Buying Off Death

Money can't buy happiness, it can maybe prevent suicide,

Get your monthly dose refilled, and any crisis for the month you can tide.

I'm not talking about antidepressants, though they have an important role to play,

I'm referring to Universal Basic Income, where you get sustenance come what may.

 

Conditions attached to the cash transfer, like you send your child to school,

Ensure the conditions of your life, become progressively better and cool.

Money enables a better lifestyle, physical health leads to mental peace,

When crises are few and far between, death by suicide starts to cease.  

 

More daily wagers die by suicide, than students or working professionals,

Most struggle to make their ends meet, the desire to live - poverty annuls.  

A timely infusion of cash, is like a sanjeevini for them,

If its predictable and assured, they won't die, but live some.  

 

Money can't buy happiness, it surely prevents suicide,

You've tried therapy and medication, have you alleviating poverty tried? 

A State Lunch, alternately titled 101st Transgression

Middle-east has oil, China has rare earths,

India has spirituality, and is a land of rare births.

People are our strength, our demographics an edge,

We may flock to the West, but to the motherland we pledge.

 

Pakistan has a begging bowl, US has a bully and a clown,

India has a largest democracy, and for some time has been around.

Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam is no slogan, but for billions a lived truth,

You can choose from any path or philosophy, if you are an Indian youth.  

 

Israel is an anomaly, Ukraine is a playground,

India is the Vishwaguru, where wisdom and peace are found.

We are technically advanced, we have deterrents in place,

On a shoe string budget we build missiles, and send satellites in space.

 

Don't take our silence for our weakness, we gave Shishupal his 100 small wins,

Once you cross the red line however, you'll be dealt a lethal blow for your total sins.

 

 

Father's Day Regards

Mother snuggles the baby, father provides the bread,

These are the gender stereotypes, or so I have read.

Mom feeds the baby, pop keeps the guard,

On one we shower love and care, on other respect regard.  

 

My mom and dad both used to work, now they are both retired,

To take care of us turn by turn, they never got tired.

My dad oozed warmth and comfort too, I'd feel loved and be seen,

He might be old and aged now, but to care for me he's still keen. 

 

He gave me more than life, and love, the freedom to truly live,

No conditions attached with wealth, or the love that he would give.

He didn't set for me some goals, didn't care if I kept leaving jobs,

We've traveled joyously a lot of miles, and shared more than a few sobs.

 

Our bond is deep, it goes beyond, money, security or care,  

He'll never depend on me for these, that I'll never outgrow, is only fair.   

The New Happy

I thought money would buy me happiness, I was sold a false bill of goods,

I'm now chained to my city apartment, instead of flowing freely by the woods.

Grab more of stuff, or experiences, did I hoard happiness itself?

There is so much I've accumulated, where to put joy on that shelf.

 

I thought being perfect will make me whole, but it's not all it's cracked to be,

Success should walk the trodden path, there would be panic if I'm set free.    

Hog the limelight, seek fame, let happiness disappear in the background,

Become popular with all the ladies, to court happiness wait for the next round.

 

I thought defeating others would make me happy, happiness dealt me a punch,   

When I compete with friends in zero sum games, it doesn't leave us a happy bunch.

Slog more, party harder, happiness works hard to remain out of reach,

Beware you rest or rejuvenate, lest happiness your work ethic breach.  

 

If you want to be really happy, just become more of who you truly are,  

Give yourself freely to others, that bonding alone will take you far. 

Who Am I?

I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become,

If I am five parts resilience,  I am also fragility some.

It's easy to put a facade, someone who never gets perturbed,

The trick is to keep moving, even when you're deeply disturbed.  

I can only move forward, when I set my past free, 

I need to release the previous branch, to leap to the next tree.  

Letting go is not easy, for a moment you're suspended in space,

If you want to grasp the future, better from the past you turn face.

 

What are you indeed, if you disown your very past,

You are finally free to soar, with possibilities that are vast.

Yet uprooted, un-anchored, you don't have a story to tell,

You'll miss the ground below, does it matter if its heaven or hell?

 

I am what happened to me,  I am what I'll finally become,

Strong or weak are your labels, I'm fine to be human some. 

 

 

The Gap

I feel like an imposter, there is a glaring know-do gap, 

When I can't apply in daily life, I give psychology a bad rap.  

Devouring books on relationships, doesn't lead to bonds that are strong,

To hoard one's learning, and not experiment, is on many levels so wrong.   

 

I feel like a fraud, there is a searing say-do gap,

I talk about mission zero suicide, all I do is make an app.

Detached from the students' reality, hidden behind a cold interface,

I may proclaim lives saved, but when someone dies, for me what grace?

 

I feel like I'm burnt out, there is a painful belief- behavior gap,

I've stopped being driven by ideals, at any moment I can snap.  

Work that needs to be done, is bereft of meaning or grandeur,  

The more I try to en-cash my dreams, the more I'm left poor.

 

All gaps hurt, some sting more, the worst is do-achieve gap,

When I pour my heart in all I do, and there are no laurels in my lap.