CURRY LEAVES

 

                       

                    

     1)   These dark green leaves with pungent smell now seen

       As a storehouse of vitamins, a herbal source

      That purifies our guts and gives us strength and force

      Maintains our system strong and clean.

 

    2)       Whatever people assume and perceive

      These leaves add flavor and spice up our plate

      Their presence enough to tickle our taste

      Our steaming soup without them we can’t conceive.

3)   A few leaves suffice to enrich our food

     In every kitchen their use a must

    This healthy herb in spices stands as first

    That cleans our lungs and makes our blood-flow good

 

   4)    Without their touch our curries taste too bland

     Our preparations turn too stale and dull

     In Indian cuisine they cast a magic spell

     These fresh green leaves, a culinary gift to our land.

 

      5) These fresh, green leaves thrown out after their use

          Their essence grabbed; none notice their worth

      Though their fragrance and taste enhance our health

      Mercilessly thrown out as wasteful refuse.

 

   6)       Like them we too, a part of Nature

     We too share same fate in our existence

     When counted most power and wealth immense

     When none respects values and moral stature.

 

     7)  Those whom we love and deeply trust

    Those whom we earnestly help with feelings warm

    Throw us at once like leaves in a storm

    Our steadfast faith shaken crumbles down to dust.

 

     8)    Our elders too suffer similar fate

     Deprived of status lose their power and hold

     When their youngsters rebel defiant and bold

     Showing scant attention to their state.

 

9)    Our hearts feel deepest pang of pain

When thrown out like worthless trash in haste

As if our feelings count nothing but waste

When whom we love treat us with disdain. 

 

10)     Once you quit your seat you lose your right

       Like orange peels thrown out seems your plight

       Your services and none brings to light

       Your former staff turn cold and avoid your sight.

 

11)      Our leaders use people as their tools

   Once they succeed look down as fools

   They feel supreme and violate all rules

   To grab their gains, make others slog like mules.

 

12)     Persons deprived of their status seen

   Like curry leaves well-used and thrown

  Who strained their every muscle, nerve and bone;

  And yet they spice our lives like those leaves, fresh and green.

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

      28th November, 2020                      Somaseshu Gutala

 Note : 

1)    The curry leaf plant is a native plant of India and is now grown in other south Asian countries like Burma, Ceylon, Australia and China. In every Indian home it is widely used in many dishes like soups, dals, curries and chutneys. In seasoning items, it has an important place. It has many nutritious values and contains calcium, phosphorus, iron and vitamins. It has anti-bacterial properties and improves our digestion and functioning of heart. It lowers blood sugar and bad cholesterol. The curry leaf oil is also used in soap industry. But most of us throw out these leaves after extracting their essence. Hence the Indian idiom “thrown away like curry leaves” implies showing scant regard and recognition after making use of a person. It is equivalent to the English idiom “thrown away like an orange peel.”

2)    In this poem “curry leaves” is symbolically used to show the present trends of the world where man exploits everything with acquisitive tendency and neglects moral values and obligations.   

 

DEAR SON !

                                          

 1)         Alone you strove to reach your goal

             You seem to take everything in easy stride

             Yet never did you go back on what you decide

             As best as you can, you played your role.

 

2)         Your hard work made you win what you sought

             You spent your time in studying a lot

             A group of loyal, beloved friends you got

             A precious gift in this world of greedy thoughts.

 

3)         Fortune too favoured you with ease to obtain

            A decent job in eminent field

            Without too many constraints to yield

            With wider scope much experience to gain.

4)         You observe everything with keen insight

            Your blogs reflect your picturesque style

             With dramatic turns and spirit agile

             Without concealing aught in black and white.

 

 5)        With an exploring eye for everything

             You seem to scrutinise people around;

             Your liberal heart in your dealings found

             A holistic approach from the beginning.

 

6)         Though witty sometimes with sarcastic sting

             Your talk conveys your feelings warm

             You never stay idle, passive and calm  

             Wherever you are, a happy climate you bring.

 

6)          In varied subjects your attention keen

             Gave you much wisdom and knowledge wide;

              Made you a friendly guy with no sense of pride

               A jolly, lovable person with conscience clean.  

 

7)           Though busy and active you outwardly seem

               A recluse at heart with musings deep;

               Fond of woods, lakes and mountains steep

               Reveals your poetic heart and soul, I deem.        

 

 9)          Holy places and monuments you cherish

              The lives of great saints and sages great;

              With strong faith in providence and fate

               For God’s guidance and mercy you ever wish.  

           

10)         My hearty greetings on this memorable day

               May you receive the grace of Mother Divine;  

               Let Her gracious looks on you ever shine,

               Upon your happy family I ever pray.     

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

   Dear Subash,

                       On this happy occasion I wish you a very happy and brilliant future to you. You made great progress in your life. Imagine a shy, reserved kid from a small village turned into a decent computer engineer working in a big city in U.S. A great leap indeed! By God’s grace you are blessed with a lovely family and an amiable circle of friends. Your relatives also love you very much for your warm and affectionate feelings. On this happy occasion I wish that you achieve many more laurels in your career and May God fulfil all your wishes.

                                                                            Your loving Dad

                                                                                             G.S.

                 

            22nd November, 2020                        Somaseshu Gutala
                                                

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

                             

 

 

 

A COUNTRY’S DREAM (Part—I)

             

             

 

                   

 

A country’s dream signifies its goal, objectives and ideologies. A country’s dream determines its style of functioning, organizing and constituting its laws and principles. It is the national ethos of the country and shows its political, social and cultural aspects. America is a new country that started with a noble dream and high aspirations. The American dream is to provide equal opportunities to all irrespective of race, religion and color and create avenues for upward mobility to everyone. The American dream is achieved through sacrifice, risk-taking and hard work. The standard icon of the American dream is the statue of Liberty. It was about originality, individualism and pursuit of happiness.

 Jefferson articulated the “American dream” in his United States Declaration of Independence written in 1776 which stated that the pursuit of happiness is a fundamental right and all men are created equal.   “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

 The American dream crystallized the ideals of liberty, democracy and equality which had really originated from Europe. Life in America created favorable conditions to realize these ideals in real life as far as possible. Vernon L. Perrington explains the American dream as the process of “a better, richer and happier life for all our citizens of every rank.” 

 The American dream is viewed from two perspectives; religious and secular. From the religious point of view America is viewed as a New Jerusalem, a new Garden of Eden or new Israel with an obviously lofty future. On the other hand the secular interpretation lays emphasis on having a happy family, owning a house and being successful in the land of opportunities with endless possibilities. Benjamin Franklin felt that character and hard work constitute the dream when acquired with values and morality. 

According to American history there are two types of American dreams: the collective and the individual. At individual level it is the dream of a person to get what one seeks. The desire to settle down, to have a good job and to have a happy family is the personal aspiration. At collective level it is transmission of heritage from generation to generation the ideals of democracy, liberty and equality.

The term “The American dream” was first used by James Translow Adams in his book “The Epic of America” written in 1931. The American dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. Alexis de Toqueville, the French historian, in his book “Democracy in America”, the American dream is “the charm of the anticipated success.”

  The American dream was complex and comprises three parts. The first part is that it sprang from the prevailing conditions of the nineteenth century American life. The chief characteristic of this life was westward expansion or the frontier expansion. Secondly the American dream was influenced by the combination of reality and the idea of a new world offering endless opportunities for a new life. Thirdly the American dream is a combination of certain ideals like liberty, democracy and equality which created a new society with many opportunities for growth and development. 

The American society was previously assumed as a melting pot of various cultures with diverse qualities and skills emphasizing the combination of parts into a single whole. But really speaking it is like a bouquet of flowers with diverse colors each flower retaining its own identity, yet mixing with other ones to form a beautiful bunch of flowers. According to salad bowl theory America as a multi-cultural society is metaphorically compared to a salad bowl integrating different cultures while maintaining their separate identities.

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.

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

     25th September, 2020                   Somaseshu Gutala