Ripples Poem by Ravinder Kumar Soni

The Watch
- - - - - - - - -

I am old and tired,
Unable to carry the load of my age,
The head resting on my shoulder
Has grown heavy, it stoops.
My body aches and my vision blurs.
My friends are all gone
They will not return,
There is no one to remind me
Of the years, I spent.
My hunger and joy, my love and pain,
Now remain in the folds of memory,
Unsorted;
My mind clouded does not recall.
Sitting at the edge of a lake
That mirrors the surrounding world
I have waited for the ripples to rise.
I can see one beginning to spread
I shall not meet such ripples halfway,
They will not reflect light then.


The 1st Ripple
- - - - - - - -

The rose,
Its petals soft to touch
And the fragrance,
Misleads,
The sharp prickles
Unnerve.
Barring the petals
The dewdrops do not
Settle elsewhere.
On the rosebush
The clouds pour rain
Tentatively.
The petals struck by rain
Are seen scattered
On the ground,
When picked
They become tears
Flowing from our eyes.



The 2nd Ripple
- - - - - - - -

He could have reversed his car,
Gone back to her house he had passed,
Without her, his life was dull and sad.

She did not accept his love,
His love left nothing for her,
She wanted to play with her feelings.

She needed somebody to be with her always.
And so,
She had gone in search of the one
Who could stay with her as her's,
Look deep into her eyes and read her heart,
The words she had etched are eloquent
They do not hide her feelings.

She did find him on the other side of the Moon.



The 3rd Ripple
- - - - - - - -

The boy who climbed uphill
To meet me
Did not reach the top on-time,
Where I sat cross-legged.
A crowd surrounded me.
He busied himself
Sorting out differences
That with the undifferentiated
Did not exist,
That delayed him.
Yet he came
Took his seat amongst the wise
In the discussion
On the identifiable variables
That was in full swing.
Soon he heard someone say -
The identifiers can go wrong,
They can misread the obvious,
Misinterpret and soon forget
All that they see;
That is when he remembered me,
When deep in thoughts
I was far from the world.
He remembered
I had asked him
Not to ignore the darkness,
Darkness concealed light;
He had come seeking the light
That shone within me.



The 4th Ripple
- - - - - - - -

A fire burns vigorously.
Somebody is indeed curious,
Wants to know
When the time will stop in its path,
Like the ticking clock,
He daily rewinds.


For him alone
Time has stopped,
Things he knows there are
Do not move nor leap about,
All are deadly still,
Hold their breath.



The 5th Ripple
- - - - - - - -

A stranger
Walked with me up to the waterfront,
Her face deeply creased.
They were not worry-lines but
Marks left by the pain she seemed to have endured.
I wondered why the pain I endured
Had left no telltale marks,
Instead pushed me to the brink
To end my life.
The sea was rough and loud,
Its noise would muffle my fall I thought,
No one would know who had drowned,
She saw me remove my shoes.
Tugging firmly at my left sleeve, she said -
"Stop! Do not end your life,
I am here to see you live,
You have yet to achieve your goals.
Do not give up! "
I told her -
I had given up once I found
My goals did not differ from the others
Of the present and the past,
The repeated achievement of those goals benefitted no one.
"This is the irony that makes one improvise."
- She said and quietly moved away.
She knew her intervention had made me think otherwise.



The 6th Ripple
- - - - - - - -

He said,
‘Do not blame me
If you know what I know,
I did not tell you that;
You heard the breeze
Wafting through your room
Tell the walls.'

His face
Reflected neither tension
Nor excitement,
It was as though
He had described a fact.
Even if the truth is hard to digest,
I did not believe him.

How could I?
My room walls did not repeat
The words they heard;
I do not remember what all was said.
He was the bearer of truth,
I could not fault him;
He was I within me.


The 7th Ripple
- - - - - - - -

‘Your life is simple and straight,
Keep it that way.' I heard her say;
She was in the kitchen preparing coffee for me.
Indeed my life was simple and straight,
It was innocent and pure,
Beautiful and true.
My life reflected my mind
An uncorrupted undesiring mind,
Calm and steady,
That harboured no hate or jealousy
And no anger.
I did not fear death.
Why did she ask me to keep it that way,
I wonder,
Perhaps she feared I would rebel.



The 8th Ripple
- - - - - - - -

The mango tree in my backyard is old,
It stands firm and proud;
Each year I have savoured its delightful fruits
Often sitting in its shade where the air is cool
And the breeze flows gently.
Long ago, this was a mango-grove,
Part of a Rishi's ashram.
That Rishi was a fearless thinker who knew
Pain and suffering are the product of desires,
And of actions,
He knew the way to get rid of both.
The knowledge gained by him lingers in the air,
Permeates the soil.
I come here in pursuit of happiness,
A dull-wit wandering about not knowing
How to be happy in life; I ask -
‘Is happiness the positive of all negatives? '
‘If so, does it blow away anger, hatred and attachment? '
I think I should allow my intellect to lead me on
To find the right answers even though I know
Intellect is a product of ignorance.
Then, will I not be the victim of my ignorance?
A bird tells me -
I should learn to sift the subtle from the gross
And mingle with the subtle to experience happiness.



The 9th Ripple
- - - - - - - -

No one pays any attention to me,
Therefore,
The loudest scream was mine;
I wanted an immediate hearing,
Wished my presence be felt strongly
By the crowd, I was a part.
There was a hush,
People bent their necks to locate me,
And I stood on the podium ready for them,
To ask or answer questions.
They saw me and screamed
As though in fright,
I sensed their fear,
They could not speak in my tongue
And I did not know theirs.
They raised their fists and asked me to go.
I kept my anger to myself
I could not dare raise my voice
I quietly stared at them,
Asked them to know me.
They read me right
And quit shouting at me.
I smiled and left the podium.
People seemed very pleased with me.


The 10th Ripple
- - - - - - - - -

'Take me home, to yours.'
Said the dark shadow lurking in the park.
I also noticed there was a long-endured pain in that resonance.
I did not know who he or she was; I did not care.
I had many problems of my own to solve.
Thinking thus, I turned my back to walk away;
That was not an easy task for me in any case,
To ignore the person who sought me,
Wanted to reside with me in my house.
I did not leave.
I stood still and watched the shadowy figure not move,
Stay hidden and
Not throw away the cloak of darkness it wore.
I extended my hand in help
And heard the following words of caution: -
'Do not look at me! I am your future.'
I did not know about a future tagged with pain.



The 11th Ripple
- - - - - - - - -

Do you see her standing on the balcony,
Eager and intense she waits for you
This much she has confided in me;
You had promised to be with her today.
Come! Hold her gently and listen to her
Narrate the tales of love long forgotten
That had made her love for you unique.
Do not ask me about the nature of her love,
I cannot tell you. But, you know
I am only her friend and not her heart and soul.
Her love for you, with me she hasn't shared,
Her sighs I haven't heard nor seen her tears
Trickledown her cheeks while lost in thought of you.
She wants to be with you.



The 12th Ripple
- - - - - - - - -

The plaza was lit up brightly as before,
It was the weekend and a late evening
Both I usually avoid; I dislike crowds.
I do not know what brought me here,
Maybe the crispy delights of The Tandoor.
I entered and occupied my favourite place,
Placed order for the Tandoori Chicken,
Murg Atish Burra, Fish Tikka and Naans.
The chef knew me and the food served
Took my breath away, I was in Tehran.
The creaminess, crispness and the spices
Of the tandoori dishes captured my taste buds.
Dining alone I could not express my happiness
That was already writ large on my face.
I complemented my friend, paid my bill
And walked into the open, a satisfied man,
A bit arrogant, nevertheless, very pleased.



The 13th Ripple
- - - - - - - - -
The tutorial was in progress.

"The word, Anta, in Vedanta, does not mean -
'end of the Vedas'.
Its root Vid means - 'to know'.
Anta, also, does not mean - 'the end of Knowledge',
Knowledge is eternal.
Vedanta is the wisdom of the Vedas,
knowledge of intuition
Not determined by Time, Space and Causality.
It gives the knowledge of the Atman as Brahma-vidya.
The practitioner of Brahma-vidya
Learns to avoid egoism and delusion,
Overcomes the flaws of attachment,
Becomes firm in spirituality,
Free from lusts,
Released from duality called pleasures and pains,
And repairs to the imperishable status
Having realized the true nature of the Ultimate Truth
As the knower of Brahman;
He finds order in the disorder in the mind
Caused by thoughts and emotions and becomes
The controller of the process of thinking, the master of thoughts."

I heard these words told to a group of attentive students.


The 14th Ripple
- - - - - - - - -


The log at the river's edge is asleep,
I can sleep like that
Dead and cold.
No honeybee or bird will fly over me,
And,
No dead leaf will stick to mark my death.
No one will know
Only the wind
Will whistle past informing me
About the route, it takes
I cannot walk.



The 15th Ripple
- - - - - - - - -


Look at me, O mother,
Look! How dirty I am;
You left me to play on the street
And it rained.
The rain did not wash
The clothes I wore;
It did not clean me at all.
Quickly bathe me now;
Give me a clean dress to wear;
Soon my friends will be here,
I should look good
My dirt should not stick on them,
They should feel good
And happy.



The 16th Ripple
- - - - - - - - -

Your opponents
Are annoyed,
Throw stones at you
To hurt you.
Did you ever hurt them
Do not throw their stones
Back at them,
Heal their wounds instead.
There are flowers
And the bright colours;
Smilingly
Shower these on them,
Surprise them,
They too will smile
And laugh with you,
As one of you.