My Child, My Guru Poem by Ravindra Ranasinha

(A poem in praise of children, and in commemoration of the World Children’s Day) .

Dear Child,
You made me Different!
Your smile and those sharp, shiny eyes
Removed the mask I wore and shuddered whole of me,
And at times
With your tender finger tips
You furtively touched my hand, may be to feel how rough I am
But with that Touch
You made me Different!
Deep in my heart a voice echoed: “I learnt…I learnt”
I learnt from you, how soft and mild you are
Always longing to say something, something mysterious
Something not so easy to decode
And you became my Guru
Teaching all I couldn’t gather by sitting in lecture halls
Giving new meaning to my life;
That no other institution could award me
Even though I wrote dissertation after dissertation.
How miraculous it is to meet you my child,
In a classroom where the sound of giggles are frequent,
Where the tapping and pushing is incessant,
With your origami of paper balls, pellets and rockets
At times that passes my head with a swish!
You taught me, you made me to change,
To have a different Eye,
THANK YOU!
My Guru, everyone misunderstood you,
They thought that all your inventions are unwanted,
They never saw the spirit in you,
They were unprepared for that special fragrance of yours,
You played with water and dust,
You explored the earth with its smell and heat,
You touched everything and experienced LIFE!
I delved deep into your soul,
To listen to that spirit of dynamic energy
Where all changes happen in seconds
Liberating Life
Causing miracles before the eyes of the teachers,
That too Transformed me in toto
THANK YOU!
You made me feel Whole now,
With all that loveliness in you,
You taught me the spirit of being together,
Sharing and caring for each one, the only Purpose of Life
The spirit that makes us One
Bringing forth the only Truth,
The truth of life: LOVE, the great Cosmic gift!
THANK YOU MY CHILD!


(Email: ravindraranasinha@yahoo.com)
25th September 2011