Madathil Rajendran Nair
Madathil Rajendran Nair Poems
It was when I was just in class three
Hovering around the tenth year of age
Something bothered me in the hours wee
A sweetness, an aroma, sweat
...
(A tribute to India's beloved Sushma Swaraj, former External Affairs Minister, who passed away on 6th August 2019.Sushma means splendorous beauty and Swaraj, her husband's first name, stands for one's own home-land.)
A mother bid adieu,
an elder sister departed
...
We looked at each other
Over the bamboo fence
As the east wind shook
The trees to get hold
...
I was a butterfly
That knew not the Sun
Who showed me this and that
In whose dazzle I lost the sight
...
Grandson's first birth-day
His cousins arrived
Twin girls half his age
Two is company, three is a crowd
...
Rain clouds ran berserk on the hills
Like elephant herds in panic
Winds whistled like villains
On the winding mountain pass
...
I never had an ear for music,
my design always shuddered at lyrics;
that is the way I am made,
my ears and vocal chords fail to resonate.
...
Sunanda
We never met
We never knew each other
You were just a charming presence
...
I have seen you flash by
Amidst thick green foliage and swaying pines
Like a distant silver dream
On receding skyline
...
Seventieth birthday
In a revolving restaurant
On Space Needle in Seattle
...
Oh Teacher, you taught me
This phenomenal of mine
Is the result of ignorance
Primal and beginningless
...
Oh Lord! How much I wish
I hadn’t said anything
On this wordy Taittiriya mesh*
That entraps our thoughts
...
നീയൊരു കാര്യമറിയണം
നിനക്കറിയാമിത്:
എന്റെ ജാലകത്തിന് പുറത്ത്
...
Across the river
Along my way
Between home and school
There was an orphanage
...
There are several hypotheses
About your origin and genesis
Some argue you were born
...
Aroma of dosas being cooked
Chutney being garnished
Asafoetida boiling in the sambar mix
All emanate from my neighborhood
...
They sat facing one another
Inside the shoddy bar
Swarthy figures
Like in American cartoons
...
Get on the wheelchair
Bypass the immigration mire
Have your way swift
Through security check
...
Madathil Rajendran Nair Biography
Though I had a penchant for poetry in English and my native Malayalam right from childhood, I started writing on a regular basis only after age 60. I have some philosophical essays on the net to my credit and had participated in several web discussions on philosophical issues. I have also done some researches into Indian astrology.)
The Best Poem Of Madathil Rajendran Nair
My First Love Letter
It was when I was just in class three
Hovering around the tenth year of age
Something bothered me in the hours wee
A sweetness, an aroma, sweat
Or was it the morning dew on grass
That kept me awake
Rolling on my smelly bed
With a sweetness that blazed my glands
I don’t know, I can’t tell
But there was she
My classmate
With jasmine teeth
A dance perched on her feet
Bothering my budding masculinity
I knew I wanted her
I couldn’t make out what for
In a frenzy that engulfed me
Like a forest fire then I wrote
On the inside of a discarded cigarette pack
Slit open like a bleeding heart
What I felt, the first love letter
In words that moved like ants
All over me and my heart
I handed it to her brother
Two years younger
In secret, behind the school toilet yonder
Hoping it would reach and vanquish her
But, there was the maths teacher
Fondling his scorpion tail moustache
Watching the goings-on
Who intercepted the missive
From the hands of the shivering brother
I thought I was in for hell
Punishment, beatings, no one can tell
But nothing happened to my surprise
Till at last I noticed
The school headmistress at my fence
In a rare bosom chat with my mom, her friend
I was playing behind my house
Rolling stones in the setting sun
Like a forlorn Ulysses adorned in sweat
Yet I knew I was their subject
Days passed and Diwali came
The Indian festival of lights
It was time for the early morning bath
Under the glistening stars
My mom poured warm water over me from a tub
And I misbehaved in a gleeful jump
She cautioned and slapped me on my thigh
With a fire unknown in her eyes
“Idiot, have you begun
Writing love letters at this age? ”
That was the first and last time
She ever beat me
A lovely mother was she
And, often I wonder what happened
To that passionate missive of mine
Perhaps, it was blown over by the winds
Over fences and thorns and profusely bled
And withered in the sun and rain
Decayed down the channels of time
And I met her of late one of these days
At a temple festival when I braved
To tell her about my missive missed
That perhaps could have changed our fate
She laughed out in a guffaw
An aging grandma of three
And I could see at sixty-eight
Her jasmines were still intact
What more could a lover want
When he has only a toothless smile
In exchange, Oh, why do we age?
Madathil Rajendran Nair Comments
Valsa-ji, I am humbled and can't find words to thank you. I pray from the bottom of my heart to Goddess Saraswati to bless you without bounds and take care of you. Warmest regards.
Madathil Rajendran Nair started posting his poems at PH since 2014 and has already established his stamp. His poems have an inherent beauty and every line has enormous power since he chooses and arranges words with great care and thought. The topics of his poems delve from philosophy, nature, current events, historical facts and so on. Whatever the topic he chooses, his clear understanding and his vast knowledge and experience trickle through. His past poems are finding their way out to be shared by others. I look forward to more and more poems from Madathil Nair to enrich the wonderful world of poetry.
I have now read two poems of Madathil Nair, and the Poems 1. Kavitha an independent translation of Neruda poem and another Prayer. Both of the poems are felt so interesting.
This poem is immortal. It should be read by many for many years to come. Perhaps by reading I am paying a simple homage to this great soul. And by taking time and joy in writing these valuable lines for a noble soul, is a great human being. Thank you so much Nair
Mr.Nair's philosophy of life is best found in his poem 'The Day After' ---‘Life is Diwali, don't worry There is no day after or before There is only the now Glorious , revealing all the time I have no choice and so I am'
Mr.Nair's portrayal of characters like Dilip Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar and Sachin Tendulkar is superb with vivid imageries and chosen words that paint a perfect picture of the character and a reader is drawn into that as if he is seeing the characters himself.
Mr.Nair's poems have great depth and insight and touch on a wide range of topics like love, nature, philosophy, social issues, historical facts and portraits of personalities like Dilip Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar and Tendulkar.Many of his poems too have patriotic fervor
. Madathil Nair's poem ‘My First Love Letter' bears his signature of profound authority over English language and beauty in its smooth flow of words, stirring your heart with sweet emotions.
Madathil Rajendran Nair is an Indian poet of high stature who writes both in English and Malayali with equal linguistic dexterity.His poems are like different coloured flowers, each having a distinct fragrance.
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5/9/2024 2:11:34 PM # 1.0.0.1119
With just a handful of poems published at poem hunter, Madathil Rajendran Nair has provided sufficient credentials as a poet of unusual stature. If true poetry makes our heart leap by showing us visions of beauty and also stirring in us profound feelings, Mr. Rajendran Nair is a true poet. The surprising thing is that he can write poems with equal ease and flexibility in his Mother tongue- Malayalam and English as well! Being a Malayalee, I am proud of this Malayalee, son of Kerala over his outstanding potential as a poet. Wish to see him fly at higher altitudes!