HILLS and the Dales

Wandering in the garb of greenery,
I found solace of a different kind.
Trees swaying to a music of their own...
Eco-es resonated in the dales.

The Hills had an inbuilt music of their own.
Man has let it stay untouched and unblemished.
Each hill singing its own saga.
A story never said before.

Sporadic inhabitants here and there.
Tourists in numbers thronging there.
I hope not, would they live .
Nature at its splendor to gasp for breath.

Longed to stay admits the lap of Nature.
Far away from the prosaic touch of life.
To slip into hours of solitude.
So that I could contemplate my deeds.

A question arose from the deep recesses of the heart.
Was there a role made for each one of us.
Invisible stings of bindings...summons.
I long for a reversal of roles.

The music unheard and unsung mesmerizes me.
I stand rooted to my spot.
Though duty calls me back.
Something binds me unawares.

Unique Lines....

“Those who are near me do not know that you are nearer to me than they are
Those who speak to me do not know that my heart is full with your unspoken words
Those who crowd in my path do not know that I am walking alone with you
Those who love me do not know that their love brings you to my heart”

― Rabindranath Tagore

REWARDS On SUCCESS

CBSE AISSCE 2017-a tested board with untested declaration...was that ever thought of...first it was XII and then X. Now what do we make of our faith, our trust. Once people quoted ..."CBSE! the results are assured."

The fiasco related to results of the CBSE this year, has shaken the very roots of the people's being. There was blasphemy and large scale disbelief .Helpless parents, wailing students , distraught mothers all of them were so lost. The school looked upon them helplessly...with fear writ large upon their face.The authorities trying to explain RW and WH to the querying dispassionate students.

Holding someone responsible , playing the blame game had become the order of that day. But my mind rovered upon the seconds, minutes and hours of unexplained stress, pain and apprehension.I thought the RED lettered day of the students, would  always come with a share of tension and tears.This was marred with tears instead of laughter.

The crucial point now is Examination Reform.The Boards had to follow the strictures of the High court... Delhi High Court  directed CBSE to follow moderation policy in May 2017, due to which the results were delayed and  muddled. Instead of talking big things across the table some body needs to get the ground rules correct. Court intervention for little students result...is so unpalatable.

The court decided the fate of students and the Board accepted mutely. A rejuvenation of a different kind is required. The whole episode has left me thoroughly disillusioned and disappointed.
Hail to the Education System!

One's Favourite Lines...by Christina Rossetti

SONNET XLIII

How do I love thee?  Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight

For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.

I love thee to the level of every day’s

Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.

I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;

I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.

I love thee with the passion put to use

In my old  grief’s, and with my childhood's faith.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose

With my lost saints,--I love thee with the breath,

Smiles, tears, of all my life!--and, if God choose,

I shall but love thee better after death. (7)

Pilgrim's Passage

Like Pilgrims In the journey of life.
We move on undeterred and unstopped.
Each bend comes as a redemption.
We stop a while and continue, in the sojourn of life.

Echoes of past voices follow us.
Laughter brushes us.
Shielding our sighs and tears.
Intermissions ...we tarry and move on.

At times like a sprinter, with a winners streak.
At times existing on...
Without stopping, without waiting.
Yet we wait...and wait on...