Life

दुःखे दुःखाधिकान्पश्येत् सुखे पश्येत्सुखाधिकान्|

आत्मानं शोकहर्षाभ्यां शत्रुभ्यामिव नार्पयेत्||

- सुभाषितसुधानिधि

Low you may be, but lower you could've been

Higher you see, when you are in much glee

No, foes they are - these petty joy and misery

Never you concede; over life you'll have mastery.

This is a humble attempt at capturing the essence in the subhashitha. It gives motivation to push yourself further, to better yourself, while you remain satisfied with what you have. Yes. The two thoughts (those of pushing further and staying satisfied) seem to be in conflict with each other. But finding the right balance is the key.

This one shloka has had much influence on me. It has given a better understanding of life. This is an acrostic as well.

Sun

Lustrous, scorching; he makes the sky alight
Little atoms - they fuse, so the moon shines bright
Huge ball of fire, holding the planets tight
And has life ticking, radiating his might
The star in the sky, our sun is such a sight!

This poem, an acrostic as is the previous poem, was completed in my room in the Infosys campus, Mysore!

Courage

Cower not, my dear friend distraught

For you have more, within you, find.

Bound to recur are dusk and dawn

Sorrow and joy too, as life flows on.

With affixed faith in Him, tread along

Knows good-He does, too-for everyone

So brave you be, 'cause He's watching on.

This one is similar to the first post in that this is an acrostic as well. 

Rhyme is my reason!

'In life', I am told, 'in it you find

'To do something, a reason or rhyme.'

It makes me ponder, for a real long time,

Isn't it a reason, that it rhymes?!

This poem stemmed out of my reading of Fritjof Capra's 'Turning Point'. It did seem quite naive to me that we consider only mathematical proof and sometimes go to the extent of denying what we experience. Feynman acknowledged the limitation of math; he said, "There are many many aspects of the world that mathematics is unnecessary for, such as love, which are very delightful and wonderful to appreciate..."

This is hardly recognised in today's world. We've become a materialistic lot. We think happiness is somewhere out there, and that we should search for it. A change from this attitude is necessary. As Leo Tolstoy puts it, "If you want to be happy, be."

My first poem

Never before, had I seen

Nay, I may never see

In this land, which is God's own

Beauty and grace

In her soul

Nature was so, oh behold!

I decided that my first poem shall be my first post and this is it.

It's not just my first poem, but also happens to be my only poem till today!

This was inspired after a class trip to Kerala.

There is one interesting aspect in this poem- that it is what I'd like to call a "modified acrostic". Take the first letter of the first line, second letter of the second line and proceed similarly. And you get...??