A Rainbow.....On The Ground!!

I posed a question to the crowd
A crowd of friends standing before me
If they had seen a rainbow
They replied that they’d seen one

Some said they’d seen one many times
Up in the sky after a soft drizzle.
I think my question wasn’t clear
For I had wanted to know if they’d seen one on the ground

On the ground? They were puzzled...
They turned a bit surprised and asked me
If I had seen one myself
They also wanted to know how and where I had seen it.

I told them about you, my beautiful angel
For you were the rainbow I had seen
The rainbow that walked the earth
And also walked the green grounds of my heart...

Everything on earth was elegant when seen by your eyes
The blue eyes that twinkled like the stars of the sky
The eyes that stole my heart forever
And made me your slave for ever after...

But I had strong competition from the sun
He saw a reflection of his colour in your skin
The immaculate yellow skin that wrapped my angel
The skin that was infinitely brighter than the Sun himself...

Your eyes clashed at times with your hair
But it was not blue, it was ...different
Your long tresses were not the colour of the sky or of the night
They were, rather, remnants of the lighter hue of the hour before dawn...

Every rose ever created by nature
Performed a life-long penance begging for a boon
That it could resemble, at least for a minute, the red hue of your lips
Of which Nature is yet to create a replica.

The radiance that emanated from you,
Blended with the gentle rays of the sun
Created an aura around you as you strode
And aura that reminded me of a bouquet of bright saffron flowers

This bouquet of flowers walked and danced on the earth
As it did on the lush valley of my heart
Making the meadows greener and fresher
Thus completing the colour scheme of the rainbow

I told my friends who were, by now, open-mouthed in awe,
Of my good fortune in knowing this rainbow that walked the earth
But by then, I had already left the scene, for I had to rush
To catch a glimpse of my rainbow as she descended to the earth....

The Afghan

I wake up every day on the desert sand

I look around and see towering mountains

Like vigilant soldiers, observing my every move

And reporting it to an invisible boss...



The desert had always been my home

And I’ve always been a playful child on her lap

With sand hills as my playmates

And the sun being our de-facto referee



I grew up in the hot, arid, yet charming desert

Accepting graciously the gifts it had offered me

It had fed and nourished me and helped me grow

Free from the claustrophobic confines of the city...



My desert and me, we have been pals

For as long as I can remember,

I have no hesitation to say and ascertain

My ownership over my desert...



And yet, of late, things have been changing

So much that I don’t really know what’s happening

There are a lot of new entrants into my desert

And they haven’t bothered to let me know their purpose...



I see brooding, dark flying birds in the sky

They cloud the sky, and darkness,

Darkness, like the night covers my desert

They keep flying around in circles, day and night...



After a lot of asking around, I get a reply

These planes are here to shoot my people

Well, their official intention is slightly different

They are actually waging a war on terror, it seems...



I do understand that a few of my brethren

Have lost the way of Islam

And have taken a road

That is best left not taken...



To think about it, they did not take this by choice

They were just pawns in a game, a great game

Played by powers unimaginably rich and powerful

Trying to get richer and more powerful



So we were given arms to fight,

Fight an enemy with whom we had no enmity

And were trained to develop feelings of radical hostility

In direct contrast to our hospitable nature



And so we were forced to become who we are,

Now the world calls us terrorists,

It was the same world that wanted us to fight for freedom

And had made us believe we were Jihadists



Every day the planes shoot down my brethren

The ones that have taken up arms to fight

And the ones who have lost their arms in fight

Die together right in front of my eyes



We are powerless to stop this killing

We are powerless to overcome our attackers

So we do what we do best

We try to protect ourselves by hiding within the caves



Our home has thankfully been blessed with these caves

If it wasn’t for them, we would have been an annihilated race

While the world calls us a primitive tribe

We are proud of our tribal ancestry



For though we fight, we fight our wars by ourselves,

We do not use innocent victims as scapegoats

And fight what is called a proxy war

And neither do we kill who we once protected



I write this as I watch more of my brothers die

I write this in the hope that it will wake the world up

I write this to talk of the misery that we go through every day

I write this in the hope that this inhuman act will end some day...



I shall now go back to fight someone's war,

And to lay down my life to satisfy someone’s greed

For I am the son of the desert

Who always lives for others need...



I am the Afghan, the true son of the desert,

The desert sands run through my blood

And I die, letting my blood join the sands

And I die, fighting a needless war.

My Star In My Sky

We walked along a deserted road
Not a soul in sight for miles around
The road was dark and desolate
But not us, we were full of joy and happiness

We were having the best time of our lives
And we were glad that we were all alone
If someone had seen our antics and heard our laughter
We would have been sent packing to the nearest asylum

That moment if anyone had asked me
What I felt about life, I would have said
That life was a grail of pure bliss
And it was perpetually refilled by the gods

A cool breeze blew by us
Ruffling my hair and singing in my ear
I think my girl heard the song too
For she looked at me and smiled

I tried to follow the breeze with my eyes
It was then that I noticed it in the distance
It stood out in the middle of all that darkness
Visible because it was darker than night itself...

It was a clothed figure that I saw
Too tall to be a woman, yet too thin to be a man
It was frail, gaunt and stood with a stoop
Yet there lay a hidden strength in the way it stood...

My girl had not seen it, not yet
And my sixth sense told me to leave at once
I looked at her in the eye and asked her if we could leave
That was when she disagreed with me for the first time

We usually had had the same thoughts
That was what had brought us closer
But why at this juncture did she want to go on
When my instincts asked me to drive away from the area?

There was something in her eye,
That had always stopped me from arguing with her
And it was the same power she had
That made me agree with her that night

I admit that I was hesitant to tell her
That I was afraid of a dark figure standing far away
But I think it might done a lot of good for us
My words could have changed both of our lives

But our lives did change, forever...
In a way I hadn’t even dreamt about,
That dark stooping figure in the distance
Altered my life in the worst imaginable way
My girl had still not noticed him
Or maybe was it just visible to my eyes?
Am I seeing hallucinations in darkness?
Or was it staying hidden from her?

And slowly we came within ten yards of each other
The figure raised its head and looked at us
It was a man alright, but the kind of man I had never seen
His tall, thin frame looked like it was robed by the night itself.

But his face was what made him stand apart
He had intentionally covered his face with his robe
I bet he did that to convince people that he was harmless
For his face was white as a skeleton and equally bony

The deep sockets where his eyes should have been
They had an eerie glow in them, the glow of fire
It looked as though a car had its tail lights on
And parked itself into his face, that’s how red his eyes were...

He looked at me through those red eyes
As though he wanted to eat me alive...
His face frowned and pale lips converged
A faint semblance of a smile escaped through them...

We were now at arm’s reach of each other
My brain was using all its strength to drag me
As far as possible from that ghastly figure
But my heart wanted to stay with my girl...

So I stood my ground and looked at her
Her face was as happy as ever, but how?
Had she not seen the figure yet?
Or was it something that existed only in my imagination?

Those pale dry lips opened up and spoke
And what a voice it was, in one word, horrible
It seemed like a million saxophones were being played
At the same time, by novices who hit all the wrong notes...

His words rang shrill in my ears, like the song of a bat
Eerie, like the hoot of an owl or a parliament of them
He said that he wanted me to leave at once
A wave of relief passed through me...

I caught my girl’s hand with an aggression, used never before
Before I could turn around and flee, the man stopped me.
He said that he wanted me to leave at once
He said that he wanted me to leave at once, alone...

He wanted me to leave my girl with him, the daring he had!!
And as though he believed that I would do that...
I had sworn to be with her in life
And I was ready to protect her with my life...
In a deliberate show of obstinacy, I declined to obey him
I said that I was going nowhere without my girl
That plastic smile passed his face again
He said that I had no idea as to what was going on that night

I told him that I did not care, no matter what happened,
I was not going to leave my girl alone that was for sure
He told me that he had been alone for a very, very long time
And being alone was in a way a staircase to bliss...

I was in no mood to argue, the night was getting colder
And my heart and soul wanted to rush the both of us
To the safety of our home. But something was very wrong.
I could feel a dark premonition going through my brain.

He pointed directly at her and said “She stays!”
Perplexed, I looked at my girl immediately wishing I hadn’t.
Her face was petrified and appeared white and cold.
There was almost no sign of life in her.

I was fuming with anger, at this ghastly apparition before me
I was yet to come to terms with what had happened to my girl
She looked like she had been turned to stone and placed on a block of ice
And I was loathing the presence of this weird entity that was causing everything

He looked at me and said, “I know what you are thinking”
He said he knew that I hated his presence and wanted him to leave
He promised to do that after finishing his task
And with that he broke into laughter

There was no mirth or joy in that laughter
It was shrill and cut through the silence of the night
I felt a burning chill pass through my spine
And the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end

Who was this guy and how did he know what I was thinking?
And what had he done to my girl? Had he.....? No, I can’t think that,
I did not want to think that. I assured myself that he couldn’t have done that
After all, I was by her side all this time and had seen nothing happening...

His sadistic laughter continued, waking every sleeping being
But none dared come out in front of him,
I had no choice but to hold my ground till I found a way
To save my girl and take her away from the clutches of this madman...

The laughter stopped as abruptly as it had started
He looked at me and said “What you want to do is not possible
None has escaped my clutches in the past and none will in the future
You were destined to meet me on this road together and leave alone”

That last word of his...the word “alone” sank into me
It felt like someone was pouring acid into my ears
All the nerves in my body were crying out in pain
And I wished to hear him say that I heard it wrong.

But he said that my hearing was perfect
And that I had heard him right. I was to be leaving alone.
He also said that there was no point in fighting him
And there was no power on earth that dared stop him.

The realisation of it hit me; he was not some filthy vagabond
On the road trying to scare people and extort money
He was Death himself. And he had come to meet us.
But my heart refused to accept the way things were unfolding.

After facing the truth, I knew fighting him was futile,
And that no matter how strong I was, I was powerless in front of him.
Instead of confronting him, I bent down in front of him
I was on the street with my head at his feet, bowing down to him.

I knew that he knew no fear or favour in his line of work
The best of princes and the worst of paupers were one to him
He had taken all of them, when it was their time to go
Though he faced protests every time, he was always victorious...

This knowledge did nothing to comfort me
It only made things worse, for I couldn’t fight him or destroy him
I did the only thing that was left to be done, I bowed down
I begged him to give up his thirst for life, give it up at least for one night.

He had seen through my game, and he laughed.
He asked me if I would give up happily the next morning
If he gave me a night to live with my girl
He smiled again, as he knew what my answer would be.

I offered him my life, instead of my girl’s.
Told him that he could take it any moment he wished
If my life was enough to keep my girl alive,
I was ready to die a million times if she could live one more day.

He denied it outright; he said I was not his pick for the night
He had come for her and he was going to take her with him
If he was so intent on taking her with him, I said he could take me too.
For without my girl, I was sure to be alive yet without a life...

He broke into laughter again, that shrill blood curdling laughter...
He said that things did not work that way in his office,
He did not offer free trips to people who were not on his list
And that night, my name was not on the list but my girl’s was...

I still believed that there was some way to stop his heinous act,
I stood between my girl and him, protecting her with my body,
I believed that I could shield her from his clutches
And eventually take her home safe with me...

He was unrelenting, he continued to smile,
Mildly amused by my antics to protect my girl.
Was it power or pride or experience or something else
That made him so supremely confident in his abilities?

And was it bravery or love or plain foolishness
That made me stand in the way of this juggernaut?
I don’t know. Nevertheless I stood in front of him
And blocking him from reaching my girl.

He moved forward with that smile plastered on his face
A step closer to me, he took. I spread my feet and stood strong
He didn’t seem to mind. He brought his hands together.
I expected an attack, but heard a clapping sound.

Something moved behind me, instinctively I turned around.
It was my girl. She still looked petrified, but something was different.
She moved around me and towards him, all in slow motion.
And I called her name out with all the energy I had, to no avail...

I tried to take her hand and drag her towards me, but no.
I couldn’t even touch her; a strange glow of light surrounded her
She dragged her feet along, like a tired dog walking to its master
Only this time, she did not realise what was happening.

I fell at his feet, and cried worse than a baby that had lost its mother,
He looked at me blankly and said he’d watched this show numerous times
So many times, that he was beginning to get bored of it.
Little did he know, that to me it was all so new and unbearably painful...


He took a step backward, freeing his feet from the pool of my tears
And said that it was time for him to leave and he would meet me again someday.
I begged him to take me along that very day so that we wouldn’t have to meet again
But he said my time hadn’t yet come and I had years left in me.

He started speaking to me about things I had known all along,
He told me how much my girl had loved me in life,
And that she had wanted me to be happy after her death
Yet, he did not realise that I was nothing without her, not even a body.

She had been my body, heart and soul ever since the day we had met
And we had lived one life every minute after that day...
He knew my thoughts once again and smiled.
He said that it was a part of his job, though he did not like it.

He told me that I was lucky to have met her and spent time with her
He told me that he knew about millions of other men who had met him
After several decades of life but without finding the love of their lives
And I was blessed indeed to have found true love so early on in my life.

I told him that it was the very reason why I didn’t want to live without her
He said that he knew that too, but had no choice.
Certain things were the way they were supposed to be
And given a choice no man would ever want to meet his death.

I told him that I was ready to do it, take the trip with him
It was then that he shed a tear, and said that he knew that too...
And that he was not ready to take me yet. He had promised,
Granted my girl her last wish to bless me with a long and happy life.

So that was how it was, I thought.
I had lost my life and yet been cursed with a long one...
I wanted to continue reasoning with him and begging
Though he had started on his way back, he turned.

He looked into my eyes and said that I had been true to her
And for that he would grant her life for a minute
I was granted sixty seconds to say all I had to say to my girl
And bid her adieu for the rest of my life.

My angel sprang to life; she looked at me with tear-filled eyes
She thanked me for the happiness I had brought her
I was speaking the language of tears, the only one I was capable of.
She lifted her hands and wiped the tears off from my face, for the last time.

She said that she would always be with me, by my side
Laughing in my joys and sharing my burdens,
And I would have no reason to worry or cry
As she would always be looking after me.

She promised that she would talk to me, when she could
And that I would hear her if I believed in her presence
She wanted to know if I wanted to say something.
I could only hug her and cry on her shoulders, again for the last time

She said that she would no longer walk the earth
But would happily enjoy the comfort of her throne in my heart,
That she would no longer be in her body
But would be happy being a part of me...

The minute was about to be over and we kissed
A warm embrace and kiss turned into an encounter with ice
For the minute was done and she was gone
The man in the dark suit had also disappeared with her...

I was alone on the road, not knowing what to do,
I bent down, kneeled and cried. I cried till I had no strength left.
I looked up hoping to see a pair of hands comforting me
Despite knowing that those beautiful hands would never move again...

I looked up and saw the sky, the night was still clouded
But one star shone brightly amidst the clouds.
Reminding me of the star that guided the Magi to the god-child.
And this star shone just the way her eyes twinkled when she smiled...

So there she was, looking after me, as she had promised.
I got up to walk on as she had wanted me to.
Believing that she would guide me like she had always done.
And would always be there by my side, holding my hand...

I continue to walk to this day, on the long, rough road of life
With the star always lighting the path in front of me
Saving me from perils and giving me strength. I look at the sky
And the star smiles back at me reminding me of her bright eyes...

A Night's Tale

I met her on a bridge

I walked from the eastern side

And she was from the west

Under us an icy river thundered by...



We had not planned this meeting

Though I had seen it in my dreams

I never thought I’ll walk on that bridge

Or meet her there...



Our eyes met and at that moment,

I heard a million unspoken words

The silence was deafening

But it was also the last thing I heard...



We stood there facing each other

Then we stepped closer and closer

Finally we were so close

That I could see my eyes in hers



Well that was after my heart had left me

I saw her feet getting wetter and wetter

By the kisses my heart placed on them

Trying to win over her heart for me



My hearing had failed me

And my eyes refused to see anything but her

My mouth, well I can’t really say

It got frozen shut by a torrent of words...



And we stayed that way for sometime

I don’t know, maybe a minute or a million aeons

Might have passed by as we stood there

But we continued to stand there, regardless...



A cold breeze blew by us,

And it was followed by a warm drift

A soothing, pleasing drift of love and warmth

Ya, it did emanate from her...



Ha! Now my senses were beginning to work

I turned around to take in the scene surrounding us

But my vision still seemed blurred

Or was it because her hair formed a dark cloak around us?



Despite my rediscovery of the sense of sight, I was reluctant

To look anywhere around me...

I didn’t really feel like taking my eyes

Away from the angelic beauty so close to me...



So I kept looking and admiring and drowning

Into the twin seas of sweet water that were her eyes...

I knew I was losing myself, but I was relishing it

I knew I was crashing into love and I was loving it

Well, I can’t describe how it felt

English fails to supply words to match it

If I were to compromise with the incompetent vocabulary

I would say that I was in a cloud of bliss



And what a cloud it was...with me in the middle of it

Rains of happiness blessed my world

I felt joy and mirth flowing around me

And in the very veins inside me...



The parched rivers of my heart were rejuvenated

I had a high tide, not of water, but of happiness

But I was not sure if my angel wanted to share

A boat ride with me through this rain of bliss...



I was hesitant to ask her about it

What if she refused and left?

This sight of beauty I was getting lost in,

Even that would have been denied to me.



So I continued to stand there

Like a 5-year old lost in the beauty

Of a gift his dad had given him

But no, this gift had come to me from God.



They say people who smile often

Become closer to god

But I wanted to make you smile all the time

So I could stay close to an angel



It was then that you opened you mouth

Those sweet lips moved in unison

Can unity and separation bring more confusion?

Well it happens every time you smile at me....



You looked around us slowly

I couldn’t bear to see those eyes moving away

I prayed that you would look back at me but also thought

Of removing my eyes and be blinded with love...



You looked at the scene around us

And exclaimed about the beauty of nature

Do you know, my dear, that nature exclaims

About your beauty every time it sees you?



Well, at that moment I had no choice, but to agree

I didn’t want to argue saying you looked more beautiful

Than all the flowers and birds and everything else

That nature might have created in her best moments...



You looked a bit hesitant, but why?

What was it that you wanted to ask?

I waited patiently, of course

I would wait an eternity to hear the music of your voice...

Finally, you decided to say it and be done

You asked me if I wanted to take a walk

Well, if it was with you, I’d walk into the gates of hell

And through blazing fires and chilling blizzards...



But no, you weren’t planning on testing me that day

You just asked me to walk with you to the western side

To your side, where you had come from

And me, well I just stood there without saying anything



Obviously, I wanted to yell with all my heart

That I would do nothing but walk with you

But my mouth was still stuck with words

And I agreed by shaking my head foolishly...



I don’t know why or how it happened

But I’m glad that it did happen

Your face broke into a smile

The most beautiful one I had ever seen...



You tugged my hand as though I was a kid

And you were my mother taking me to school

And just dragged me as u sped forward

To the western side you had come from...



And we cleared the bridge together

With me struggling to keep pace with you

And we entered your land

The land that had created a beauty like you



I know it is a cliché

But I will still say it

The grass really looked greener on your side

Unless it was my eyes playing tricks with me...



And the trees, well they looked like tall moms,

With branches bending down to pick playing kids

And hug them close to keep them warm

Maybe because it was your land, there was love everywhere...



We roamed around the length and breadth of this land

Where the sun was never too hot

Nor was the wind too strong

Nor were the nights too long



But I wanted this night to go on

On and on, for all eternity to come

Coz this night I wasn’t eating or drinking

Or even breathing, oh no! Not this night.



This night I was bathing, bathing in your beauty

And was feeling the blessing of gods upon me

For it was only that and nothing else

Which could have brought you to me...

And then we got to a wooded park

The trees here blocked out even the moonlight

Maybe this was a personal place for lovers

And not even the moon was allowed entry



We sat down at the foot of a tree

A massive trunked tree it was

I don’t know why she chose that one to sit under

But I’m sure she had her reasons



She asked me if I liked her country

Well, I don’t know if it was the long walk

Or the magic played by the trees

But the gates of my mouth were finally open



Out of disuse for a while, I couldn’t speak well

Words came in bits and pieces out of my mouth

I think she liked my reply coz she smiled

Yet another of those beautiful smiles passed through her lips...



And then we started talking, well about a thousand things

Jumping from one subject to the next, from one topic to another

She listened keenly when I talked, but not me...

I simply lost myself in her eyes when she spoke



Thankfully, she was not a schoolteacher

And did not ask me any questions from her talk

For if she had tried, I would have flunked the test

And may have been asked to stay out of her class...!!



And we talked, for a very long time...

Maybe the gods heard my prayers

For night was granted an extended life

And we were granted each other’s lives



After speaking and listening and speaking and listening,

She asked me a question...something I knew the answer to, for a change...

She asked me if I liked the time I spent with her

I replied saying that if I was to die by her side, I would die a happy man...



I half-expected her to get up and leave

Another part of me wanted to save me from a slap

But she did neither; she just looked into my eyes

And broke again into one of those smiles...



That minute, that one minute, I simply wanted

To hold her face in my hands and hand my life over

Because to me, life had ended as I knew it

And this night had made it worth living...



I saw her brighten up in an instant

Maybe it was happiness or maybe it was sunlight

Ya, the sun had begun to rise in the east

And his rays were gently embracing her...

Never had I enjoyed dawn so much,

The end of the previous night did not deter me

It had brought me together with the love of my life

And had given way for dawn symbolising a new beginning.



Well, it was a new beginning for me,

An end to all the miseries and trials of my past

A fresh page in my book of life

Fresh as a morning in spring...



And I was sharing the glory of that morning with her

Praying that I would wake up every morning of the rest of my life

With my head in her lap enjoying her soft grazing through my hair

Reminding me of the days my mother used to do that...



She wanted to know how much time I had left

I told her I had a few thousand days of my life left

And that I wanted to spend every minute of that with her

Should I tell her that my time would end the moment she left?



I don’t think so. Not because it would hurt my manly ego

But because I knew that she knew it, I could see it

In those beautiful brown eyes that spoke a lot

Without ever disturbing the beauty of silence...



Once again, she smiled. And I was caught off guard....

Completely disarmed and defeated. Yet I was happy.

Happy because I had lost myself and found her

Happy because she had given herself and absorbed me



I will end this here, as I’m needed somewhere

My girl is calling out to me, to take a walk

In the park under a full moon as beautiful as her

With the gods blessing us with a gentle drizzle, so goodbye...