The Swansong

Hear my swansong, strangers near and far,

As I walk on, bearing both scent and scar,

The scent of happiness, joy and boundless fun,

The scar of follies performed, sins I have done.

These few years of my life are now fading fast,

Soon to be a distant memory for aeons to last,

But never will I forget my life within these walls,

For here I achieved undying happiness and suffered endless loss ...

My Heart

My heart has endless secrets to keep,

I close my eyes and tuck me to sleep.

Sleep will I for an eternity and twoscore,

Troubles will haunt my mind nevermore ...

My poor little heart, so dark and cold,

Once it had hoped for someone to hold.

But what it found, chilled it to the core.

Now all it says is, "nevermore, nevermore ..."

Darkness is not necessarily a vice,

Though it makes you cold as ice.

In this world, wicked and full of fear,

'Tis foolish to shed for someone a tear ....

In this world, there is only one creed,

Worship the one for whom you have a need.

And soon the time and need is past.

And out into the shadows is he cast ...

Dark words are these, I do agree,

As I laughingly hear your furious decree,

"Cast him out into the bosom of the night,

Never again shall he see the light ..."

Why, my friend, the night was always mine,

She embraces me, happily her eyes shine,

Even in your bluster, I can smell your fear.

Is that why you don't dare come near?

Ballad of a Beast

My friends, both old and of the new mould,

Both from the shadow and the realm of gold,

To each when you became so dear,

A shard of my heart I had given to keep near.

Over the years, now I have found,

Of all the shards I had passed around,

A few were lost, a few thrown away,

A few found to be a burden on the way.

A fragment is all that is left of my dear heart,

I guard it zealously from all who would tear it apart,

And yet to you, so naive, so gay,

I grant you my life even as you unthinkingly say...

"What are you, but a beast without a heart,

A stranger, a wanderer, is this all you can grant?"

'A beast without a heart', 'tis very true,

But only because my heart bled for each one of you...

To feel or not to feel . . .

I wish to put forth a question for which I have yet failed to find a convincing answer.

Would you prefer to Feel or not to Feel (even if choosing the former means risking exposing yourself to senseless, mindless pain)?

It is often said that it is better to feel even pain than not feeling anything at all. I believe otherwise.

What is your take?

Masks

Masks. We all must've used one at some point of our lives, maybe at a play in school or college, maybe to some Halloween/Masquerade party.

But the masks which I mention are the ones not visible on our person, the ones we wear either consciously or subconsciously to trick the people around us into thinking of us as someone/something which we are not.

Since time immemorial, people have been pretending to be something they are not. It is a subconscious reflex, thanks to the primitive and powerful survival instinct. Everyone is unconsciously trying to increase their odds of survival.

Not just people, even animals do the same. Only it's called 'Camouflage'. Since evolution did not find it necessary to provide us with masks such as skin that can change color, we had to resort to more subtle ones.

Let me suggest an interesting trick. This only needs patience and some amount of keen observation.

Next time you see a boy talking to an attractive girl (or vice versa) or a student talking to a teacher (or an employee talking to his superior), just count the number of times he laughs. Compare it with the number of times he/she laughs normally. I bet you will be surprised.

At one point of time, I used to look down on people who behave in this 'two-faced' manner. Now I realize, this is the way it is supposed to be. Lies and deception are something that is hard-wired into our system. The better you are at it, the further you will go.

The bible couldn't have been more wrong when it said: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." Not even close. The meek shall be lucky to survive on this earth.

Let truth prevail (whatever it is . . .)

Recently I had a discussion which brought home a few painful truths:

1] We are a country of amazingly narrow-minded people.

2] The so-called educated/civilized strata of our society harbours some of the most narrowest minds we could ever meet.

On introspection, we ourselves might not be as open-minded as we think we are. The issue which drove me to think about these points was this: should religion play a role in education? The opinion I'd heard which shocked me was that religion and education are inseparable.

As far as my personal opinion is concerned, I believe that one of the major reasons for our masses being liable to being manipulated so easily by cunning politicians leading to so many bloody riots and unnecessary anguish is this stupid belief:

"What I believe is the truth. It is my duty to stand by my beliefs no matter what happens."

I staunchly believe in the 2nd statement and at the same time, firmly reject the 1st one.

It is impossible for a person to know if his beliefs/thoughts represent absolute truth.

Of course, I am free to follow what I believe is the truth. But, at the same time, I cannot (and should not) enforce it on someone else as his/her thoughts and beliefs might be completely different.

Just as a person standing in a train cannot measure the speed of another train, we cannot judge the truthfulness or falsehood of a situation while we are influenced by it.

In simple words, I have no right to judge another individual.

Let us live our life according to our beliefs and extend the same courtesy to others. The burden of a single soul is more than enough.

Remember, there is always the very real danger that we may have been wrong . . .

Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it. - Andre Gide

Happy?

I'm amazing myself by writing so much about this strange emotion called happiness. Generally, the only time I think about it is when I'm sorely missing it.

Strangely, this is one of the happiest times of my life. I'm more peaceful, contented, satisfied and most importantly, happy than I've ever been before.

In my four years of engineering, the most important lesson that I've learnt, probably even more important than my engineering studies, is that one can be truly happy only if his/her search for happiness goes within.

In simple words, your happiness should not be a result of things in your surrounding.

Sounds so mystical, wise and "enlightened", doesn't it?

Now, if I put it in a slightly different manner, the reaction of people would be drastically different.

"To be happy, you must not be too concerned with others." - Albert Camus

I can almost hear the cries, "Oh, but that's so selfish!!"

If losing your happiness and peace of mind for someone else is selflessness, I'd rather be happy and selfish.

Ask yourself a honest question, what would you choose?