Hands faltering
in the darkness of the night
for a support
the doorknob
the wall
the switch
then falters again
and stumbles.
The matrix of memory
shifting
reshifting
floating with no reference.
Weary mind plays the trick,
imagine there is a wall
imagine there is a switch
imagine a new world.
It's Raining !!!
I have always been excited about rain and rain and rain!!!. And rain on beach is one incredibly beautiful happening.
Exultation is the going
Of inland soul to sea,-
Past the houses, past the headlands,
Into the deep eternity!.
Few years back during the southwest monsoons I stayed on a beach with a small glimpse of the ocean for nearly two months. It was a costly place, by my standards, but I got an off season discount (incidentally "off season" is the best time to travel). I carried a trunk of books…poetry, fiction.
The soul selects her own society,
Then shuts the door;
On her divine majority
Obtrude no more.
That was the first time I read Emily Dickinson!!!.
I also became friendly with guys who were into deep sea fishing. After the rains they invited me for a night of fishing in the sea. One look at their boats and I refused. Believe me their life is in as much danger as any soldier at the border.
When in chennai a decade back northwest monsoon was spectacular. Once I was the only one (except few fisherman who had just landed from the sea) on the entire stretch of marina beach during one heavy rain lastly for few hours. I also was lucky to have an access to coast guard beach. So you can say I had a beachy stay!!. Sometimes I went to play cricket too with local youngsters on Sundays. It was very shocking to know that hundreds of people were swept away by the tsunami from the very spot. Today I read that another major earthquake is expected. Something terrible is churning in the earth.
Mangrove
trees are an effective defense against the fury of nature. That is the reason for concern about Andhra Coast (kakinada) where the second largest mangrove forest in India is located and how it is been destroyed by the ship breaking industry. The toxic pollutant (particularly ballast water) creating an havoc in the region. There has also been enough documentation on threat to workers from pollutants and appalling working conditions. It is time that this industry is contained. There are series of extensive articles by Mr. Dilip D'sousa on the world's largest scrapping site of ships: Alang. It is a suggested read to know about workers conditions in such places.
