All eyes on Rafah

I penned this poem in the midst of Russia's attack on Ukraine. With Israel striking Gaza once again, it felt appropriate to share it now. 

Here it goes...

We know naught of sweet dreams,

We know naught of love,

All we know, is of nightmares,

And the war-stricken air above.

We know naught of rain,

We know naught of sunshine,

All we know, is of pain,

And hunger with no food to dine.

We see no roof,

We see no light,

All we see, is proof,

Or our sinister plight.

Rubbles are now our toys,

And cement, our make up,

Bereaved children go mad,

On losing their mum and dad.

Once a country,

Now no boundary.

Oh god ! can't you see past the distant blue ?

Or these men have bombed you too ?

All we crave, is a breath of fresh air,

Is that really unfair ?

My heart goes out to people whose lives have been cut short by war....If only there was a way to protect them from such cruelty :) 

A song that hit hard

A monday with no meetings and pressing tasks ! Looks like the universe has granted me the gift of time. And what better way to spend it than playing a snippet in my veena or indulging in a bit of writing ?

My day began like any other….morning rush, a heap of mails, and the never-ending torment of having to extract stress loads. But as the clock struck 4:30, my father appeared like a torch-bearer of freedom to pick me up from work.

As I cozied up into the passenger seat of my dad's car, my mind delved into The Bretton Woods Agreement, a topic that had stirred my interest this morning and I resorted to reading more about it in Investopedia. I found my attention go astray when I heard the cheerful voice of “ullooru Narayana vandhitaaru” in Radiocity 98.3….It was a segment that I totally loved, a perfect concoction of humour and astrology !

Attempting to multitask between reading and listening proved to be a challenge. "Don't multitask….You aren’t good at it" my father taunted, "either read or listen to the FM." Now, anyone who knows me well would easily guess which option I chose.

As we made our way through the Maduravoyal Bypass, the FM treated us to "Karai Vandha Pirage," a classic from the movie '96.  I've never been a fan of 96. Not that it's a bad movie….I just couldn't connect with it like the rest of the world did. So, when the song began playing, I was prepared to dismiss it, like I always would but I couldn’t….I simply couldn’t and I rather found myself strangely drawn to the song.

Tamil isn't my strongest forte….so, every time I listened to this song, it felt like I was discovering something new. Especially the first two lines: "Karai vandha pirage, pidikidhu kadalai, nirai vandha pirage, puriyudhu ulagai." They spoke to me in a way I would've never expected.

But there was a snag….the word "nirai” in second line left me scratching my head. Thankfully, a quick search on Google revealed its essence: "you end up liking the ocean once you reach the shore; you start understanding the world once your hair turns grey." And just like that, the song gave me a whole new perspective.

As the song continued, I found myself not just enjoying the music but also trying to decipher the meaning behind each lyric…My friend had told me to give this song a chance and I’m totally grateful for that nudge….Here’s to opening up to music outside of my usual taste !

Now….If you haven’t listened to this song yet, it’s time to stop doing what you're doing and treat your ears !

P.S. As I was listening to this track, I realised that songs have a way of reminding us of people who introduce them to us. It's like they are with us, even when they are not :)