The temple priest

In the temple of my frame,

I am the sole temple priest.

I scrape and scrub

Every filth and scum

To fashion from the rough

A luminous empty space.

At this mysterious alcove,

I wait with bated breath

For the return of my Lord-

A promise made in Heaven.

I stand guard night and day,

Many an impostor I chase away.

Separated from my Beloved;

Years, I spend in mourning:

With a heart full of yearning,

I await His homecoming.

Neither sun nor moon can imitate

The splendor of His divine light.

At times, darkness comes upon me

When I forget and fall asleep.

Then I wake up in a fright,

Heartbroken from a sickening thought -

“Did He visit when I was asleep?

Or could it be that I failed to know

The many times He came into my sight?

Was I so smitten by the world

That I recognized neither His Face nor Word?”

In panic I set upon to cleanse,

The murkiness of my inner lens.

At last I raze the weedy fence

To let in some light and sense.

Then I stand guard yet again

Braving every storm and rain

To glance upon my Beloved’s face. 

The many reasons for picking Mr. Modi

Even as the truth about the Gujarat riots has unfolded with unmistakable clarity, some of us are willing to ignore it and are ready to embrace Mr. Modi by citing the following reasons:

1. Mr. Modi can provide decisive leadership.
2. Mr. Modi is a corporate darling, ready to promote development without corruption.

The first premise for acceptance of Mr. Modi is his dictatorial administrative style which promises uncompromising thoroughness in tackling issues of corruption and terrorism. Let us allow a single person and ideology take control of the whole nation thereby ensuring speedy deliverance of governance by torpedoing any thought-provoking debate and opposition. No more democratic dillydallying. We are in the mood for China-style autocratic efficiency.

We just want that national economic growth figure to keep on ascending at the cost of everything else. There is no reason for the middle or upper class to be concerned about those below the poverty line. Throw in that Modi mask and maybe a few glasses and earplugs, and we can even pretend that poverty does not exist by resigning ourselves to those little islands of prosperity within which we remain safe and secure.

And if the ‘little people’ ever get any semblance of awareness and start demanding their share of the growth pie and dignity, Modi’s Parivar can easily scramble such craziness out of their brains by singing lullabies of Ram temple, Islamic terrorism, vote bank politics and corruption. Yes, we have got it all planned out. We want Mr. Modi leading this great nation. On the matter of those few million Muslims, we are sure their population will continue to increase so let us not lose sleep over a little collateral damage.