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The Love Song of Masks

Source: Here


Let us go then, you and I,
When the evening threatens with phantoms
of nightmares rising amid
the gongs and chants in the Baba’s kingdom.
Let us go, through certain half-deserted corridors,
The muttering retreats
of restless souls in search of what they know not.

Netajis and Lalajis meet to conspire,
Having donned the mask to suit the affair,
Baba ensconced himself on god’s throne,
His women standing around
with smiles on ready-to-serve masks.

The chanting rose in the huge pavilion
Like ghosts in search of their places of rest
While the gongs resounded in the vacuum 
of yearning chanting hearts

Baba stood up having signed the latest deal
With Netajis and Lalajis
And the women’s masks smiled

The eyes met furtively.

And I have known the eyes already, known them all –
The eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase.

Baba dictates formulas to chanters and gongers
Netaji to chelas
Lalaji to bankers
Women to Baba’s staff

The eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase
Are staring from behind a mask
That’s hungry for what it knows not.

PS. This is written for Indispire Edition 133 #masks

Note: The lines in italics are borrowed from T. S. Eliot’s poem, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.


Comments

  1. Durga Prasad DashSeptember 2, 2016 at 9:06 AM

    Of course sometimes the masks of babajis, lalajis and netajis fall off. Still, the game goes on. It was great reading your post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalSeptember 2, 2016 at 9:10 AM

      They think we don't see through their masks.

      We are helpless, that's the simple fact. And so we too put on masks in order to survive in the hell created by Babas and their people.

      Delete
  2. Anupriya KumariSeptember 2, 2016 at 9:53 AM

    Once again a great post!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Renu VyasSeptember 2, 2016 at 10:57 AM

    The Babajis, Netajis and the convenient world of masks..it never stops, does it ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalSeptember 2, 2016 at 11:03 AM

      It won't stop ever because nobody dares to disturb the universe created by the nexus. There's no survival if they dare.

      Delete
  4. Amit AgarwalSeptember 2, 2016 at 11:52 AM

    Stupendous indeed!
    (It doesn't matter what your political inklings are)facts are facts..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalSeptember 2, 2016 at 12:11 PM

      Such openness to facts is rare too. Thanks for that openness.

      Delete
  5. Utpal KhotSeptember 2, 2016 at 1:23 PM

    It never stops.. :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. MansiSeptember 2, 2016 at 4:30 PM

    And yet again.. It's so good to read your post.. Liked it :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalSeptember 3, 2016 at 9:04 AM

      Glad to know you liked it. Some themes refuse to leave me. They have become part of my being because of what they did to me.

      Delete
  7. sunaina sharmaSeptember 2, 2016 at 6:19 PM

    You chose my favorite poet.....And I smiled at the very first line...and frowned while reading the rest of it.....No babas with Eliot.....intolerable.....:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalSeptember 3, 2016 at 9:04 AM

      Eliot had flirted with Indian spirituality too. Probably he understood it better than our Babas.

      Delete
  8. Pranju chakrapaniSeptember 2, 2016 at 9:43 PM

    That's a different take on masks. The ugly but truthful nature of masks worn out of desire for power and praise and politics. Loved it. And as I always say, I ought to be reading more of such poems.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalSeptember 3, 2016 at 9:06 AM

      I had firsthand experience of one Baba's fiefdom and his close associates. I have never seen more crooked and villainous people than them.

      Delete
  9. SaketSeptember 3, 2016 at 12:57 PM

    Effectively written.

    You chose Netaji, Lalaji, and Babajis to tell about masks. Agree that these are the ones who are proven mask wearers.

    But this makes me think that there is a little of Netaism, Lalism, and Babaism in all of us :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalSeptember 3, 2016 at 1:46 PM

      Survival requires that we adopt the strategies of our enemies.

      Delete
  10. UnknownSeptember 3, 2016 at 7:25 PM

    Nice one sir. Its true we can't change this.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalSeptember 3, 2016 at 7:57 PM

      We can't. The world has always been run by that nexus.

      Delete
  11. Anupam PatraSeptember 5, 2016 at 9:18 AM

    Compelling work Mr. Tomichan. This needs to be shared widely.

    ReplyDelete

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