Επιμέλεια: Εύα Πετροπούλου Λιανού
Brief Bio: Dr. Venkat Kumaresan, is a best-selling author of ’Father of Your Team’, Workplace Challenges Guru, humorist, motivational speaker, story teller, coach and poet. Awarded in ‘India Top 100 Authors’ category for 2022, his book was ranked #1 Amazon US New Release. Venkat has written over 50 poems with some of them featuring in popular anthologies. His articles have been published in International magazines. www.authorvenkat.com
Deepen your bond with Deepavali
The diameter of Ozone hole will get affected as a whole,
If a whizzing Diwali rocket goes out of control.
When that Ground Chakkar you light up rotates
Groundwater table evaporates!
Till the corner of your street if you extend the 1000 wala
It affects GDP from that upright autowallah
Don’t give ‘electric’ sparklers to your son
The Human race will forget Edison!
Wait, wait!
before you make sweets at home, lest you become overweight
So, this Diwali don’t make sweet
Only greet
With a Tweet
For pups and mittens, fireworks heighten fear,
These intense worries aren’t worth it dear
Coz’ your ancestors who groomed cows and horses
Celebrated with sound, so they can bear
New Year’s eve – ‘no booze’ campaigns won’t feature in Newspaper
Earnings from Hotel Ads could taper
Small firework firms can’t advertise in print
‘Green Diwali campaign’ – so doesn’t matter if they didn’t.
Why should your tradition be traded off for an edition?
Seen paper pieces tossed when a cracker blows up?
That’s waste recycled. Yup, yup!
I admit, this isn’t the era
Of Naragasura
Yet any mode of travel you choose for a vacation
You will spiral up the level of pollution.
Amidst own risk of chemical infection
They wrap them for your safety with affection
For 8 lakh families this day is their livelihood
Celebrate lively as you did in your childhood!
A Boon – Closing soon!
As you relax your mind in a morning stroll
unannounced, the dense clouds open their bunghole
What will you do till the rain stops?
Won’t you run helter-skelter
And settle for a while in the nearest shelter?
Of course, you lose some precious time
You aren’t worried since your health is prime.
Dark clouds of uncertainty gherao your business
Hopelessly, you gawk long at the bareness
When cashflow threatens to remain in undersupply
make your potential to earn, multiply.
Did your shopping plans get dampened
when only essential goods stores were opened?
It revealed to your senses what is adequate
and where your irrational buying turned indiscriminate.
Ahh! you missed that new release in the movie hall
and switched over to the phone with a screen so small
Well, those movie stars were still paid the same
Temptation to swindle your currency, you overcame
Night curfews – when nightlife turned dark
you snoozed early, the dawn bestowing a spark
rebooting your lifestyle
that you didn’t regard worthwhile
Why show resentment
on your government
when churches, mosques and temples are temporarily closed
Instead, invoke the divinity from within and stay composed.
When forbidden to visit a crowded place
Work on your flair at an amazing pace
You’ll then draw huge crowds and create your space
Leaving an impact that calendars can’t erase
You aren’t allowed to fly wherever you wish
No bar to fly higher toward the goals you cherish
Covid with its accomplices will pack up their bags soon
Meanwhile make your body a boon
and step up your immunity
To offset these months and uplift our community.
Hey! Don’t doubt yourself or imagine you’re a misfit
Any crisis turns smaller, when you grow larger than it!
Negative news? Just leave them behind
Inject this ‘booster’ question into your mind
Do I want –
to live with worry and die in a hurry
or resolve to evolve and earn my place in history?
IS YOUR EXPENSE AT THEIR EXPENSE?
Scene 1 – Meet the hapless farmer, who couldn’t repay his loan,
He sold off his farmyard and moved into a sprawling city all alone.
In a deserted corner of a narrow lane,
he started a tea shop and made a little gain
As more commoners dropped by, he brought his wife back as his helpmate
She joyfully joined him for years, washing every cup and plate
It didn’t matter if it was rainy or sunny
They slogged till late at night to save every penny
Scene 2 – With a drunken and abusive spouse, she was braving
until she discovered one morning, that he fled with her savings.
As loan sharks shoved her into a financial whirlpool,
she pulled her four daughters out from their primary school.
Weeks later, she bargained with a street vendor for an old push cart,
picked up a charcoal iron box and made a simple start.
Hassled by her husband’s loans she could save minuscule.
Yet with her mobile laundry shop, her girls moved back to school
Scene 3 – In a straw-thatched hut on the riverside
of a remote village, a teenager led a life simplified,
until the night when his dad and mom were washed away in the flood.
He migrated to that noisy city with his little sister he loved.
He entered as an apprentice in a salon
As years rolled by, his hardship was bygone
Opening his own salon, he saved earnestly for his sister’s wedding
and didn’t care to think about where his future was heading
Scene 4 -A teashop, an iron box, and a salon endorsed them as employers.
They inched toward the middle class steadier and slower
Their success enheartened folks staying famished in their villages
many journeyed to join their business and earned daily wages
Brimming with pride, they reminisced life’s phases amidst bruises
To their kids, they were resolute that their toil left any traces
They prayed God that this progress should last
And financial woes should ever be things of the past.
Climax – Unexpectedly, two entrepreneurs set up tea shops with branding and appeal
A laundry chain launch with an App, and another big shot put his shoulder to the wheel
A wealthy MBA graduate floated showy salons in that metro
To penetrate customer segments, each priced their services too low
Tea meeting in a branded shop, youngsters found it trendy
Branded outlets mushroomed around in plenty
With movie stars signing up as their brand ambassadors,
that small teashop owner’s business was turning a boat without rudders
Ironing cart – As not many offered dresses to press,
declining income rebounded nightmares and distress.
Darkness descended upon her life again
seeing her four daughters married seemed to be in vain
When life was building hope for the deprived, big brands razed them.
Challenges by millionaires, Ads, and media – can those cash-strapped owners overcome?
With branded chains in every business that the poorest could start,
the far-fetched economic equality is soon falling apart.
Resolution – In the simplest way, do you want to uplift your society?
You can, with an iota of awareness and responsibility.
When you think of a cup of tea, haircut, laundry or grocery,
hold every small business owner in your memory.
JOURNEY TO REBIRTH – CONDITIONS APPLY
Do you really want the world to see you in a new light?
Tired of trying with all your might?
Don’t fret about a few who cry
Everyday permit your old form to die
Those who don’t wish to see you grow
Will gang up to give you a hard blow
If envy makes them lament
Even when you try hard to be nice, they chase you to torment
Ignore their grudge and continue to move
Because naysayers are just a few
When you shun their wrath
Show strong-will along the path
Take rapid strides with a jaunty walk
You`ll advance so far that you cant hear what they talk
As you brush aside their backbites
and gain new heights,
thousands will behold your new form
encourage and equip you to outperform.
Show love to those ready to celebrate your rebirth
That’s the natural way to add worth to this earth!
