Kusum Choppra

The Ramayan boasts of two strong men: Ram and Raavan. The former worshipped in North India, while Raavan is a legendary hero of modern Lanka's modern economy. Given the Ram frenzy building up,  Raavan's lead role in Sri Lanka tourism,  and its legendary ‘Pearl in the Ocean’ status, now needs reinforcing beyond the existing references and beliefs showcased by Lankan tourist industry. Ayodhya too needs archaeological evidence to bolster the "belief" of being the real birthplace of Lord Ram, which is not mentioned in any early text.  The city boasts of numerous temples, where birthplace tag is quietly contested by some temples' attendants. Sri Lanka, a small blessed island did not take long after Independence to ring in a positive edge to its economy.  But it paid a heavy price for rapid action when Buddhist vs Tamil politics mingled with international economic jousting to ring in decades of Civil Wars. Tourism flared with the famed Ramayana Trails to help r...

Small and medium industry decimated Then the bottom fell out of farming Finally, Big Industry is keeling. When Biscuit ji cracked The response: How can glucose survive When India is sugar-free? Bitter tidings in the Land of Rasas.

Oftentimes waking up is accompanied by a sickening realization: That some sleep time was devoted to a new painless suicide method.  This morning the window net went up to peer down,  checking for a clear fall down so many floors to die? Ghastly answer: NO.  Pairs of window shades at every level created enough brakes to ensure numerous broken bones,  but death was doubtful.   One more fail-safe method gone Phoos. Ducking in,  an intriguing sight caught my eye. Two scantily clad tall trees stand out in the dense copse below the window, bearing scattered yellow blooms. Close to top of a tall tree sat a baby monkey, surrounded by a gaggle of pigeons determinedly making its life miserable.   Perhaps having been chased from feeding grounds by Baby's seniors, methinks. For good ten-odd minutes, the pigeons taunted it,  pecking at his back,  tweaking the long hanging tail. Baby swatted with all his energy. At some stage wisdom,...

Through my bedroom window, I look down on a giant bedroom. It sleeps 23 odd scattered around, singles, doubles, triples and quartets. Dark nights offer no glimpse that I rush to catch at daylight. My eyes first seek out the horizon, shuttered by rising skyscrapers Monster steel and glass development symbols that slurp resources To spew out fake humans with fake emotions that change with every audience, Ultra right / left, ultra-modern / old fashioned, liberal / conservative, 50 / 50 Fulsome praise to your face, vicious criticisms behind your back. Ahead of the skyscrapers are swathes of variegated greens, the trees swaying majestically in the early morning breeze. Easy to pick out those with a new coat, in fresh new shades of glistening green standing out from the mature shades around. Then the eyes reach closer home, the terrace immediately below my eerie. There, just below my window, is an old thick-set man on his solitary string bed with two pillows. Occasionally...

                                                                                                                    July 2019 Once upon a time She loved her hair Oiled n washed n brushed Burnished with mehendi Au de naturelle In times of hybrid. It flowed down her back Awaiting The Touch Of a Love’s fingers Stroking sensuously Through glossy bouncing tresses. Buns n upturned beehives Or a chignon at the nape Adorned with a rose C’urtsy genial g’dner To send off next post Recalcitrant Lover Abhorred flowers, Ignored nurtured glory. Left, right or Center parting sans sindoor Marital symbol No man wears. Awaiting The...

Two old women The old woman who lived in a high heeled shoe Had several rooms for the slaves she drove. When they itched to run away She warned: Had Cindr’lla returned She wouldn’t be a Princess So they stayed and slogged. Her old and smiling friend didn’t live in a shoe She had strange antennae, longer than any butterfly Rooted in her heart. Wherever she went They sniffed air to tell her Peace or Acrimony, Love or Rancor Quarrel or kisses, whatever in between That would upset her very much Till a fairy told her You were not sent to take trouble to heart Ruminate, but not absorb, Say what should be said Issues resolve themselves You were sent to smile Hug and spread cheer only.

Be Not Proud A long life was lived, adventures, events Births, marriages, failures, triumphs Family and professional. The Life Test slipped by, you never took it. The Test of Loss, Death in the face, Holding it in your arms watching Life turn lifeless Succour a survivor at the moment breath left. Nay? Missed the Rites of passage To test Humanhood? Be not proud. ------------------- A Unique Couple   They made a unique couple, a policewoman and a journalist She so glamorous,   he so stodgy Lugging her bag and paraphernalia. She of the large round face, the ready smile Obvious makeup, that glitzy sari! He sober in corporate shirt and a bulgy belly. Actually, it should have been the opposite Her hail-fellow-well-met persona ideal to niggle out Juicy bits from unwary tongues. While the stodgy gent so lent itself To the seniority of a Babu! ---------- A Hair Story Once upon a time, she loved her hair Oiled ...

A portion of a Rig Veda Hymn of Creation, a describing the beginnings, as then believed: (From "The Return of the Aryans", by Dr. Bhagwan S Gidwani) “Then nothingness was not, nor existence then, Nor air nor depths, nor heavens beyond their ken, What covered it? Where was it? In whose keeping? In unfathomed folds, was it cosmic water seeping? Then there was no life, no birth, no death Neither night nor day, not wind not breath, At last, One sighed – a   self-sustained Mother, There was that One then – and none, none other. Then there was darkness wrapped in darkness’ Was this unlit water, unseen, dry, wetless? That One which came to be, enclosed in naught, Arose, who knows how, from the power of what! But after all, who knows and who can say Who, how, why, whence began creation’s day? Gods came after creation; did they not? So who knows truly, whence it was wrought! Does the First Mother herself know, now? Did She create, or wa...

Faith, I believe,  is what each individual develops for self, aside from religious and cultural, conditioning, passive or aggressive.   Our Earth is a blip in an ocean of Creations that are all moving without crashing into each other, occasional comets or falling stars apart. On our planet, developing panorama of natural systems operate with unique precision.  Most awe-inspiring is the development of human bodies from birth to death and the way a body makes space for an embryo and then a pulsating new life, all the way to childbirth and lactation. Did all these systems emerge automatically?  From nowhere?  It is impossible to escape the sense of some Power, some Essence that guides all these. Perhaps that is how Faith was born. Later usurped for power. The unearthing of deeper layers of knowledge brings forth more and more news of the evolution of the planet we live on, split in countries, natural and political systems and religions. Each one of ...

Waah, kya kahen "With the cover of the sun and the moon The earth is a beautiful book. But starvation, poverty and slavery... God, are these your sermons Or printing errors?" The power of thought so vast, Imagination to stir other minds, setting aside the gore her own lifestyle evoked and to Balance five different relationships all her life  is something only achievable  by an AMRITA PRITAM. 

Something I read last week stayed in my mind and festered: “….why is 2002 important in 2019? Because it is the crucible of all politics now in India – offering a model of domination and fear now visible everywhere as successful politics.    The complicity, guilt, indifference and amnesia of the middle classes resulted in “performative violence” – of boasting about heinous acts committed, now by the lynch mobs who video and circulate to replay violence committed as an example?" That is why 2002 is important..... What does that say of our society?