Poem: IN THE ARC OF TWILIGHT

Copyright@shravancharitymission

IN THE ARC OF TWILIGHT

In the arc of twilight,

When the day recedes,

Night retrieves,

Is when the daylight dims,

And darkness begins.

*

That makes me wonder,

Is it time to surrender?

Where the end looks closer,

And time every minute a bulldozer.

*

It appears as if,

There isn’t much left to render,

For the thread of life,

Now looks slender.

*

So the time looks ripe,

In the realm of life,

To forthwith—account for,

What you missed in life,

And gathered in the strife.

*

But before destiny strikes,

 And takes you by its might,

Into the wide blue yonder,

That is full of thunder,

Only to surrender,

It gives you a flash to remember.

*

So before the untoward arrives,

Scan your blessed life,

To slate it out for your own sight,

What you attained,

And what remained in vain.

*

Yet rejoice,

At the opportunity of life,

That the rare attain,

Wrapped in cloak of humanity,

And under the aegis of Almighty.

*

And reflect honestly,

The count of your vivacity,

To feed your own vanity,

And ask yourself.

*

Did you see what you wanted to see?

Did you do what you wanted to do?

Did you say what you wanted to say?

Did you love, whom you wanted to love?

And care, whom you wanted to care for?

*

For the rhythm of life,

Is only as wide,

As the breath of life,

And only the lucky go past,

The fill of life.

*

So before the destiny,

 In plentiful,

Be kind,

Be sublime,

For that is prime,

In God’s mind.

*

By Kamlesh Tripathi

*****

REMEMBRANCE AMMAJI

Copyright@shravancharitymission

36th  DEATH ANNIVERSARY

    Moms are special. They are never too old for their children. They continue to bless. Even more special are their memories, when they are gone. That keeps rocking you, all your life. Look after her as long as she’s alive. As beyond that it is only sad remembrance. Few lines in her honour.

MOTHER

Years don’t distort,

Time doesn’t warp,

Lifetime doesn’t blot,

Mother’s priceless memories,

 Always remains atop.

*

Even when I know you’re not there,

Yet there is always something,

 That tells me,

You’re somewhere here and there,

Along my life and for my care.

*

In the measure of time,

You carried me up to nine,

Then cradled me with all the rhymes,

You fed me to grind,

And taught me to shine.

*

My maiden friend,

The first to comprehend,

My lifelong mentor,

And evergreen centre.

*

In the shackles of time

You were always mine,

But when shackles unshackled,

God took you away in no time.

*

And since you’ve gone

Life is bereft of umpteen charms,

But the soul connect is still alive,

That revives the vibes

And that’s how life thrives.

*

Of all you taught me,

Each virtue is still refreshed,

I May have forgotten school,

But you’re still afresh.

*

As time passes,

More of it comes along,

Just as your loving memories,

That keeps coming on and on.

*

Ma you’ll never fade,

You’ll always shine like the jade,

As long as I live,

And even beyond my days.

*****

POEM: THE VILLAIN OF MY LIFE

Copyright@shravancharitymission

By Kamlesh Tripathi

THE VILLAIN OF MY LIFE

For every triumph I praised myself,

For each success I hailed myself,

But for each failure,

I never nailed myself.

*

Failures were hard to ingest,

And they were hard to digest,

And, therefore, for all my failures,

I created a villain in my life.

*

Whom I blamed fair and square,

Whom I condemned in all my nightmares,

And cursed each time I was in despair,

For all the failures that I couldn’t repair,

 

And this became a habit of distress.

*

Until one day,

In utter rage,

I killed that villain with my own umbrage,

Fearing I had created a Frankenstein,

That might return some day.

*

For, I thought, forever, my failures are over,

And my debacles are forestalled,

So villain is no more required,

But success is still awaited,

Where my final victory is only round the corner.

*

Happily I proceeded,

Despising the villain,

Amplifying myself,

But not juxtaposing with life.

*

But as life would have it,

This time a calamity struck,

Wiping out all my successes,

And bringing about my doomsday.

*

But this time I had no one to blame,

As the villain was dead,

Whom I had killed myself,

And that made me realize,

Do own up your success,

But don’t blame someone else for your mistakes.

*****

Copyright@shravancharitymission

By Kamlesh Tripathi

BREAKING RELATIONSHIP—LIKE A SUDDEN DEATH

    In our lives we all are born to a family. Where, we have our parents and our siblings. And as we grow slightly old we discover we have relatives. Where, some are close and some are distant. Over a period of time when we grow up, we even make acquaintances and friends. Gradually, some acquaintances turn out to be lifetime friends, and some remain as acquaintances.

    As a proclivity, in this arduous and long journey of life, every now and then we keep making friends and colleagues. Who, remain with us for a period of time. And then we lose them because, we all have a well defined journey, where destinations are different and paths are therefore varied.

    And in this ever changing scenario we often are out of touch with our old contacts while we form new associations. But we never really feel as if we have lost the old ones for forever. Because, heart-to-heart we know they are just round the corner, in some different company or a country or a city or a profession where we can just pick up the phone and talk to them whenever we want.

    But such is not the case when any of your close relative, friend, colleague or even an acquaintance severs his or her relationship with you or if it’s a vice versa. For, then, it’ll be like a sudden death of a relationship. And death is a point of no return. So don’t head towards the death of a relationship and even if you’re walking out leave a point of return.

*****

         

Copyright@shravancharitymission

By Kamlesh Tripathi

RIGHT OR WRONG

I was right and he was wrong,

And that brought about the storm,

No he was wrong and I was right,

And that brought about the lasting strife.

*

For in the race of life,

I always made my wrong look like right,

And, his right look like wrong.

But all that required a lot of brainstorm.

*

No one realized, in the rhythm of life,

Right and wrong were only two sides of the golden coin,

But what mattered in the cruise of life,

Was the proud possession of the golden coin,

And not the two sides.

*

But one day when I turned feeble,

I lost the coin,

And what was left with me were the two sides without the coin,

The right and the wrong.

*

I then realized,

In the greed of life,

My wrongs had outweighed my rights,

Therefore God had taken away all my likes.

*

And in a jiffy I realized,

While in my twilight,

Neither was right and neither was wrong,

And it was only a battle of rage and storm.

*

And one day,

The storm vanished,

The rage retired,

The right prevailed,

And the wrong expired.

But by then it was too late for me to aspire.

*****

STORY: MEETING YOUNG BRAVE HEARTS IN APOLLO HOSPITAL DELHI

Copyright@shravancharitymission

By Kamlesh Tripathi

    Some things are hard to write about. Some causes are hard to pursue. Some realities are hard to accept. But that’s life.

    Yesterday, we were in Apollo Hospital, Delhi, to offer financial help to a couple of children combating cancer quite stoically and that too with a brave smile. As a cancer activist let me confess, I often draw courage from such brave young children who fight cancer to the hilt. And I rate them as the ultimate in the rungs of courage.

    Tanmoy Anand was the first child we met there. A male toddler, barely, a year and nine months, and suffering from Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL), hailing from Bihar. And it made me feel as if God is really cruel. Tanmoy appeared a bundle of innocence, joy, pain and hope. We wish him fast recovery.

    The second child that we came across was Wamik Habib from Baramulla, Kashmir. He is a ten year old son, of one Mr Habibullah, a shopkeeper. Wamik was full of energy and no one could imagine he is suffering from Burkitt’s Lymphoma as he was busy speaking to his folks back in Kashmir while camping in the hospital with his father. We wish him a speedy recovery too.

    Life strikes a different chord when you meet someone who is on the wrong side of health and as a result of which the philosophy of life changes at once. Each time I cross a hospital I feel God has left a very thin line between the patients inside and me, and I must be grateful to God for that.

    Thanks to all our esteemed donors.

*****

REMEMBERING MY FATHER-THE POWER OF YOGA

Copyright@shravancharitymission

By Kamlesh Tripathi

REMEMBERING MY FATHER-THE POWER OF YOGA

    Some 32 years ago, on 14^th of April I lost my father. He peacefully passed away in his sleep. Since then every morning I pray to God, ‘may he rest in peace.’ I did the same today.

    He was an avid lover of Yoga. So, below is verse from Gita that takes you to shunya (emptiness) yet it holds and triggers your mind; and today is quite an appropriate day to convey it to all those who may not have read it.

PRAYANKALE MANSACHLEN BHAKTYA YUKTO YOGBALEN CHAEV

BHRUVORMARDHAYA PRANMAVEHSYA SAMYAKAH SA TAM PARAM PURUSHMUPAITI DIVYAM

    It says at the time of death, a person who is able to steady his pran (breath of life) between his eyebrows with the power of yoga, and with a firm mind can devote himself at the feet of the Parmeshwar, (Almighty) he for sure will dissolve in the divinity of the Parmeshwar.

    In the verse it is also clarified that during the time of death the person’s mind should be ready and steady to assimilate with the power of God. People who practice yoga regularly, for them it is recommended that they get their pran (breath of life) between their agya-chakra—bhavain (eyebrows). And it is recommended to practice and concentrate on the ‘Shat-Chakras” that refers to the six Chakras in the human body: Muladhara, Svadhishthana, Manipra, Anahata, Vishuddha and Ajna.

    But a person who forever is immersed in Krishnabhavnaamrit (the elixir of Lord Krishna) and who is a always a pure devotee of Krishna, with the help of Lord’s blessings and without yoga-abhyas too can reach God but that is only possible through Bhaktiyoga.

    In the verse (word) ‘yogbalen’ (power of Yoga) has been used which is of utmost significance because without yoga whether it is shatchakrayog or bhaktiyog—man at the time of death cannot achieve divinity. No one at the time of death can suddenly remember or pray to God. He needs to practise and depend on some form of yoga for this, especially the bhaktiyoga. Because, at the time of death, a person’s mind is extremely restless, and therefore, for assimilating into the divinity at the time of death; he must during his lifetime practice yoga and through yoga he must practice spiritualism as that alone will help him see his end.

*****

SHORT STORY: GOD IS OMNI PRESENT

Copyright@shravancharitymission

By Kamlesh Tripathi

   Every night before going to bed Parmeshwar used to tell interesting stories to his son Krishna. One day he said—‘Son! Never forget, God is omnipresent and he can see everything, and nothing is hidden from him.’

    Krishna like an obedient son looked to and fro and asked—‘Father! You say God is omnipresent but I’m not able to see him anywhere.’

    Parmeshwar replied—‘Well, we can’t see God; but he is all over, and can see everyone and everything we do.’

    Krishna thereafter remembered what his father had said. After some months there was a severe famine in the village on account of which Parmeshwar’s fields were rendered barren. One day in the night with the intention of stealing someone’s crop he set out along with Krishna and entered another farmer’s field to cut a heap of crop and instructed Krishna to keep a watch by sitting on the branch of a tree. He said—‘keep looking on all sides and if you find someone coming towards us just yell for me.’

    And as soon as Parmeshwar sat on the ground to cut the crop Krishna called out—‘hold on father.’

    Parmeshwar asked—‘why, can you see someone?’

    Krishna said—‘yes, someone is watching us.’

    Parmeshwar left the field and came out to see who was watching. He looked around but found no one. He then asked—‘where, and whose is watching?’

    Gopal said—‘father you only had said, God is present everywhere and watches everyone very closely, and his deeds. Then why will he not watch you cutting someone else’s crop?’ Parmeshwar upon hearing his son felt ashamed. He dropped the idea of stealing and returned home.

*****