubles are weighing me down
When I see unanswered questions all around
I take refuge in words- the infinite world of language
I read and write to calm down my agitation, my rage
In the world of words, myself I try to discover
Life’s moments that I’ve lost, I try to recover
In metaphors is revealed the truth that I seek
Divergent stories directly to me seem to speak
When I read, the vagaries of the world I imbibe
When I write, in a way I try to circumscribe
My view of the world, the way I process everything
I then see life’s conundrums crystallizing…
In the many nuances of language I find
The elixir for my soul and my mind
Somewhere, hiding between the printed word or my pen
I hope to find my nirvana, or my zen..
P.S. The image shows 99 names of Allah inscribed at the altar of Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi
A fallible mother
As a parent a constant conundrum I face
Of finding the middle ground, that perfect place
Where on my child, I do not put extra pressure
Yet disciplined learning I somehow ensure
There’s so much to learn, so much to imbibe
For a five year old, sometimes it’s hard to describe
Things in a way suited for his comprehension
Yet there are times when his grasp of things
Truly amazes me, and with it maternal optimism brings
That my child would turn out to be “gifted” after all
In a trap of grandiose plans I then fall
Until my child falters at a milestone he was supposed
To have achieved at his age, the door is then closed
On my unfinished dreams, disappointment appears
Bringing out, as a parent, my worst fears
I worry that my son is going to lag behind
His peers, the question pervades my mind
And against my better judgment I coax him some more
To improve upon what he did before..
If he does it well, I shower him with praise
A bit too lavish, but if he fails to change his ways
I worry if I have hurt his self-esteem
Or scared him off completely by being so extreme
Then I wonder if at each step I am overthinking
My validation as a parent to his performance I’m linking..
**
Like every parent, all I want to give my son
Is a well-rounded childhood so he can become
Of this society, a well-adjusted member
A happy and successful individual who can remember
To uphold all the values that I hold dear-
That might not happen, is my constant fear
Then I see my son playing, quite oblivious
Of all the real and imaginary fears that make me nervous
And I smile to myself, knowing he would eventually
Turn out all right, as long as I can his best supporter be!
Weekly Photo Challenge- Shine
I shall rise and shine for this challenge, thus-
Sheikh Zayed Mosque shining in the moonlight, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Sheikh Zayed mosque again- the marble shining in sunlight
All that glitters is gold? Maybe- in the lobby of the Emirates Palace Hotel, Abu Dhabi, UAE
The sun shining over Lake Thingvellir, Iceland
Evening sun- Embarcadero, San Diego, CA
Cee’s Which Way Photo Challenge – October 19, 2016
The path laid down by the king Christian IV with his gloved hand- this is where the city of Oslo (Christiania), Norway was founded
The wonders of yesteryears- path leading to Qutub Minar, Delhi, India
Walk in royal (Mughal) style- Red Fort, Agra, the seat of Mughal rulers of India
The corridors of Sheikh Zayed Mosque, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Stereotyped
“Stereotypes are fast and easy, but they are lies, and the truth takes its time.”
Deb Caletti
How do we learn, I wonder often
To put them in boxes, all women and men
Straitjacket them by country, race, color
By height, build, hair texture, gender..
Make some assumptions right off the bat
At times subconsciously, not realizing that
The stereotypical roles that we assign
To real human beings in our prejudiced minds
Represent them they do not, instead
They are a reflection of what we have been fed-
Preconceived notions borne out of distrust and fear
We take as gospel truth whatever we hear
Again and again, such that we do not realize
How we form opinions just by laying our eyes
On people, without getting to know them first
Of all our habits, this might be the worst..
**
Many of us are guilty, and many have faced
Similar prejudices; have heard comments laced
With criticism of cohorts to which we belong
When directed at us, such stereotyping feels just wrong..
**
My prejudiced notions I am trying to eliminate
Even as I teach my child not to berate
Anyone, based on their affiliations
Instead get to know them and their situations
People are more complex in this complex world
Than to be described in few generic words!
A devoted pupil of life
“If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same”- Rudyard Kipling, If
There was a time when I thought that I
Was successful, I was soaring high
In my own abilities, I was overconfident
Unable to realize the true extent
Of my skills, the world was my oyster
I was on the upswing of a roller-coaster
And when it hurtled down, as was destined
I was shattered, blown out of my mind
Why I had failed, I could not comprehend
I sincerely wanted to make amends..
In a while things by themselves did improve
Even without my making a different move..
**
That was years ago, but now I know
Upswings and downswings shall come and go
My reactions to success and failure are now
Much less extreme, I have learnt how
I cannot control the events that take place
In my life, but I can certainly face
Them with equanimity, and learn equally
From all of them, consider them impartially
My gurus in life- as I continue to grow
Older, I am humbled by how little I know
About the mysterious ways of the world
Every day it seems a new truth is unfurled
I keep trying to take life in its stride
It will always be a roller-coaster ride!
Taedium vitae
“It’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.”- Marilyn Monroe
Getting bored is a dangerous thing-
First, it makes me loosen my purse strings
Shop online for things I don’t need
That’s pouring money down the drain indeed
Second, it makes me mindlessly chew
Food of all variety, anything edible would do
The fullness of my stomach tries to replace
The vacuum in my brain, fill up that vacant space
Third, it renders me exceptionally vulnerable
To the ill effects of social media, I feel unable
To tear myself away from posts of my friends
Filled with their accomplishments that never end
Elevating my sense of ennui to a level new
I fantasize about something unique to do..
Fourth, boredom leads me to procrastinate
Locking me in a low motivational state..
Despite all the ills that boredom brings
Being bored is one of those few things
That cause me, anytime, to fall asleep
Oblivious of everything, in a slumber deep
Thus when I am bored I get to eliminate
The sleep deficit which otherwise does accumulate
I started this verse bored out of my mind
Now my eyelids are drooping, I find
Luring me to sleep which otherwise
Would have eluded my tired bones and eyes..
P.S. Taedium vitae: the feeling that life is boring and dull
