Weapon

In the first year,

He pees a trajectory.

That hits his father's

Nose.

At age five, he takes

Aim at a street bulb.

Hits it accurately,

With a stone.

When he turns ten,

Shoots off an arrow to

Damage a pig's eye,

From a wooden bow.

Then he fancies a

Slingshot at the turn,

Of fifteen. Off the roof

A pigeon shortly falls.

Now that he turns

Twenty-five, and

Stands holding a gun

In front of the mirror..

Unable to pull the trigger,

'Phew-phew-phew' 

He says..

He doesn't know why.

His tongue can be a 

Better weapon, 

Its agility Over the years

He has realized.

And in the thirties, 

He has but a big mouth,

To repeat lies and

Hack minds..

Weapons bring you

Victims. With words,

The victims become

Your weapons.

Propaganda works

That way.

Words are deadlier

Than bullets.

These days that's why 

He's fully engaged..

In political debates.

Tired Fragrances

The wafted smell of jasmines,
While he passed the street yesterday.
Took him to the days when
His mother still fancied them
In her braid.

How his father brought her wreaths
From The local markets.
How even she herself,
Stood arguing with hawkers,
For an extra inch of the wreath..

But now she doesn't wear any.

While his father passed away
And in what forsaken book
It must have been etched,
About the husband-less women,
And the flowers she fancies.

And if the natural order is just
And beauty and desire are
True measure of existence..

Then in every market,
In the every hawker's wickers,
A handful of Jasmines that
Ought to be in a mother's braid..
Wither in tired fragrances.

And in all glory, when they
Waft past the noses of all the over-aged
Sons, they slap them awake to
The loneliness of their widowed
Mothers.

Hypocrisy

Every time a male

Figurine pops up,

You pull up the ghungat 

To cover your face.

That's how women

Uphold family pride.

You go to the kitchen,

Whenever you're sad.

Sit down alone with a

Knife and an onion.

That's how dear,

A lady should cry.

You hide your panties,

Under a T-shirt on the

Cloth-line. Don't forget 

To clip them tight.

That's how female the

Underwears are dried.

And as you brood there,

Connecting the dots,

Back to the hypocrisy 

Of the tears and

The panties in disguise..

You may as well 

Consider the possibility

Of climbing up the ego

Of patriarchy to jump

Down to our self-respect..

As that's how your gender 

Should commit suicide.

OCD

Sometimes, it feels like 

My chair has a set of eyes.

That it creepily stares at me

To suck all my dreams.

It feels like the wall clock,

Has a pair of ears.

Makes me uncomfortable,

Thinking if it knows my secrets.

I wonder if the gas-cylinder 

Has a nose that sniffs off

My stink and snorts up 

Whatever ambition I'm left with. 

The metal-lock, perfume-bottle. 

The helmet, the iron-box.

The more I look at them and

Think, the more creepy they become.

I freaked out one day and

Accidentally came in front of

The mirror..

My eyes were a pair of chairs.

Two clocks in place of ears.

I sneezed out of shock and

The gas off my nose caught fire. 

Self Censorship

Weeping of any form should be
Declared as a crime.
Teardrops kissing the cheeks is
Love-jihad.

Speaking of any sort should be
Looked down upon.
How dare you set your lips apart?

Blinking of eyes, throbbing of heart.
Even breathing is such a laborious
Task, unemployment, that's why
Is so rampant.

The left of the brain, slips in a duel
With the right. while grey cells
Tend to go on a hunger strike.

And from around somewhere,
A crooked thought, undemocratically
Dictates its terms, the rest of the
Neurons do not fire up in protest.

But my confused hand doesn't
Follow restraint. To make a point
It doesn't hesitate.

Un-aware, it bloody doesn't
Understand that these battles
Often die unceremoniously-

On a piece of paper...

As Pens, do not have enough 

Firepower.

Jingo

Eat veg,

Don't speak English.

Don't ask questions 

And beware of what

You wear on head.

Because an extra

Ounce of protein

To your bones and

Infection of logic

In your brain..

Can make your

Vote foolproof

Against the lure

Of notes and

Threats of bigots. 

Secularism is a sin.

Liberal is gandu.

Right is to eat

And shed the left,

As wiping your ass 

Is not so holy. FYI. 

Food prices and 

Inflation are for

The elite.

Harassing lovers

In parks is how 

You create jobs.

So bow your head,

Beat your wife.

Threaten the neighbour.

And take the side of 

The colour that's on 

The top of our flag.

Beware of the one

That's in the middle,

As it represents peace.

And remember to

Fight the one that's 

Below. 

It's a patriotic deed. 

Forgotten to Rebel

These days

I don't laugh aloud.

Don't gasp out

Of pain.

I don't rush

Out of instinct

To face whatever

That comes.

The wild bull in 

My head has been

Tamed to force it

Down on a chair.

The spark that 

Glared inside has

Been watered to

Smoke.

Watching TV,

Eating snacks.

Trolling and

Reacting to the

Unnecessary headlines.

Carried away by

Cheap jokes and

Throwing away

Free advices..

I've been sitting

Here.

Hiding the 

Whetstone

From the blunt 

Thoughts of my

Burnt out mind..

I've been sitting

Here.

These days 

I've forgotten 

To rebel. 

Cough

Was it the intoxication carried
By the winds from the west.
Or sparks set off the insides that
Churned out in protest.
No one knows.

When it took over minds, fiddled
With the hearts to overpower
Human will.. Everyone who had
Forgotten to speak coughed.

Cough, Cough. A terrific cough.
They coughed while they stood.
Coughed while they sat.
They woke up coughing and
Fell down battered by the cough.

The cough gulped the laugh to
Cough more. Pulled up the
Intestine to amplify its choke.

It slapped awake the ones asleep,
To force open their hearts.
Kicked down the haughty heads,
To compel a grounded walk.

Some toiled, built, sang, danced
And toned their cough in shape
To become poets. Others blamed,
Grappled and grudged.
And strangled themselves to
Self-pity and hate.

Few, who became good coughers.
Preached the art of coughing.
To become self-proclaimed babas.
And the ones who mastered to
Cough it out loud, 

Made assurances to censure it 

And won elections..

Nexus Event

She wakes. Rubs her eyes
And looks in the mirror.
Something about her, she doesn't
Feel is in place. Something about
This morning is just not right.

She leaves the aangan un-swept.
Chooses to let her hair undone.
Doesn't pluck the flowers for pooja.
Doesn't apply sindhoor on her forehead.

Things in the kitchen are not paid any
Attention. Seems food will not be
Prepared today.
If you see her in the eyes.
There's no agitation. No hate or anger.
No baggage of years of oppression.
Neither any excuse of victimization.

There's just blankness. A vast expanse
Of emptiness that wants to watch
The world burn, for the sins it has committed.
It dictates a command. Seeks from her
Her own redemption.

So she unwraps herself from
The bondage of her saree. Keeps aside
All the imposed precedents.
And runs in the streets naked.

The high temple of the village shakes.
The lake in the village breaks.
The earth cries fire. Even the sun feels
The chills of these tremors of shock.
Those who peeked from a distance
Got blinded. The bastards who mocked
The event were torched to ashes.

Suddenly her kid cries out of hunger
And the reality comes out of slumber.
Seems the simulation was over.

The kitchen was flung open.
The stove was lit again and the world
Order was saved. Only the gods
And the demons had a memory of what
Had happened.

They thanked the child in prostration.
He was declared as the incarnation of
Of Lord reclines on a giant snake,
For fixing the glitch in the matrix,
That's supposed favor men.

ಕೆಮ್ಮು

ಅದು ತೆಂಕಣ ಗಾಳಿಯ 

ಅಮಲೋ.
ಒಡಲ ಮಂಥನದ
ಕಿಡಿಯೋ.

ತಲೆ ಏರಿ, ಎದೆ ಮೀಟಿ,
ತೊಡೆ ತಟ್ಟಿ
ಅಬ್ಬರಿಸಿದಾಗ,
ಮಾತು ಮರೆತಿದ್ದ
ಮಂದಿ ಎಲ್ಲಾ
ಕೆಮ್ಮಿದರು.

ಕೆಮ್ಮು. ಕೆಮ್ಮು.
ಭಯಂಕರ ಕೆಮ್ಮು.

ನಿಂತರೂ ಕೆಮ್ಮು.
ಕುಂತರೂ ಕೆಮ್ಮು.
ಎದ್ದರೂ ಕೆಮ್ಮು.
ಬಿದ್ದರು ಕೆಮ್ಮು.

ನಗುವನ್ನು ನುಂಗಿ
ಕ್ಯಾಕರಿಸಿದ ಕೆಮ್ಮು.
ಕರುಳ ಜಗ್ಗಿ
ಅಳಿಸಿದ ಕೆಮ್ಮು.

ಮಲಗಿದವರನ್ನು
ಗಾರಿ ಉಗುಳಲು
ಎಬ್ಬಿಸಿದ ಕೆಮ್ಮು.

ಎದ್ದವರನ್ನು ಕುಗ್ಗಿ
ನಡೆಸಲು,
ತಲೆ ತಟ್ಟಿದ ಕೆಮ್ಮು.

ಬೀಗಿ, ಬೈದು,
ಗೊಳೋ ಎಂದು ಅತ್ತು.
ತಲೆ ತಿಪ್ಪೆ
ಮಾಡಿಕೊಂಡರು
ಹಲವರು.

ಬಿತ್ತಿ, ಎತ್ತಿ,
ಕೆರೆ-ಕಟ್ಟೆ ಕಟ್ಟಿ,
ತಮ್ಮ ಕೆಮ್ಮಿಗೆ
ರಾಗ ಕೊಟ್ಟು,
ಕವಿಯಾದರು ಕೆಲವರು.

ಹೇಗೆ ಕೆಮ್ಮಬೇಕೆಂದು
ಹೇಳಿ ಕೊಡಲು ತಿಳಿದ
ಬಲ್ಲವರು
ಸ್ವಾಮಿಗಳಾದರು.

ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಜೋರಾಗಿ ಕೆಮ್ಮಿ,

ಆಶ್ವಾಸನೆ ನೀಡಿ.

ಕೆಮ್ಮನ್ನೇ ಬಂಡವಾಳ

ಮಾಡಿಕೊಂಡ‌ ಧುರೀಣರು‌  

ಸರ್ಕಾರ ಕಟ್ಟಿದರು..

ಕೆಮ್ಮನ್ನು 

ಹತೋಟಿಯಲ್ಲಿಡಲು.

ಕಾಳಿ ದೇವಿಗೆ ಮೂಗುದಾನ

ಎದ್ದು ಅಂಗಳ 

ತೊಳೆಯಲಿಲ್ಲ.

ತೆಲೆ ತೊಳೆದು ಜುಟ್ಟು 

ಕಟ್ಟಲಿಲ್ಲ.

ಬೊಟ್ಟು ಇಡಲಿಲ್ಲ. 

ಹೂ ಮುಡಲಿಲ್ಲ.

ಒಲೆಗೂ ಕೂಡ ರಜೆ.

ಇವತ್ತು ಅನ್ನ ಬೇಯೊದಿಲ್ಲ.

ಕಣ್ಣಲ್ಲಿ ಸೇಡಿಲ್ಲ.

ನೋವಿಲ್ಲ, ನಗುವಿಲ್ಲ.

ಸಾವಿರಾರು ವರ್ಷಗಳ

ದಬ್ಬಾಳಿಕೆಯ ಜ್ಞಾನವಿಲ್ಲ.

ನೆಪವೂ ಇಲ್ಲ.

ಆದರೂ

ಎದೆಯಲೊಂದು

ಅಳುಕಿದೆ.

ಮನದಲ್ಲಿ ಕವಿದ ಶೂನ್ಯ

ಜಗತ್ತನ್ನೇ ತಿನ್ನೆಂದು,

ನಗುತಿದೆ..

ಉಟ್ಟ ಸೀರೆಯ

ದಾಸ್ಯವ ತೊರೆದು,

ಸರಸರನೆ ಓಣಿಯಲ್ಲಿ

ಬೆತ್ತಲೆ ಓಡಿದಳು.

ಊರಿನ ಗುಡಿ

ಅದುರಿತು.

ಕೆರೆ ಒಡೆಯಿತು.

ಭೂಮಿ ಕಂಪಿಸಿತು.

ಸೂರ್ಯನಿಗೂ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ

ಚಳಿ ತಾಗಿತು.

ಇಣುಕಿ ನೋಡಿದವರು,

ಕುರುಡರಾದರು.

ನಿಂತು‌ ನಕ್ಕ ಕೆಲ ಲೌಡಿಗಳು‌ 

ಸುಟ್ಟು ಬೂದಿಯಾದರು.

ಎವ್ವಾ! ಮುಕಳಿಗೆ

ನೀರೆಂದು ಮಗು

ಕರೆಯಿತು.

ವಾಸ್ತವ ರಪ್ಪನೆ

ಅಪ್ಪಳಿಸಲು,

ಒಲೆ ಹೊತ್ತಿತು.

ಊರು ಉಳಿಯಿತು.

ಆಗಿದ್ದೇನೆಂದು,

ದೇವ-ದಾನವರಿಗೆ ಮಾತ್ರ

ಗೊತ್ತಿತ್ತು.

ಪುರುಷ ಪ್ರಭುತ್ವವನ್ನು

ಉಳಿಸಲು,

ಮಗುವಾಗಿ ಬಂದಿದ್ದ

ಶಿವನಿಗೆ, ಅವರು  

ಕೈ ಮುಗಿದರು.

Head and Hunger

We plough, we sow.

Against the rains

We gamble to grow.

For a roti and 

Some rice.

Firewood and

Cooking oil..

My mother toils

Against her life

To fix a dinner.

Law of conservation

Of energy doesn't

Apply in our kitchen. 

If the light were that

Discernible.

At first instance,

I would have tried to

Make a container,

To illuminate my 

Dilapidated hut.

Because when I

See a posh building

From here,

The light seemed 

Have always been 

Relative.

And wonder. 

Always have been

Wondering about Newton

And his apple.

If it would have

Fallen on me.

Maybe I would have 

Eaten it readily.

The act of head,

And hunger, you see,

Are third law of

Motion otherwise.

Maybe somewhere

There's a fission

Reaction that's

Multiplying pulses.

Some missiles with

Nuclear warheads,

In one stroke, can

Feed all the poor.

Maybe then,

Between the head

And the stomach,

Science can win 

The race. 

Cleansing

Tragidies are 

Infected with

Laugh and

They've become

Nitrous oxide.

Fantasies are

Mixed with vile

Of politics.

Anesthetics are

Now obsolete.

Sad stories,

Have cold endings.

They die easily

These days.

Amputations are

Done by building

Narratives.

Hip-hop has

Caught a cold.

Establishment,

Has whored

Rappers to tune

Their agenda.

Ideas pop-up

Strings attached.

Even psychedelics 

Are in fetters.

Rock music is

In clinical trials

To treat ethnicity.

I lust you

Love is a close

Relative of lust.

That judges it,

For wearing a 

Revealing dress.

While it wanders

Naked in disguise,

In the minds that 

Preach pretense.

What's wrong

In the intimacy

That grows by 

Fire of skins,

Friction of hips..

And the stroke of

Calling that's evoked

By the wake of 

Genitals? 

Purest of longing,

Should it linger

Only in heart?

Is that such an

Obvious stereotype?

Against the drapes 

That limit the

Depths of desire.

This is a poem is

A nudist's satire.

Women

We glorified 

Womanhood

To restrict you 

To brooms.

Celebrated 

Motherhood 

To confine you

To rooms.

We pitied you to

Hold hostage in

Soft-emotions.

Stereotyped to

Force you in 

Clothes of desire.

Ladies first we

Say,

Unequal salaries

We pay.

To force you to 

Cut onions.

Men shouldn't cry,

We declare.

You may wage wars.

Rule the world.

Mother a prophet or

Slave a demon.

Still, you gotta

Take our blame

And make our

Homes.

You're better than us.

Even stronger.

But consolation

Prizes is all you'll get..

Maybe another

Child to pet.

A saree, 

Some jwellery or

One more poem 

Like this one to

Exemplify your

Compliant behavior.

Song of unity

No, 

We're not afraid

Of the tainted light.

Or distracted by

The lure of

Promising nights.

This is a beginning

Of our unity,

You can't stop.

We're gonna 

Paint our fate in

White tonight.

We've buried

Our vices beneath

A rocky surface.

Cast our hearts

In a smelting furnace.

We can't be dodged

By the vanities

Of the heavens.

Or the scared by

The cold fetters

Of hell.

The rage in eyes

Is awake.

The song of the

Black flags will

Be sung to

Sooth the wounds

Of separation.

From the cold

Embers a revolution 

Will arise and

That'll be you

Elitists' demise.

Beware of the 

Thorns, you wretches.

We feed blood to

The roses,

You preach 

Discrimination.

Dear Comrade

With the stroke of

Of your tongue,

The words you weave.

The intoxication,

Your eyes spew..

Curl of your lip,

That slays hearts

And subjugates

Minds.

Communists,

Atheists, priests.

Philosophers and

And other fanatics.

How many 

Revolutions,

You must have 

Killed. 

With just a curve

Of your smile.

Are you,

By any chance.

The incumbent

Government? 

Greenhouse

Sky is crying fire.
Winds are hurling
A storm.
Earth quivers in
Boggled awe.
As a revolution
Comes alive.

Icecaps are afraid
Of a wave of heat.
Mountains shiver out
In a cold that beats.
Seas too slosh
In scare,
To the revolution
That's in wake.

Forests have lost
Their cool.
Animals are as
Confused.
Trees do anticipate
Something bad.
The revolution in
Wake, is not
Welcome at all.

Demons are
Running for life.
Angels are confused
Taking sides.
Gods sit coughing,
For being pleased
With lit-up cigars.

And the man lauds
The smoke,
He is breathing.
Lits another cigarette,
To celebrate the next 

Revolution he wanna

Bring to life.

Wake of Revolution

Termite infestation

In my heart.

Creeping everywhere,

These dusty burrows

Tell me that they're

A piece of art.

Leaches feeding

On my soul.

Purge of my mind,

The Holi I'm part of

Is a bloody war. 

Gag on my mouth,

Flies in my head.

Blood has turned

Thick, 

A nuclear fission

In wake.

These words,

Crawling inside.

Before they 

Burst open and

Write a revolution..

Give me my pen.

We're United by Pain

Masons laying bricks,

Miners in dark pits.

Mothers in kitchen.

Farmers in a field or

Workers in a factory.

All sweat the same.

We're united by pain.

..

Down and dusted.

Sad and lonely.

Smothered by the

Dread of darkness.

All the tear stains

On pillows stink 

The same.

We're united by pain.

..

Viscous fluid of

Crimson red with,

Ashy metallic taste. 

Under the hide of

White, Black, Albion

And brown..

When hurt, oozes,

All the same.

We're united by pain.

.. 

Thirst in Alaska,

Hunger in Africa.

Siberian cold to

Desperate Asians

Seeking an identity.

We all bleed the same.

We're united by pain.

..