SUNSET MUSINGS

 

      

                       

 1)  Let not our lives be stagnant pools

     Why feel nervous, be steady and cool

     No professional ordeals to test

     Your endurance and disturb your rest;

     No family burdens to ruffle thy brain;

     No rivalries with peers to compete

     No tensions and arguments with heat;

     No mounting expenses your purse to drain;

     Why should we rack our brains with worries vain?

      About our future unknown with unnecessary strain?

 

2)   Don’t feel your position and power are lost

       In this material world nothing does last;

       Though experience made you a little bit wise

       You are not master of all; exercise

       Control on what you do, say and advise 

       Times and tastes change, feel no shock or surprise;  

       Watch from respectful distance, be calm

       Don’t be an interfering, peeping Tom.

 

3)     Compel not youngsters to leave their tasks and hear

        Your stories and expect applause with cheer;

        Don’t give others troubles-- no stress and strain;

        Waste not their busy scheduled time; don’t complain

        Don’t whine for their consistent care and maintain

        Composure; take care of yourself; don’t grieve in vain.

        Control yourself and your attitude; not others, I say.

        Give your suggestions if sought in a modest way.

 

4)      Your generation’s tastes and ways don’t impose

         On them; no list of rules and laws propose;

         Argue not too much and no negative thoughts;

         Times change our ways; no use of retrieving past;

         A lot of time and leisure you do possess

         Help others if you can; don’t assess

         Others boasting about your experience and age;

         Be a part of this world; control your craze. 

 

5)      Enough resources you have by divine grace

         And still you strive with wants, your remaining days

         Desires deprive you of your contented state

         And make you view your life as waste;

         No uniformity in world you find

         Even heavenly bliss can’t satisfy your mind;

         Spend your time in peaceful contentment

         Enjoy what you possess; no use of resentment.

 

6)      Good books revitalize your ageing mind

          In arts and hobbies solace you find;

         Waste not your time in arguments vain

         Widen your range with knowledge and wisdom gain;

          Most of our bonds like passing clouds vanish

          Know this and clouds of loneliness banish

          Time’s plan you have to follow, no more dread

          With faith in God and yourself, go ahead;

          Our destined end like setting sun comes near

          Into new domains move on with philosophic cheer.

                   *******************************

                        

           16th October, 2020                       Somaseshu Gutala

             

Managers

 

      

   1)   How often do we use this word to mean      

         A way of doing things in a dubious way

         As if we are always right and never stray

         Yes—we manage ourselves though seen or unseen.

  2)    Our family burdens we try to manage              

        By pleasing others or our persons known

        If not treated as strange creatures and overthrown;

        We have to act like puppets on the stage

 

   3)  Our seniors and leaders we should manage 

        Showing due respect and give their gifts due

        If you oppose, you get yourself in stew;

        Our scriptures too command respect in every page.

 

       4)   In offices also we should manage

        With tempting bribes and bakshis a lot

        If not, you can’t melt their rigid and stagnant hearts

        No use of quoting rules and advice sage.

 5)   In getting loans and rise in wages too

       One has to tread with tactful care

       One has to yield to them and give their share

       And what they demand one has to simply do. 

 

    6)    In homely life we can’t avoid this clue

      To get things done by our members dear

      To keep them in good spirits and cheer

      If not, you turn their faces red or blue.

 

   7)    Like hanging knives above, our duties surprise

      Fret not, none hears, manage them wise;

      Your furious words may land you in soup

      Trolling remarks assault you in group.

 

     8)   We have to manage with growing age

      Our chronic complaints and growing ills

      With limited income, our medical bills;

      We have to manage to come out through this maze.

 

   9)    We may not reach of what we have thought

     We have to manage with what we possess

     Our destiny was set beyond our guess

     Accept with peace whatever you got.

 

  10)   Even our gods we try to please and manage

      Promising gifts to grant our desires

      Our motives only our faith inspire

      In a mutual give and take our gods we engage.

 

11) Whatever service you require you need

     To manage someone or other to please

     Even saints and sages fell to this

     To hike their status and get things done with speed.

 

12)   You can’t speak out open like a fool

         You will be looked down as a savage strange

         Who can’t control and goes out of range

          Smart management, a universal rule.

13)    Our gods wisely managed their powers and might

          Demons proudly misused their strength with spite

          Rash words and acts push us into wretched plight

         Managing ourselves , a sure way to peaceful delight.    

 

  14)   Our society, prefers this useful   stand;

          Manage well or suffer your fate and none

          To pull you out of what you have done.

          Into unpredictable troubles you will land.

 

15)     A superb art, this smart managing skill

           Hasty decisions spoil our inner ease

           Life’s lessons we have to realise in peace;

           To get some things done, you have to bend your will.

                 *****************************

             12th October, 2020                     Somaseshu Gutala

Note : This poem gives a humorous sketch of the changing values in our society where priority is given to materialistic values at the expense of emotional and moral values. The individual is compelled to compromise his values and move with the flow for his ultimate survival and livelihood. 

                                  Bakshis --- tips.

                                 Get oneself stewed --- get upset 

            

       

   

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Country’s Dream (Part—II)

  

Emanicipation Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln in 1863.

Harryu Truman(1884-1972)

                                                                                               Franklin Roosevelt (1882-1945)                                   

 

The Puritan migrants in 1630’s went to America to practice their own religion of choice without harassment. They wished to set up an ideal Christian colony and thought that God had led them to new world and regarded New England as “city upon a hill.” For them it is a new kind of Jerusalem, Garden of Eden or new Israel.  The Spanish missionaries also went to America to convert Native Americans to Christianity. The Germans after the failed revolution in 1848 fled to America to lead a happy in the new world. The discovery of gold mines in California in 1849 caused many immigrants to go to America in search of procuring instant success and wealth. The availability of vast virgin land with plenty of natural resources available at throw away prices spurred many people to explore new avenues for getting wealth and a happy life free from religious, political and traditional restraints. 

The famous Historian, Frederick Jackson Turner, in 1893 propounded the “Frontier Thesis’ for evolution of the American dream. Turner proposed that American character had been greatly enhanced and shaped by the presence of a vast frontier creating favorable conditions for population mobility, Inventiveness and democratic spirit. According to Turner, ”The forging of the unique and rugged American identity occurred at the juncture between the civilization of settlement and the savagery of wilderness. The spirit and success of America is directly tied to the westward expansion.” He added that America’s character would gradually change with closing of the frontier and the growth of urban environment. But there is a lot of scope for Americans to transform their traits in the present scenario where they have to face so many challenges and avenues too. Advancement in science and technology, economic prosperity and global relations impact their attitudes and way of thinking.

 Slave labor became a social practice in America to provide workers to work in fields, orchards, mines, docks and industries in 18^th and 19^th centuries. So many Africans were compelled to go to America as laborers. Thus America has become a multi-cultural and multi-racial society. 

In course of time the concept of the American dream has been extended to include all the inhabitants irrespective of race, colour and religion. Many social reformers and politicians strove to eliminate racial discrimination and gender discrimination. Abraham Lincoln with his “Emancipation Proclamation” in 1863 declared that all persons held as slaves within any state are forever free. Woodrow Wilson supported women’s voting rights. The American President, Frank Roosevelt in his “Economic Bill of Rights” in 1944 defined the pursuit of happiness as decent housing, a good job and healthcare. President Harry Truman’s “Postwar Social Contract” included G1 Bill providing government-funded college degrees for returning veterans. Truman’s Fair deal proposition expanded the concept of the American dream to include entitlement: “If you worked hard and played by the rules, the government should guarantee financial security, education, healthcare and a home.” On August 28, 1963 Martin Luther King explained American dream in his famous speech “I have a dream” demanding freedom and for economic and civil rights to all and an end to racism in the United States.

 President Lyndon Johnson promoted the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ending segregation in schools and protecting workers from discrimination based on race, colour, religion, sex or national origin. Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton supported the dream of home ownership. President Barack Obama supported the legal benefits of the Marriage Act regardless of sexual orientation. To alleviate the adverse effects of economic depression he extended unemployment benefits and increased government assistance for student loans. He also furthered F.D.R.’s (Franklin Delano Roosevelt) idea that everyone should have access to affordable healthcare. “Make America great again” (abbreviated as MEGA) is a campaign slogan frequently used in American politics. Many American presidents like Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan and recently Donald trump popularized this slogan indicating the ambition behind the American dream of making America the foremost leading nation in all fields in the whole world.

In course of time the American dream acquired some negative connotations also such as materialistic outlook, too much competition, craze for luxuries, over consumption, drug addiction, sexual abuse, degraded social values, sporadic violence, rising inflation, mounting debts and pollution. Craze for power, expansion of capitalist ideology, and wealth pushed American nation in interfering with other countries’ political affairs. This took a heavy toll on expenses and military expenditure. The race for acquisition of nuclear weapons and space travel also caused a heavy drain on its economy. Global problems like climate change, epidemic diseases, radiation, and competition in nuclear arms-race made America to play its dominant role in guiding the world. 

Some say that the American dream has become mere pursuit of material prosperity—that people work more hours to get bigger cars, posh houses, and prosperity for their families, but have less time to enjoy their affluence. Others say that the American dream is beyond the grasp of the poor. Some people look forward to leading a simple and peaceful life with less focus on financial gains and wasteful luxuries. William James called the American dream “the bitch-goddess success” with her “squalid cash interpretations.”

 American Literature may be described broadly as an expression of the American dream. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The great Gatsby” (1925), Arthur Miller’s “Death of a salesman” and Theodore Dreiser’s “An American Tragedy’ (1925) show the negative aspects of the American dream. The famous American dramatist, Eugene O’Neill exposed the illusory nature of the American dream in his plays. Ernest Hemingway in his novel “The old man and the sea” considers success and inner peace as concepts of the American dream. William Dean Howells in his novel “The rise of Silas Lapham” discusses the life of a self-made man depicting America as a land of opportunities with endless possibilities.

 In the present scenario the American nation has a vital role to play in controlling pollution and maintaining world peace. As a wealthy and developed nation it can extend help to other developing and backward countries as in the present circumstances one country cannot survive alone isolated from others. All countries are connected with one another and the welfare of one nation depends on the welfare of other nations in the world. Apart from being called as the land of opportunities where one can rise from rags to riches by hard work and toil, America should turn her attention to global welfare and preservation of mankind from man-made disasters like wars, pollution, nuclear radiation and indiscriminate destruction of Nature and other living beings for material benefits and luxuries. A harmonious, peaceful co-existence is the need of the hour. In short, the American dream is a continuous social phenomenon which acquires new dimensions and aspects to help mankind move forward blending past tradition and present innovations for the benefit of all.

                                   ******************************

   3rd October, 2020                                Somaseshu Gutala