When the Waters Rose

On that fateful September day in 1908
the downpour had reached alarming rates
The torrential rains proved too much for several tanks
which overflowed towards the river's now submerging banks
The hydrological beast raged along its easterly course
There was little that could oppose its force
With the hospital drowned the sick and the relapsing
One by one the bridges started collapsing
The incessant downpour and the river in spate
Left the homes and markets in a shambolic state
Nature's might struck not far from the Four Towers
The waters rose and lives fell to the power

Enter a man from the kingdom of Mysore
who had made inroads into engineering folklore
Having worked some wonders with water
M Visvesvaraya was now sought after
and he was asked to present what he had in store
Appointed, he and his team got on with the assigned duty
He proposed a mix of engineering and aesthetic beauty

A dam-reservoir and a lake were proposed
upstream of where city life met the river's course
A measure aimed at containing the flow
to dispel some force before it could grow
In the middle of the disaster zone
it was proposed to make a way wide
Greenery would line the borders
Buildings would stand aside

The stitches slowly came up in time
The pearl was regaining its shine
The same beast that had swept away lives
would now be serving as a lifeline

For a few dozen years the beast benignly ran
Saw constructive and destructive conquests of man
The flow of power was appearing to have changed its course
As the beast, now polluted, was running out of force
It wasn't strong enough now, it could no longer raze
But nature inevitably teaches lessons in other ways

Both in the Hi-Tec world and far away
the glass and concrete proceed
The metaphorical waters rise,
the groundwater continues to recede
Upstream, the dam and lakes
no longer quench the thirst of the land
In the city, a muddled rivulet
runs through where heritage buildings stand
After a century and a decade and a year
Emerges a new beast, a different kind of fear
Like all urban jungles, the menace continues to grow
Like all urban jungles, a solution is the need of the hour
Like for all concrete jungles, testing times lie ahead
for the lands far and wide beyond the Four Towers

Lines in the Sand

The lines in the sand
make the frame of the man

Set by teachings since the day of inception
Set by preachings that shape perceptions
Alternate truths cause unexpected interruptions
hitting with unexplored differences
New realities bring in new disruptions
opening doors to previously unknown inferences
The lines in the sand put the mind in a spot
New frontiers stretch the journey of the train of thought
there comes a choice to rend the diverse with an iron hand
or to add a bend in the lines in the sand

And while the shifting lines in the sand
make the makeshift frame of the man
Wrought by time, the man chooses some lines
to not get rearranged, to hold together the frame
even as dunes move around in the wind of change

When differences grow into dire inferences
When outcomes are defended by citing shady references
When high-handedness of words apparently hallowed
adds a deadly depth to things much more shallow
When vehement claims of supremacy perceived
add further to the noise that deceives
When the lines in the sand paint a picture of pain
When scenes begin appearing forbidding and forlorn
There are limits to rethink, sense to be reclaimed
Some lines need to be wiped, some solidly redrawn

Trajectories

Some purposeful, point-to-point
Some heavily diverted to not disappoint
Some hovering low, down-to-earth
Some buried beneath the burden of their worth
Some soaring steadily in the sky
Some at their pinnacle which suddenly seems too high
Some struggling slowly against the tide
Some atop the crest taking a wild ride
Some well-established, tried and tested
Some spin off into the unexpected
Some rigid, straight, racing in one direction
Some slaloming, seeking more points of intersection
Some in parallel, bundled together, hard to deflect
Some striking surfaces which give reason to reflect
Some swerving towards the voids crowded, isolated
Some seeking change in the way they get extrapolated
Some deserve to be cut off to declutter the mess
Some demarcate solidarity in times of distress
Some enmesh complicatedly, intricately entangle
Some form meaningful shapes from certain angles
Some will clash and crash, drive each other astray
Some will take diversions to ensure another goes all the way

Imagination

Imagination opens wide its door
Takes me by surprise, sweeps me off the floor
I think I know enough to not be intimidated
But the imagination has me entirely captivated

Imagination continues to roll
Drags me deeper into the rabbit hole
I realise the hollowness of the sights and sounds
But the imagination presents yet another round

Imagination makes my worlds switch
A long canvas with fantasies vividly stitched
I seek solace from ghosts of situations past
But the imagination ensures that some of them last

Imagination comes at a cost
Taking its toll as I try to not get lost
I look for an escape from this state
But the imagination makes it difficult to navigate

Imagination continues to show its clout
For some relief, it temporarily lets me get out
I want to be firm and not get swayed
But the imagination shows that it is here to stay

Imagination is well aware of its might
Will always hang around, often wrong, rarely right
I continue striding through the better and the worse
But the imagination runs by my side with another universe

Latent Heat

A situation has emerged
when the state is on the verge
of transforming, going over the edge
waiting for the right trigger

Minds getting deranged in a heated exchange
the reins seem to be slipping out
Keep adding a flow of fuel to the fire
to send things overboard, make them more dire
Whether inadvertent or chosen words,
echoing ever since they were heard
rip open the restraints,
raise the bubbling disdain
in the beast, or more worryingly, the herd
Pouring in that last bit of necessary heat
to condemn the now fragile sense to a damning defeat

Minds getting distraught, close to losing the plot
seeking a spot of hope and solace
Blow in a wind disturbingly cold
to cause laid-out plans to flip and fold
Whether inadvertent or chosen words,
echoing ever since they were heard
freeze things into a twisted frame,
lock down and jam the brain,
harden things beyond being possible to stir
Sucking out that last crucial bit of warmth
inducing a state of chilling alarm

A step from battle or a step from surrender
the slaves of hope and passion crumble and vie,
as the flow of that vital latent heat
pushes them into two dimensions of defeat
But there are some who arrange
to reverse the flow and make a major change

Spaces

Seeing loosening spaces, unraveling laces
opening up in unwanted places
trying to get a grip
trying to not let it slip
rummaging in space, grasping at straws
desperate for a pause
trying to clasp at that time
where a stitch might save nine
An era goes by in a flicker
I slowly make my grip more firm
but soon begin to squirm
as it seems to slip through quicker

Seeking a different shade,
looking for a different tinge
searching for that part of mine
which was lost on coming unhinged
Shivering, trembling and meanwhile trying assembling
the gist of the spaced-apart thoughts in my mind
seeking to put forth a picture clear and well-defined

Wary of yet again slipping down the dark slope
I rummage in search of something with which I can cope
Often hit by a feeling of strangeness and disorientation,
that out-of-place, out-of-my-league sensation

Living in this contorted, turbulent millenial space
with things said to be threatened with vanishing without a trace
where things are fleeing at unmatchable, near-uncatchable pace
I drift around searching for my space, my place of solace
Amidst the noise of the pretentious positivity that pervades
The elixir unfound, continues to confound and evade

104

Seven nations waited with breaths bated
to see the beast with the little ones fly
to leave its gleaming trail in the sky

All things were in place, all checks were done
Eyes eager for the success they sought
The countdown had already begun
and the numbers slowly inched towards naught

The onlookers watched in anticipation
mixed with excitement and tinged with fear
The fuel and chemicals awaited ejection
to ignite the fire and soar clear

The moment arrived and the rockets gave the thrust
The launch pad was engulfed in flames and smoke and dust
From a tiny island off India's coast on the east
Carrying the payloads, off flew the beast

Soaring high in the sky, the strap-on rockets dropped
Then one by one, the stages came off
With several tons now reduced from the weight
beast and burden proceeded on their way

Along the planned orbit the rocket breezed
Step by step the payloads were released
Over five hundred kilometres below, on firm terrain
seven nations watched as satellites rained

Bunches of nanosats dropping off, gleaming in the light
captured by the on-board cam made a picturesque sight
As the tiny, shiny objects drifted against a backdrop of blue
those on terra firma were witnessing a dream come true

The satellites slowly drifted into place
On the earth, amidst an air of grace
Joy and relief and celebrations galore
On a scale so massive it shattered what was done before
ISRO aced the test with one hundred and four