Passion…unbridled

It is not always easy to do what is right

Sometimes you have to swim against the tide

When rampant greed has been disguised as progress

When morals are sacrificed at the altar of success

When you feel conflicted because of the situation you are in

When the wide and illuminated road tries to draw you in

*

You double-check with your soul, before you proceed

You question if you too are motivated by greed

The distinction is hard because greed has been packaged as success

To stick to your morals implies making do with much less

You start worrying about your ability to provide

For your family, and that makes it harder to decide

Between your gut feeling and the prevailing trend

The decision feels such that in either direction you can bend

*

You come to a decision and go to bed to get some rest

With plans for execution the next morning, and your litmus test

Is whether you’ve had a restful sleep at night

If so, the decision you have taken is right..

What a dichotomy with sleep we get

We sleep to remember and we sleep to forget…

*

In the throes of deep sleep are memories consolidated

That poor sleep is linked to dementia has been validated

In multiple studies, therefore in order to maintain

Brain function and memory, it is imperative to refrain

From sleeping late and using devices at night

We fight sleep now, later memory loss we would fight..

*

Sleep helps you remember events, but also lets you

Forget the emotional distress that you have gone through

You file away a memory but subtract the emotion

From the event, therefore the notion

Of sleeping over something that evokes emotion strong

Is a sound one, you cannot go wrong

By waiting to take a decision until after a good night’s sleep

You gain clarity, facts without emotions in your mind you keep

*

Sleep is powerful medicine, not given its due

It is the foundation of good health, we’re realizing it’s true

Much as I would love to call myself a writer I cannot

Call myself one, to me the thought

Of giving myself the label of a writer appears fraudulent

While I try to imagine myself as a writer or a poet in the moment

Of writing, until my work is published or more widely known

I would think of myself as “someone who likes to write” alone..

*

I came across a guide for writers that made a suggestion provocative-

If you aspire to be a writer you must live

Like one-treat your writing like a job that pays

Write something without fail every day

But more importantly-you must call yourself a writer before everyone

Believe you are a writer before you become a full-fledged one..

*

So here I am, trying to judge if I have the audacity to call

Myself a writer or a poet after all

I need to begin with the conviction in my mind

That I am a writer, perhaps more inspiration I would then find

My imagination invariably gets fired

Into a creative mode my mind gets wired

Whenever I have a work-related task to complete

And then the creative urge tries to compete

With my work-oriented mindset for attention

And despite my effort and sincere intention

To stay focused on the task at hand

I end up chewing on my idea in fantasy-land..

*

It is a situation far from ideal because I cannot

Leave work behind to pursue a creative thought

I try to file my idea away for the future when

I have spare time, work is not competing for my attention

But the idea, once tucked away, is rarely retrieved

In this manner many good ideas I’ve had to leave..

*

You require the luxury of time to be creative

If you are working long hours, it is difficult to give

Dedicated hours to bring a creative project to completion

I wish my work and creativity were not in competition..

It is easy for all of us to get caught

In our differences, is it not?

*

When discontent is high, we forget

Our common ground, when we are upset

The differences seem to create an unbridgeable divide

We hold on to our anger, our injured sense of pride..

*

When tempers and emotions settle down

And we take an objective look around

We find that the values that unite us take precedence

Over those that divide us- our differences are not as intense

As they had previously appeared to be

We begin to see a path towards unity..

*

Unfortunately divisive rhetoric is easy to perpetrate

In the era of social media, but we have to be deliberate

In ignoring that narrative, and shift our focus

To the people who actually surround us

And find that it is possible to connect

With them- at some point disparate views intersect

When I am stressed I acquire invariably

Traits of attention-deficit-hyperactivity

I want to drown my anxieties in busy work

Indicating to the stress monster who by my side lurks

That I do not have the time to get caught

In the web he is spinning, there is a lot

For me to do without succumbing to my stress

This is my usual defense mechanism, I confess..

*

When I try to do too many things simultaneously

That too under stress, the results are far from pretty

I make a mess of most things, but eventually

Something seems to go right serendipitously

And that seems to have an effect to alleviate

My stress, bring me back to a saner state…

*

This verse has been penned during a period of stress

With multiple interruptions and an attention span that is less

Than ideal for writing, but of all the things I have done

To suppress my anxieties I think this is the best one!

I came across an idea that sounds provocative

It suggested that Artificial Intelligence could give

Spiritual guidance, provide some form of therapy for free

By collating information from multiple resources it could be

A source of sensible, practical, actionable advice

Delivered like a professional, through your choice of device..

*

It sounds like an idea preposterous initially

To let artificial intelligence help you be

A better human being, but on second thought

You have answers to your personal questions online sought

And come up with generic solutions that may not be

Applicable to your situation specifically

AI, especially with improving iterations can provide

Personalized advice tailored to you, to let you decide

Whether and to what extent to follow what it says

AI cannot substitute for a human ear but can provide a way

For you to get some direction when you are in the throes of distress

I am warming up to this idea, I confess..

*

I asked ChatGPT to tell me how to meditate on a lunch break

And I must say the advice is something I can take

Artificial Intelligence in my life I can try to embrace

Though I maintain thar empathy from another human cannot be replaced…

You are advised to live each day with intention

But you feel like you are living perpetually in suspension

Between what you would like to do and what happens to you

As a passive observer rather than active participant you go through

The meandering streets of your life, with a faint hope in mind

That someday the ability to live life more intentionally you would find

But there are so many roadblocks that instead of being proactive

You continue to live life in a manner reactive

*

You long for the pace of your life to slow down temporarily

So that you can think and reflect momentarily

But you are always on the go, taking decisions on the spot

There is no time to spend in contemplation or conscious thought..

*

Until one day enough is enough, you decide

From the chaos of the world you retreat and hide

To give yourself the much needed time and space

To reflect and think, only then you come out to face

The cacophony of noise in the world outside

But you have broken free from it, you are calmer inside

*

There are times when there is nothing else to do

Except retreat in a corner, let calmness prevail over you

To break free from the stimuli to which you’ve been reacting constantly

And mapping out your next steps with intentionality

With my sanity hanging in precarious balance, I cram

For yet another test of my knowledge, another exam

Again, I have to prove my academic prowess

I have to attain test-based success

But my grey cells are deteriorating fast

Whatever I read does not seem to last

In the blunted sulci and gyri of my brain

Trying to remember stuff causes physical pain

*

I am much better today than a decade ago

In application of my knowledge, I can show

My capabilities much better on the field

Where my cumulative experience is revealed

But my bookish knowledge has been leached from my brain

And my aging brain cella do not allow it to be replenished again

*

I’ve tried mnemonics and associations as aids

For retention of facts, but they seem to fade

From my memory as soon as they are placed

This is the crux of the predicament I face..

*

To lament about studying here is much more attractive

Than actually studying- to which only half-hearted attention I can give

I have to keep my energy levels from being drained

So that for the test I still have a functional brain

Like so many others I’d been gullible enough to believe

That following the Blue Zones pattern of living could help me achieve

Longevity just like people in those zones

But now it appears that it has been shown

That the prevalence of centenarians could be based on erroneous assumptions

Owing to lack of birth certificates, and fraudulent claims of pensions

It makes me sad to learn that the whole premise was wrong

There was no secret to longevity all along..

*

Books and documentaries have tried to explain and expound

On the principles of Blue Zones living, some traits they have found

Among these populations that appear to be associated

With healthy living, but the claims are highly exaggerated

*

Since the formula for longevity is likely not present in the Blue Zones

In trying to live as long as possible, I am on my own..

What do you do when being stuck seems to be

A permanent state, a way of life essentially

Every once in a while you get rocked side to side

Sometimes it almost feels like you are ready to glide

Forward- after what seems impossibly long

But then your exuberance proves premature, your intuition wrong

You end up staying exactly where you have been

As your heart aches for adventures unseen..

*

I am writing this because I’ve been feeling stuck

In my current position for years, I seem to be out of luck

Despite a worldwide pandemic and personal losses profound

My overall position is unchanged, my life revolves around

The same dyad of home and workplace

The monotony of which I’ve almost embraced

Yet there is a part of me that longs for some thrill

I need something else for my cup to fill

*

The only time when unstuck I feel

Is when my innermost thoughts I reveal

In my verses, when I am able to write

A coherent poem, something feels right

Like I am taking a step forward, at least temporarily

I feel my soul gets unstuck momentarily…

I consider it my responsibility to pass down to the next generation

My culture, my heritage, the time-honored traditions

That I grew up observing year after year

The heartwarming rituals that I hold dear..

*

Sometimes it is not an easy task to observe

Traditional customs, it is challenging to preserve

The authenticity of cultural expression in a foreign land

To immerse my child in my culture, so that he understands

The rich multilayered context behind our rituals

To help him identify their relevance, both cultural and spiritual..

*

While observing festivals and traditions in the same way

As they are celebrated back home seems difficult today

A few different facets I try to incorporate

Each year, when the festival I celebrate

All the traditions that I hold close to my heart

I hope to pass down to my son in parts..

*

Preserving my cultural heritage is not just a responsibility

But an integral part of my Indo-American identity…