A Pie Life

Life is like a giant pie, don’t you agree? each piece rendering the whole a little more sweetness and depth as we bite into it. At the outset, we don’t miss it, rather we are excited at having the chance to dig in, but as the days pass by, we understand the difference each ingredient blends into it. Recently, when my dad was going through my mom’s coveted belongings, he found a rusty, old poem that he had written long back, probably when he was in his mid-twenties. And, just as wine ages over decades of intense desire and purpose, this poem also assumed a grander meaning as it aged to maturity, so much so that it cajoled my dad to share it with me.

And, here I am folks, sharing it with you.

A Reformist’s Song

“Somewhere along the way, I found

In my deepest depths, a heavenly song.

Hailing me to rise and shine;

to leave my daily grind behind.

No words to hear, the meaning clear;

No tune to hear, the rhythm stirs —

Ripples through my body and soul,

lights a path for my truthful role.

To seek the way to godly bliss,

divine love, and lasting peace.

To seek, and embrace the holy fire

And melt my fears, lust, and desire.

Ecstatic at all I see.

To have found the reason to be -

Till death recalls this earthly form,

With love and truth shall I perform.”

How was it? Did you enjoy reading it? Did you feel a resonance with the words penned? Frankly speaking, I’m still unable to fathom the depth of clarity with which he wrote this poem around four decades back — a boy who has hardly risen out of the turmoil of adolescence, coming up with such a beautiful expression of living definitely seems larger than life. For a brief moment, I was reminded that we are all abstractions, merely a collection of experiences that inexorably varies from person to person, and that the promise of a resplendent life is within each of us. The power to create a luminous future though buffeted by reality, shines ever brighter in us.

Have a splendid day!