Pavan Palakkad

The writer is a retired official who has widely traveled in India. He is a post graduate. Intends espousing the cause of the poor and the needy.

NATION OF MY DREAMS

I have a dream of a great Nation
A mighty, strong and happy Nation
Where freedom is never a sign of moral negation
But an affirmation of moral sense of the Nation
Man is free and enjoys his liberty right
Fearless, his head steady and upright
All think alike with concern for the rest
And do only what is just and best
Leaders are leaders in their own right
Lead themselves and the Nation right
None holds a mistaken notion
That he can cheat, loot and boot the Nation
None destroys inner peace of creation
Finds pleasure in Nation's unification
All exert with a sense of devotion
And keep the Nation in constant forward motion
All religions teach the best of love
Without acrimony go on the path of love
Providential gems spread themes of love
Bestows man with rays of hope and love
Pleased the Gods descend from the Heavens bright
Bless the land with plenty, beauty and light
Come beloveds come, let us build a great Nation
A terrestrial Heaven for our coming generation.



 OUTGROWTH OF POVERTY

It was lunch time; the sun was harsh
The inmates, outgrowth of poverty, were restive,
All favoured escapees from wrath of nature
Lodged in a makeshift camp.
They were hungry, angry and mournful of losses
Waiting for their morsel,
Calling down curses on their fate.
Hardly the boxes were placed when
There was a stampede of young and old,
A scramble for food.
They snatched, pulled, pushed, and beat
And struggled hard to wriggle out.
Lathis fell, wherever liked, furiously
The injured sped or were removed.
Water cannons boomed, flooding the area.
In a flash, peace gave way for war and war for

hell.
Strewn were sustenance, all laid worthless.
Ha, miss a meal; the hungry is angry and senile,
Dares obstacles with elan; slice parameters
Hunger blights young and old alike.
An ally of poverty, a scourge
That poisons the blood, stuns the brain
Pricks the mind and blinds the victims.
Let's come face to face with poverty
Through employment and friendship of people
It's time we humble poverty to ensure sanity
But without a committed leadership
Without total devotion to duty
Without discipline and empathy
No peace, no progress and no prosperity
And no alleviation of poverty is ever attained.
Else it's chaos, it's anarchy, it's anguish
And resentful death of civilization
Much to the distress of all.


THE FLAVOUR


The theatrical and the arrogant open their mouths
More to utter fibs
Unfortunate though, they outweigh, outshine and

shout
Louder than the wise; silence by intrigues
Scale heights of glory and distribute justice
Eke out a living by sophistry and tantrums.
In disbelief stand the common man
For, it is they who bear the weight
All actions, good or bad dispatch a flavour
For others to devour
Gifted are pearls of wisdom, enough and more
By the noble and the wise of yore.
For us to recall in want.
Alas they lay unserviced by practice,
Which the theatrical and arrogant are not wised up

to know.
Hay, befooling the wise is easy
'Cause of their unconcern
But Herculean is the task to make a fool wise.
He pretends he is wiser than the wise
But a truth is a truth
Like a phoenix rises again to taunt.
Therefore let's seek the wise from our midst
To bask in the glory of wisdom.