Woman

She was not my mother, my sister, my daughter or my friend.

this woman who died today.

and yet, my heart is a lump of lead in my chest  

my eyes burn with unshed tears. 

the anguish  beats inside my body

like a prisoner incarcerated in a windowless cell.

she lives in my mind

she has done so

since that evening

when horror and shame were redefined
on the streets of my country

pain stares me in the face
 I can no longer look away

no longer pretend that everything is fine

and carry on with my life and living

as a half human, 

as an object of creature comfort

carrying the burden of shame and guilt

of another's unbridled bestiality

No, I cannot do that any more.

my anger seethes and corrodes  me

I am the woman, the creator, the nurturer 

I am the heart of the human race
I have to now awaken to my wholeness

my completeness, 

I have to know my power

and reclaim it.
she will live on in me
and I will not let her die

.

Face

The face looks at me

from within

the little roadside shrine

love all pervasive

immanence divine

The Valiant One

His battles done
he sits immersed
in the vast
unutterable peace
of extinguished fires
Gautam Siddharth Buddha 
the valiant one

Extinguished

My lamp
extinguished.
darkness
blindfolds 
and robs me
of all 
but that 
which throbs 
flows and 
breathes 

within me.

Invisible Hands

So its  happened at last. All those invisible people, the maids, cooks, drivers, who make our days run on well oiled wheels have finally come together. I call them invisible because only in their absence do they seem to become really visible. If you get what I mean. Just before Diwali, came a missive from them to each home in my complex, asking politely, gently,  for a full month's salary as bonus.It cited the rising prices and the fact that they too were entitled to enjoy the festival season like their employers did.  As expected,  it raised a mini storm. Some of the residents sacked their employees and expressed that they would rather depend on appliances like dishwashers, washing machines etc for their work. Fair enough. To each his/her own.

It brought into focus, the indispensability of these workers in our lives. And also the fact that they are so vulnerable with their lack of organization. No holidays. No value or recognition for years of service.Can be sacked at a moment's notice. Facing immediate suspicion for theft if anything  valuable is lost or misplaced. Their very presence and poverty seem to provide the necessary motive and the evidence against them. 

So they have come together now, my maid and cook informed me with pride and dignity. They are human too. They need support and  their rights to be recognized. The Union for Domestic Workers Rights has been formed in Bangalore.Awareness meetings  are being held in police stations. A welcome step and kudos to those who are making it happen.

treasure

I seek

in your eyes

with desperate hope
pathways

to the treasure

which hides 

within me

~ Rwits

lamp

The dancing brilliance 
of my little lamp
holds me 
spellbound
the wind battles
my doors in
angry defiance
the wick burns low
and I am trapped

in the breathless
agony of this
hopeless love

Affair

I know in my heart
he stands outside 

my shuttered door
in patience
darkness
my constant lover
waits for 
my brief affair 
with the lamp
to be over

Questions On Love

I am a puppet on a string

in your love

and I ask myself

what do I seek from you?

When I say I love you

do I know what I mean?

can I ever know?

or is love just a feeling

a state of being

incomprehensible 

to the mind

the wise say

love is bliss
then why

the restlessness

the agony

the unquenchable thirst ?

what is it that I look for? 

do I see you as you really are?

do I even want to?

or am I really seeking in you

a reflection of my own self

evidence of my lovability?

or is it my mind 

the cheater

the illusionist

which pulls me to you

and makes me seek

outside in you

what lies inside me?

is this the mind's

ultimate deception ?

or is it a neccessary

stepping stone

to the treasure of love 

I carry within?

Darkness

My breathless
desperation
rushes to enclose
the sputtering flame
maybe
its time
I learnt to embrace
my own darkness?

~ Rwits