The most hated feelings.

anticipation, a hated word,
makes you go around the world,

the wait for the dark clouds,
for the moments when you can say it aloud,
for the pleasure of a raindrop on a scorched face
the satisfaction of cool drops down a parched throat

the water, the cloud, the shade, or the beautiful glade
meaningless without the longing,
without the anticipation, all the pleasures fade.


the happiness from anything, from the heartburning desire arises.
the driver of destiny, the motive force behind man
the  most hated of feelings,
desire, anticipation, and longing.

the dreams that keep you awake,
the dreams that disturb you as you wake
the purpose in life,
the thirst that warrants the strife;
difficult decisions, battles between desires
the source of pride for a well lived life,
the fountain of joy for any quest won,
hated while they're there, prized when they're won.

desires and decisions, fuelling life,
three cheers to them for bleeding you as knives.

The Many Shades of Fundamentalism

The world is plagued by many issues today, and most aren’t really new. We know more today of these issues than ever before, and many more get known than ever before. Poverty, Illiteracy, anarchy, religious violence, and many instances of might over weakness, with a few instances of the might of collective weakness. These are only a few of the issues we have to deal with, but the roots of most of our issues lie in fundamentalism.

Fundamentalism is defined by the Merriam Webster Dictionary as ‘a movement or attitude stressing strict and literal adherence to a set of basic principles’. While more religion specific definitions exist, I believe this is a more comprehensive definition than those.

The sets of basic principles in the definition, have changed over the years in various geographies, for various communities. It is the lack of flexibility of different generations, different geographies, and various communities that creates all these issues. While many of my friends will simplistically vouch for an individualist and conscientious definition of principles as a policy to avoid fundamentalism, I think while that would be desirable, a recognition of socially accepted belief or principle is crucial to coexistence in the imperfect world created by whichever cosmological event or perfect being.

While TV debaters and parliaments alike debate on how to eliminate each of the various evils we talk of, let us look at something more fundamental, like fundamentalism.
Honour killings are now commonplace across the world, and across religions. Both the younger and older generations have been reported to resort to these brutal, most judgemental way of ideological suppression. This is clearly an example of intolerance towards different ways of thinking. How one (and far more frighteningly many) can believe in something so strongly as to kill someone for differing, for merely marrying against tradition, or for anything, is a matter for serious discussion. In a world where everything from incest to murder has been common and okay at various places during various times, and in a world where rape is increasingly common, how does one feel that their way is right, or is working?

Illiteracy is an issue of access, but it is increasingly compounded by intolerance and fundamentalism, as was clearly highlighted by the violence against Malala Yousafzai. Most religious beliefs are now not recent, and most scriptures were first written (or handed to men if you prefer it) hundreds, if not thousands of years ago. Even if one believes that God indeed asked of us to follow one of those many scriptures, don’t these hundreds and thousands of years merit a revision in these texts? Societal structures have changed, technology has changed, and in many cases even the geographical extent of religion has changed. Religions have spread across continents, engulfing many indigenous ways to God. Many cultures have differences with western education, but is there a relevant and recent alternate available? In a world where people are moving across countries, can nations with laws based in particular religions be expected to be tolerant?

It is not only an issue with the developing world, though. Developed, rich nations have significant populations with fundamentalist leanings, whether enforced by the gun or not. In fact, anti- fundamentalism has taken fundamentalist shades, with many who oppose fundamentalism opposing only a version of it, or opposing, even hating the religions or ideologies that fundamentalists claim to adhere to.

Poverty and illiteracy are again strongly linked (at least logically) to population. Nationalistic or religious beliefs have been commonly responsible for overpopulation, where people of different religions have some strange notion of the sanctity of life and the gift of children, even when their life cannot be ensured, even when parents have no means to protect or feed these children, leave alone giving them a good life. We have endlessly pushed on the forests’ borders, forcing the wild animals out, making more homes, needing more farms, to feed all of us. The irony in this may be obvious in the fact that governmental support to the needy goes from the taxes of all citizens, not just those with such beliefs.

Should we do away with religion then? Even assuming such a thing were possible, I would say no. religion is a force that binds people together (although in separate groups), and more importantly gives people a reason to follow the right path (though not always). What is more important is to make sure that one person’s right path does not involve destroying another’s. What is even more important, is that we make sure the generations to come are not taught to be intolerant, and that their impressionable years must not be spent in schools teaching ruthless, inflexible ideologies, whether religious, political, or otherwise.
We must introspect, as individuals, as communities, as nations and as generations, whether our beliefs are flexible enough to accommodate another’s, and how intolerance and ideological inflexibility can be dealt with, with tolerance.

Live

Over death we have no control,
eyes close, heads roll;
life kicked out from beautiful eyes and beating hearts,
painful, painless, bloody, bloodless, and a hundred other sorts,
ways all to fall, like a lifeless doll.

the whims of others decide how you go,
a God or a devil, someone stops your show.

one moment you may be jumping, full of glee,
just remember you will never know when your life will flee.
flowers or fleas, bins or coffins,
no wreath can make you breathe;
no telephone rings, no internet pings,
 only friends, family and lovers who seethe.

no society, no taboo, no bonds that matter,
a life lived with hesitation, with fear of rejection;
afraid to laugh, to cry, to do new things, to go out of character;
limited you live, strained and constrained;
you need no chains or glass ceiling, so self restrained.

its a precious life so uncertain,
live it before someone pulls the curtains.
live the life you want, listen to no taunt,
life is to live, don't come back to haunt.
all fears look insignificant once you're gone,
a hundred things you'll wish you'd done,
but then you'll see no dawn nor sundown.


you know any tock may stop your clock,
live like a man, get out of the flock;

you have it now,
the life, the light, the essence of now;
live it while you have it, live it today, live it now.

Awe

Free, wild,
untameable, self-controlled.
tough, tender.
unruffled, changing,
nature-like, indomitable,
inexplicable, complex.
simple, clear.
awe-inspiring, wise,
child-like.
the proverbial Feminine.
©Sireesh.Y ,2012

Inability

Able to talk, to write, to communicate;

The inability to express continues to hound.

Ironical its sound,

The truth to which I am bound.

Light you see not,

Only what it shows.

The torrent held inside,

The cloud destined to grow.

Lightning and drizzles hiding everything,

The fright, the storm that continues to grow.

Afraid to rain, afraid it might cause pain.

Not able to leave, secretly wanting to stay;

Insignificant thoughts and feeble words,

Ignoring the warning; risking the fords.

Knowing well that the threat grows,

Undecided.

© Sireesh.Y, 2012

Intro.

The empty shell clinked onto the floor, asserting itself over the gunshot ,and the old man fell onto his rocking chair with a gasp. The chair rocked forcefully, and in a few moments his heart stopped. His glazed eyes were open yet, and Kabira closed them as he poured some water into the dead man's mouth.
 
Suddenly the cloud of deathly silence broke, the blaring sirens announcing the police. The gunshot had been heard, just like the sirens.Kabira collected the shell,rushed to the window and leapt into the dark lake below, swimming away stealthily into the night. The police entered, and in a moment engines could be heard outside. along with frantic footfalls. You see Kabira wasn't the only one to hear the sirens.
 
"Damn the press!" thought the inspector as he approached the rocker.With the last force from its owner's life, it had bent him over, making the bullet wound less visible. Once he wore his gloves, the inspector straightened the old man, and with reverent despair, looked at the now dead man. This man would have been impossible to kill- The founder of the nation's largest party, and the proponent of the basic philosophy on which the nation was run, Krishna had been the soul of the Equality Party until recently. It was his retirement from active politics a few months ago that made him vulnerable.
The Press had stormed in, with the inspector glaring at the meek constable, and imagining half of the press  thinking of innovative , catchy lines for this truly breaking story.

--To be continued.
© Sireesh. Y, 2012

Now it begins to clear

oh now the slush
has begun to clear,

the mud settling down,
as the dirt disappears.

im waiting for the ripples to disappear,
the pain was seething
but now it is beginning to clear,

the butchers knife transforms into a feather,
as I see the butcher was always a raptor

on it
I will fly, now that the slush is clear.

© Sireesh. Y