Progress

Go on a trip to the museum,
All those chimps, when you see em.
Give yourself a pat on the back,
We've come a long way baby.

Take a look at the ground,
sinking under footsteps all around.
It once was the floor of the jungle,
but We've come a long way baby.

Can you hear the roars of the cars,
the cacaphony of conversations?
The bellow of civilisation, that surely proves,
We've come a long way baby.

See that bird, or that majestic beast,
that adorns the giant TV screens?
Once they roamed the earth, in their multitude,
when our deserts were green.

A time when waters flowed free and clear,
gave rise to life, and which now fear,
the return of her plundering murderous children,
snuffing the life that she holds dear.

Sorry, please excuse that cough,
dust riddled lungs don't do me proud.
A cancer on the planet, clogging our skies,
Death in pollution's disguise.

As we strip our forests bare,
and suck the oceans dry.
Our time may be running short but still,
our ambitions still fly high.

And till the last man draws his last sigh,
each of us will still smile.
Pat ourselves on the back and say
We've come a long way baby.

Temptations

There you are, in front of my eyes.

You linger on in the periphery of my sight.

Your tantalising form, mocks and burns,

the lightest touch, sends shivers through the nights.

/

I know you do me no good, killing me slowly.

A shadow of who i was once, awaiting only,

another interlude, a stay in paradise,

A hunger that grows stronger, approaching its demise.

/

You have no idea, do you? Of what it takes,

To turn my head away, only to hesitate.

Another glimpse stolen, weakening resolve,

Fingers start twitching, tremors cascade from above.

/

I thought that i was strong, I thought I had the steel

to remove you forever, from the kingdom of my dreams.

But the worst part of all of it, is that you just don't care. 

You lie there, mocking, resplendent, shining in my hungry stare.

/

All those sweaty nights, spent trying to rid myself, 

of your lasting effects, the curse of your spell.

I still can't quit chocolate, diet as i might,

a burden heavy on the heart, and yet filled with delight.

/

Some day i will leave your shores forever, 

and hopefully move on another vice.

Meanwhile I'll have another,

filled with nuts and crispies rice.

Pavlov's World

There's this great joke doing the circles everywhere. You know it all too well. Every day now, some random unknown banker/world bank official/ previously unknown economist will tell you, quite seriously, "There are serious indications that the Recession has bottomed out and the recovery has begun". Flip over to the next page and you're greeted with " (Insert region name) Unemployment still at worrying levels/Decade High)". Flip over to the India page and you'll have bankers, consultants, ministers pat themselves at the "Fundamentally Sound Indian economy which has emerged unscathed". Right next to the para talking about rising prices and negative inflation(talk about about mutual incompatibility).

Nothing works on Time? Recession

Prices are high? Recession

Fraying relationships? Recession

Hate your job? Recession

The latest buzzword for chai wallah to your respected retired uncle? Recession

We parrot the word, dive into panic, and follow the herd without pausing to ask the 5 Ws and 1H we learnt about in journalism. Who caused the recession? What caused it? Where did it start? Why is a property bubble implosion in America threatening my paper wallah? When exactly did it start?(2007, 08 or 09? make up your mind Friedman). How exactly is the global economy (read America) different today from what it was three years ago?

Oh, it's not just economics. Let's talk about healthcare. We know all about the Swine Flu. However, how is it fundamentally different from the regular flu? Or the Bird Flu? I am not knocking on the unfortunate victims, but I question the panic mongering and (sadly) profiteering indulged in by pharma cos, in the name of treatment. The sad fact is, all of us take so much of what we've been told for granted, that if I were to ask you about how exactly black money could be brought back to india, when we don't have any idea about it's size, you'll splutter in indignous  disbelief. "It's money that will go into children's education(like the 2.5 % we have been charged on every item, to see no visible difference in schools), healthcare (like the supposed thousands of crores the government is pumping into the sector every year) and development( the biggest black hole in the indian budget)."

Hey if Rajni and Vikram have made two movies about it, it must be true, right?

/ End Rant 

The Invisibles

Not inspired by the mind bending series by Grant Morrisson, so there.

The newspaper delivery boy
The Onyx worker who cleans the garbage dump
The Bus Driver and Conductor
The people working at ticket counters
Your fellow passengers and driver on a bus/ share auto
The waiter who serves you at a hotel/pub
The beggars you meet in a day
The shop owner at the mobile recharge place
The store assistants at the grocery/clothing store
The temple boys
The doctor's assistants
The usher at the movies
The petrol bunk boys and girls
The people who clean our excrement ridden railway tracks
The lady who sweeps the dust off the roads in the morning
The iron man
The chaukidaar who shouts on nightly patrols
The electrician/plumber
The cable guy
The delivery guys

The list of people who we see but do not notice. The new invisibles. I'm sure there are tons of people i've missed.