I try each day, to fly a little higher
Push a little, be a better flier
And perhaps one day, break away from the flock
To fly out alone, to that far-away rock
That beckons me, like it has beckoned others before
Those whose tales were my childhood’s folklore
To risk all I have, all I know, is perhaps insanity
But it will be the right place, I know, for me to be
One day, I know, in thought, action, and word
I will be what I am – a free, free bird.

In my next life
I want to be the sunshine
Traveling through miles of darkness
To touch the leaves of that pine
And make love to the morning dew
And explode, scattering my every hue
I want to touch every grain of dust
That flies away with the wind’s gust
I want to touch every closed eye
And pry it open, as I fly.

In my next life
I want to be the river
And be in motion, for ever and ever
Carry specks of life in my bosom
As I tumble down towards the ocean
And sing the song, as I dance,
Of my lover, the earth, and my romance

In my next life
I want to be the earth
And be a mother, and give birth
And nourish and grow my children
Those trees, birds, animals, and men
And dance with the rivers, and invite the sunshine
To co-create this world divine

In my next life
I want to be a man
Who is the master of this divine plan
Whose voice the winds are waiting to hear
Whose touch the earth can scarcely bear
Who can command the sunshine to turn away
Who makes the whole universe his work and play
Through love he shines like the sun
On everything and everyone
And yet his simplicity makes him see
And realize life’s basic unity
Simple, humble, loving, and pure,
Yes I want to be a man I’m sure!

For these two days, forget that you are
Manager, vice-president, or anybody other
Than just a plain human being
Who, like others, is trying
To really experience
The magic of existence
For a change, feel unburdened
If only, if only, for the weekend.

Put down the load of responsibility
That through the week you carry
Of fulfilling the dreams of your family
Or shareholders or leaders of your company
Let go also of your ambition
To get others’ appreciation
And the fear of disapproval?
Don’t think about that at all
Do not conform, do not bend,
If only just for the weekend

Use that break from nine-to-five
To be alone, to be alive
Feel the warmth of breath coming out
Hear every beat of your heart shout
Feel the throbbing in your head
Look not with, but through the eyes instead
Fly away on your dreams, wide and far
Touch the magnificence that you are
Healer, dancer, singer, saint
Let your imagination sketch and paint
A new world, a new life
Devoid of struggle, and of strife
Where you are grand, as you deserve to be
Expressing your potential completely.

And in that way slowly know yourself
To be beyond status, power, and pelf
And with that knowledge, through the week strive
To make what you are, come alive.

Oh what a world the working class would make
If only they wisely used the weekend break.

I wondered at the experience
Of observing the difference
Between the way trees
Moved about in the breeze

One welcomed me
Rather enthusiastically
Another just heaved a sigh
As I drove past by

And in spite of the noise around me
Made by traffic and people, I heard
The sound of the little bird
Perched somewhere on that tree

I noticed how the morning haze
Hung above the city’s maze
Of roads and streets and blocks and lanes
And people, hurrying along their ways

I noticed how the morning sun
Gently illuminated everyone
And how the expression on their faces
Gave away
Their feeling about the day
That ahead of them lay

And behind all the noise and sound
Of vehicles, people, and everything around
I could sense
A Silence
That really was the background
Of all this experience

The Silence that must have seen
Civilizations come and go
Humans changing the way they dress
The way they eat, pray and bless
The way men fight
And what they fight for
How things that were once thought right
Were later rejected and were right, no more
The Silence that has always been
A part of us, and all that we know.

Sarvesh Mehrotra

Sarvesh Mehrotra

Exult me to the place where
Form disappears, and I lay bare
And dance with you the dance
Of the Eternal Romance

Where you are still and so am I
From where we live, from where we die
Where every breath stirs up storms
From where spring the camouflage forms

Which gives birth to the old and new
The tenderness of the morning dew
The courage in the warrior’s breast
The aching of the lover’s heart
The warmth inside every nest
The force within the wind’s gust
The depth within a man’s trust

O Nature, take me there so I
Shall live no more, and no more die.

Sarvesh Mehrotra

Humans have vastly improved upon the things they create. Things have become near perfect, which is not really such a good thing. For perfect machines drive home the point of human imperfection. We stand in awe of machines we created, which are able to run flawlessly for hours on end, and stand in contrast to the worker, who makes mistakes every now and then, falls ill once in a while, has a family that takes his attention away sometimes, while the machine goes on and on and on.

We look at machines, and secretly wish to emulate them. We create what we call ‘companies’, which are really just large machines, with humans acting as parts, and their energy as fuel, to produce and sell more things.

Inside these companies, we fix roles, set up systems, and create mechanisms to monitor, exactly as an engineer would in a machine-create individual parts with fixed roles, systems fixing the interplay of the parts, and mechanisms monitoring any deviations.

But we forget that humans are not parts, they are wholes in themselves. Each individual is unique and complete, and is the reason and cause for the universe to exist. And most of all, we forget that the things and machines we look up to are products of our own minds.

Ralph Waldo Emerson had once said, ‘Things are in the saddle, and riding mankind’. Human beings have relegated themselves to second place in this world, and have given the first place to products of their own minds. It is a place we must win back, by realizing that the mind is a tool that we have, but we are far greater than it. As individuals, each one of us must go back to the original question: Who am I?

The answer to that will put the mind, and its products, back into the place where they belong, and leave the world once again, to be a place for humans to live in, love, and enjoy.

Truths that most will shun
will be the dream and passion of one
who, without sword or gun
will sway the earth and sun

The grip of illusion broken
reality will dawn on perception
when the way of the heart is taken
by men who will choose to be men

Such men will show the way
New ground, their deeds will lay
and what they will do and say
will, over humanity, hold sway

Through such, each one will see
his own divinity
Through such, truth shall be
at last, set free.

Sarvesh Mehrotra

It’s hard. When quite young you get an impression from elders and others you look up to, that life is hard, and one must be able to do what others want, must be able to be accepted in society, in order to live. And that means giving second priority to your interests, putting aside that activity you love, to learn other things that will get you a job.

But soon you realise the elders you looked up to are not people who know life better than you and can be reliable guides, but people who gave up their dreams when young, under similar guidance from their elders, and when you speak of dreams, your interests, you make them feel guilty for not having listened to their own hearts when they should have.

And when you realise that, then you start to form your own judgments about life, stop following anyone, and create your own structure of what is right and what is wrong. Of course that structure will have its faults, and will need to be corrected as you live and learn. But you learn that beyond elders, books, scriptures and learned people, there is a guide inside you, that can show you the right way in life: a way that’s not “right” or “wrong” in the absolute sense, but is right for you.

And that also teaches you that the world is lying by labeling things and actions as right or wrong, for there is no such thing. What’s right for me isn’t right for my neighbor, and every man needs to look inside to know his right way.

In the presentation ceremony, some important gentlemen stepped up and proceeded to hand over the awards to the great players. It was a strange sight to see-two humble, fiery individuals whose names generated awe anywhere in the world, being handed over trophies of achievement by two unknown old men, who no one knew, or cared about, but who thought themselves important enough to tell the players their games were wonderful, and capable enough to hand over the trophies. I couldn’t help wondering why they could not bring in other heroes of the game, who knew what it meant to win such a championship, having won it themselves, and who deserved to share space with such individuals. I guess money got its share of the fame it deserved.

What is it about sport that gets us to watch it, spend hard earned money and precious time? In an age dominated by frenzy and relentless activity, a perpetual lack of enough time, what makes people sit for hours in a crowded stadium, or in front of the TV, watching two individuals earn their living, when they could very well be earning their own?

When talking about sporting events or matches that they have seen, I have often observed that a few moments in the entire game are most talked about, eliciting oohs and aahs, and the most passionate reactions. It is these moments that make fans. It is these moments, when the ordinary human beings engaged in a duel transcend their ordinariness, and reach brilliance. The more capable the individuals engaged in the battle, the higher they take each other in the quest for victory, and the more intense the match becomes.

We are hungry for heroes, for those moments which tell us we are brilliant, capable of magnificence, and that is the joy of sport. The reason why every sport has its fans is those moments of brilliance. The anticipation of that moment is the thrill of the entire show, and keeps us glued to our seats, lest we miss it. It is a moment that in our mundane lives we have never experienced, but one that each one of us craves for, and watching it happen to someone else is perhaps the closest most of us will ever reach it.