KHAYAAL

   The sole jewel in the sea  was fancied by all One such was a stalker who was a little torn Between loving him and fearing him she kept herself drowned and wished herself equal in his eyes most of all. When she grew to be a menace the jewel secretly called out Feigned a little rendezvous “Let's rock a friendly bout!” She goaded at the invitation Having fallen into the trap She swam creepily, stealthily victorious and full of clout. Alas! The jewel had sent in his stead a Rajput scout while he had rested and rocked the existing anchors all about. The birth of a new people was the herald of that day; While to a deathly fate condemned Ghazi flamed to her end. Note: This poem is published on the event of the commissioning of INS Vikrant on 2nd September, 2022 and serves to remember the legacy of India’s first carrier of the same name of 1971 fame.

My sister and I have been indulging ourselves into this lately: a game of letters, where we both come up with two words - noun, adjective, verb. We then crisscross our words to come up with semi, or at times, non-coherent phrases. The activity is to explain that phrase with a sentence, a couplet, a paragraph, whatever that first strikes our mind.  One particularly challenging one was 'Serene cheque'. What even?? My sister got 'Stellar realm' and the poem she constructed around it, I was not expecting it the least! The resultant couplet from my end was - satisfactorily mundane.  Amidst the clacking of keys and numbers Shouts of prices and bets on ground The promise to her was sure and complete, A serene cheque you know would never bounce. As I said - satisfactorily mundane. You've got the elements of Show and Tell, and there's a couplet which makes you go, "What promise?"

There are only two ever bugs which bug me on a sufficiently frequent basis. Others, I don't mind. They are:  1. Cockroaches - the harbingers of immediate death;  2. Millipedes - the harbingers of slower death. Firstly, a millipede with far too many legs, slimy and stingy; born as a punishment! I can only wonder the little cacophony of tick-ish sounds its feet make when tapping on the ground - obviously too faint for human ears. But to organisms even smaller than the bug, it would seem like a train of oppression. The more the number of legs, the more chances of being consumed. Thankfully, they aren't fast - like cockroaches, those buggers! At least after you go into shock of spotting Mr. Milli, you don't immediately die. If it is a cockroach, you will first go into shock - your heart will physically stop for a beat on the sight of it. Now, when it is supposed to recover from that shock, it will further stop for a second beat as soon as that ill excuse of life will start flyi...