Sunday, January 24, 2010

Bird watching

Some photographs I took at Assan Barrage ( Near Dehradun) on 24.1.2010


The Brahminy Duck, called Surkhab in Hindi is a winter visitor to our land where it flies in from Tibet.



Pintail with a common teal in background



Brahminy ducks



Pintail




Water cock



Cormorant



Brahminy ducks



Egret

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Some poems by Ms.C.Sinha







These are a few poems by Ms.C.Sinha, eminent educationalist. She taught English in St. Aloysius High School   Kanpur where I was a student. She is now retired and lives by herself in Kapur. I am posting these as a tribute to her and also as a treat to her countless students/ fans spread all over the world.


Dreams
A  collection of poems




Dedicated to my dear pupils of
St. Aloysius School , Kanpur.


C. Sinha





A deep  thought struck me

Rhymes, well suited
Come in the screen of mind uninvited.
I hunt for the reason recklessly,
My grieved heart says ‘it’s thy melancholy’.
I vow, therefore, to nestle in my heart,
Endearing memories that will never depart.
This will I achieve with help divine,
His Benedictions, on me, will surely shine.
My ‘Gopals’ are my oars-men strong,
The boat is steady and to them I belong.




What I adore
(I)
I love to stand on the sprawling
Green carpet lawns
Gazing endlessly at the blue sky
On a spring season dawn.
(2)
I love the swaying tress and their jingle
And my complete self to mingle,
With the orchestration of their symphony
Of music, gaiety and prefect harmony.
(3)
I love the quiet dark sky studded
With glowing diamond stars
As if summoning me from afar
At their grand celestial banquet.
I wish I had wings to fly
And enter the heavenly socket.

(4)
Alas! Here I stand on earthly ground
And amidst multifarious moaning sound
The studded stars gaze at amazement
At human hearts broken sentiment.
(5)
I love floating leaves during the fall season,
How they make onwards rush as to fulfill their noble mission
The roaring gushing waters play with the leaves
In a friendly embrace a relief they heave .
(6)
I love a violet on a mossy stone,
Half hidden from the eye.
Fair as a star,
When only one is shining on the sky.
(7)
I love a little lass in her new frock,
With her shy smile, in her light steps she walks,
To catch a butterfly among blossoms of flowers
Lo! A puff of breeze and then come the showers.
(8)
I love to see an infant yawn and smile
In her mothers cozy lap and the sleep awhile.
She has gone to her fantastic dreamland
Where fairies and angles welcome her in their wonder-land.
(9)
I love to see a schoolboy’s joy when falls the rain drops,
Farewell to books and slates as he merrily hops,
Where the rain water assembles in a pool
Splashing and jumping he does in water cool.
(10)
I love to hear a shrieking sky,

When a flash of lightening makes the firmament cry.
The cloudlets take an ominous hue
They set their empire on perfect blue.
(11)
I love to see Sibani didi coming from the market
With mouth watering treats peeping from her basket.
Waiting was a punishment, eating was merriment,
Sibani didi’s love for me  is a noble and graceful sentiment.
(12)
I love the gentle sheen of the moon
Peeping and travelling to put me to sleep soon.
Or I seek it hidden behind the stray clouds
The stars accompany the moon with symphony sounds.
(13)
I love the temple bells ringing
When I utter my prayers in singing
Gently asking for his forgiveness
For all that has gone amiss and pray for his togetherness.
(14)
I adore the swaying branches of the neem tree by my window
I love to linger under its gentle shadow.
And travel far away in your imagination
To the land of my departed dear ones fold of affection.
(15)
Life was free, filled with fun and frolic,
In their absence it is agonizing and melancholic.
The memories are an invaluable treasure.
And a source of perennial pleasure.
(16)
In this vast play-ground of life,
Where there is conflict and strife.
Confer on us thy benevolence and grace
And in our sorrow and suffering, offer solace.
(17)
My prayers are for human kind,
Let goodness prosper in human mind.
(18)
Sibani didi’s voice was my protection,
Her words were my consolation.
She was mine guardian angle,
I am a devotee in her Holy Temple.







A growing Teenager’s musings
Life is a maze in pattern,
Sometimes high in hope
Sometimes low in tantrums.
Blissful are the days of innocence,
When one is dipped in ignorance.
Merrily the life’s hours go by,
In the sky of whims and fancy we fly.
Alas, inch by inch we grow,
And life in shades challenges throw.
Torturing competition, vicious career hunting,
And what not,
Act as bullet shot!!
Of sounds ‘Terrorism’ in action
Oh God! Give us the armour of protection.
Thy blissful touch we  crave for,
Keep us in your love- corridor.
Thou art our healing balm,
To our turbulent mind to attain calm.
Bless us to achieve near perfection,
We bow our heads
 To your ever flowing Benediction.





A Bliss

Far from the haunt of materialistic gain,
Far from deception, flattery and pain,
I wish to recline on arms of tranquility
I crave for green linnet’s beauty.
The holy nature’s lap is my dreamland,
I love to hear its eternal symphony grand,
The unknown land, infinite path, dense forest,
I call my domain merriest.
How sweet to recline here,
Where every object holds dear.
It is my land of joy and gaiety,
Where peace and serenity tells its piety.
Come dear folks, hold my hand,
Rolling, jumping & hopping, as we are a merry band.
The wide spread nature is our sole canopy.
Bruised by High-tech bugs, it is the only therapy.










A Reflection
I long for Sibani didi’s love & affection,
Care, concern, togetherness & jubilation.
Her cuisine talent was unique
In the kitchen she never felt the fatigue.

Everybody knew her in the market.
Be it vegetables, flowers, milk or sweetmeat basket.
Welcome Sister, come to my shop.
The call was all around, She couldn’t decide where to stop.

She obliged everyone to our heart’s desire.
They were her bosom friends for who she will aspire.
Now her absence from the familiar scenes,
Is agonizing, painful and heart rending by all means.


Here I sit in solitariness,
My heart dipped in vastness
Of innumerable scenes of her goodness,
Pity, sympathy, smiles and great humane-ness.
Oh Sibani didi,
Thy soul is like a star
That dwells apart.



MY DEVOTED PRONAM TO YOU, MY BELOVED SISTER SIBANI DIDI.




My prayer
Corruption Eruption!!
O’ my dear country, where is thy salvation?
Our floors of Legislature are heaving with commotion,
‘National consensus’ has turned into a dry emotion.

O’ India thou are seething in division,
Our personal ethics has suffered an erosion,
‘Fractured verdict’, ‘Poll alliance’, and ‘Hung parliament’
What illustrious coinage of words
To spell the story of sad predicament.

Fraud, extortion, rigging, abduction and assassination,
The list is endless and frightening.
The blood turns cold, the body feels the tremors
At these tales so dehumanising.

Caesar cried ‘Et tu, Brute, then fall Caesar’
Ingratitude- the sin that made Brutus to conquer…
The victory through sin is always ephemeral.
O’ mankind, wake up to the sublime call of deeds moral.

Is not our country with glorious history replete?
Truth, non-violence, Panchsheel,
Have they not been our weapons concrete?
Has not been our land been an epitome of culture?
Glowing with the presence of Buddha, Asoka, Gandhi,
Ramkrishna and Vivekanand- such glowing texture!
Should we let our good conscious sleep?
And stand obdurate, when degenerations creep?

Let us rise up in arms, let the bugles chime,
To face the onslaught of this troubled time.
 Let us gird our loins and start the crusade
Against the ills that try to masquerade.
‘Unity in diversity’ is no more a euphoric decoration.
Let us worship it as a ‘Holy Declamation’.

O’ you sprouting generation,
Wake up with your genuine veneration.
Be the future advocates of ‘Conscience dominated consensus’
Let Mother India feel proud of such genius.
O’  you bureaucrats and guardians of the country,
Rise as one man where democracy is buried at the cemetery.

Let us put on our moral armour without any loss of time,
And crush the typhoon of terror which is at its prime.
Let us walk with honour, ours heads held high,
Into the region of delight which will be neigh.

Let us rise above petty conflicts,
To free ourselves from the wound it inflicts.
In unison, we pray,
Give us the strength and voice, Oh Lord
So that we may
Shed off our personal sedition
And labour ceaselessly towards the creation
To make our country’s name
Glow in the community of nations.




Vivacious T-20 Victory- September 2007
Our country’s Cliff-hanging Final Victory,
Will ever gleam and glitter in pages of History.

The traditional rival Pakistan,
Bow at India’s super stunt.

The victory brigade in early twenty range,
Reflected robust optimism for a climate change.

We call it a ‘spectacular’ achievement,
Ecstasy poured forth in a cascade of merriment. 

Strange unity bound North, South, East & West of India,
Euphoric music tumbled down from the Media.

Dhoni sounded like ‘Alexander the Great’
India’s millions found in him a lovely mate.

‘Chak de India’ of Badshah S.R. Khan,
Created mighty ripples in Glorious Hindustan.

Sensex danced at momentous glory,
As if to relate the grand saga of Cricket Victory.

It was a day of massive celebration,
The heroes homecoming soaked in jubilation.

The heavens showered blessings of rain drops,
Mother earth uttered ‘ Cricketers, you are India’s bountiful crop.’

T-20 warriors are a living monument,
When aim was achieved with firm commitment.

Determination, discipline, optimism, team-spirit & inspiration,
Will ever be crowned with success and aim escalation.

Wake up, Young India, to the call of noble duty,
Which may offer the young a grand plethora of Celebrity.

Jai ho India, rich is thy soil.
Bring blessings to those who genuinely toil.

May your tribe multiply,
And the fragrance spread far and wide.