This, That and Some More

Image Courtesy: TripAdvisor Kashi, The Ganges flows North here  Creating a whole world here Shiva is the Chief Deity  here Parvati dropped her earrings here Kashi, People come to die here In the hope of attaining Mukti here By breathing their last here And to be committed to the pyre here Manikarnika, the funeral pyres burn here A person is nothing but a body here Placed on a pile of logs here To be set alight by a person once dear Manikarnika, the Doms rule here Their kitchen fires lit by the pyres burning here Doms are the sacred keepers of the flame here Being an 'Untouchable' and a 'King' is the greatest paradox here Manikarnika, the skull of the body is cracked here Bodies turn to ashes here Ashes sieved for valuables and immersed in The Ganga here May I also have the fortune to ascend the cycles of life and death and burn here An ode to my recent visit to Kashi

Written for an event at my son's school (Courage House) We at the Courage House Caught a little mouse And trained him to race In a mighty maze The mouse was surprised That he could win a prize By running a race And eating cheese in a maze The mouse raced along The cheese made him strong He was certified to compete And his registration complete Then came the day When the officials say "The race is to be at Ascot" "Bring your mouse Godot" We at Courage wail in dismay "Ascot? That's miles away!" We have tickets to book Pack clothes taken off the hook At Ascot the day dawns The dew sparkles on the green lawns Godot is wearing Green, White and Orange All ready to face the challenge We at courage bite our nails As we follow Godot's travails As the mice race on the track We cheer for 10, the number on Godot's back Godot was off like the wind There was a ball of Gouda all skinned On top of a golden cup On which a thousand mice could sup Godot won b...