Apr 10, 2006

State of Mind...


The Mud walls of Kabul...2006





















With myriad dreams and ideas galore
I walk out of my Architecture school;
Cob webs, cob webs await in store
Reality hits me like an icy pool.

“Why can’t you dance to our chorale noise?
Why don’t you design our fashion box?”
They shamelessly ask in a single voice,
“Why don’t you bend and smell our socks?”

Superstitious tongues wriggle like snakes
Hissing, fizzing like they know it all;
So much farce, so many fakes;
Mask after mask, they march and fall.

Reasons are lost and wreaths are laid
Over proven thoughts and wisdom of old;
In Colorful costumes of wanton pride
They party and know not their soul is sold.

After every word they check their watch
“Time is gold” they proudly say;
They realize not it’s a prefixed match
Puppets who never will know their play.

Together they think and nod their head;
Cloned club with a common brain;
Moving shadows – the living dead;
They move in circles like a keyed toy train.

Second hand lives after pomp and pelf;
They live for attention and love the limelight.
Every man a stranger to himself
Yet they love to believe they’re right.

My feet run as far as they could
In search of a place where they’ll hurt me no more;
But my spirit stays waiting to explode
With myriad dreams and ideas galore.

(Written in Kabul- 10.04.2006)

36 comments:

  1. To quote a song, sang by a famous Swedish music hall artist in the fifties: "I am glad I am not young anymore!..."

    I realize now that this to be a doctor is relatively uncontroversal... -
    A quotation I have found useful:

    God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things which should be changed and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.
    said by
    Reinhold Niebuhr

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  2. very good one here. amazing. is a word that doenst speak the fullest.

    hey.. i am little confused with your comment in my page.

    abstract can be understood in a different way - what meaning you implied simply abstract.


    abstract - to use the information in a shoter brief way that assimilate the important ideas .

    abstract - very general with no specific meaning

    what did you mean in it.
    ofcourse i know i havent penned the fullest of what i want to convey and not to my satisfaction except the first two lines

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  3. *vaishnav... abstract for me is something that does'nt directly speak to u. It gives room for interpretation. It seems very simple in one sense yet can be complicated from another angle...just like this answer from me :)

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  4. I agree time is gold, we should not waste it.

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  5. *madsies...glad to know u like my designs. apt? sure :D

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  6. Nice pic once again :-)

    I am not into poetry..so cant comment much on the poem.

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  7. //Every man a stranger to himself
    Yet they love to believe they’re right//

    Beautifully written! Contrast between ego and quest for unfamiliarity of self...lovely

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  8. is this a reflection of ur mind-set right now ?

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  9. Anonymous6:14 PM

    *shilpa...dont comment on poetry? no problem...but u r welcome to comment on my state of mind :)

    *lavanya...tanx :)

    *~deepa~...for quite some time ;(

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  10. Beautifully written n good selection of the picture!

    GBU
    Arti

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  11. Nice poem. You started and ended with the same lines. That is something I like in poetry. Each one of them have a specific pattern. Some are rhyming.. consecutive lines or alternate..

    If you look at my last post.. Love to Lust.. the first and last stanze of the first part (Deep Love) start with the same pattern in each line.. the first one ends in a happy note with the last stanza portrays a sad one.. how ever that just went unnoticed. The Epilogue probably over shadowed it. Lust took over love just like the title.

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  12. Words of wisdom from Daniel

    They realize not it’s a prefixed match
    Puppets who never will know their play.


    Kaal kondu aadum pillai
    Nool kondu aadum bommai.
    Un kaiyil andha noola
    nee sollu nandalaala.
    Wonderful.

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  13. Every man a stranger to himself
    Yet he loves to believe he is right.

    - The locus of attachment of the mind and the body. Beautiful.

    Was your first job that bad?

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  14. BTW Ashok, how do u connect to the Internet from Afghanistan? Satellite? And if it's Internet thru satellite, how do u manage to upload so many photos? It must really suck.

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  15. I love it... the prelude..the way it starts with hope..then the reality strikes..and the last four lines that really lifts and awakens the spirit!
    no words to describe the black and white photograph..

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  16. *Arti...tanx

    *vishy...tanx for ur comment.
    and abt ur poem- it did get "unnoticed"...but ur mischevious epilogue stole the comments as u say.

    *Rajesh...hmmmmm 'kaal kondu...nandalaala' is one of my fav numbers too.

    *I...afghanistan has no land line phone network. So its only thro satellite..and infact ive not seen a faster net connection anywhere else.

    *priyums...tanx mate.

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  17. Thanks forb all your wonderful pieces... This one for sure is superb..

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  18. wonderful click...and wonderful words!!!

    http://sushmita-smile.blogspot.in/

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  19. Nice share...I think its a good thing to run away from all the fakes and those wishing to impose their so called art and culture on you ~

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  20. Great picture and wonderful lines that go with it. Thank you for sharing.

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  21. Lovely writing Ashok!

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  22. You write so well. You click lovely pictures and you're sketches are amazing as well! WOW! :D

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  23. Anonymous9:51 PM

    Love that last verse!

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  24. beautiful.......
    just like ur sketches...flawless !!!

    regards
    anu

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  25. Anonymous1:10 AM

    Nicely done

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  26. "puppets who will never know the play " -Wow!
    Really amazing poem.

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  27. VERY nice, Ashok!!!

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  28. This is beautiful, though sad. I felt I was looking into your soul, with its hopes and broken dreams. Thank you Ashok, for sharing your talent with us.

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  29. Do you think that's all that's left standing in Kabul? Bad times there now.

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  30. I hope you have been able to pursue your dreams since writing this lyrical poem, Ashok.

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  31. wonderful click... superb...

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  32. You are quite a creative force.

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