Cranky and Crippled

A poem by a crippled and cranky old man on his death bed.

What do you see nurses? . . .. . .What do you see?
What are you thinking .. . when you're looking at me?
A cranky old man, . . . . . .not very wise,
Uncertain of habit .. . . . . . . .. with faraway eyes?
Who dribbles his food .. . ... . . and makes no reply.
When you say in a loud voice . .'I do wish you'd try!'
Who seems not to notice . . .the things that you do.
And forever is losing . . . . . .. . . A sock or shoe?
Who, resisting or not . . . ... lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding . . . .The long day to fill?
Is that what you're thinking?. .Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse .you're not looking at me.
I'll tell you who I am . . . . .. As I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding, .. . . . as I eat at your will.
I'm a small child of Ten . .with a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters .. . . .. . who love one another
A young boy of Sixteen . . . .. with wings on his feet
Dreaming that soon now . . .. . . a lover he'll meet.
A groom soon at Twenty . . . ..my heart gives a leap.
Remembering, the vows .. .. .that I promised to keep.
At Twenty-Five, now . . . . .I have young of my own.
Who need me to guide . . . And a secure happy home.
A man of Thirty . .. . . . . My young now grown fast,
Bound to each other . . .. With ties that should last.
At Forty, my young sons .. .have grown and are gone,
But my woman is beside me . . to see I don't mourn.
At Fifty, once more, .. ...Babies play 'round my knee,
Again, we know children . . . . My loved one and me.
Dark days are upon me . . . . My wife is now dead.
I look at the future ... . . . . I shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing .. . . young of their own.
And I think of the years . . . And the love that I've known.
I'm now an old man . . . . . . .. and nature is cruel.
It's jest to make old age . . . . . . . look like a fool.
The body, it crumbles .. .. . grace and vigour, depart.
There is now a stone . . . where I once had a heart.
But inside this old carcass . A young man still dwells,
And now and again . . . . . my battered heart swells
I remember the joys . . . . .. . I remember the pain.
And I'm loving and living . . . . . . . life over again.
I think of the years, all too few . . .. gone too fast.
And accept the stark fact . . . that nothing can last.
So open your eyes, people .. . . . .. . . open and see.
Not a cranky old man .
Look closer . . . . see .. .. . .. .... . ME!!

Song of Youth

This unsung song was penned by a person who is ever-youth and ever-inspiring to the millions of young and Ignited Minds of India. He always dreamt of making Indian youth to unleash their Wings of Fire in resonating our country's bright and sustained future. His vision for 2020 can only be achieved by making this the Youth Anthem of India.

"As a young citizen of India,

armed with technology, knowledge and love for my nation,

I realize, small aim is a crime.

I will work and sweat for a great vision, 

the vision of transforming India into a developing nation

powered by economic strength with value system.

I am one of the citizens of a billion,

only the vision will ignite the billion souls.

It has entered into me,

the ignited soul compared to any resource, 

is the most powerful resource

on the earth, above the earth and under the earth.

I will keep the lamp of knowledge burning

to achieve the vision - DEVELOPED INDIA."

You know "he" about whom I was rounding. Before yelling out his name, I wish to say where he stood in (t)his Independent India. He was awarded with all the three highest civilian awards in the Republic of India, BHARAT RATNA, PADMA VIBHUSHAN, PADMA BHUSHAN.... He also served the Nation in many roles starting from a scientist in DRDO till the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government (equivalent to a cabinet rank) and reaching the apex by gracing the post of the highest authority of the India (as per the constitution), THE PRESIDENT....

Yes, I'm talking about the same person who caught your mind....

Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabddin Abdul Kalam Azad.

PS: This post is from his book to whom it was addressed, "IGNITED MINDS". Also, you can consider this post as an agreement to the movement of making him again the first person of this country.

Emotional get-together....

Farewell partyyyyyyyyyyyyyy............. As mentioned, its not just a party for me. Its like an emotional get-together gifted to us by our juniors. This party gave me a good reason to retrospect all my 4 years of my life in a reel. Rewinding all this wonderful span of 4 years in 4-5 minutes is apparently a tough job. But I put forth to give you all a short playback of our 4-year life.

On the very first day when I stepped into this college, I personally observed a dynamic and awe-inspiring ambience. Same are the moments till now. Right from the newly born baby state to the stalwart status at present, my college has grown by leaps and bounds, acquiring pinnacle of prominence in pursuit of excellence. The very impression on the college is on my first sight where the college management organized an introductory session of all the staff members, starting with the Principal. Every faculty member is introduced to the parents along with their qualification and experience. This was done before the actual commencement of our course. No other newly born college ever dared to make public of their strength this way. That instance is a clear example depicting the confidence bestowed by our college management. From then, my feeling towards college is growing proportionate with the days I spent. So, I reminded myself, our visionary President and all management members for their key role in taking the college to its contemporary heights.

Now, I wish to switch my focus towards our ever-cheerful leader of our college. He always believes in the words: “What is good for students is also good for the college.” He reflected them in his actions. During this 3-year span, he faced many problems and also enjoyed much better accolades. But never had he changed one thing – His smile on the face. He always greets people with a big smile and a warm reception. I personally experienced it a couple of times.

Now let me turn towards the gold smiths of our college, i.e. nothing but our faculty strength. I mentioned them as gold smiths for a reason. Gold smiths work hard and make many designs from the gold. All they need is a proper appraisal for their work but not for them. So, starting with the Heads of various Departments, they are acclaimed for their ocean of knowledge and expertise in their respective core. Students are privileged to work with better experienced and creative persons in the field. The members of faculty makes the students feel free and are specialized in turning on the element of pleasure out of pressure. With their unmatched scholarly expertise, we, the students quenched our thirst of skill and appeased our appetite of excellence. 

Now I poke the majority of the masses here i.e. my friends. I have got a bunch of great beings on my side without whom, my talk is worth incomplete. I cherished each and every moment of my 4-year life with my friends itself. We studied, we played, we enjoyed, we cared and of course we even bunked classes and finally got stuck with exams. Those were the days of my extreme happiness. As of now, we are about to leave the bird's nest, we shall always be together, forever.

Friends also include our juniors. We are happy to see great buddies who are here not only just to follow our steps but also to expand the newer and brighter horizons. I gift them my heartfelt wishes for their successful and delightful times ahead. I truly never expected that they bid us such a huge and warm farewell in this stringent time and leisure. I myself personally cannot stop congratulating each and everyone of them in person for putting forth such magnum opus partying effort.

Finally, as we all are proud about everything in our alma-mater, we hope our alma-mater will confer us the same pride by the foot prints left by their future alumni.