Showing posts with label Political. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Political. Show all posts

28 March 2025

Child Labour

My son is not 14 yet.
He can't work.
Government orders.

He needs free and 
Compulsory education.
Government orders.

Upon that, he can't 
Even work in hazardous 
Industry till he's 18.

Uhh! What a waste.

His contribution could have
Added some Ammonium 
Nitrate to the world..

But alas! We got one
Bomb less because 
Of government orders.

The chaos in the world 
Is threatened by too 
Many takers of peace.

Pussies..!

Better to settle in Africa 
To take advantage of
His small hands.

Might at least be helpful 
In rathole mining of 
Some high-value ores.

His exploits need to
Be capitalized at least 
Over Gold and Diamond.

I mean, if adolescence
Is not wasted on 
Disruptive acts-

The age is dust
Scattered by farts.

27 March 2025

Descendence

We were direct descendants
Of Gods. Apple of Brahma's
Eyes and Gospel of Alla's times.

And the Sinned Children of Christ
Inhabiting Holy Mother Earth-
Around which everything revolved.

Then HMS Beagle reached
Galápagos Islands.
Darwin declared us as
Descendants of monkeys.

Such blasphemy to
Make us slaves of our own
Reasonable mind?

We could heal the wounds,
Live longer, and not just walk
But fly on in and out of water.

But how dare we live on our own
Terms now? How dare we
Solve metaphysical problems
On our own?

It was Godly to die en masse
In famines, epidemics, and
Religious wars.

How dare we associate
Ourselves with monkeys and
Fall down to newer highs?

25 March 2025

Human Misery

Chengis Khan is credited 
For controlling an eventual
Population explosion as
He killed millions.

Norman Borlaug is blamed 
For the Green Revolution as
He might have saved a billion
From starvation.

The famines and plagues
Have eaten up a good number 
Of people often. To keep the 
Population in check.

And something as simple as
Washing hands with soap
Has doubled life expectancy 
Within no time.

Where should we draw the line?
Who should we categorically 
Blame for the miseries of
Humankind?

The pandemics, disasters.
Modern medicine and the 
Wars that were stopped.
Could we have planned them all?

Should we think at a species 
Level at all or leave it to chance 
To simply eat, mate, reproduce 
Till we're flushed into the
Existential indifference?

Or we should up the game 
To blame someone better?
Like the stars, planets or aliens. 
The spaceships anyway 
Are on their way.

Worship

When I see a flower bud.
I pluck it and put it in water to
Force it bloom within hours-
I've a God to please.

The vibrant petals lose 
The color after some time.
The wilting kicks in.

The petals fall inward.
Turn black and dry out
Into a demise eventually.

Should I be held responsible?
I should be. Said the Lord.

The sheer cruelty of plucking 
A plant's reproductive organs-
Phallus for phallus he said
And hung me by the balls.

He had a target to reach 
Today and I was the last
Sacrifice to his Overlord.

Everyone up the chain is
Interested in phallus to have
Themselves pleased?

Explains a lot phallus worship 
In our traditions.

Seems at one point of time
All worship must have been
Mindlessly throwing around 
One genital at the other.

No wonder why all the 
Religions are a cover-up 
Jobs like fake orgasms.

13 March 2025

Meaning

Five thousand years ago
A bored little girl,
On the banks of Indus 
In the North Western province.

Wrote poetry on slabs
Of stone and threw them
Around.

Meaningless strokes of
Etchings that meant 
Only relief from daily 
Chores.

Millennia later, 
Archaeologists, Historians 
Getting hold of those to
Decipher the meaning.

Reaching consensus over
The assumption that 
They're records of day to
Day transactions.

Why didn't they consider 
The possibility of innocent 
Folly of a bored little girl?

Did we grow so high on
Our own intellect that
We're compelled to give 
Meaning to everything?

Is that why these civilizations
Fall, evolve, and arise?
Maybe yes. If it is yes.
Then it's such a tragic yes.

09 March 2025

The Almighty Lord

Before he had any name.
Before he became
Predominantly male.
He was formless. 

He was nature once.
Then a mountain, a hill.
A stone worshiped on
Field or street.

The erstwhile omnipotent 
Omnipresent, omniscient.
Now divided, shred and 
Shrunk into certain 

Holy books, walls, domes
Tribes and religions.
When did he became 
Absolutely parochial?

The poor must wait in line 
For the darshan while 
The rich can bribe their
Way into sacrosanct?

Menstruating women
And widows are declared 
Impure too along with 
Some other castes?

The growing distance from 
The truth that he himself 
Was supposed to preach. 
Our God. The Almighty Lord...

Then infinite. There after
Limitless, unbound and
Now barely independent.
Who's gonna believe him?

But everyone does.
Now more fiercely than ever.
The supposed redemption 
To closeted bigotry-

What a downfall.

19 February 2025

One Language

In the house that was 
Cozy and vast.
We had 10,000 windows.
Maybe more.

Then they said,
Tinting with aluminium 
Frames would be nice.

One at a time, 
over the years,
The clean blue sky
Turned pink, red, pale
And what-not.

Before we could realize 
What was at play,
That's what the nation 
Wants they said.

You gotta see through 
Our eyes and speak
Through our tongues.

"One Nation. 
One Language."

And when they gave 
The final makeover to
Our last window,
The last hope of clean light 
Shone bright at our faces.

But we didn't have a 
Vocabulary of our own
To scream a protest.

And when the last word of 
My language fell flat on 
The road- with the final 
Window down.

They checked if the last
Person can dream in
My lang and reciprocate.
And when there was 
Nothing.. 

They hosted a funeral on 
The graveyard of our 
Tongues to celebrate
National integrity..

Unity in diversity was 
The theme.

16 February 2025

Om Mangalam

In my region, everyone's 
Surname is of a distant village.
And if you ask them why

They'd tell you a story of 
How their ancestors killed 
Someone and fled their 
Original settlement.

My own Lineage goes back 
To a neighboring state. 
My grandfather's 
Great-Grandfather killed
Someone and fled his village.

Everyone has the same story.
Most of them at least.
And I hope it's the same 
Across the country. 
Or maybe across the world.

We're all refugees it seems.
Guilty of crimes. 
Seeking a place to hide. 
Maybe the entire world 
Is an asylum like that.

Maybe that's how the 
Civilizations here began.

Maybe we fled Mars after 
Killing all the trees.
Guilty of doing the same here.
GENES!!!

Maybe be the first man on
Earth was called John Mars
At some point of time.
Or perhaps he was a 
South-Indian named Sreenu.
Aka Mangalam Sreenu.

And maybe that's why 
Mars is always pissed off
In our astro profiles.


Mangalam Sreenu is antagonist 
In the movie Puspa 

13 January 2025

Mom, Gran and..

It's the weight of daily 
Chores or burden of idealism 
Imposed within closed doors?

The cry of babies or the noise 
Of wanna-be boys and men
That weighed her down?

Why is she hesitant when 
Someone asks her name?
Who was she before she
Could be a mom or gran?

The magical mystery, who
Reeks of round rotis and
Balance of a perfect sambar.

Something loud-mouthed
Consumed the syllables of 
Her last name.

Found only in her school 
Certificate maybe. 
But the paths to her school 
Is erased-

Childhood defaced and 
The backstory of how she was 
Before she turned a Misses is 
Fed to the Wolves.

What remains now is an
Ageless face. Her wageless
Labour and hints of onions 
In her expression..

Which doesn't go beyond 
A couple of sulphated tears 
In the kitchen.

26 December 2024

Nost-algia

The tall building on the 
4th street has my book and 
Pencil-- I never gotta 
Go to school.

The villa near the water 
Tank has trophies I 
Never gotta win.

The temple near the Lake 
Has shoes and a uniform 
I never gotta wear.

The High school by
The Panchayat office has 
Memories of my crippled leg. 
Damaged when one of 
The walls fell.

The childhood that's 
Rubbed away by the bricks 
I carried from the kiln-

When I walk these streets,
A streak of nostalgia 
Gets to me-- like I almost 
Met my school crush.

But alas! She too had to 
Carry bricks for the 
New Mall that came up 
In the city nearby.

We can almost hear the 
Sound of the movies.
And the whiff of popcorn 
Popping inside.

Sometimes we sneak in
To get a peek at the other side,
But it seems they always 
Shoo away our kind.

02 December 2024

Sense of Humour

At first, parents will come to
Snatch your sense of humor.
Then those teachers and 
Well-wishers.

Advisors and other elders, 
Who can't handle your wit.

Sometimes the siblings and
Some friends. Your dog,
The family deity who can't 
Take a little offense.

They can't handle the ridicule.
A bit of sarcasm seems
Like a mirror, and they don't 
Want to be exposed.

Then there's the government.
The most afraid and intolerant.
Anything that reeks of life,
They want to tax it.

Sales tax on whoever laughs
And slabs of GST on whoever
Makes them laugh.

They love you on crutches
Don't they? A compliant mind 
That doesn't question..
A "Yes sir' without any arguments
To label you a patriot.

If only all the leaders were 
Comedians, and 
In the next world wars
Jokes would explode-

Not that they aren't jokers 
Or stuff isn't exploding stuff now.
It's just, no one is laughing. 
As the joke is on us. 

24 November 2024

Skilled Labour

They don't make children's 
Movies these days.
Seems everyone feels a bit 
Overly adult each year.

All the toys and dolls be
Reduced to a nullity soon.
All the cry and naivety be
Banned because who wants 
To be child anymore?

There would be ultrasonic 
Classes after conception.
The foetus should learn 
Mandarin by the second 
Trimester.

The world's running out of 
Skilled labour- one has to 
Process Raw-Data if they
Want decent exit from their 
Mom's vagina.

Ohh! We need to beat machines 
And AI modules you see- 
Teaching mental agility to 
These LittleShits is the only 
Way to save humanity.

Our wars are spiritual,
We're our own enemies.
Need to give up vanities,
Ignore emotions. 
Focus on mental awareness
And cognitive orgasms.

So, here, you wanna be 
Freaks. Take these 
Quantum Nuclear Codes.
Mug them up and don't leak.

If there's an explosion,
Contain it in your head.
And that's a test for your 
Enrollment in first grade.

22 November 2024

Loose Ends

Hunger after the stomach 
Is full. Thirst after it has 
Been quenched.

Where do clouds go when 
They can't pour down?

Where do the poems that
Couldn't make it to paper 
Find their abode?

These unsent love-letters
In the closet, 
Slowly turning sour.

Where did the unheard 
Songs go? and the 
Un-answered prayers?

And the innocent kids that
Die after the bombing?

Do they ever hail heavy 
On the gates of heaven?

Or they're sent to hell?
For not being capitalised
In a religious reckoning.

21 November 2024

Subtle Art

When the first man chipped away 
The edges off a rock to roll it.

Another playing with stones, 
Sparked the first fire and ate baked 
Flesh for the first time.

Centuries later, a dude capitalized 
Both phenomenons to boil water 
In a tank to move around on steam.

The refinement of the same,
Passing through various minds of
People with passion-

Suddenly you've innumerable options.
Wheel-wise, size-wise, engine-wise, 
Fuel-wise- lots of categories.

And when you complain now about 
How you're anxious to choose from 
The myriad of choices you've-

I say, be thankful sis.

One asteroid is all it takes to bite
The dust- to wander naked in Eden-
Cold. Hungry. Ready to get 

Cursed again by God, for eating 
That forbidden Apple- and a
Whole replay of this simulation.

To say all of that to invoke a sense
Of gratitude in you- Mansplaining is 
A subtle art you see.

Gets better if one knows how to 
Flaunt when the other is 
Under-confident and meek.

14 November 2024

Sab Changasi

Ours is a sleepy town,
The worst that can happen
Is a bad cup of tea and
The best is a good cup
With a plate of Girmit.

We don't have big malls,
Traffic jams, skyscrapers,
Or critical infrastructure.
Streets are not tangled,
You can hardly get lost.

Wokeness of English
Hasn't seeped in our language.
So cripples are not
Special abled here yet.
They do the same things
Ordinary people are supposed
To do.

Feminism hasn't invaded
The households and women
Are busy making homes
Than forming opinions
That are politically correct.

Kids don't hesitate to stone
Mating dogs disgusted by
Their interlocked genitals.
And the men walk in their
Banyans, with their proud
Fat bellies-

The only duty they got is
To transfer their chauvinism
To the next- GenZ and counting-
Everything is all right till the
Round rotis keep coming.

05 November 2024

Masters

A few kilograms of rice
And maybe some daal.
A hundred or a five
Hundred note at times.

That's how we sell our
Votes to rot in the same
Hope, again and again.

The fire is costly and
Hunger is cheap.
And the value of life is
An overlookable stat.

Life doesn't improve.
Livelihood too.
Had to take things in hand
To etch fate on our
Foreheads in bold.

But God complains,
Says it's illegible, to
Outsource the task of
Reading to doctors.

Nothing changed though.

Bodies piled up and
The Doctors in turn ruined
Their handwriting in
The process.

04 November 2024

Retakes

''Cut, ready for a retake.''
'Cut, Retake. The make up
Is not right'

"Cut, Retake, in the next 
Scene, tear up a little less."
I don't want an exaggerated 
Sob- says the director.

Is this the 19th take?
Who cares. All you can feel
Is his hands on your bust.
Intended brush on the hips.

This hasn't changed in ages.

Cry a little less? How?
Your every effort to suppress 
Each drop of tear,
Bursts open another fissure 
That wants to laugh.

Laugh and laugh, till all 
The tormenters are deaf?
Molesters turn blind and 
The divide that comes with 
Gender is neutered?  

But you can't laugh. 
Can you?

All the efforts you put up
To cry a little less in the next 
Take, when you've an 
Ocean to pour down.

What's more ironic?
Inability to laugh or 
Cry a little less?
Or the fact that the director 
Says 'scene' and you're
Ready again for 

The next nineteen
Or God knows how many!

16 October 2024

Taming a Local identity

The capital, the city, the king,
The prime minister- they suck
Everything from us.

They make us grow, and
Compel to sell us at a price
Decided by them.

They steal our plates and
Self-esteem. They savour it
To fart in English and Hindi.

And if we hold our noses
In disgust, they hold us
In contempt for talking-

In our dialects, while their
Mouth is an actual ass that
Gives away loads of shit.

One language, one religion,
One spectrum of stench,
At the expense of my village?

With a knife in our throats,
You snatch our Golden Goose.
And in the name of nationalism

You force us to believe,
That we stole your eggs?

09 October 2024

Sanitization of Words

The moon needn't be in
The poems today.
The bulb in the room
Often feels betrayed.

The swish of cool breeze 
Needn't hail heavy,
The ceiling fan between 
The speed of 2-3 asks 

How does it matter..
If Americans can't catch 
That reference?

Bring in that shabby pillow,
Your bag and socks.
The bucket too wants 
To be hosted here.

The first time someone 
Debuted a TV in verses, 
Victorian era poetry
Felt utterly betrayed.

So bring in your 
Dirty underwear today.
There needn't be any
Rules.

Sanitization of words
Is just pretense.

If your toothbrush hasn't 
Made an entry yet.
Your poetic exploration 
Hasn't been enough.

06 October 2024

When Bystanders Wrote History

There was a hole in
The king's immortality.
Pores in his Teflon imagery.

He wasn't that godly 
After all. He too had a
Butthole and his shit stank.

When the bystanders
Wrote history- their hunger
Screamed loud.

Their dilapidated huts 
Against the state's 
Glittery gold-

Their birds with, deprived 
Wings learned to fly 
And sing out loud.

Erstwhile blasphemous 
Acts oozed wisdom.
Earth was no longer flat.

Sun could not revolve
Around the earth.
The crownless could be

A prince in the stories,
And the last princess did 
Marry a poet of her fancy.