We live in a developing country,

With a heavy cultural and religious bend!

Let us look at what we leave behind,

When we confidently go with the trend!!

Our economy is growing leaps and bounds,

The world watched amazed during the recession!

That growth generates a huge amount of waste,

Which when dumped looks like a big ocean!!

Our world today is driven by consumerism,

And every thing we use is disposable!

Our environment was never meant to cope with,

All the garbage that we leave on the table!!

We celebrate our festivals with grandeur,

But most have been taken over by hooliganism!!

We pollute air, water and land alike,

In this environment, can religion really blossom?

Most of the garbage end up in landfills,

Where huge amounts of greenhouse gases are released!

We do not understand the gravity of the problem,

And need to act before our planet is termed as deceased!!

We have already had a few… Read the rest

It’s that time of the year again,
You can sense the festivities in the air!
Everybody is ready to celebrate Diwali,
With all aplomb and fanfare!!

Diwali is the festival of lights,
And it signifies the triumph of good over bad!
This year let’s light that little spark within all of us,
And be sensible, rather than going with the fad!!

Lets shun firecrackers this year,
Which have robbed many children of their childhood! (child laborers manufacture them)
Instead spend the money for their education needs,
And empower them to stand up and earn their livelihood!!

Firecrackers indeed look good to the eye,
But they also cause noise and air pollution in the sky!
They affect ailing people and senior citizens,
And even plants and animals can’t take a sigh!!

Considering the impact to the environment,
Lets pledge to have a cracker free Diwali hereby!
Its still not too late to make a difference,
We have the choice to act and not deny!!
Or do we want our children and future generations,
To question us… Read the rest

Read some of my other most popular poems – Go the Extra Mile , A Ripple of Hope and Why God made Mothers?

Often called the Lifeline of the Nation,
Indian Railways runs more than 14,300 trains!
It carries over 13 million passengers daily,
Across hills, tunnels, rivers, lakes and plains!!

With 1.6 million employees under its rolls,
IR is one of the world’s largest employer!
Traveling across the country in its 63,000 kms of tracks,
You are bound to have more adventure than Tom Sawyer!!

Trains run from North to South, East to West,
Across the length and breadth of the country!
Jammu to Kanyakumari is 4751kms,
Is covered by Himsagar Express in 66 hrs, albeit slowly!!

The Railways was a legacy of the British,
And we have come a long way since then!
We have new tracks, trains and coaches,
And technology’s presence is felt even in the engine!!

But while the world has zipped away,
With the high speed and maglev trains!
We continue to live in the British era,
And our trains still run as if enslaved in chains!!

The TGV in France runs at more than 250 km/hour,
Chinese… Read the rest

What it is like to be a woman,
A man is perhaps incapable to understand!
It would take us a lifetime to realise,
That when compared to her, nowhere we stand!!

She has the power,
To mesmerize the world with her smile!
As daughter, wife, mother, and friend,
She makes many lives worthwhile!!

In giving birth she faces pain,
Many times more than ever experienced by man!
Still she forgets it with a smile and gets ready,
For her life as a mother just began!!

Performing the role of a wife and a mother,
She is the pillar of strength in every family!
Competing and thriving in a male centric society,
She is nothing less than a one man army!!

If we recount the impact of women in our lives,
We will realise it is nothing less than massive!
I can go on and on but eventually,
Even I will fall short of an adjective!!

As with most men, too egoistic to give her credit,
Even I was unaware of her strength and capability!
Till an… Read the rest

Eighteen months after moving here,
I feel much better off than before!
Looking in hindsight I feel,
I am glad I came to Bangalore!!

It is a brand the world has noticed,
And come to recognize India for!
The whole software / investment boom started here,
And I am glad I live in Bangalore!!

With our cheap manpower and outsourcing,
The city is not only a noun anymore!
Bangalored is now a verb used to indicate a layoff,
When jobs are moved offshore!!

Me having come from Delhi,
I can say one thing for sure!
When it comes to how to treat women and elders,
Those from up north can learn a lot from locals in Bangalore!!

Some people stretch it too far,
And call it India’s Singapore!
But let us not forget the mess,
With traffic, pollution, and garbage galore!!

Infrastructure, or lack of it, is a big problem,
Which you will realize as soon as you step outdoor!
With the speed of urbanization in the last two decades,
A lot of catching up needs to be done,… Read the rest

Indian society is unique in itself,
With diversity in every house, street and corner!
And with so many ironic situations all around,
How our society survives is a wonder!!

We have the best malls now,
With the best brands lined up wonderfully inside!
And copies of the same brand are available,
At throw away prices at the adjacent roadside!!

To see how the poor and wealthy co-exist,
Imagine when we drive in an air-conditioned car!
It is not at all strange to witness outside,
Beggars and slum dwellers barefoot on burning tar!!

Still if they beg for money or try to sell some toys,
Standing outside in weather as hot as a furnace!
Why do we sitting inside the AC cooled car,
Get red hot angry and treat them like they are from outer space!!

“Ganga jaisi pavitra” has been used many a times in Indian cinema,
As Ganga is worshipped as a symbol of purity!
Yet 2 million daily holy bathes and tons of industrial waste,
Make it one of the most polluted rivers in the country!!

Mumbai is the financial and… Read the rest

It is after a long time I am writing a poem, and this is certainly my first since I started blogging. It follows below, read it and share your views as comments…

Our media say Aussies are attacking Indians,
But is racism really to blame…
In the race of getting more eyeballs and attention,
Isn’t it only a publicity game!!

Why do we forget to see,
What is happening in our own home?
When Shiv Sena hits out at fellow Indians,
It seems our unity and dignity are long gone…

Naxalites are killing policemen everyday,
Now active among 220 districts and 20 states..
Our armies might be one of the biggest,
But some problems are better solved with just opening our heart gates!

Is it not racism when we divide on caste,
Or hate a person for region or religion…
Why do we always forget that be it Biharis or Mumbaikars,
We are all part of the same legion!!

It is said every cloud has a silver lining,
And with the attacks on Indians down under…
Shiv Sena when they said would not allow Aussie… Read the rest