All in my imagination

 

All in my imagination

I was wandering like a cloud
over a busy street, where I saw
men laughing and smiling & having fun

I was wandering like a cloud
over a garden of flowers
and saw dancing and quivering daffodils

I was hovering like a cloud
above one over-used railway track
and saw a long train of goods wagons

I was hovering upon a beach
like an eagle searching for his prey
And saw a snail reaching out to the sea;
It was too small for my hunger
so, I let it go

On Mangoes and Mosquitoes

On Mangoes and Mosquitoes

Mangoes have gone but mosquitoes are in. This year the market was full of a variety of the king of fruits. But the quality was not up to the mark. Price varied from Rs 30 to about 150 per kg. I tried many varieties, not very satisfied, though.

Mosquitoes have arrived. I don’t like mosquitoes but they like me. I have lamented earlier at length about repellants, coils, skin creams, patches, incense sticks, liquid dispensers, mats and what not. Of all the anti-mosquito items I found citronella agarbattis best. Each stick lasts for about 15-20 minutes but you can see these insects coming in swarms and dying like rain. It is effective if you use it in early hours of invasion. Even plain camphor pills kept on electric mats is fine. Plus you get pleasant aroma. A  two percent mixture of camphor in coconut oil serves as pain reliever and mosquito repellant.

There is a strong myth in Kenya and other countries that mangoes and mosquitoes are related. That if you eat mangoes mosquitoes will be attracted and their byte will lead to malaria. This is not true. I have seen flies coming out mango but not mosquito.

Body odor, sweat, body movement, body heat are all invitations to mosquito: they will come dancing from far off distances. Carbon dioxide is a good attractant; place a source of carbon dioxide in a place where you want these pests go to.  Placing clover stuck in lemon in corners of the room is a home remedy.

I thought a poet is no poet if he has not written about moon. It appears to be true in the case of ubiquitous mosquito too. https://www.poetrysoup.com/poems/mosquito gives several hundreds of poems.  From the poems I gather that while in India we face mosquito menace during rainy season, westerners seem to suffer in summer. Just a sample before I leave, a short one from Char Ron Smith:

I've been single too long

Obviously

That a mosquito is the only female

that wants to take a bite of me

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By Force of Habit

By Force of Habit

(By Vyasamoorthy)

Before retiring to bed,

I switch on the Mosquito Liquid dispenser,

without realizing that

the container is empty;

(which only serves the purpose of a faint night lamp

just showing me where the switches are)

By force of habit, I would say.

For 28 years,

I had lived in Shenoy Nagar, near Aminjikarai,

in Madras.

Whenever I set out for shopping

I used to tell my mother or others:

“I will go to Aminjikarai and come”

Now, I have settled

in Secunderabad since 1970 -

some 45 years have rolled by.

Lakshmi nagar and Karkhana

are neighborhood shopping places.

When I set out for local shopping,

I tell my children,

sometimes,

 “I will go to Aminjikarai and come”,

By force of habit, I dare say.

Last week

I was reading some very interesting news

that I wanted to share.

I called out

my wife’s name

instead of my daughter’s name,

though it is five years,

since my wife passed away.

By force of habit, I must say.

Will such things that you do

By force habit

Leave you

When you finally LEAVE?

Will YOU get into somebody else’s psyche

And become his force of habit?

sEnior Citizens Turn Creative

Senior Citizens Turn Creative

Recently I posted a Poetic Verse to a group meant for senior citizens. There are 530 members, all retired and Net savvy. I was a little puzzled how to title my poem. Therefore I cleverly left the titling task to readers themselves. Here is the poem:

Can you title this?

After routine evening shopping
I was returning home by walk.
At a street corner,
right in the middle of the road
was a man who had stopped his scooter
to talk to someone on the cell phone.
I was about to chide him for his thoughtless action.
I heard him say to someone:
"I have bought flowers and plantains
but could not get beetle leaves"
That reminded me that I had forgotten to buy flowers
and went back to buy the some flowers.
Did he stop there
-Like a Nandi in the middle of the road-
-Attracting all my attention -
Just to remind me, I wonder?!
Anyway, he escaped my wrath

I received a flood of replies, each excelling the other. Responses are tabulated below:

SV Ramana A LAME MAN TEACHES RUNNING.
Jayanti Menon Every cloud has a silver lining!
Sivaram Thought he was a Nut but turned out to be WALNUT
Prema Sivaram Thoughtless act but a useful reminder
Surendra TS Middle-of-the-road breach?
Surendra, TS The Flowery breach
Surendra, TS Opportunity in violation
Surendra, TS The driver and the driven
Dr T Thomas Blow hot; blow cold!
DVR Vithal No wrath, only love.
SV Ramana SPEED BREAKER
Hari lakhera Wireless
Madhusudhan Rao All is well that ends well
Pillai, P Silver lining on a dark cloud
Murthy, Duvuri Headless Wonder
Dandapani Whatever happens is a blessings in disguise
M Ruparelia Mysterious Ways in which Nature/God helps you in time!

If you read the verse and the title you will find the link. The relationship between the title and the poem is sometimes direct but mostly subtle. I liked Hari Lakhera’s choice of the title as best. What is your choice? Don’t you agree that older persons are becoming smart and creative?

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