Great are you!

That’s very true.

Touch the highest peaks with your toes,

Have faith in yourself, to beat your woes.

Have the power of faith in yourself,

That is the most potent.

May the highest consciousness of yourself.....

be in you,

Which is a rare knowledge,

possessed by a very few.

Don’t be afraid of your stars

Don’t be afraid of your inner wars

Rather.......

May the stars be afraid of you

May you be pure like morning dew.

May you have the strength that is due to you.

Pollution! Pollution! we can control pollution, by finding solutions,

It is not a small thing, it has to be controlled certainly,

Don’t laugh; don’t forget, just take it seriously,

Avoid deforestation so as to save trees

Conserve natural resources like coal or petroleum

Or try recycling which is a very good option

And make use of renewable sources like wind and sun.

Decrease your dependence on toxic substances like plastics,

And use bio-degradable sources,

Encourage afforestation and stop combustion

To control pollution, this is the only solution.

People in Gujarat

Were taken unawares

Happily were celebrating

Republic Day without any cares

Watching them merry

The earth wished to dance

It shook her heavy body

and cracked towers tall

No sooner it got moving

Collapsed buildings all.

Thick layers of concrete

Buried strong and weak

All around lay dead

And alive were a few heads

Within a couple of moments

People had to part

No time to hug and express

What was in their hearts.

To say a word of prayer

They got no chance

To ask for forgiveness

When the earth began to dance.

All eyes are wet

For the victims and the dead.

Let’s pray and help them

So the survivors

Have a roof on their head.

This feature was published on January 24, 2004