Arcane arcade

In the oceanic vastness of Varuna
Or the infinite expanse of Virata
Is wrought the immense law of the Brhat
It is the quiet reign of Vaishwanara.

The puny intellect of human being
Even if it is stretched to its limits
Barely manages to amass a pittance
Rest he settles for mystery and wonder.

The immensities and complexities
Of the interplay of worlds and realms beyond
Are themes with which mythologies are made
But leave the human mind in enigma.

Dreams and visions and imaginations
Drive us to fathom incommunicable
Clutching on to hope and slender techniques
More often than not, we end up in failure.

Caught up in the existential concourse
Some other concern calls emergency
Once again it is the fire-fighting mode
Always eludes the illimitable.

The subtle, the subliminal and causal
Are beyond the net of our perception
But strive we must to gain access to them
For they belong to us, not mysterious.

[Thu- 300904]

Plurality, Diversity, Multiculturalism is the new Trinity.

Construed almost synonymous with democracy, the idea of plurality and choice is also lapped up by the market economy. The more the merrier, is the new refrain. But what about consensus, synchronicity and solidarity? Are they not equally significant? This war between the modern and the post-modern has forced upon us lopsided priorities and warped perspectives. The fact that the divergent concepts must be applied in their respective locus is easily forgotten, and the contra attempted to corner browny points.

Conversely, none would like to trade patriotism or nationalism for plurality. They are sacrosanct down to the level of winning a Cricket match or some Beauty contest. Then what about creating such a consensus on a particular knowledge system or a philosophy? Can’t it be attempted in an informed environment by employing dispassionate discourse? Or, at least, is it not worth striving for?

Fears are certainly there. For when simple stipulations like electoral reforms elude us ever, to tinker with societal norms is fraught with far greater hurdles. Nevertheless, a conflated manifesto for the human race as a whole, addressing its existential concerns should be a plausible pursuit. Just like, Einstein’s objection to uncertainty, God doesn’t play dice.

Black and white

Is it not futile to find the square root of a sonnet?
Or to break a lyre to understand its liltings?
A vortex is not reducible to particles of water
A cloud knows not where it moves, how fast and why.

The whole is always more than the mere sum of its members
A hologram hoodwinks with dimensional shifts
The politician hides behind the cover of his image
If you have a hammer, then everything looks like a nail.

Asses, May God bless them, would rather have straw than gold
In arts as in religion, the best direction is backwards
Brands, a fascist state where we all salute the Logo
All that glitters is not gold, nor are diamond for ever.

Those who can, do, those who can’t, teach, alas!
Those who know, live, those who don’t, write about it
Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought
For, vision is the art of seeing things invisible.

Take out the H, and still a bit remains of habit
Life itself is a four-letter word, with if at its core
A nude turns vulgar, if appears to be conscious of it
Personal greed triggers an invisible hand of common good

An expert is one who knows more and more about less and less
We want more and more of less, is the motto of Downshifting
A dog biting a man is no news, but man biting a dog is
All light of the world is hidden behind the black letters of books.

[Fri-280901]