The Oil Lamp

Ye Lamp soaked in Oil & Shining Bright
Who Shepherds thou from the forces around?
Resplendent are you, with your shining light
Darkness vanishes wherever you are found

Ye Lamp soaked in Oil & Shining Bright
You are indeed, a saintly selfless guide
Your light gives me the wisdom of insight
Helps me know what I am deep inside

Ye Lamp soaked in Oil & Shining Bright
You light my way far and near
What I see around with my gift of sight
Is what you show, truthfully without any fear

Ye Lamp soaked in oil & Shining Bright
The oil thou drip, are those your tears?
What makes you cry, you knighted light
Conqueror of insurmountable frontiers?

Ye Lamp soaked in oil & Shining Bright
The darkness around is our Ignorance
Built by our refusal to listen and wisdom despite
Aided by our shortsight and total intolerance

Ye Lamp soaked in oil & Shining Bright
Cry not , for you are our prayer and hope
Its from you we get the courage to fight
The demons within us ,and with pain we cope

Ye Lamp soaked in oil & Shining Bright
Be always with us, together side by side
Shine brightly and our faults do high light
Give us a chance to redeem our pride

Ye Lamp soaked in oil & Shining Bright
Light up every home this Diwali Night
Herald to all and let every one recite
That God Shines within us bright Tonight!

My babies want to go TATA!!!

Yesterday, I was thankful to the KEB...., no, wait a minute.. I was not was not thankful to the KEB but I was grateful to KPTCL ( irrespective of what they have been calling themselves now , They will always be KEB for me!!) and for a very weird reason. I wanted to thank them for two surprises, which came my way. One unpleasant and the other, a more pleasant one. The unpleasant surprise was that just as I was putting my shoes on, a penultimate step in the process, which expels me from my house office bound to the car, the power went off.

The unpleasantness here arising completely from the ceiling fan whirring to a complete stop. Damn! I muttered to myself. The ceiling fan switching off and my consequent damning of everybody behind it, resulted in a pleasant surprise. Our babies woke up from their sweet slumber. Both of them were very excited on seeing their Papa around when they got up, a treat usually reserved for Sunday's. While this was very pleasant for me , it soon became very clear that their waking up was quite unpleasant to my mother in law, their chief caretaker, their in loco parentis, to whom my wife has given a virtual Carte Blanche to deal with the kids in any way she deems fit, and was quite evident when she jumped into a staccato of quickfire descriptions of the travails to follow.......now that they have both woken up, they will not allow me to do my chores, how will I cook, who will wash the clothes, how will I manage ?, god save me, etc. Etc.......... Get the drift?

Well coming back to the point , my kids wide wake , their faces blessed with a wide half toothed grin ( they are just 16 you see......... ...................16 months that is!) made a bee line downstairs on their own, which was a discovery for me . The discovery of the fact that they could now climb down the entire flight of eighteen steps in the stair case on their own. While I was staring , amazed to the core , at this significant milestone in their growth, My mother in law relapsed into another volley , this time, though bemoaning that this milestone was another millstone for her as she now has to make sure that the door to the staircase is always locked, lest they have a misadventure!

Coming back to the point , again , both of my babies their hands firmly around my legs , were shouting excitedly, TATA ….TATA. My babies wanted to just get out of the house on another of their mini excursions , which is usually a five minute spin in the car around the block . What continues to amaze me is that the immense joy and excitement that this spin provides them. They just do not seem to have enough of it!

Looking back at my own child hood , I remember the kick that I used to get as a eleven year old boy when my dad used to take us around for a spin round the block in his new car. For me the spin provided the ultimate adventure , for it was a spin in the car . Way back in 1983, the unreliable BTS was the most reliable mode of transport for many. Very few had their own modes of transport and fewer people amongst them had cars. My dad , courtesy his employer , was provided with a car. I remember even small trips , visiting nearby uncles and aunts used to provide us great thrills , for it would mean a ride in the car.

I guess it is human nature to explore what is unknown to them. It was this urge perhaps what prompted Columbus to plan his eventual, wrong place , right time discovery. It is not difficult to imagine that my babies’ spirited to desire to go TATA will definitely propel an economy which rides on this spirit . The desire to travel will benefit the airline industry, the hotel industry , the tourism industry ….and the millions of chains that are associated with these. It is this indomitable human spirit which propels tourism , the mainstay of many global economies.

My babies still want to go TATA.. and I say Amen to that spirit!