Oh! Look at...

Oh!

Look at your face
A silvery moonshine
Splashing my black eyes…

And oh!

Look at your eyes
Blue as a brook
Flowing to my lips…

And oh!

Look at your lips
Red as a ruby
Pecking on my cheek…

And oh!

Look at your cheeks
Rosy as raspberry
Cuddling up my hair…

And oh!

Look at your hair
Blond as a braid of gold
Caressing my hands…

And oh!

Look at your hands
So soft and delicate
Lovely as yourself…

And oh!

Look at yourself
No less than a miracle…

Give me a squeeze, now!
Before I get too lyrical…


This Poem is for the sweetest girl on earth, who happens to be my younger sister, Simran
Love you, Sim :)

We'll do it

Children of the world, we'll do it
We'll meet on endless shores
Making sandcastles and floating our boats
While people fight and defend their point of view
Forever putting on masks that are new
We'll swing the tide of time and do it.

Children of the world, we'll do it
With song and dance and innocent bliss
And the soft caress of a loving kiss
We'll do it.

While traders trade and haggle their price
And politicians try so hard to be nice
We'll meet on endless shores and floating our boats
We'll do it.

While lawyers argue and doctors treat
Stockbrokers quote the price on meat
While preachers preach and ring the bell
Carpetbaggers with something to sell
We'll sing and dance in innocent bliss
With the soft caress of a loving kiss
We'll do it.

Meeting on endless shores
Making sandcastles and floating our boats
We'll do it.

We'll ride the rainbow, a cloud, a storm
Flying in the wind, we'll change our form
We'll reach the stars, embrace the moon
We'll break the barrier and be there soon

While architects plan their buildings high
And trade unions raise their hue and cry
While boardroom squabbles generate heat
And in secret places dealers meet

We'll sing and dance in innocent bliss
And the soft caress of a loving kiss
We'll do it.

While philosophers grapple and continue to tackle
Endless dilemmas of body and mind
Physicists wander, continue to ponder
Perennial questions of space and time
Archeologists survey, continue to dig
Bygone treasures small and big

Psychologists probe, analyze the tears
Of hysterical notions, phobias, fears

While priests take confessions
In a serious session
And people struggle
In the hustle and bustle
In the noise and din
On the meaning of sin
We'll touch the stars, embrace the moon
Break the barrier, arrive there soon
Ride the rainbow, the cloud, the storm
Flying in the wind, changing our form

Children of the world, we'll do it

With song and dance and innocent bliss
The soft caress of a loving kiss
We'll do it.

- MJ

P.S. : MJ was larger than life & his thoughts beyond human rationale. Most of you will interpret the poem as I know you will. That is the difference between a legend & a commoner. For those who differ, welcome to MJism. 

IS THIS IT?

MJ: (1958...)

It was the afternoon of 28th Oct, 2009. I had missed our college cultural fest & had come down to Bombay to spend some time with my parents & witness MJ's last rehearsals on the big screen. In short, to be with my Gods!
  
I listen to MJ the whole day. I have watched His music & dance videos innumerable times, but still I couldn't get enough of Him. "The wait is finally over. This is it!" I thought to myself as I entered the theatre with two MJ-crazy-too friends of mine to watch the documentary "This is it" on the release day, first show.  The movie contains rehearsal footages of MJ's last show that never could happen.

The movie begins with the process of selection of dancers for the show. From a few thousands down to a handful. And by none other than the man himself. Michael Jackson. A genius performer knows the role of everybody involved in putting together the show. MJ watched the auditions with a hawk-eye & was clear-minded as to what exactly fit the bill. That is how he achieved perfection in each of his legendary performances.

The film goes on to capture the perfectionist rehearsing his art. His precise & fluid dance moves at an age of fifty left the lithe dancers performing with him breathless. One could see His deep passion for music that drove this King of Pop to achieve an unbeatable super-stardom for more than two decades. One could observe the awe & admiration in the eyes of the other artists who were a part of the entourage. "How can a celebrity of His magnitude be still so humble & down-to-earth?" was the question on everybody's mind.

Everybody in the world knows Michael Jackson. They can be divided into two groups. One, who are His true fans and "really" know Him. And the other, who have heard about him and never "really" knew Him. However, nobody could ignore this extra-ordinary living being. The film hopes the Group2 people move to Group1.

As the movie ended, I tried to keep my tears of awe & sadness from shedding in front of my female friends. MJ never really died, only His era did. He'll continue to live in the hearts of millions of His fans around the world who can never forget the magic of "Billie Jean" & the thousands of disadvantaged children who shall never forget how He "healed the world".

MJ, You are forever.

RIP.

Everyone's worth it

    Do you think you are the only one? Do you think you are so god-gifted that you pity one of the guys at college or mock them that he cannot have girlfriends or why Calculus is not meant for him? Think again.

    Sometimes I wonder why people are just so stuck-up. Today’s youth disregards humility as an integral part of its character. Allow me to generalize, because of the majority of such people in today’s world. Why this self-righteousness? Why this conceit? Why this superiority complex? Do these people think they are the few enlightened ones? Why does a guy have problem with an aspect of another’s nature which is not his own?  Isn’t compromise supposed to be “the word” in friendship, or for that matter, any relationship?

    Why don’t they try to realize that it’s not always the other person who is on the wrong side? Every person thinks every other person as an asshole, which is so foolish. Everyone is equally talented. It just shows on some guys & some just like to keep a low profile.

    We should learn to be humble & submissive. Even if the other guy is at fault, we should try to rectify him politely instead of scorning at him. To err is human, to forgive is divine. You don’t need to speak out to stand out. This world needs a helping hand, not a pointing one; lips which smile at others, not laugh at them, chest which are straight with self-pride, not swollen with smugness, and eyes, which look up to, not down at.

    So, the next time you utter “Woh ch**** hai”, sympathize with yourself. You are addressing yourself.

Modern Gujarat: The Land of Non-Gandhism & Non-democracy

Every Indian grows up hearing stories of Mahatma Gandhi, who was born in Gujarat. He had once said, “I shall strive for an India in which the poorest shall feel that it is their country, in whose making they have an effective voice; an India in which there shall be no high class or low class of people; and above all, an India in which all communities shall live in perfect harmony.” But what does Gandhi mean to people today? Are his values still alive?

    In Ahmedabad, Gandhiji made a speech eighty years ago that he hoped would change India’s destiny, “My aim is to get the Salt tax abolished. This is for me the first step towards complete freedom. As the Independence movement is essentially for the poorest of the land, the beginning shall be made with this evil.”  Immediately after, he started the historic Salt March against the injustice of British rule. Accompanied by 81 fellow marchers, Gandhi walked for 23 days covering a distance of almost 350 kms. to Dandi, where he broke the British colonial law by picking up a handful of salt. This was a leader for the poor.

    In present Ahmedabad, the face that you can see staring down at you from every billboard is of a very different leader – the chief minister of Gujarat,  Narendra Modi. Quoting him, “In the global economic era, India cannot win the financial battle without a level playing field. If we lose the opportunity now, we will fall behind in the 21^st century as we did earlier.” I don’t know what would have Gandhi made of Modi’s India, where Shining India is one of the fastest growing economies of the world; where the freedom to buy & spend seems to be the greatest freedom of all. But Gandhi would definitely have had a lot to say about the other India that they did not like to advertise in the government brochures; the India in which 300 million poor people dream of freedom from hunger and fear.

    Gandhi always strived for Hindu-Muslim brotherhood. However, in modern Gujarat, his words seem like empty slogans from the distant past. Hindus have unleashed their accumulated hatred against the Muslims time and again post-independence. At the instigation by BJP, the Babri Masjid was destroyed. Quoting a Bajrang Dal member, “I believe that the Muslim community is like a dog’s tail which remains crooked forever. They have such a history of more than 500 years. Ever since Muslims came, they have looted millions of rupees, stole our jewels, destroyed our temples and idols, took away our women & raped them. They’re like demons of a kind.” In the Godhra riots – India’s worst massacre in fifty years - Hindu fundamentalist groups comprising of such like-minded people targeted the Muslim community all over the state. More than 2000 Muslims were killed. More than 400 women were raped & more than a lakh were displaced & homeless. The police and the administration simply turned a blind eye to the violence. Narendra Modi’s stand against the Muslims won him the Hindu vote. He was re-elected as the chief minister and became more powerful than ever before. How could this have happened in Gujarat of all places?

    We just observe the various Gandhiji’s statues and his Ashrams, but the values that Gandhiji stood up for are non-existent. In a sense, the Father of the Nation, Gandhi, sacrificed his life for the minority community of the country as he was killed because of the Partition of India. But where are those values that Gandhiji talked about? Today, one can hardly see Gandhi in Gujarat.

    Again quoting Modi, “Our focus areas are the Special Economic Zones. SEZs are going to be the driving force. Gujarat has visualized this & so we are facilitating SEZs.” What Modi fails to visualize is that these SEZs could displace thousands of poor people from their homes, giving their land to MNCs. These companies would not have to follow the Indian labour laws or pay normal taxes. Modi’s dream is to transform Ahmedabad into a global megacity. Every day, thousands of villagers migrate to the city to find work. But in the city there is no relief. Modi also claimed, “I will remove every single slum in Ahmedabad”. But as much as he can try, the slums won’t go away because if you make the poor poorer, slums will keep cropping up. Modi wants to construct high-rise buildings, gardens, swimming pools & shopping centres in place of the slums. He wants to build to entertain the tourists, but he does not think about the poor slum-dwellers. He hasn’t envisioned anything for the hundreds of thousands of poor families living in the slum. They want nothing but two meals a day & a place to live. If they are thrown outside the city, where will they work and how will they earn & feed their family? These people help maintain the city. But the city has no place for them any longer.

    Today the cities dominate and drain the villages so that they are crumbling to ruins. Exploiting of villages is itself organized violence. Gandhi’s dream for the villages is dying. In the U.S. & in Europe, farmers receive subsidies & protection. But here in India, farmers are left at the mercy of global market forces – only one of the many reasons that lakhs of farmers have committed suicide over the past few years.

    The Gujarat BJP government is trying to erase Gandhi’s ideas. In Gandhi’s name they want to take the land in Dandi, where farmers grow rice, & sell it to a MNC. Even the soil of Dandi has not been spared. Do we really need 5-star hotels in Dandi? I wonder what they will call that place once they get rid of the farmers; the Mahatma Gandhi SEZ? I wonder if the tourists who will come to shop at the Dandi mall will find time to visit the museum there. And if they do, will they see anything more than an old man walking barefoot, making a big fuss about a fistful of salt?

    We have made Gandhi irrelevant. We have frozen him in time. We have not bothered to reinvent his ideas and we are living with the consequences. We drove away the white-skinned to become slaves of the black-skinned. The poor never got their independence. The sweepers, carpenters, domestic workers & labourers make it possible for us to have a comfortable life. But we would like them to be invisible.

    Gandhiji won our freedom sixty years ago, but what has really changed? We proclaim an economic miracle, but the inequality, poverty & violence still continue to grow. There is a new colonialism in India which we don’t seem to care about. After all, we are the colonizers.

Betrayal

In a desert

Stranded in solitude

The sun sears

My eyes with tears

Scarlet drops of pain

Squirting from my back

Pierce like a pin

My heart, my soul from within

I trusted, I believed

Never meant any harm

But I was cheated

Oh! I was betrayed

Betrayal, I can see

Is a meticulous scheme

Coming very near

Getting too dear

And hurting it deeper

I am a fish

Deprived of water

Throbbing in vain

Numb at heart, mind insane

Flash! A lightning strikes

A face appears, one too familiar

Marooned with me in the golden sands

Is my betrayer, with folded hands

“I can’t beg for pardon

I can’t disown my guilt

But can I something say

For those who plan to betray?

Every betrayal starts with trust

To betray, you must first belong

Betrayal cuts the thread so strong

To yourself you no longer belong

Betrayal butchers one’s hope

But first, it slays your scruples

Like a faithful dog, always remember

Betrayal never betrays the betrayer.”

P.S. – @ Alisha – Thanks for suggesting the topic! :)

This was my quickest poem ever. It didn’t take me more than 2-3 hours to compose this one. Words & thoughts just kept flowing. If you notice, I have switched from my previous rhyme-scheme of abcb to abcc for this poem. This was mostly because I wanted to convey the idea, via the last two verses in each stanza, almost simultaneously. They stand for the same actions or are in continuation. I believe, this helps the darkness appear more pronounced in every stanza.

The Life of a Dead

In the woods so silent,
Green and dark;

I lay motionless,

Only soul, no bark.

Taking a break,

From my eternal sleep;

In retrospection I went,

To my life very deep.

A cheat I was,

A cheat I'll remain;

In the memories of all,

Oh! It gives me such pain.

The jingle of coins,

The only sound I yearned for;

My wife, my children,

The only people I earned for.

Until I could no more hold,

The burden of my sins;

To lose my life was better,

Than all my criminal wins.

Going to my last moment.

I knew I was wrong;

Still I held her hand,

Only for her did I long.

She mesmerized me with her beauty,

And called Herself Death;

I embraced her relieved,

And slowly kicked the bucket.

That all I've said,

Is to be paid much heed;

A warning by the dead:

Think before committing a misdeed.

To my father...

You would leave me in the morning,
And come back in the evening,
Kiss me on the forehead;
Play with me for sometime,
Then put me into bed.

I grew older...

You would buy me a bat,
A cycle and a football,
Made me play more than study,
Only when dark would you call.

I grew older...

You would let me cycle to school,
I would roam about elsewhere like a free bird
You'd buy me from a costly store,
A pair of jeans, a shirt and a T-shirt,

I grew older...

My study hours crossed midnight,
To which you got so wild,
I would argue and fight and always felt
I knew better, I wasn't anymore a child.

I grew older...

You would behave like a friend now
Consulted me and shared your thought
I began to understand that you toil
To help me achieve the dreams I sought

I grew older...

You had so many ups and downs in your life,
But never ever would you say die,
Patient with failures, impatient for success,
You would just try, try and try.

I grew older...

I am now staying away from you,
I know that you cry in your heart everyday,
Let a son help his father,
Hand me responsibilities, whatever you may;

For you've grown old...


P.S.: Papa, you are my hero. I know I am your greatest weakness, & I bear that with pride. You are the simplest but most beautiful human being I have ever known. I promise I'll never let you down. Love you always...

Eternal Love...

I feel you in the morning
When at first I awake
Your thought is with me
With each decision I make

You'd been around forever
Since the first breath I took
Now I have to go on alone
But for love, I need not look

'Cause by what you bestowed
In our short time together
Will last in my heart
Forever and ever

Although you've left
And now walk above
I'm never alone
I'm wrapped in your love

Everything I have, still am alone
But feel peace that your love continues on
What was taught to me, will be taught to mine
Cause you live on in me even after you've gone

Wanted !

Today I watched "Wanted", the latest Salman Khan flick. Many of you might mock at me for saying this, but it was a "GOD MOVIE"!  
    I know it was a nonsensical drama, utter bullshit with some toppings of comedy. But what I strongly feel is that it is high time that sources like IMDB add another entry to the genre of movies - Masala. This genre is unique to Tollywood, with the father of this genre "Rajnikant", an epitome of "The ultimate Superhero". Although Bollywood does make such movies like the recent Kambakht Ishq, Tollywood directors specialize in them.  
   Movies falling into this category are recognized by their extreme action sequences, often to the heights of impossibility, countless songs, periodical comical sequences, cheap romance, colloquial usage of slangs, few steamy scenes, twists in the climax & other kinds of stupidity. The ultimate aim of such a kind of film is that the viewer is fully entertained without thinking much & there's always a grin on his face throughout the movie.
    In today's stressful life, there's a dire need of such enjoyable movies, freeing one's mind of all tension of professional life. Hence the success of such movies in Bollywood & Tollywood in recent times. This is "feelgood" cinema & one needs to appreciate these too. Really, movies like "Wanted" are desparately wanted!                            

Say no to plastic waste

An Australian town named Bundy did a deed that, I believe, marks the beginning of the actual practical anti-global-warming steps that the world's political leaders only talk about. It banned bottled water. Why? Here's why:

1. Bottled water causes unnecessary cost of plastic that is finally crushed & thrown to dirty the environment.
2. There are huge transportation costs associated with bottling & packaging.
3. A New South Wales study found that in 2006, the bottling & packaging industry was responsible for releasing 60,000 tonnes of gases blamed for global warming.
4. Cash savings by going for an alternative.

The alternative they adopted were public drinking fountains. Packaged water bottles in the shop shelves were replaced by reusable bottles which can be filled from fountains inside the town's shops or at water stations in the street.

The world needs more such campaigns rather than G-20 meetings where leaders can only talk. Now, other communities in the world should think of banning soft drink bottles which:

1. Harm health & soften the bones & teeth
2. Are bottled and canned, the environmental effects of which have already been mentioned.
3. Charge an enourmously ridiculous amount of our hard-earned money for what it's actually worth & which go to endorsing their brand, competing with other brands, & handing out huge pay-cheques to filmstars & celebrities

ENOUGH OF THINKING. ENOUGH OF MUSING. IT'S TIME TO REFLECT.

Culture & Lifestyle: India vs. America. Who's superior? My take...

Culture

It's America for me. I know, it's tough for me to say this, being an Indian & staying in India all my life. But that's what I feel, & here's why:

     We speak of Indian culture & stuff, but it's not much existent in contemporary India, to be honest. We have got it all mixed up with the west. So, we haven't got much of an identity ourselves which we did a century ago... Whereas Americans, they have it well-sorted out...That's what culture is all about...it's the way of life & the thinking of the nation, not its individual citizens.

Some hardcore patriotic Indians might argue that we lost some of our cultural oneness just because we were in the British influence for 2 centuries...I beg to differ, because we are noticing an increase in the cultural & economic disparities in the last 15-20 years rather than immediate post-independence. In fact, Brits made things easier for us..they gave us postal system, railways, telephones etc while they were here. Otherwise India still would have been counted in the underdeveloped countries even after having the money with us which the British stole away...

What we have lost is our "cultural homogeneity"...We do many things which is Indian, but we also do many things that we directly ape from the west....the way we dress up, the transition of the spoken language from Hindi to English, our eating habits, socializing, etc...However, the west has hardly copied anything from us...It has maintained its culture, while we have crawled towards a state of cultural instability...


Lifestyle

Both of the countries are at the same level, but in very different ways. Most of us Indians stay with our family, we don't have very strict rules, regulations & laws that we follow.  And we are not much into recession. America scores on the per capita income level & self-service idea of life...But with the Indians taking on all the bad stuff from the American lifestyle like drinking, live-ins, extravagant shopping, etc, I expect India to go a steep low on lifestyle in the near future, compared to America.

My thoughts reveal another shift from the general notion that social well-being & economic development always complement each other... I'll give you an example...
   China, which has the world's 3rd largest GDP, is the fastest developing economy in the world. The per capita income of an average Chinese is much higher than that of an average Indian...It is the back-office & the factory of the entire world... But know what? No Chinese wants to be reborn as a Chinese... It's a strongly communist nation. The Govt. treats the people over there as machines, not humans...China is progressive, it's got tons of money, got great infrastructure building underway, everything appears rosy....but at what cost?? human lives & humanity..There's no personal choice or individual freedom. There's neither respect nor value of an individual...It's just about the bird-eye view of the entire economy.
    So, the point I'm trying to make is that standard of living & quality of life do not always go hand in hand... It's high time India realiszes this fact. India might have produced many business tycoons & stalwarts...but the life of an avg Indian is deteriorating day by day...The GDP growth might be very high, but the gap between the rich & poor is increasing too...If the number of rich people is increasing, the number of poor is also following suit...This is not the case in America or any other European nation. The disparity is not so vast. We speak of making Mumbai a Shanghai & have constructed the Bandra-Worli sea-link as a starter...But look at Dharavi, which is the world's largest slum, also in Mumbai...

    You might think I am one of those guys who find the grass greener on the other side. But I am not. I still say the grass is greener on our side. We just need to water it properly. India is better than America in a few aspects of culture like spiritual enlightenment, concept of joint family, less mechanization of life, etc...but we need to conserve those pluses.

BOSM 2k9 - TT Diaries

BOSM 2k9 will remain one of the most eventful & memorable period of my days @ Pilani. We (Abpa (c), Kamath, Sista, Daddu, Chief, Manu, Vishal, Bagshi & I) had a blast. This is how:

1st day:
 
     After a day's practice, we went to Gym-G for the Inaug ceremony. It was boring & we got busy checking out the Outstie girls...
    In the night, we had a tough time sorting out the problems of DJ Sanghvi, Mumbai who have a habit of crying at every trivial matter till the end. They had got only 3 of their players while our format had mentioned the team event to hv a doubles as well...which meant 4 players in a team... I got calls from their sports-sec till 1 o clock to change the format of the game. Omg! We organize & we bend the rules acc to them! We set it clear. Either bring a player or go back.

  2nd day:

    After the matches were over in the evening, we went to Gym-G to get the referee's refreshments (free!)...all except the ones who actually referred ;) One advantage of being seniors :)

After practising for a couple of hours, we decided to call it a day. We sat outside making the schedule for the next day. After we had done with it, we just sat having what we call as "gen chutiyaap". A lotsa jokes were cracked, & our teammate, Sista, who happens to be my sidee since 3 years,  is simply GOD when it comes to humour. Laundiya (girls), booze after BOSM, fresh results of other sports in BOSM, & other interesting topics were also discussed with enthu...
   
    Again, we were hungry as dogs. We went to the adjoining SAC Canteen & had some snacks there...While we were doing so, I suddenly challenged Sista to stand on the table & yell in front of everybody something very derogatory. Without hesitating, he stood up & shouted "Wassup bitches??" The whole canteen was in a pin-drop silence for atleast half a minute. We were so for atleast one. And as usual I lost to him. He is one guy who you don't want to challenge. But I have done it the number of times coz "Agar saste mein tamasha dekhna ho toh Sista se achha koi nahi !"...

3rd day
  
We lost to IIT Kanpur in the semis, which meant BITS A were to face them in the finals in the evening. And we lost to DJ Sanghvi as well, for the 3rd position. The final match in the evening was a house-full watch, good rallies & hooting, but a comfortable win for BITS A.
    After wrap-up, we went to C'not & for the captain's treat. Then while returning we sat down under Patel statue & hung out for quite a while, doing nothing but cracking jokes, teasing each other & laughing wildly.
   
 Last Day

The girls' team had their finals in the morning. I woke up 10 mins before the start of the match to reach SAC just in time. It was gonna be a close match against MNIT. And it was. Nevertheless, the BITS girls won, especially Harsha doing us proud.
 
    The girls have asked Abpa to throw them a treat as well. So, now I am waiting for a re-treat this weekend with the whole gang...

So long....

I love...

Sweetheart, I love to see you smile
I love it when I cause that smile
I love to make you happy
And love it when I feel happier 'cause of that.


Darling, I love to look into your beautiful eyes
I love the way I fall into them
I love it when you hold my hand
And I love it when gradually you cuddle up to me.


Honey, I love to tease you
I love it when you give me a punch on my chest
I love it when you touch me
And I love when the touch transforms into a hug.


Baby, I love rediscovering you, your beauty
I love realizing how magnetic you are
I love wanting so badly to kiss you
And I love the way you withhold me shyly every time.

Dear, I love that you only want to be my friend, not more
I love that I still am your friend, despite my love for you
Oh! I love so many things about you
But most importantly,


Sigh, I Love You!

The Finger

Nothing gross intended, but personally, I hold the view that the middle finger is the most valuable & tangible asset that every human possess. Really!

    The finger has come of age. It has taken up a lot of responsibilities & has built up its image of something very authoritative. It has become a masquerade of malevolence; an instigator of a skirmish.  It’s even become mightier than the pen, let alone the sword. A nod’s as good as a wink. All the finger needs to deliver its punch is a clear line of sight. You can jeer & sneer an oversensitive guy his ass off just by lifting the finger off your palm. Put it straight up, & suddenly you feel all gutsy.  You save swearing at somebody by a “f**k off” or a “go to hell” or a “screw you.”  Just use the finger instead! Or for a far-reaching effect upto the point where you get your collars held tightly, an intelligent combination of such verbal & non-verbal cues can really get on the nerves of your opponent. By jabbing a threatening phallusy thingy at your enemy like a wild animal, more than just belittling him, you are relieving yourself! You are venting out your frustration.

 When I began to understand the nuances of this trick called “bird flipping”, sometimes appended with “Take this” or “Kiss it,” I wondered how women use this technique. How on earth could they “flick” someone off? They don’t have it, right? Then what do they raise it for? Gradually, I began to realize the universality, apart from versatility, with which this finger can be used. I believe it is the most effective & quickest means to threaten or mock at somebody. It’s almost as great as Tendulkar as a batsman or Napoleon as a dictator. All it takes is that little something.

The middle finger is the first refuge of the teenagers. It is the most silent way to make the victim known that “Dude, I am in no mood of a conversation with you. You annoy me any further, I hit you real bad.” A real boon for the timid & timorous out there - an effective way to get even with the one who tries to bully you, considering the fact that you hardly possess the moral fiber to come to grips with your opponent. It’s a psychologically cathartic tool! Quite handy!

So, the moral of the story is, instead of shunning this "obscene" gesture, we must treasure its rich cultural heritage. We are living in the Golden Age of The Finger. Get used to it. Cheers to  the middle finger! Go & give it!

Wisdom from the Moon

I sat by the lake

With melancholy as company,

The rippling water-canvas painted

With the sky lit up dimly.

The moon stared at me

Inspiring me no end,

Little secrets of success

To me, its rays seemed to lend.

From a cluster of white dots

Scattered above in space,

Like the moon stands out

Make felt, in a crowd, your presence.

The moon outlines with silver

The clouds dark and grey,

You too are unique

In your own special way.

Engulfed by black clouds

The moon least cares,

Striving to light up the earth

Every night it dares.

Revealing only the bright face

To the earth all time,

‘t says, “Cover your weaknesses

With strengths, like rime.” 
  

Making hay in the day

Till the sun shines,

Throwing light at night

‘t teaches us lessons so fine.