What is Poetry?

Sometimes I wonder,

What is poetry?

Is it the chirping birds

That wake me up every morning?

Is it the sound of the vegetable vendor

Who sings his sales calls?

The running water from my bathroom tap –

Is it poetry?

What is poetry? I reflect.

Is it the buzz of that lonely mosquito

Wooing me for its company?

Is it the hurrying spider

Forging its web on my window pane?

Or the dew droplets on the spiderweb

Glistening in the twilight Sun?

Is it the sound of conch from my neighbourhood

That marks the dawn of the dusk?

Is it the click of the switch

That lights up my room?

The Prussian blue night-sky

Wearing the shawl of stars –

Or the smell of jasmine

That enchants my courtyard –

Is it poetry?

Is it the breeze

That soothes my tired nerves?

Is it the motion of the ceiling fan

That hangs over my head?

The blinking of my eyes

Before sleep takes over –

Is it poetry?

Or is it the dream

That takes me to a forlorn land?

Sometimes I ponder,

What is poetry?

Sometimes I wonder,

What is poetry?

The Red Popsicle

A look at the Rainbow counter,

that was selling red popsicles,

turned my eyes bright.

A glimpse of the red candy,

that was made of ice,

froze my summer Sun.

A touch of the red popsicle,

that was cold and moist,

turned my sweats into rains.

A lick, on the red lump,

that was a popsicle,

colored my tongue with blood.

I Buried My Love

Across that green meadow,
After that road surrounded by Gulmohar trees,
Behind that gray wall,
I buried my love.


Walking through that graveled path,
Inside the Gothic Church,
In front of everyone,
I buried my love.


Dressed in a white gown,
Offering prayers to the good Lord,
With a ring in my hand,
I buried my love.

Just Another Love Story

She was wearing a tutu,
                            Bending down -
tying the laces of her ballet shoes.
Thick, brown curls covered her face,
when he first saw her.

He was a janitor at the Opera House.

Peeping through the curtains,
He watched her.
She floated in the tunes of The Swan Lake.

He met her again,
                        on a breezy evening.
He was taking a walk in the park.
She sat on a bench alone -
waiting for someone, he guessed.

The breeze touched her face,
                                 as he looked at her.
The dark brown locks flew over her eyes.
He could remember nothing more.

Months passed...
While he met her often,
in the streets, at the Fro Yo shop,
in the park and the Opera House.

He watched her to know,
whom she waited for -
                              on that park bench.
But her magic hair always cast the spell!

A year had passed since he watched The Swan Lake.
He had a new employment now.

She was wearing a shroud,
                                   Lying down -
occupying the bed of Room No. 101.
She was tonsured,
when he saw her.

He was a housekeeper at the City Hospital.

While changing the curtains,
He looked at her.
She slept in peace after a long fight with Cancer.

Cinderella

Dressed in blue
         with a gorgeous smile,
She came as a guest in the ball.
Charming Prince,
                 bound by her spell,
Kissed her hand, amongst all.


As she danced
                  with passion in heart,
The heels kept her feet to the ground.
He held her tight
                    with a ring in his hand.
She could hear her heart pound.


A glance at the clock,
                     the magic was gone,
She started to run in a hurry.

She bid him adieu,
                     but he chased her through.
His charms began to look all scary.


As she ran,
                    with a quest to be free,
She left her shoes on the stairs.
Search was ordered.
                      Soldiers were sent,
To hunt down the feet for the pairs.


Crowned as Prince,
                      with whims of love,
He brought her back to the palace.
Draped in jewels,
                      with dreams crushed,
Cinderella lives her captive days.

The Martian - A Bollywood Saga of Romance!

Finally, I watched "The Martian". Wow! What a movie! Just loved it. 

While watching it, a thought struck me. What if the film was made in Bollywood! So, I let my thought flow and I enter the fantasy land of Bollywood.

Okay now, let's imagine a full-fledged Bollywood masala version of "The Martian" with, of course, Mr. King Khan, oops, Dr. Shah Rukh Khan as the main protagonist and see where the story takes us.

So, Mark Watney becomes Raj Aryan Malhotra and of course, Raj cannot have a crew (especially a lady crew member), who can ignore the aura of romance that radiates from his body. Yes, it has to be Simran among the crew members, who faces the dilemma (just as Hamlet faced). To leave or not to leave is the question and Simran's loyalty towards Raj prevents her from leaving Mars as she always knows - dead or alive, Raj will reincarnate. Therefore, she stays back with unconscious Raj (assumed to be dead by others) and commands the crew to fulfill their mission.

Simran pulls Raj back to the Hab. When Raj regains consciousness, he is surprised to discover that  his Senorita has not deserted him. Delighted yet stunned Raj gains faith in love. With tears in eyes, he hugs Simran and the background score plays, "Na juda honge hum, kabhi khushi kabhi gham! Ab Mars hi hai ghar, yahin khushi yahin gham!!!"

As the film progresses, Raj and Simran draw out a survival plan in the alien planet but in this emotionally romantic yet crisis situation, they completely forget about communicating to NASA or ISRO. They trust their brains and more importantly their love and believe that they will be able to convince Mars to accept them as its inhabitants, which with the course of time will change its atmosphere to suit the needs of Raj and Simran.

After 5 SOLs of love and romance, the couple begin to colonize Mars as they start growing plants there. Raj is definitely smarter than US trained Botanist, Mark and never lets the extra amount of oxygen to interfere with his cultivation techniques.

The red planet engenders poetry within the minds of the two young scientists and their love springs out in the form of an eternal anthem romance. They dance (with their space suits on) around the hills on the orange soil and dedicate the lyrics of their love song to Mars as they sing "Rang de tu mohe gerua."

They live a happy life with little struggle and lots of peace in a land so far away from the human civilization and most importantly, they never get bored. They often go for long drives in the Rover and then sleep peacefully at night.

On the other part of the universe, NASA, needless to mention, in collaboration with ISRO, is preparing for its next mission to Mars. Here, it is important for us to know that Simran did communicate to NASA about their survival when she got some time from her daily chores of agriculture and romance in the Martian fields. Actually, she did it when she fought with Raj and thought of coming back to Earth as she considered the blue planet as her "maika". The space research organizations on Earth decided to reset their calendar and planned to club the rescue mission with their future exploratory mission to Mars. With the help of ISRO's innovative technology and a young cute kid's (wannabe astro-dynamics scientist) calculations, NASA manages to send the mission that reaches Mars on Raj and Simran's 675th SOL of survival.

As the crew peep out of the spaceship before stepping into the Martian soil, they get confused to find stretches of green field on the planet. They doubt if they have landed on the right planet. With utter caution, the crew members step into the planet, one by one. As they take a few step forward, they hear sound of children, laughing. They look at each other and fear if Mars had life, I mean alien life. They are about to head back to the spaceship, when they receive a message from Raj Aryan Malhotra. "This is Raj Aryan Malhotra. Welcome to Mars. Copy." The crew turn back. Raj and Simran come out of the Hab (of course with their space suits on and not in a designer attire as Mars' atmosphere has not yet changed). Whoa, what's that?!!!! Both of them are holding a child in their arms. The twins, born out of love, born in Mars. The movie ends as the screen flashes in bold letters - "The Martians".

Enjoy the song as you colour yourself in the Martian hue...