Monday, August 22, 2016

Olympics 2016


One bronze and one silver,
Is not cause to celebrate.
Sindhu or Sakshi alone,
Do not a whole nation make!

We admire them for their grit,
In rising above the muck;
But to clean it, do nothing;
Apathy, progress does not make!

The officials fly business class,
Athletes have no shoes to wear.
Minister wants photo ops
Now, with those who have won!

We shower them with riches,
Afterwords: To those who won.
We would rather worship them,
Than send our kids out to play!

We troll De who dare suggest,
That, we, and our athletes suck;
It may not be to our taste,
But 'tis truth we need to accept!

A billion people watching
The only one to fight for Gold;
'Tis enough for cloud of gloom,
To have one silver lining!

Sports is meant for the playing,
Medals are but a byproduct;
Why not each chase our passion,
And, each of us, aim for our best?

Dinesh Gopalan
22 August, 2016




Saturday, August 13, 2016

My wife lost her phone


My wife lost her phone recently,
When she was shopping at an exhibition.
She realised it was gone instantly,
Since she felt an emptiness in her soul.

By the time she turned it was gone.
She panicked, looked around frantically,
Ran from stall to stall with desperation,
looking under tables and everywhere generally.

She continued shopping, putting on a brave face,
Though she knew, and I, what the loss to her meant.
The loss festered, in about an hour, she was in ferment,
For the emptiness in her soul just grew.

She was deprived of her regular feeds,
While I was checking mine every five minutes.
The brain that is devoid of dopamine, 
starts getting nervous, jittery, and panic begins.

Her colleagues at work were writing her off,
She was disconnected and off the grid.
Her friends all around were living it up,
and she was lonely, friendless and alone.

She came home, got on to the mail,
Which only worsened matters; she realised with some dread,
She needed her phone to approve several things,
All of which were of course very urgent.

Meanwhile, she had called, blocked her sim,
Driving one more nail into her own coffin.
For all people had was her number,
And no one nowadays comes calling.

She had no cash, could not withdraw more,
For her phone was where she saved her pins.
Music could have uplifted her mood,
but all her songs went with the phone.

Slowly the realisation started sinking in,
that without her phone, life was nothing.
She was totally distraught, she could not sleep,
The world didn't care: it had left her behind.

We are waiting now at the mobile store, 
for it to open, at nine on a Saturday morning.
Fifteen hours is a long time, an eternity, 
to live life without the phone.

Dinesh Gopalan
13 August, 2016




Friday, August 12, 2016

Irom Shormila


After sixteen years of fasting to get the Armed Forces Special Provisions Act repealed in Manipur, and being fed through tubes running through her nose all these years, Irom Sharmila has broken her fast. But the people are not amused... 

She fasted for sixteen long years,
On a matter of high principle.
On the way, she was idolised,
and her status raised to Godhood.

Society needs its Gods to worship:
Ideals they themselves cannot reach.
But every God is cast in stone,
locked up, and is surrounded by priests.

They are revered, they become legend,
Prayers are composed in their name;
They are feted, there are rituals,
To ensure the legend grows with time.

They are imprisoned, they cannot run,
There's reason they were cast in stone.
In their name, there's now an empire,
Grown prosperous in God's name.

She broke the mould, she broke her resolve - 
She broke her fast, she just changed her mind!
The empire that was built in her name,
Crumbled, the God just walked away!

Now they are screaming in outrage,
They pillory her, put her to shame.
There's price to pay for their worship,
Gods are cast in stone, they cannot change!

For our Gods are but an excuse,
To continue in our corrupt ways;
Once bribed through prayer, neither us,
Nor the Gods we create can change!

Dinesh Gopalan
12 August, 2016