Captivating Lines from Here and There- 34

• Success in writing as in any other field is largely a matter of self discovery- Paul J. Meyer- Pioneer, Self Development Industry.
• Most people experience difficulty in making changes in themselves because they try to change conscious actions without changing the attitudes and habits which automatically govern their actions- Paul J Meyer 
• My advice is keep going- Begin at the end, begin in the middle, but begin- Stephen Leacock, Author 
• Discover a subject you care and know about. Don't write second hand. Write from your own experience- Nirad.C. Chaudhari, Author 
• Accepting is not about giving up. It is about acknowledging where you are right now so that you can take action to go where you want to go- Kris Carr, Author 
• Joy shared is joy doubled; sorrow shared is halved. It is pretending that depletes your energy not the grief itself.
• You need power only when you want to do something harmful. Otherwise love is enough to get everything done Charlie Chaplin, Comedian Actor
• Exercise your self confidence muscles by taking small little challenges/ risks everyday.
• You can't change what has happened. You can only change what is going to happen. Lot of energy is wasted on yesterday meaning you do not have enough available for today- Bishop T.D.Jakes 
• It is easier to break an atom than a prejudice- Albert Einstein, Scientist

A Dreamer for Life

 

We are all dreamers as children

innocent, natural, spontaneous

till the 'knowledgeable' adults interfere

tell us what we can dream about, how much 

and also advise to dream 'realistically'  

So many are the rules, regulations 

in day to day matters and living itself !

why put them, rules even on dreaming? 

Dreaming can take one to great  heights 

unimaginable, to a mediocre mind 

Dream, dream, dream

exhorted our people's president, Kalam of India 

passionate dreams do not happen when asleep 

they just don't let you sleep, said the noble soul 

If dreams were discouraged

many wouldn't have reached where they did 

unleash your potential, be a dreamer 

and remember to not only dream 

but be the one who  just can't..

doesn't stop dreaming...

NB: I recited this poem at the 7th Dignagar International online poetry meet on 19th December 2021

The Unconscious Motive

The ones who don’t let others breathe

The ones who hate others  

 for no particular reason other than

 the colour of their skin

 or because they  don’t belong to their caste,

tribe, religion, country, or have different beliefs

Can all best be described as “peculiar, strange creatures”

 

They can hate people without ever meeting

without even knowing them personally!   

 

Does this come from a place of feeling superior?

No, No, not at all! Though they would love to believe so!

They are poor damaged creatures

with feelings  of inadequacy 

and litany of private sorrows! 

 The root of racism and all negative ‘Isms’ is fear

The politicians and vested interests feed on it 

 With sheep like followers succumbing to it

For any hope, progress, light at the end of the tunnel

Be wary of negativity, negative politicians

 Banish ignorance, banish fear, far faraway

from the heads and hearts  of people!  

NB:  This poem has been included in the international anthology  "I Can't Breathe: A poetic Anthology of Social Justice" edited by Dr Christopher Okemwa, author/poet  based out of Kenya.

चाँद

बचपन से लुभाते हो चाँद, अपनी चाँदिनी द्वारा    

तुम्हें दिखाकर, खिलाती थी माँ , रात का खाना     

बड़े होकर भी तुम्हारा आकर्षण, बढ़ता  ही रहा

 

हाँ, मैं अपने मित्रों जैसे, प्रेमिका के साथ

आनंद न ले सका, तेरी  चांदिनी में 

इच्छा शक्ति, की कमी से नहीं ,

 बस सिर्फ, हिम्मत की कमी से !  

 

मगर आस्वादन किया कई  फिल्मों मे

तेरा सौंदर्य, व सुन्दर वर्णन, कई किताबों में

पर आज, इस बाईस  ईसवी  काल  में

कहाँ दिखाई देता तुम ओ चाँद,  शहरों मे ? 

चारों ऒर सिर्फ, कृत्रिम ही कृत्रिम प्रकाश ! 

 

प्रकृति से इतना दूर, आ चुके है  हम,  मानव

अब खोये हुए चीज़ों की सूची में - धरती, फल, फूल , बहता पानी  

के साथ, साथ , तुम चाँद, और तेरी चांदिनी भी शामिल  .... 

बचपन की यादें आती रहती है  ओ चंदा मामा

खो दिए है हम तुम्हें , इतना दूर किये है तुम्हें अपने जीवन से …  

 राजीव मूतेडत   

An interview for Kolimi, an Art and Literary Magazine in Telugu

I, Rajeev Moothedath  gave this interview in English  to shri Srinivas Vasudev, poet, critic and a friend who kindly translated and published the same in the December 2021 issue of Kolimi an art and literary magazine in Telugu. You can read the Telugu version here: 

1) What inspired you to write?  

That is a tough question to answer really. I wrote my first poem when in class V. The teacher came around, saw it and took it away. She then returned it to me later with corrections, I felt disappointed as it did not feel like my poem anymore. So you see, initially I just felt like writing and I wrote. Was it the little poems we learnt in school that was the inspiration? Who knows? In any case, in the CBSE syllabus, we had some beautiful poems in the higher classes like “Elegy written in a country churchyard”, “Home they brought her warrior dead”, “The beggar maid”  “Ode to the West wind” etc to study at school.

2) What genre of literature is your favourite and why?    

I trust your question pertains to favourite genre in respect of both reading and writing. As a reader I loved all kinds of literature- the Enid Blyton books as a child that included  the ‘Five find outers’, ‘Famous five’ and ‘Secret Seven’ series. I borrowed from the public library, books on various subjects such as humour (P.G.Wodehouse), crime (Agatha Christie, James Hadley Chase, Perry Mason series), R.K. Narayan ‘s and other Indian authors’ books giving glimpses of the Indian scene. Growing older it was Harold Robbins and finally as a working adult, management books  (One minute manager) and books on spirituality by writers like Deepak Chopra (The seven spiritual laws) started to interest me.

When it comes to writing, although I immensely enjoy reading poetry on nature and romance, I prefer to write on what happens in the society around me or on something that gives insights into living a more enhanced life. Therefore My approach to a love poem may not be the typical romantic poem but on how ‘Shades of love’ have changed over the years to the extent that a lover can pour acid on his ‘beloved’s’ face. In respect of prose, I write quite a bit on management experiences as I am basically an HR executive from the corporate. I also write occasional short stories.

3)   What is the immediate purpose of poetry?

Personally, to my mind it is not for us to determine the purpose of writing. It can vary from person to person. A person may simply write because it makes him/her happy while another may find it impossible to be in his elements without engaging in writing while yet another may think social change can be achieved by writing poetry.

The fact is that it can be all of these or one of them or many more reasons depending on the person writing. It has been said that the “Pen is mightier than the sword”. Yes that is true; while you can kill a few with the sword thousands may be influenced to go to war by the emotional appeal of a powerful write. But then the pen is powerful in so many more ways. It can get people to laugh, to introspect and to heal. Therefore poetry’s purpose cannot be pegged down to a small canvas- It can have such far reaching purposes and consequences.

Thank you for this interaction. It was such a pleasure talking to you!