Uma Pochampalli
What a Continuum !
It seems like yesterday
That I saw the bluebird
Chirping at the window sill,
I hear my grandma say still,
it was her favorite blue jay
it was a gorgeous evening
birds were flocking warmly
and there he goes
along with the wind
grandma’s blue jay
like a prince among his kind
last night I dreamt,
i am back in those days
my kittens hiding
under the wooden trunk
about the size of a small room
my hands too tiny
They could fit in the narrow passage
Between the wall and the trunk
So I could lure the kitten
To come fetch the cookie in my hand
To my vain she hissed and waved her paw
I dropped the cookie and ran away in awe
I pulled some courage
Went to her again
Sounded as if I was a kitten
As I went on conversing in kitten!
My mom called me and
I went into the kitchen,
There I saw cats ten
Surrounding my grandpa’s
Plate as he shared his dinner
With each one of them
Particularly of interest
Was the one with only eye
He was too kind as it was also
Limping as he walked,
He may have been blinded because
He was too nagging
Think someone may have hit him
So the grandpa was all too kind to
Feed each one of them
Was that yesterday, oh no!
It is so many years!
I remember all that as I am
Talking to my grand niece,
Who writes poems about
Beautiful gardens and lakes
And misty air with birds
Chirping in the air!
As she recites, i see her
Bright eyes matching with her flair!
All of a sudden it struck me
The blue jay that has shown me
Passion to song and rhyme
Was home from the shore,
Not yesterday but
At least a couple of scores before
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Note: Bhagavad Gita, the message from Lord Sri Krishna to Arjuna and from there to each one who is a seeker, guides human lives at all times. One morning about a couple of years back, as I was talking to my father, who passed away this year, he gave me one more lesson on Karma sidhdhanta, even as he was frail in health and failing in memory.
As I was talking to my father over phone, oceans apart, he was still able to recite with me the shloka from Bhagavad-Gita Ch II-47, despite the fact that he was under care for dementia…His voice was feeble, chanting was with great effort, but yet the message was clear, ‘to work alone is one’s right, never to the fruit and yet not cultivate laziness or inaction.’
Even as I was going through some phases of sadness at times, this memory comes up so strongly, that everything else is put aside and I start working again with calmness and a sense of duty with steadfastness. This poem was written one or two years back… my memory fades…
Message from Sri Krishna
“To duty alone do you have right,
Never to claim the fruit therewith;
Never do you claim to be its reason
yet, never escape from your duty”
Lord, thy words are breath to my soul
I keep them in my mind, body and heart
Talking to my father oceans apart over phone,
in the wee hours staying awake this morn,
Recollecting from his memory wane
Chanted along as I recited,
“Karmanyeva adhikaras te..”
It was tough for him to repeat,
Enjoyed talking to me although vague
Past the stage of writing journals
Or solving quizzes to stimulate mind,
His mind entangling the nerves,
Breaking the receptors and circuits
Advancing to a full circle of life
He still teaches me the ‘song celestial’
From the lotus lips of the Lord,
Back home in India, The spiritual
Land of ‘work as worship’
- uma pochampally
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Very nice, Uma garu….well done.
You are really amazing –
such a great talent and versatility
in poetry and prose
in both Telugu and English,
with such ease !
Keep it up.
Thank you Ramana garu. I have a long way to go before I can be called all that!
Regards
Uma