Virtual Vigilante

Teenage kids with toys get shot in seconds but mass murderers are, weirdly always, taken alive. We observed, virtually.

It's a African kid in America, American kid in Mexico, Bangladesi kid in India, Indian kid in Australia. The mindset is widespread. We observed, virtually.

Over time the adminstration failed. People who commit such atrocities administered hate. The administrators won, humanity lost. We observed, virtually.

Time is now!

Women Warriors Worldwide echoed in unison, #metoo, virtually. Change is happening; in reality. Let's observe, virtually. 

An eruption in the east gets reported in the west in a matter of seconds. Our response saves lives; in reality. Let's observe, virtually.

A tweet on the cloud, a selfie in the woods, a movie on a mountain, a song by the seashore can create ripples in reality. Let's observe, virtually.

© Balaji Palanidurai

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This poem is inspired by a Facebook post (screenshot is the anchor image) by a good friend, to whom I dedicate this poem. His Facebook account is not public, so am respecting his privacy.

I initially typed "Bloody good observation, now what?". And then, my thumbs started twirling, twidling and started working in unison on the qwerty keyboard. The race was between my thoughts in veracity and typing velocity. I have tried to balance the volume of words with variety in wisdom through this poem.

I hope you like it. This is my two paisa worth of contribution, virtually!

Elements in ashes

A spark is all you need

to burn deadwood to ashes

whispered the earth to fire

A spring is all you need

to wash away the ashes

whispered the earth to water

A breeze is all you need

to create life from ashes

whispered the earth to air

Alas, a void is all you need

to turn that life to ashes

whispered the earth to mankind!

@keatsbaladasan

Beauty of Outcomes

Our act of living has an outcome
Some define it as a purpose
If it becomes pursuit of income
Redefine it, with a discourse

In the act of setting up a wakeup alarm
Outcome we expect, is to rise
The act, intentionally, to snooze it with an arm
Purpose, neither met nor wise

In the act of hearing someone speak
Outcome we expect, is to listen
The act, inbetween, to respond to a beep
Purpose, neither met nor brazen

In the act of caring someone in pain
Outcome we expect , is healing
The act, though, of doing it for ample gain
Purpose, neither met nor appealing

In the act of responding to our need
Outcome we expect, is joy
The act of, voluntarily, giving in to our greed
Purpose, neither met nor coy

Our act of living has an outcome
Some define it as a purpose
When it becomes pursuit of income
Redefine it, with a discourse

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©Balaji Palanidurai

I wrote this on a my travel back from Bengaluru to Chennai on 11th Nov. I had made a personal choice to travel in the common man coach - decison was an outcome of minimalist living. The cost of this travel was 1/20th of the cost of the same trip that I used to do by air, when employed.

Outcome matters for everything we do in life, be it brushing our teeth or baking a birthday cake. Personal hygiene, purpose of former and show of affection or cost savings could be for the latter. As long as the purpose is clear followed by genuine  effort, a positive outcome is more or less guaranteed.

Bread

Soft, crisp, round & square;
people eat bread
Depends, where they were
born and bred!

Relished with breakfast, lunch, dinner
or even as a starter
Getting a small piece of it, for some,
is still a big matter!

8000 CE, the grain was first crushed
battered and baked in an oven

Flat at first, from Egypt to the world
it evolved; the method was proven

French call it baguette, Egyptians as pitta,
Indian double roti and English as bread

What's in a name? When hunger strikes
humanity and hospitality must spread.

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©Balaji Palanidurai

I wrote this poem on 27th April 2017. The trigger was the scene in front of me on the breakfast table by the window in StayAt Bromma overlooking the street leading to the Bromma train station. I was there on business trip and stayed there for 2 weeks. Breakfast was simple and had a continental spread and I loved the butter there!

The slice of bread and the salt and pepper dispensers in ghost form in front of me got me to think about the importance of bread in our life. I also became a fan of the Crisp bread and started googling for history of bread. I wanted to save this information for my future reference and wrote it in a format that I would like to read - Poem!