Saturday 17 October 2009

modern haiku

how aloof his pose!
up my friend's clean shirt collar,
a beetle!...should i?

*****

13 comments:

kochuthresiamma p .j said...

ha ha! did you?

P. Venugopal said...

no, i let it creep under his collar. wasted the opportunity.

G S Pillai said...

I saw a centipede in the bathroom the other day, and i squashed it.

But before it agonizingly inched towards its death, I apologized to it, and I think I was heard, if only in another place and time.

G S Pillai said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kalpana said...

often when I see an ant or a spider i think a lot about my next action...!

P. Venugopal said...

Bluebird, don't ever let a cockroch alone. But before you kill it, say to yourself, yes, I am going to kill this cockroch. Then kill it with total awareness... Who said this? I am sure someone would have said this long before I say this now.

Kalpana, there is this story of a sanyasin who was totally rooted in the principle of Ahimsa. An ant somehow wandered into his beard. It was finding the way out difficult. The sanyasin wanted to help it out; but he knew if he were to use his hands, the ant might get hurt, even die. So what to do? Suddenly light dawned on him. He went to a bustling ant-hive and put his beard over it so that the ant could walk out into the hive peacefully.
You can imagine what could have happened. What is the moral of the story?

G S Pillai said...

no way. i have no quarrel with the cockroaches of my dark corners. they dont bear poison in their fangs, nor do i fear they might crawl up my bed at night. the centipede was a positive danger, not the cockroach: just another idler, not very much unlike me. have at least three mice, two squirrels and numerous lizards sharing the living space (and food) at my room at the quarters. Its interesting what you can get used to, and even come to miss, over time.

P. Venugopal said...

You might have read Basheer's 'Bhoomiyude Avakashikal,' have you not?

Yes, but this one is about an altogether different subject. Reading haiku itself is an art. But the problem here might be with my skill. But Kochuthesiamma madam hit the bull's eye.

Imagine a sulking friend sitting before you, under a tree, with some imagined grievance against you. He is stiff and aloof. I too am aloof, but my love for him is deep. I see the beetle crawling up his collar. What will be your impulse, when you see it. You will tap it off. That simple gesture might end our tiff. But I pause. Just for the pleasure of seeing him jump out of his posed aloofness. Serves him just right, doesn't it?

Haiku goes very deep. You should read Basho, the great master. He is subtlity distilled.

Thank you for raking your brains over this one.

Now, let us move on. Love, Venu.

Arun Meethale Chirakkal said...

Please, thou shalt not...

Arun Meethale Chirakkal said...

http://johnmatthew.typepad.com/john-matthew/

Please have a look sir

P. Venugopal said...

a very interesting blog, john mathew's. there is total freedom there, freedom from all logic. some kind of a journey without a destination. thank you, arun, for putting me on to it.

Sumi Mathai said...

ha ha. quite an odd poem.well..thats u.writer of odds!

P. Venugopal said...

welcome back, Sumi. i notice you have changed your blog name. -:)