Shadow Play

If I am the universe for you-

You see in me the sun, moon, stars

the valleys,  the mountains

and cascades of beauty

the sound of silence

in equal measures,

where do you find me then?

I am like the wind

embracing you

I am the light

illumining your mind

goading and pushing you

to conquer other worlds.

But you ask me to speak

and  play in reverse rhythms

to match your fancy,

Why?

We are in eternal union

we play with words

a shadow play for our

fights and mystic joys,

I know  I am your whole 

which you fill up with love.

Sabita Sahu

Never Say Die

Prafulla Kumar Mohanty

Man is not born for defeat, neither for guaranteed victory but he fights on to survive, grow and prosper. In the last forty five  Centuries man has evolved from the unicellular amoeba to his present space suit only by his desire not to give up. In the last ten thousand years he has consolidated his victories for sure and because of his ingenious invention of agriculture has multiplied himself to occupy most of the earth. Man cannot cease from mental fight, wrote William Blake, and he has not ceased ever. He fought with existential fears and also spiritual fears. Defeated he was million times in his fight against hunger, disease and fear but he fought on to conquer in most areas to a great extent. He now controls nature  to a large extent, his other survival fears of disease and war too are manageable: But is he a victor? A victor of course has no finality. Permanent victory is always meaningless. Man's greatest challenge is now Man. We are now numerous unimaginably and everyman in his own way fights intellectually with the elements in such a manner that he makes the biosphere tremble. Humans have produced weapons which can destroy the human race ten times over. His new pet of this century is the AI- Artificial Intelligence - which can control the most intelligent to do its bidding. In the name of progress we have ruined the environment which had sustained the race over the centuries. We have made the climate change which we now experience can extinct us without an epitaph. So are we victors or victims of our own megalomaniac selves.

We are now in such a state that to celebrate our ' victory' would be blasphemous: but to acknowledge our defeat too is unmanly. In fact man has never acknowledged defeat even in the face of extinction or degenerate ruin. After the Archangel became the creeping Serpent under the Victor God's wrath, he did not surrender. " What though  the field he lost, All is not lost - the inconquerable will" writes John Milton. Adam did not apologize, never begged for  mercy. Man is too wilful to surrender, too proud to give up. Churchill in his memoire of the great War writes: In victory magnanimity, in defeat defiance. Man defies danger, destitution and death. He is not necessarily  magnanimous in victory but he is certainly defiant in defeat. After the death of Achilles in the Trozan War Ulysses comments- With the death of Achilles gone is Greek courage but not Greek cunning . Man devises deviant ways to reconquer. The ways may be demeaning but to accept defeat is death which man will never accept. People die fighting till the last breath. Abhimanyu fought the mighty warriors who surrounded him defying all military rules of the time, he knew that he could not defeat the seven great chariot warriors but he fought till his body fell inert on the Kurukshetra battle field. We celebrate even that defeat as a heroic feat. Death is a crowning glory for a man who does not turn his back. This is the glory of man; he rises after every fall, returns with the fury of  a wave to strike again. This is true of all battle fields. When Paris runs away from the field to the arms of Helen, she too chastises him: For it is  a shame to her feminine pride to embrace a coward who chose survival over heroic death. Man's 'this never say die will power' is seen not only in the tented fields but in every sphere of human activity.

In the social sphere we use ' failure' as a substitute for defeat.  A Surgeon tries to save life and uses all ingenuity to its epitonic limits. Raphael drew a perfect circle without using an instrument after several failures. Even Shakespeare must have failed for  words in spite of his genius. Madame Bovary was revised 39 times. A starlet in the film industry becomes a star after several C grade performances. A teacher-scholar devotes his time and energy to earn a reputation. A scientist never admits failure: he is at his project till his emaciated body springs up with eureka one day. The politician too fights his battles till victory saves his name. There are some apolitical people who fight elections without ever winning once: They defy all personal and situational logic. All this is true of our species for failure is death. This fear of death keeps alive the flame of defiance. Even housewives go on experimenting with their culinary art to reach the heart of men through their palates.

Defeat or failure shrinks the soul.  Man feels he is not worth anything. He puts in all his efforts to succeed. But the philosophical question is what is the meaning of success? We may say that man wishes to make his temporary sojourn on earth meaningful by showing or demonstrating his capabilities which may be beneficial to others. In lone cases the individual wishes to satisfy his own ego. Therefore those who ring the bell once and turn away are not true humans. Your victory over sky and earth may  not be  worth anything ; your knowledge may turn effete after five years but you must always strive to win. You should know that no glory, no record is permanent and it may not be worthwhile. With all our knowledge, science and technology we have not been able to put out the Australian Bushfire. But we must try and try straining every muscle to put defeat at bay.

Break The Mirror

Who is not scared  of the mirror?

It exposes the mind

reveals dark secrets

in pores and bumps

the skin cracks and

colours fade

Time conspires with the mirror

to add to your fright.

It's not possible to ask

like the legendary Princess

who is more beautiful than me?

Why do you need a mirror

to  tell you what you are

and what you will be?

There is no magic in mirror

it always chimes with your

wishes often exposing

the lies to your make up:

You are not what the mirror shows

your mind is your mirror

your action is your image

your goal is your soul

break the mirror and

be what you are!

Sabita Sahu

Born At A Wrong Time.

When I came here

I thought

I am of the same species

as the others are

but am I ?
I see -

the creeping sophisticated
specimen elongate their hands,

the lovers betray every moment

the kings and rulers

who put their conscience

in the boxes and treasury-

I am  not of that species,

I am a human being with

a mind, soul and a heart

Yes- I know-

Pure gold.

Is this the place destined for me-
the human jungle,
where nature is beastly
What will I do here?
I came here with love-
love here is synthetic,
truth runs away
with a question mark,
but I will fulfill my destiny
create and worship everything
with truth and love.
They will beat me? - Let them
They will kill me ? - Let them
My death will be a sacrifice
to reestablish the species
for posterity to adore.

Sabita Sahu

Success

Prafulla Kumar Mohanty

Given a choice between peace and success, the hand of any sane man will rise in favour of success. Man would like to win, conquer, advance in life, get rich and richer, be powerful, gain accolades and wear the star studded crown. The self of a person must satisfy his ambitions, aspirations, wishes and realize all his dreams. Everyman is Utopian in his chosen or available field of operation. May be God has no wishes unfulfilled and therefore he can only grant and give. In any case the human believers have kept God in that absolutist position. The self of man chases that Absolute in his field of action. A clerk dreams of being the boss, a poet wishes to be greater than Shakespeare, a beggar desires to be Bill Gates and so on. There is nothing wrong with desires or dreams. And the world has so many rags to riches stories that doubts are at a premium. If a two bit corporal who loses his eyes in the First War could become the Fuhrer Adolf Hitler and a Chaibala could be Prime Minister Modi Why can't an ant ride the Pegasus? No quarrels. Man on earth has come to become somebody for the earth is a theatre of manifestations. Man must leave his print on the earth. He strives, perseveres, studies, researches, trains, thinks with single minded devotion. Arjun practised hitting targets in the dark nights. Great speakers practise before mirrors (so even do demagogues), singers practise all lifelong and soldiers train as do cricketers and footballers at all odd times. But the question is why don't they all succeed in equal measures?

All students of a great teacher do not succeed equally in their respective persuasions in life. Those who failed blame that unseen power- fate- and resign to themselves. Some of them take failure as a challenge and work hard with redoubled vigour. Yet success does not uniformly crown them. The saints and knowalls may say, something was amiss in their perseverance. What? Perhaps we do not know yet. Success however is not a guaranteed noun. But when we see a rapist, a murderer presiding over our destiny sitting in  a chair of power, we do wonder: how could this happen? How could a builder, a political novice become Donald Trump, the most powerful man in the 2020 world? How could Dhirubhai Ambani create his business empire rising up and up  from  very humble beginnings? Well, here is the trick of fate which defies logic. All seeds of the same species do not grow up to massive trees. Is something skewed with our logic of morality?

We have all been taught by teachers and great men that honesty, hard work and devoted pursuit of your goal someday or other will give you the taste  of success. Does it mean that those failed lacked in honesty of purpose and pursuit? Can we say that all rich corporates are honest ? All those who are successful in their fields are not men of infallible integrity. Many people like Bijoy Mallya and Nirav Modi cheat and pull fast ones to get rich and 'successful'. Shall we call these people successful and Leo Tolstoi a 'failure' for he was not awarded the Nobel Prize? My honest readers will judge.

In the same vein when I think of the lauded man who have carved their image on the hearts of people like Mahatma Gandhi, Lincoln and Churchill  are truly successful? Freedom at the cost of division of India definitely caused great  pain to Gandhi. And what has happened to successful Gandhi's India in his afterlife we know and experience. Philosophically there is nothing called success; it is at best valid for a period in history. Later Years make that success foggy by many analyses which are mind boggling. Moreover success is not unidirectional. A man like T.S . Eliot had no family life, no social life. Gandhi, Buddha and all those great men who had spectacular contributions towards mankind had to sacrifice many a comfort of daily life.       

For this reason people categorize success as material, social and spiritual. Material and social success can be measured although the yardstick may have different dimensions at different times in history. We remember Alexander, Napoleon for their  military success. If we do we must also remember their personal agony, of lovelessness and later ignominy. But can we say Timur and Gajani were also very successful as marauders and looters? Or the East India Company for that matter? No, for the values associated with their success are not prohuman. If humanity is pained or ashamed by one's success it is not worth a boot. If that is not true a man who succeeds  in killing a common enemy is also a great hero. The action of man or the fruits of action enjoyed   by a man are not the measure of one's success. On one level success is the pursued goal reached after a struggle of a lifetime: this success satisfies a self. On the other a man's work saves life and improves the quality of life  for all time. No man can claim to have achieved the success of the later kind. But success after a soulful effort is pleasing to the human being. If it is the realization of his personal ambition it is the fulfillment of his being. But if a man works for mankind's general peace and salvation he is the Son of God. But normal mortals measure success by their  bank balance or  power to do good things for others. At least this much success makes a life full and glorious.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Today

Waiting for tomorrow

why waste your today.

Today you are born

today you will die,

fight and run love and lose

all your glories and shames

all your crowns and crumbs

flowers, thorns, swords and kisses

will rush ahead only today.

Those dreams of tomorrow

lazy reveries air castles

caresses amorous and grand

tiffs and worries bland

are today's routine,

don't slave today for the whip

cross the mountains never sleep

for you will slip today.

Write your letters  sing songs

dance and play sad and gay

someone else will record your dreams

when your tomorrow comes.

Sabita Sahu

Lying

Prafulla KumarMohanty

If I say I dreamt of a lion hosting my New Year Party you may just smile. But if I say  a lion served me tea in the jungle you may ignore it as a deliberate lie to pull a fast one. But a lie has its  place in the life of  human beings for it adds sauce to living. Often we worship lies to beguile the tedium of real life. We culturally  nourish certain lies and make them grand with fanciful celebrations. Our gods, idea of heaven afterlife etc  are compellingly beautiful. We celebrate the birthday of Rama, Krishna, Hanuman with devout faith as if they are more divine than they are imagined to be.  But faith is blind and it does not care for truth or  fact. The scientific temper or logic plays no role in faith. Lies too are independent of logic. The poet, the lunatic and the lover, as Shakespeare said are of imagination  all compact. Lies are imaginative bordering on the imaginary. All creative people create a world of make-belief. The truth serum test is irrelevant in their cases. But one may ask sincerely, what is  a lie? The ready answer is that which is not true. Well what is truth then? Truth is God  said Gandhi and practised truth with love which naturally is far away  from violence. But truth is never objectively presented. It is always subjective  except in the case of objects which have verifiable existence and have been named and identified. But truth of an aesthetic kind or of imaginative perception is not verifiable. The absolute truth is beyond human apprehension. Similarly a lie is never absolute or exclusionary.

Hitler's foreign minister Goebbels had said, "A lie repeated ten times is a truth". People have no scope of verifying a statement  repeated with convincing passion. We saw  evidence of it in the post- CAA protests all over the country. But how could a lie get acceptance as truth? The reason is fear, fear which could  be termed as existential. If a large group of people believing in a different faith are constantly told that the present political dispensation is most likely to destabilize your existence, you are likely to fall for it. For a prediction of likely disaster immediately enters deep into our minds as we are not fully confident of our being. Any prediction of the world's end will be believed sooner than the world will become a paradise in 2030. It is because death is a certainty. Any statement threatening our existence has the power to instill fear in us. And for this reason we accept lies quicker than truth.

Often people resort to lies to escape punishment. The lie may explode on your face later but the immediate danger is to be avoided by resorting to lies. This happens because truth is not easily accepted by people. A liar is more imaginative when he weaves a yarn which is complex. A man speaking the truth is factual. Truth is naked, lie is fully dressed up with frills and curls and attracts the listener to a different world. History records how lies of all kinds have  enamoured people to gloss over the hard realities. Hunger, sickness and war are driven out of the minds of people by a magical lie of otherworldly salvation. People forget the nagging painful problems of existence and pursue a relieving doctrine of faith. Ghost stories, Supernatural lore attract us more as those are like opium, numbing our real fears.

We are all fond of lies. If I praise a dark man saying you have the complexion of Krishna he does not protest. He gives a shy smile and wishes to hear more. If I praise my love comparing her eyes with sun and moon she will be happy. If I praise a country as peaceloving for it never fought external aggression the people will swell with pride. Lies distract the mind off the pain of truth. Life is so full of sorrow and misery that we find an escape route in lies . It compensates the present moment of pain. When a child cries of hunger a poor mother sings a lullaby promising the moon. A dying man gets a few more breaths when the doctor says he is improving. Lies, however, are not always comforting. Lies ruins a life, a family or even a society. But the magnetism of lies is strong, they lull us to an opium sleep.

Lies exist and are practised in a big way because man is afraid of truth. To face truth one needs greater courage. Hence lies come handy for cowards and the weak to hoodwink their fancies however transitory it may be. That's why lying is admired as an art.