Home,just a notion
Even stars move their places
In the night sky.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
Winter Thoughts : Haiku Resumes :)
Winter Thoughts
Silence (powdery/granular/white)
settles;Burying everything
These conversations with the sky.
The Itch
To lie under blue skies;
on freshly cut grass:
My feet itch.
Silence (powdery/granular/white)
settles;Burying everything
These conversations with the sky.
The Itch
To lie under blue skies;
on freshly cut grass:
My feet itch.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
The poetry of fall
~And there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity
under the heavens.- The Ecclesiastes
The poetry of fall is the barenaked truth of trees; heartfelt
talk stripped of green pleasantries; the poetry of frank confessions and no attempt at concealing warts.
It is the alchemy of sudden change which surprises you even when you
know you should expect it. The warm toasty colours of nostalgia - golden brown honey,
schoolchildren huddled in yellow raincoats, sepia tinted photographs and the burnt amber of intricate mehendi patterns.
A total disregard for boundaries and names - leaves which now look
like earth coloured petals or translucent coin sized slices of the
sun.
You see an orange ribbed leaf against cloudless blue -
the beggars outstretched open palm holding nothing and the whole sky all at once.
And in that moment you become aware - of the passage of time, and the
soundless ,matter of fact, sweeping away of all that appeared
constant.
under the heavens.- The Ecclesiastes
The poetry of fall is the barenaked truth of trees; heartfelt
talk stripped of green pleasantries; the poetry of frank confessions and no attempt at concealing warts.
It is the alchemy of sudden change which surprises you even when you
know you should expect it. The warm toasty colours of nostalgia - golden brown honey,
schoolchildren huddled in yellow raincoats, sepia tinted photographs and the burnt amber of intricate mehendi patterns.
A total disregard for boundaries and names - leaves which now look
like earth coloured petals or translucent coin sized slices of the
sun.
You see an orange ribbed leaf against cloudless blue -
the beggars outstretched open palm holding nothing and the whole sky all at once.
And in that moment you become aware - of the passage of time, and the
soundless ,matter of fact, sweeping away of all that appeared
constant.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
The Poetry of Non Control
The poetry of non-control
Is the poetry of sitting on a train in a strange city believing
that you are moving in the right direction.
It is the understanding that you can hardly hasten
anything - including the arrival of a much-awaited-for package, the
ripening of mangoes, or your own enlightenment.
The poetry of waking up one day to find in surprise that wild orchids
have bloomed outside the window without your effort.
It is the quiet calm that settles in your chest like a bluebird that,
after hours of restless flapping of wings, sits on the branch of a gulmohar tree when
the rain pours.
When a friend is sharing troubles, it is the poise of your open
mouth.Words rush to tell of how-to’s and fix-it’s but you have instead decided to remain silent and listen.
It is the knowledge that the world, with all its wounds, does not need you to
run out and give it another band-aid as much as it needs your loving
presence.
Is the poetry of sitting on a train in a strange city believing
that you are moving in the right direction.
It is the understanding that you can hardly hasten
anything - including the arrival of a much-awaited-for package, the
ripening of mangoes, or your own enlightenment.
The poetry of waking up one day to find in surprise that wild orchids
have bloomed outside the window without your effort.
It is the quiet calm that settles in your chest like a bluebird that,
after hours of restless flapping of wings, sits on the branch of a gulmohar tree when
the rain pours.
When a friend is sharing troubles, it is the poise of your open
mouth.Words rush to tell of how-to’s and fix-it’s but you have instead decided to remain silent and listen.
It is the knowledge that the world, with all its wounds, does not need you to
run out and give it another band-aid as much as it needs your loving
presence.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Healthcare or Health-I-dont-Care ?
Since this has generated some interest on the internet I will tell my story:
I was feeling pretty crummy and had a bad cold , and some of my lab members had it too - so my boss was really nice and insisted I go and see a doc, especially with the Flu-That-Should-Not-Be-Named circulating.
I don't have a car and don't know any doctors in Gainesville so I went to the University Infirmary. Isn't that supposed to be for the greater good for the student community? Instead, they insist on charging me $76 for what turned out to be a 5 minute appointment.
An annoyed lady grudgingly wakes up from her afternoon siesta and asks what I want. She makes me stand and fill out a ton of forms and I am just feeling way too sick by now, I really need to sit down. I try to get to a chair but she stops me and says no, please stand here and fill this up (I really couldn't figure this out!).
The air is filled with hostility, as much as the forms are filled with legalese.
I wait for a while and finally a nurse sees me.
I finally go into a room when she literally turns her back on me and throws questions at me - as cold , harsh and impersonal as it can get. I'm shocked at some of her questions relating to family history- So did your grandfather have cancer? Did he die from it?
I'm sure my pulse races as she measures it, as I try to retain a calm frame of mind with this cross questioning.I actually begin to feel like a felon on trial as this progresses.It all ends with a doc coming in for a couple of nanoseconds who tells me I don't have swine flu.
I decide to not give an eye for an eye and thank everyone on the way out but I take some time to recover from this experience.
What ails the American health care system is not a lack of infrastructure, intelligence, or planning. ...
The system has become so complicated and steeped in legal issues that it is so completely devoid of 'compassion'. In fact, it should be renamed health-i-dont-care.
PS: I wish I did not have to complain, but I hope my med school friends will take a look at this and pause to reflect! Finally, the good news is that I dont have swine flu and thats what matters :)
Saturday, June 13, 2009
The Joy of Less
Image : Courtesy stefanoforenza.com
http://happydays.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/07/the-joy-of-less/
OK I TOTALLY LOVED this post!!
It says a lot about the lack of mental clutter in the author - the fact that he is able to wield his pen like a violinist and use words sparsely to create feeling in the reader.
Okay, those were a whole lot of unnecessary words, right?
:-) When will I learn! LOL!
:-)
Avan
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Spring cleaning my mind
Photo: Courtesy ImageBank
~ "Changing the world is good for those who want their names in books. But being happy, that is for those who write their names in the lives of others, and hold the hearts of others as the treasure most dear."
- Children of the Mind, by Orson Scott Card
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