This Night, a Bundle of Dreams

            

                                

           

1.     Life seems a bundle of assorted dreams

 Though bitter and sweet, we can’t but taste;

  Our dreary routine may appear a purposeless waste

  A hidden meaning lies beyond what it seems;

  Every moment we spend awake or asleep

  Shapes our life, an abysmal plunge or a Titanic leap.

 

2.      Boys playing on the shell-scattered shore

  Building castles of sand with playful delight

  Building, unbuilding with joy-a mirthful sight;

  Little gods untouched by rocking roar

  Of ocean brought to my dreaming eyes

  My childhood days of innocence in tearful guise.

 

3.      They played with swelling waves and shells

  Sculpted in curves and painted designs

  Everything they watched as if to study Nature’s sign;

  The fairy tales and fables on them cast a magic spell

   With spontaneous laughter and vibrant zeal;

   Can our prejudiced bosoms oppressed likewise feel?

 

4.      Youth with wayward searching minds wanders free

  Gathering knowledge like a flying bee;

  He feels proud of his strength, laughing with glee;

  Outer charms catch his eyes, but too reckless to see

  Deep into true values, and takes to easy ways;

  Dreaming with high hopes fires his fancy always. 

 

5.     A possessive rebellious nature in youthful teens

Viewing others as passive and out of date;

He likes to pursue his goal and carve his fate

Some rise like stars with hard work and interest keen;

Some spoil their prospects by temptations vain;

Wasting time and causing parents stress and strain.

 

6.    At last compelled to work to earn his bread

Based on his efforts he has to play his part;

Differing so widely from what he dreamt and thought;

As age goes through ups and downs, he has to tread;

Some lucky ones learn lessons of life with ease

Others have to struggle till their temptations cease.

 

7.    They hanker after wealth, power and lust

 Even crossing moral bounds to satisfy their craze

 Competing with others in mad race with rage

 Even risking their health and letting their talents to rust

 Defending their stance, they maintain their distance

 From elders, with no change or repentance.

 

8.    Working in dreary routine many spend their years

Unconcerned about their inmost conscience’ advice

They struggle hard for gains, bound to worldly ties;

For them future is filled with uncertain fears;

They blatantly ignore their health in idle pleasures

To sit calm and contemplate they find no leisure. 

 

9.    Old people with trembling hands and unsteady gait

Sat in wistful mood confined to their cells.

Their eyes dimmed with memories tell

Their hasty mistakes and realization late

Weakened by age and bereft of bosom friends past

They seemed like old dwellings absorbed in glories lost.

 

 10     Incurable complaints pester them, no more strong; 

          Mounting medical bills made them feel insecure

          No more can they travel with confidence sure;

          They call back to their minds their lapses and wrongs;

           I felt disturbed to see their piteous plight;

 Shuddered, as if in a dreadful dream at night.

            *************************

Titanic leap -- strong and powerful leap. According to Greek mythology, the Titans were a race of powerful deities.

 

 1st July 2024                  Somaseshu Gutala

 

      

              

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Lost City

 

     

                                 

                                   

  

                                       

                                      

                                              

1.    A city with lakes spreading thousand petalled delight

Filled with lotus blossoms red, blue and white

Welcoming flying birds with feathers bright

With nimble swimming colored fish in waters clear

With soft fragrant breezes in tranquil atmosphere

The banks dense with green trees and charm

In brief, a fit paradise pure and calm.

 

2.    A city with teeming parks and rows of trees green

With pure salubrious cool breezes clean

A city well-known for beautiful flowers

With plenteous water and drizzling showers

Where tourists come to escape from blazing heat

A city with wide pathways smooth and neat.

 

3.    A city with thriving commerce and trade

Where various artists their talents displayed

Where industries rose without harming Nature’s wealth

Without endangering public health

Where royal patrons inspired modern trends and change

Without violating tradition and cultural range

Where people from different regions live in peace

Sharing their skills and live with harmonious ease. 

 

4.    Where are those thousand blue lakes gone?

Where are those gardens and trees that once shone?

Where are those spacious lawns and bowers green?
Where are those pools and shining wells serene?

Where is that balmy cool breeze fresh and soft

Where are those cool arbors and historic spots?

No merry twittering cheerful sounds of birds I hear

No space to walk through, enjoying fresh air, I fear.

 

5.    What made this cool paradise vanish into thin air?

What now I see a dry, congested city beyond repair

A confused maze of buildings with no space between

Unplanned cancerous spread of skyscrapers seen

The fabled lotus-laden lakes with breezes cool

Encroached and shrunken to stagnant pools.

Gardens and lawns displaced by shops and noisy trade

No broad-branched trees spreading panoramic shade.

 

6.    The highways choked with vehicles, too hard to pass

For hours waiting too hard for people to cross

So many hurdles, too exhausting we feel

The curse of unplanned vision, ignoring public weal

So many lives are lost in this mad rush of traffic indeed

Hasty decisions of selfish minds often mislead.

Now not so easy to set right this chaotic state

Impossible to restore vast space and lakes, too late. 

 

7.    Most of the lakes vanished; those that remain

Became cesspools where effluents are drained

Swelling with fluffy clouds of foam befouling air

No water springs; an arid stretch of blocks everywhere

Thousands of trees hewn and burnt for enough space

For buildings, firms and malls leaving no trace

Loud sounds, tall mansions, and cars, people deemed

True progress: lost treasures of Nature can we redeem?

 

8.    Dried up borewells and rivers and no water-trace

Dry weather with burning heat people have to face

The city overcrowded cannot meet our needs

Traffic rush, pollution and diseases it breeds

Too many firms and industries spoiled the charm

Raising so many problems, dangers and alarm;

Can we bring back the former glory of the past

In this pollution-ridden congested city vast?

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

  21st June, 2024                  Somaseshu Gutala

Note : The future fate of any modern ultra-modern cosmopolitan city in our country is portrayed here. Overurbanization with commercial attitude and lack of planning and vision, makes our cities congested and unlivable. Unless urgent and timely measures are taken the modern cities are bound to face many problems which will affect our future generations and disturb the equilibrium of nature endangering the existence of flora and fauna. So let us pay heed to the warnings given by scientists and technological innovators and live in harmony with Nature and limited sources available to mankind.

                                ============== 

                          

 

 

 

WHEN POWER GOES OFF

 

                    

 1.       All of a sudden,  power goes off

           All of a sudden, all signals stop;

           All communications cut off

           All transactions suddenly drop;

           No phone-calls, no messages, no T.V.s

           No whirring sound of gadgets, no movies.

 

2.        The whole city submerged in darkness, dark as hell

           Every dwelling became a prison-cell;

           The whole town plunged into pell-mell;

           No technology showed its magic spell;

          How many days people stay without illumination?

          Like cave-men searching for light in a den.

 

3.       People forgot their basic skills and needs;

          They solely relied on machines and tools

          To get their work done with effortless speed;

          Now no more can they enjoy and be cool;

          Dire necessity drove them crazy and mad

          They searched for candles with heavy feelings sad.

 

4.      They came out of their narrow suffocating cells

         To breathe fresh air and view the wondrous sight

         Of myriad stars shining like candles at night;

         They felt the touch of fresh, cool air and felt so well

         They fell into deep slumber and forgot their strain

         The touch of Nature rejuvenated their spirits again.

 

5.      Till now, heads down and glued to their lifeless tools

         Silent and stiff-lipped they lost their natural ways

         Of communion with others for so many days;

         Little they felt their feelings and slogged like fools;

         They enslaved themselves and lost their talents;

         Depending on machines, too many hours they spent.

 

6.     Their voices felt free to exchange their thoughts;

        Of their feelings with friends and their neighbours;

        They searched for apt phrases with earnest hearts;

        They felt a new sense of freedom, mingling with others;

        A new change in their outlook in intimate touch;

        Can machines better and foster their bonds so much? 

 

7.     With Keen perception surroundings they did behold

         No sense of haste, no machine-driven speed;

         At their own pace they worked with no sense of greed;

         They found a sense of freedom form routine-hold;

         Uncluttered by too many facts they tried to revive

         Their latent skills in order to survive.

 

8.      A short break from their dreary routine

         Gave them respite to see neighbouring sights;

         Never they felt so happy in watching fields and farms;

         Each tree and bush seemed so uncommonly serene;

         A sense of kinship with Nature unaware they found

         Free from deafening city’s blaring sounds.

 

9.      Unguided by too many technical tools

         A fresh vision they acquired from restful ease;

         In simple living they found true contented peace;

         No more bothered by hurried crushing schedule;

         Their dormant creative springs with instinctive insights

         Made them sing and dance with enthusiastic delight. 

 

10.   Their feelings rose with a fresh lease of life

        Their hidden hopes enlivened with new, rising dawn.

        Like flying birds or sprouting buds on the lawn.

        No more they felt restrained by rushing strife.   

       They felt the inner pulse and stood on their feet again.

       They need not compete now for luxuries vain.

 

11.   Too much dependence on machines will drain

        Our inner skills dry up and will rust

        Sheer sloth and craze for luxuries and lust

        Make us exhausted with stress and strain;

        Systems may be perfect but sometimes crack

        Robots may be perfect but sometimes rebel and attack.

 

12.   Be one with Nature and protect Her ever

        Machines, monstrous powers, keep them under control.

        Be not a slave to them; never lose your soul.

        With heartless machines destroy not Nature, never.

        Feel like a human being with blood and flesh.

        Don’t get stuck up like a fly in mechanical mesh.

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

                                                            Somaseshu Gutala

 This poem is not a tirade against machines and gadgets. Really, technology is an indispensable part of modern man's life. But in his craze for machines and technology and to make his life more comfortable and indolent, man should not become a slave to machines and technology and lose his self-thinking, creativity, traditional and moral values. Materialism and machines enslave man and kill man's humane qualities and empathy. Man should use his wisdom and sense of discrimination to make use of technology within limits and be on his guard to see that machines and technology should not snatch away his creative qualities and humane values. At the same time for every small thing, he should not take the help of machines. He should give priority to self-efforts and individual abilities. He should also think of employability of common people and should not use machines to take away their daily livelihood. Beware of machines and technology. Use them wisely within limits and don't waste your time at the expense of your precious God-given gifts. Do not make your children addicted to mobiles T.V.s and machines. Machines are created by creative intellect and original thinking, vision and imagination. If man gets addicted to machines, he will lose his creative intellect and originality. Then the progress of modern civilization will come to a dead end and progress will come to a dead stop.

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

   8th June, 2024                                          Somaseshu Gutala

 

 

 

 

 

           

          

          

          

           

          

          

 

The Tale of Mallika, the maid-servant

 

     

            

             

1.    A village lass newly married worked as a maid

In a posh house in a big crowded town;

She felt herself a stranger unknown

By sheer fortune in workers’ quarters, she stayed. 

  2    Her name means a pure white bloom, yet

        Like moon hid in clouds she doth seem 

        A half-burnt wick of flame feeble and dim;

        She worked hard from sunrise to sunset.

 

3.    A slender young woman with complexion fair

Wearing a patched saree moving from door to door

Scrubbing vessels and cleaning the floor.

She spent her time never complaining of her cares.

 

4.    Though other servants did distance maintain

She knew her humble roots and worked a lot;

She tried to mingle with them and share her thoughts

Helping them unsought with no sense of gain.

 

5.    She tried to fit in with others as best as she could

She lived within her meagre means and did not waste

A single pie and never spent in haste

Her life riddled with problems seemed a pathless wood. 

 

6.    Patiently she bore rich people’s insults and taunts

Though she was treated harsh she kept her poise

Though meagre returns paid, she never raised her voice.

Restrained by her poor state and unfulfilled wants.

   

7.    Thrown off like a burden by her parents poor

Married off to a lazy drunkard rude

She slogged like a slave, no time to brood

For her growing troubles she found no cure.

 

8.    Her husband snatched away whatever she brought

And drank away and family he never cared;

Her entreaties he never listened but angrily glared

Using his brutal might her words he cared not.

 

9.    In his craze for a male child, he harassed his wife

Though burdened with two girls he still did aspire

Consulting a temple priest to quench his desire

Blind beliefs create unnecessary strife.

 

10.   His stubborn ways without forethought brought

  His whole family down to this sorry state

  For his grievous, superstitions, cruel fate

  Made his poor family suffer a lot.

 

11.   He cursed his stars when fate did otherwise decide

 Now burdened with three girls he saw his future lost

 Immersed in drink he breathed his last

 Collapsing like a wretched dog by wayside.

 

12   His wife now alone with a large family left

       Found no succor from in-laws and none to request

       Neighbors shunned her sight and treated her like a pest

       No properties she got but mounting debts. 

     

13.  In spite of hurdles and hardships she tried

      To survive- no use she thought to weep and fret

       Her children’s future she did not neglect

       She taught them to work hard and by rules abide.

 

14.  Know your status and means; act not in haste;

       Female or male – all are equal to God.

      Why crave for male kids? Beware of blind faith and fraud

      Egoistic acts disturb our happy domestic state.

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

    1st June, 2024                                  Somaseshu Gutala

      

FROZEN ICE

     

                                 

1           Nature too seems now dull and mute

          Has she become vexed with our attitude?

          Has she become averse to our treatment rude?

         Crammed by our selfish ways, she seems to refute

         Our so called ultra-modern living style

         Wherever man dwells, he tends to destroy and defile.

 

2.                     No poetic enchantments now we feel

       No heavenly mystical realms we see

       No holy meditations silent and free

       No musical wonders our voices reveal

       Nature seems static like a plastic bouquet in a jar

       Enslaved to tools, man moved away too far.

 

     3   Like machines we live and follow rigid rules

          Our acts and thoughts mechanized entire

          We bartered our souls, feelings and desires

          We made our children slaves to tools

          For wealth and power our own people we kill

          Desensitized kids view movies of murderous thrill 

 

    4.  Has Nature become lifeless and dead?

         Has she lost her charms and Promethean fire?

         No flash of noble thoughts she doth inspire;        

         Nature now viewed as stuff to garner wealth instead

         Why this perverted turn and empty phase?

         Why man like a beast drags his dull, dreary days?

 

 5.    In truth nature still shines in her pristine form

        Ever benign, bounteous with beautiful charm

        Our tarnished minds bereft of vision and calm

        Can’t view her with adoration and feelings warm.

        The modern world thinks eccentric and proud

        If man pours out his feelings in true colors loud.    

 

6.     We can’t speak out earnest from our hearts

        Behind the veneer of decency, our feelings we hide

        We tend to move with flow, not turn against the tide;

        In the vortex of dry routine, we are caught

        Bereft of free exchange, shrunken like frozen ice

        As civilized ones, we struggle to live in disguise.

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

            19-05-2024                  Somaseshu Gutala