Crowded Words

Power..
Beneath the flow of time,
Surreal echoing of chimes,
Agonized altruism comes next,
Burning desires of lost generation.

Watching everything fall,
The hidden animal of enormous power comes to the deprived,
[It] Offers them salvation and -
Kills them just for delight.

Politician..
White man with no clothes,
Torch bearer of the millions aboard,
Penetrates our city,
With his wicked desires -
and lust for bloodied throne.
Then people like YOU,
Stand up,
And for YOU they fire the rifles,
Killing one more!

Pretense..
Street with poor,
Dirt roads in pain,
Plastic women smiling,
At young newbie,
Disillusioned street lights,
Stare constantly,
Witnessing the acts,
Behind those transparent doors..

Before Integration - The time has come

It was winters of year 2006. In Delhi, a rock fest called ‘Swatantra’ was organized by couple of ignited minds of North Campus. Our band, ‘Verses’ was becoming moderately famous band in western India and so, when an invitation to perform in ‘Swatantra’ came, none of us were surprised. We were thrilled to have chance to play with other BIG bands, including ‘Indus Valley’, ‘Parikrama’ & ‘Pentagram’ among others.

Line up of ‘Verses’ had Jojo (drummer), Rohan(guitar), Rumit(rythm guitar), Ali (Bassist) and me (key board & vocals). The idea of ‘Verses’ was originated when I and Rohan were jamming. Rohan knew about my passion for poetry and was keen on giving it a shot to turn couple of them into songs. Later, when Jojo and Ali joined the band, they brought in their own songs which contributed majorly in the success of ‘Verses’ in the genre. Rumit was a friend of Jojo and liked to hang out with us. He was also a good guitar player but, neither he nor us spoke to him about joining ‘Verses’. Until one day, when one of the songs demanded a rhythm guitar and we picked the obvious one! With Rumit, line up of ‘Verses’ was complete.

Our first song that made us ‘known’ among rock ‘n’ roll lovers was not a rock song. It was a cover of Reggae hit of north India. In one of the rustic pub of pune, we played ‘Chai, Chillum, Chapati’ one evening and that night, we gave our first autographs to our fans!!!!

[To be Continued..]

Integration - Continues..

Electrifying solos of Tutu followed by Ri were slowly reaching towards the final cut. I wasn’t needed on stage so, I was quietly standing aside and patiently observing Ri’s innocent expressions as she made million eyes drool over the beats. At the same time, Tutu was trying to impress his girl with impeccable bottleneck picking. His girl seemed genuinely interested in his guitar and Tutu. I wanted to change the order to Tutu and his guitar but then, dropped the thought. She was sitting in the front - at some instances, her face looked pale and eyes green, and I wondered where Tutu’s solos were coming from!

The crowd was all charged up. Head-bangers had lost their heads. There were some new comers who had been in the back, trying to learn how to head-bang without twisting & hurting their own necks. Sigh! ‘Poor kids! they dunno howta ROCK’, one of the organizers standing next to me said in his Indian born US accent.

It was time for me to take the stage again!

‘Hell yeah! we ‘re here and I know we are TOGETHER’

‘I want to tell you about this strange dream I had’
‘No, it ain’t about a girl or the nightmares you have!’
‘It was slightly twisted but, so are you, aren’t you?’ (some giggles and sound of yelling)

[By this time, Zumi, Ri and Tutu knew that the ‘on stage’ improvisation time had come! Tutu had opened it for the other two and soon they all were in sync]

‘While walking on my terrace,
Under untainted moon light,
I felt a different colored miracle had hit me, all right?’

‘I was sleeping in my bedroom,
With walks on wall waiting by,
I took that first bizarre step,
and the world was closing by’

‘The lizard on the ceiling,
Watched it as stunning sight.
And soon I was running for her,
Around fancy fan and colored tube-light’

…..

Those lines continued.

[to be continued..]

Integration : Set me free

Soon, ‘Integration’ was asked to do necessary sound check. Tutu had brought his new fender F cut guitar which he called ‘Black Magic Woman’. Of course, ‘Black Magic Woman’ would create wonders with its deep and heavy sound. Ri and Zumi took their own time to get the ’sound’ right. Zumi was about to fight with the sound engineer when he said that he could not set bass guitar’s volume that high as it might blow the speakers off. Zumi said she didn’t care! Again, I diverted her mind to her favorite brand and she gave up.

On the lawn & staircase, youth was getting settled. Some of them were observing the same from their hostel windows. Some had come from different colleges/schools in the town. I spotted a tattoo designer in the crowd, he was showcasing his art and offering free tips for tattoos to pretty girls. Also, there were few old people with white long hair.

I guess, it was the time !

We took the stage. Zumi, Ri, Tutu and I. Lights went dim. One of the guy introduced ‘Integration’ to the audience as a band that was known for its on stage improvisations and provocative yet profound lyrics. He said few more good things about the band but I didn’t want to remember them and so, I don’t! I was ready to take over - the mic was with me now.

Audience was silent. I starred at them for a minute, disturbing them, teasing them!

‘Good Evening’, I said.

‘Goooooooooooooood Evening’, I screamed.

‘The first song of the day, is for YOU’, I yelled.

‘Its called, ‘Set me free’ ‘

‘In my life,

I think I have been surrounded,

By people of different words and rhymes,

As I think of my yester year,

I want to run free and fly..

Set me free today,

Set me free tomorrow,

This life is mine,

Let me live it now,

Set me free………………………’

Tutu’s fender was creating wonders. Zumi and Ri were at their recent best, and as they took over and made their instruments talk, I started roaming in the audience.

Integration

Later that evening, I met Zumi at a rock concert in NID. I told Zumi about my dream of a man without sense of dimensions and showed her lines I had scribbled the same morning. I asked her what she thought about those lines. She just looked at me, smirked and looked away.

About Zumi :

Zumi is basist of our band. A backbone in true sense. I met Zumi when she was with a blues band called, ‘Rustic Rhymes’. Few minutes later, Ri and Tutu joined us. I didn’t tell them about the dream, just because I knew they would enjoy it. First time, Tutu got his girl for our gig. She looked finicky to me. However, Zumi became friends with her instantly because she was carrying Zumi’s favourite brand! Ri was least bothered about what was going around.

About Tutu and Ri:

Tutu started learning sitar when he was 8. By age of 15, he started appearing in concerts. Later, he decided to pick up guitar and he met me or he met me and he decided to pick up guitar. Actually, none of us remember correct sequence for certain strongly considerable reasons. He soon deserved a lead guitar!! Ri, a multitalented phenomenon. She played drums and equally proficient in flute and violin. Unlike others, I met her in my college. So, four of us, Zumi, Ri, Tutu and I, make a band called ‘Integration’.

The room - 1

As the mass of youth settled, darkness colored ‘the room’. Scanty light, however, made a goblet-shaped part slightly protruding from eastern wall, visible. Crowd was murmuring about the proceedings.

A sudden sound from the finest quality speakers appalled the viewers but, it subsided immediately. From the projector room, X and his team-mates, started the movie. The movie projected musings of a common man - in India. A common man - from various parts of India. A common man - like you and I. The silent movie was about, the viewers - present and not present in ‘the room’.

And on a defining moment of the movie, X and his band mates appeared on stage. With their instruments - X for that matter, carried a book and pen. They provoked the crowd - not for the physical chaos but, the internal one.

“I dropped my weapons long back,
But, I think it ain’t enough,
I need to get down on my knees,
And wait for them to punish me bitter!
What I studied in school,
Has been forgotten long back,
The streets since ‘47,
Have never been in such despair !
Winds of change,
They all talk about,
Where is it ?
What is it ?

- Ah ! but I know my small hand will count..
For our future,
We should stand,
We must stop being bird of prey”

- ‘the room’ was a call to light the fire against corruption, of all the form. It was a call, to stand against capricious reign. It was a call to YOUTH to be learned and throw away the darkness of ignorance.

Next time, when they met, it was ‘On the streets’ !

The room..

As the time progressed, the youth gathered near the gates of “the room”. An unknown writer of yesteryear had described this era as fecund years of reformation of Indian sub-continent. It was around 10 in the night when a masked man walked to this gathering, with posters – painted with flamboyant colors. The posters carried graffiti, designs, paintings, free verse poems – written in almost all styles of fonts available. Another masked man popped out of some street, distributing masks and t-shirts. White masks and black t-shirts to be precise. X had contributed severely in the designing of attires. According to his interview with a journalist, he had revealed that the head covering white masks showed that “our minds are at peace and we are very much aware of what we are doing.” The black T-shirt, however, had ambiguous meaning, left to the perception of people. Most of them took it as a symbol of grief.

Around 11, the doors of “the room” were opened. Nobody rushed in, they walked serenely into the hall – it was, as if a thought was allowed to visit mind without obstructions. They all set in – quietly.

“Life altering act was about to begin”

Evening..

The evening looked lugubrious – not because the sun had already departed or the clouds were covering the sky. May be it was so because the men on road looked more dull and sad. It looked as if sadness was spreading, across the nation and this particular evening, was merely a reflection of it. The lethargic thought of demolishing futile democracy was finally proliferating. The most intelligent brains of the country had escaped to their favorite citadel. It appeared that, the strange evening, was categorizing the mass of people – travelling physically towards their home.

Few years back, X had visited the same area, with his very best friends. They had sat somewhere nearby when someone had pointed out that strange cross-roads. Later, X had tried to stand at the center of those cross roads – Alone. It was said that the center of cross-roads was source of energy – a source of power, negative or positive & X, had also felt it. Today, X was alone – near the cross roads. His hands carried something – a big jar like vessel.

Traffic signals turned green and X walked with the traffic. He looked around, few hundred eyes, as if hypnotized, careless towards what they were about to see. He searched for the strange sun. He tried to find the mad moon but could get only glimpse of it – the clouds were saving it from witnessing history. As he approached the center of cross-roads, his steps became more firm & his soul more determined. He emptied the liquid in the vessel on his body & then he, lit the light. He looked around, for one final time. Soon, the flames caught his body. And he took a deep breath – and before his last breath, he screamed out loud:

“All shall die in search for the freedom”

Same Old Sun..

They are coming to take us,
The prodigal, threatening faced angels,
With their voracious desires to steal our conscience,
And make us subdued mass of living dead..

With their magnanimous intellect,
And incisive wisdom,
They will rule on us..

Our world,
With our contentious leaders
& corrupted religions,
Prepares for an armed strife with their tanks & bombers..

The angels of freedom & unity,
Talks to human's frailty,
& before the world of dark sarcasm realize,
The prosperous same old sun awakes from forgotten east of earth..

Moments of Wisdom..

In the time of profound pains,
When all innocence, stingy intentions get unveiled,
I cry a secret tear for such disgrace,
And regain my passion to be insane..

I seek, from knowledge of erudite who drew miracle on sand,
what does it take to make a virtuous stand ?
- Against possible licentious, corrupt sins !
And by being here, in the life,
I was confounded to know its inner sides,
To know it smiles & how it winds..

The Invisible Man of a greature stature,
Refrained from allowing my thoughts to roam further,
With some more masked words,
I shall come back here..

To my nation

I am some animal of some forest and this is what happened to my forest some years back :

A cat, with her strident and sharp sound, woke up the entire forest of frightening, deadly animals possessing inordinate vigor & a mind equipped with intelligence. The cat with her wild and widely expressive face, brought to their notice an upcoming calamity. The strongest lion and the wise giraffe thought upon it while the rest of the community, watched them with submissive, worried faces. Lion expressed his willingness to think upon the situation for some more time while giraffe had a scepter like disciples to take care of.Staggered by this act of their beloved leaders, rest of the animals offered their services to refrain from the misfortune the calamity may bring. But the lion's ministry deprived them of their rights and resources to help others until asked for it otherwise.

Animals must gather, lest an unforeseen, lethal calamity may destruct their lives once for all. But before those poor with meager resources could do anything, calamity crashed upon them. That, in turn, broke the courage of my country & filled them with fear of destruction, and since then, my poorly rich country struggles each time the calamity comes in form of terrorist attack, flood, inflation, food crisis, political stability or corruption.

Poor's Passion !!!!

For the life swaying on the roads,
In their house, they keep their hunger on hold,
I have seen how they kill the cold..

In their hours of deepest needs,
They have been struggling on the streets,
With an emotion to follow,
And nothing else to borrow..

I have seen them diluting in the dark,
& never showing their faces again,
To hold their hands,
Even the greatest of kings may feel dismayed..

Sheep On Roll...

Hey Mr.Shepherd there,
Do you know I am going insane ?
I need some load
And I need some strain,
To earn my bread,
I want to work from today..

Hey Mr.Shepherd there,
Have you been to town lately?
The sheep there play,
Enjoy in turmoil,
They 've been friends with chaos,
And thats where they find some joy..

Hey Mr.Shepherd there,
Have you heard of some ancient village ?
Where sheep did help,
In making some mysterious fleece..

I don't mind climbing mountain,
I don't mind descending deep,
I just want to be what a sheep is meant to be..

Hey Mr.Shepherd there,
Do you know I am going insane ?
I need some load
And I need some strain,
To earn my bread,
I want to work from today..

Last Illusion..

In the predefined expression,
She stayed for a moment,
Comparing her mourns,
And some reasons to rejoice..

On the top of mountain of mud,
She saw him starring at her,
Asking silently,
To return him his sun -
The sun of the brightest of knowledge,
The sun untainted and flawless..

She stood still,
Flinging her violent smile,
Throwing her tantrums and whimsical sighs,
To kill a bond of "I" and "mine"..

Attracted by her psychological tricks,
He decided to take his last breath on the ridge,
He tried to think against his will,
Before he jumped from the hill
& since then,
He is floating in the world of men, women and the unborn children..

Majestic Man..

It was another day,
When we searched for a penny till the sunset,
We gave a chance to ourselves,
And decided to stop till the morning breaks..

I know it was a depressive night,
And we searched for places to hide,
That soft little girl who ran across the hall,
With her silky manners and small hands,
She waved from the window,
She gave us some bread,
She gave us smile,
And told us everything will be all right..

She told us some truth,
And she shared some lies,
She called him "Majestic Man",
Who absorbs all the pain,
Who always makes her smile..

She asked us to wait for her man,
And when we awoke,
It was another morning
And we had our next sigh..