Contributor: Sheshu Babu

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Even before the sun rises
She rises
From her sleep
To peep
Into the dark kitchen
And find out what to cook and when

Who is she?

While the rice and porridge boil
She dresses for daily toil
In a machine-dominated factory
Mechanically churning out products
Fulfilling owner's set targets

Who is she?

While the faint rays of sun touch the earth
And birds chirp and children mirth
She speeds away nonchalantly to catch the bus.
If late for a minute, she has to bear the cuss
Words of the owner and his unnecessary fuss

Who is she?

Getting down and confirming her presence,
Immerses in her work 'til dark night 'lights' her sense
Before leaving, other workers surround
Elated that the day's work is over, they make noise and sound
She addresses them: "previous month's wages have not been paid
Tomorrow starts our protests 'til the matter is settled"

Who is she?

Returning late after the congregation
To the abode of male domination,
She completes her domestic chores
Sleeps forgetting wounds and sores
So as to wake up to another dawn
And continue life's journey like a swan.

She is an ordinary worker
She is a courageous protester
She is an aggressive activist
In a world of many a male supremacist
She is a Feminist!


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Contributor: Sheshu Babu

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Splendid flowers of fragrance
Have myriad attractive colors
If Truth is like a set of flowers
It has multiple unexplored odors

Different shapes of many a creature
Inhabit the vast territory of Nature
If Truth is a manifestation of Nature
It embodies every beautiful picture

Every Truth in the world
Abstract form with meanings multifaceted
Is mercurial and dialectic
Its composition oxymoronic

Nothing is Absolute
Truth is not astute
Its changes are sublime
And conform to situation, space and time.



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Contributor: Sheshu Babu

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Cut communications
Impose curfew for any number of days
Curb movement of every citizen
By militarization
Install barricades
Threatening public to stay indoors
Issue 'shoot on sight' orders

You feel
You have full control
On law and order
And silenced people

But,

You cannot stop wind
From blowing
And voices
Reaching every person

Sooner or later
Collective voices
Will emerge and challenge
All the obstacles
And break artificial silence


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Contributor: Sheshu Babu

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We were travelling in different directions
When we first shook hands
With some apprehension
Starkly exposing our contention
On various issues regarding life
Their endless strife

Our mentality was unknown
Our beliefs were unknown
Our philosophy was unknown
To each other, goals were unknown

But something held us together
As we got to know each other better
Like Marx-Engels attraction
Or teacher-student bond of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan

We agreed and fiercely disagreed
We, for days, intensely discussed:
We parted our ways with anger and spite
But met again, forgetting all that unpleasant sight

After years of acquaintance
And our struggle for existence
We, in our tumultuous journey, learnt a lot
That taught us to tackle differences with skill and tact

Recognizing differences of opinion is sportsmanship;
Accepting differences of opinion is relationship;
Understanding differences of opinion is statesmanship;
Complimenting each other even in difference of opinion is friendship!

Now, each other's character is well known,
Our strengths and weakness are well known,
Our goals are similar and approach well known,
Our sacrifice for the cause of friendship, to each other, is well known.


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Contributor: Sheshu Babu

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Turbulent waves
Of water
Reflect serene sky
And stars

But stars in the sky
Face constant turbulence
Not reflected
By waves of water
On Earth

Waves of water
Reflect
Nature and life
In various hues
But inner struggles and turbulence
Of life remain non-reflected

Ground Reality
Is not just 'Reflection'
By waves of water
But more complex, concrete
Inner turbulence
Inner contradictions


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Contributor: Sheshu Babu

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The world of dark
Precedes sunlight
The color black
Complements white

Joys and sorrows
Run throughout yesterdays and tomorrows

Anything that takes birth
Faces certainty of death

Good and bad have thin threads that join
Like two sides of the same coin

Even in the gloomy hour of pessimism
One can find a glimpse of optimism

Past mistakes help in future corrections
Balancing diverse thoughts and united opinions.


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Contributor: Sheshu Babu

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Adults and children
Thronged the zoo
Teasing
Enticing
Appeasing
Animals enclosed
Confined to cages

Some spoke of bull-fights
And others of cock-fights
And human being fights
With enthusiasm
And reveling
While animals bore the torture

After enjoying throughout the day,
They flocked to see
A small box attached to the exit gate
With the sign:
Do not open this;
you will find
The most dangerous animal on Earth
Their enthusiasm grew
Along with increased curiosity

One by one
Opened the box
And shut it immediately

And walked away briskly
Without looking back


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Contributor: Sheshu Babu

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"Onions! Tomatoes!
Potatoes! Sweet potatoes!"
She would yell
Knocking doors or ringing bells
And women would come out to bargain
And purchase her fresh vegetables again and again.

She would go home after a long struggling day
Emptying her overhead basket on the way
And feel elated to count the notes and coins
Earned through enduring unspeakable pains.

Those days are over.

She still starts with weighty basket over her head
Carries all kinds of vegetables meticulously spread
Stares at the doors locked inside and outside
She hears no sounds of vegetable-purchasing women far and wide
As she strolls down the by-lanes and busy cacophony streets,
Crowds of women pass by with vegetable plastic bags sounding rhythmic beats
Purchased from wholesale corporate malls
Or attractively arranged retail stalls

She meanders thru and reaches home
Dreary evening, hunger and thirst welcome
Her with hopeless, uncertain future
And force her reconcile with the grim picture

Her basket is full of vegetables and tears:
The result of impending corporate domination fears
She is one among those petty vegetable vendors
Whose lives have been destroyed by selfish, industrial predators


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Contributor: Sheshu Babu

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Have you ever felt the dark shadow
Of the soldier's body beside his widow?
Have you ever sensed the fragile mind
Of the dead man's infant child?

Sitting in your cozy studios
Ranting jingoistic talk on radios
Like many a Mussolini, you hawks
Hate instigating social sharks!

You can't understand the warrior's strain
Nor desperation leading to his pain
More than fighting for his country
He's compelled to earn bread for his family!

While the downtrodden, poverty-ridden soldier
Dreams of his expectant wife, child or sick father or mother
Warmongering hawks! You calculate the cost
Of war, how you won or lost!

Embroiled in defense, strategic quagmire
You just care for soldiers' bravery and attire
Ignoring their desire for a longer, healthy life
With peace, harmony in a world without strife

Promoting patriotism, extolling narcissism
Propagating belligerent, dangerous fascism
You control vulnerable, docile masses
For your selfish gains, in political nuances.


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The writer from anywhere and everywhere, supports any one working without fear and anger.

Contributor: Sheshu Babu

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For those sons of mothers and fathers
Who courageously fell to bullets of their counterparts
I grieve

For those bereaved women
Left with 'prints' of their beloved one
I grieve

I grieve
For the millions of borderless refugees
Victims like helpless effigies
Running from pillar to post
In search of compassionate host

I grieve
For the helpless fisher-folks
Crossing undemarcated boundaries
In search of daily bread
But returning empty-handed

I grieve
For the ordinary public
Swayed by carrot and stick
Policies of the cunning rulers

For the martyrs
Who sacrificed their youth
In search of Solemnity and Truth
To build a 'Brave New world'
From the rubble of the Old
I grieve


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The writer from anywhere and everywhere, supports any one working without fear and anger.

Contributor: Sheshu Babu

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Friends!

Amidst
Strong communal
Racial
Gender hatred
A seed of Love
Was sown

Its roots
Penetrated
The vicious
Spiteful ground

The sapling
Is now growing


Friends!

Provide it pure air
Assist with care
Supply clean water
Minerals to withstand
Any adverse circumstance with dare

The sapling
Would spread
Its branches of harmony
Bearing fruits of Love
And compassion
To be enjoyed
by future generations


Survivor of honour killing gives birth on wedding anniversary, January 31, 2019 [linked here]


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The writer from anywhere and everywhere , supports any one working without fear and anger.

Contributor: Sheshu Babu

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Looking at the sky
Did you wonder how and why
Black holes are formed?
And matter destroyed?

Look at the earth
You will find
Innumerable holes
Darker than black holes

These holes -
Mines or manholes
Septic tanks or potholes -
Squeeze helpless humans
Sucking their lives

Black holes are fascinating
Imagining them is exciting

But holes on earth
Are traps of death
A grim reality
Blot on humanity


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The writer from anywhere and everywhere , supports any one working without fear and anger.

Contributor: Sheshu Babu

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Greetings from our organization
(Applicable to not many a person)

We are proud of our drastic increase in production
(The workers deserve more than appreciation )

We earned huge profits in our business
(Yet, the workers' standard of living did not increase)

But our earnings did not meet expectations
(That is, enough to imagine predictions)

So, we have decided to 'downsize'
(Lay off some workers and cut them down to size)

And 'rightsize' our esteemed organization
(Burden existing workers beyond imagination)

For more efficient and effective use of resources
(Follow stringent orders or face harsh consequences)

This way, we can ensure optimal use of our machinery
(While workers under retrenchment die of penury)

We hope you cooperate with renewed vigor and enthusiasm
(A euphemistic way of crushing workers under the wheels of capitalism)


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The writer from anywhere and everywhere , supports any one working without fear and anger.

Contributor: Sheshu Babu

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To the rulers
Subjects are lambs
Which can be moulded
Cajoled or ordered
To follow
Any policy - sound or shallow

To the rulers
Subjects are lambs
That can be tortured
Or slaughtered
To stay in power

To the rulers
Subjects are guinea pigs
To implement totalitarianism
In the garb of democratic freedom

To the rulers
Subjects are constant threats
As their mass mobilization
Leads to protests and revolution

To the rulers
Enlightened masses
Are the ultimate cause
Of their downfall and demise


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The writer from anywhere and everywhere , supports any one working without fear and anger.

Contributor: Sheshu Babu

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When you sowed seeds
I thought
My love started to germinate

When you watered the saplings
I thought
My love had good foundation

When you were elated
Watching the harvest
And exclaimed
"I am the tiller!
this is the result
Of my effort!"
I thought
My love was perfect

Now,

We stand on the same soil
With similar Chemistry!


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Contributor: Sheshu Babu

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The world is blind to justice
Observes injustice as a mute spectator
Economic progress is paralysed
Truth limps on one leg

Sympathy reaches with amputated hands
Empathy is on immovable wheelchairs
Antipathy is seen everywhere
Apathy is a social feature.

Derogatory language laden with offensive
Phrases referring to physical disability
Adorn speeches and writings
Hurting intentionally or unintentionally

In a vicious world that has sanctity
To use abusive remarks blatantly
Is there a space for differently-abled
To live, let alone be recognized as talented?


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Contributor: Sheshu Babu

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Great creation of nature
Trees are unique ....

They are home to other creatures
Providing shelter
In extreme weather
To man or monkey
Lion or donkey
Amoeba or ant ...
Anyone who needs protection instant ...

They are soldiers
Protecting helpless
From predators

They are comrades
No race, caste, Creed discrimination
Or gender bias and oppression ...

They are humane
More than human
Beings
Who loose no opportunity
To commit any atrocity ...

They are the epitome
Of non- violence
In violent turbulent world


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The writer from anywhere and every where likes to Foster the whole world. The writer is interested in human rights issues and gender justice