February Callings: Wish You A Very Happy New Year Ahead

शायर: बी डी नारायंकर

उमीद से मेरा दामन भर दे, या रब्ब
फिर चाहे नेस्तनाबूद कर दे, या रब्ब

कब माँगे हैं तुझ से चाँद-सितारे
मेरे प्यार का दिल, सूनी गोध भर दे, या रब्ब!

Penned By B D Narayankar

Umeed Se Mera Daaman Bhar De, Yaa Rabb
Phir Chahe Nestanabood Kar De, Yaa Rabb

Kab Maange Hain Tujh Se Chaand-Sitaare
Mere Pyaar Kaa Dil, Sooni Godh Bhar De, Yaa Rabb!


Translation From Urdu to English

Penned By B D Narayankar

Fill my heart with tons of hope, My Lord
Then if you wish cut me into pieces, My Lord

When did I ask for the moon and stars
Fill her heart, empty lap with motherhood, O Lord

Ooty Musings - Bring Her To Us Sometimes On A Weekend!

शायर: बी डी नारायंकर

नज़ारों ने हमसे कहा
तुम शायर हो ही

गर तुम उन्हे साथ ले आते
तो हम भी शायर
बन जाते!

कोई चाँद का टुकड़ा ही
होगा,
जो तुम्हे
कलम उठाने पर
फिर से
मजबूर किया!

कभी
हफ्ते के आखरी दिन
उन्हे ले आना
बड़ी बेसबरी से

इंतेज़ार रहेगा!

Penned By B D Narayankar

Nazaaron Ne Humse Kahaa
Tum Shayar Ho Hi

Gar Tum Unhey Saath Ley Aatey
Toh Hum Bhi Shayar
Bann Jaate!

Koyee Chand Kaa Tukdaa Hi
Hoga, 
Jo Tumhe
Kalam Uthaane Par 
Phir Sey
Majboor Kiya!


Masha Allah,
Kabhi 
Hafte Key Aakhri Din 
Unhe Ley Aanaa
Badi Besabari Sey
Intezaar Rahegaa!

Translated From Urdu To English

By B D Narayankar

The spectacles whispered in my ears
We know you are a poet

Had you brought your Love,
believe us
we would have all turned poets

She must be a piece of Moon
That has made you
pick the pen yet again

Masha Allah,
Someday bring her
on a weekend
We are waiting
for her arrival,
earnestly!

For You Honey, I Done Several Deals

Penned By Narayan-Chandra Rauf 

For you and you alone

I have brought

the palanquin of moments

in words

Brought tender verses

for you

enconsced in perfumed couplet

Needless to say -
I have made innumerable deals with poems,
for you

That the sharpnel of stars
don't prick your eyes
I brought the sky
made of glass, for you
For you, I knit stars
larger than diamonds

Needless to say -
I have made innumerable deals
with the skies,
for you

I brought fragrance
robbing from the blooming buds,
sang the seven notes of melody
For you, I chose fruits,
spread honey

Needless to say -
I made deals with birds singing in gardens,
for you

February Callings - Breathing Life Into Bygone Childhood

Penned By Narayan-Chandra Rauf 

Ripped from Heaven, I (Tiny Life) fell
and then ...

Lost in waters
like a paper boat
entangled
in mist
in haze
I  wandered this earth for ages
like a poem
ripped
from a verse laden with your (Beloved) name

When I found the turf
I was lost in wilderness
In wilderness
I searched for the house;
In the house I looked for you (Beloved)

Now
in your soul
in your body
I wait;
touch me
hold me
give me birth
so I can
breathe life into memories of
your bygone childhood;
bygone time
bygone games
you played and,
make peace with myself!

Post Lamborghini Musings - We Shall Meet Again

Penned By B D Narayankar

Before I left the Lamborghini
I walked off with your face in my heart
hoping I would meet you again,
for life is not that short!

I

I may sport robustness of my heart and body
but I am made of dust -
a nudge enough for me to crumble, and ...

which ever way the tears I may wipe
it takes a lifetime for the stains to dry

II

I know a glimpse of your face can sprout life
in this parched life of mine ...

I gather, hence, preserve
the wilted leaves of life
In the hope I and you would meet ...
For the life is not that short,
My Love!

NEXT UP: FEBRUARY CALLINGS

My Heart Is Like A Child

Penned By B D Narayankar

It cries for her ...
doesn't keep quiet
This heart of mine, is like a child ...

You Are One Of My Bad Habits

Penned By B D Narayankar

However
hard I try to forget her
I can't ...
She is like one of my bad habits

Am I Worth You - No, My Love!

Penned By B D Narayankar

When I walk my shadow too
deserts me
But when you walk
the earth walks,
the sky walks ...

When I stop
stops with me the evening of pain
but when you stop
the Spring stops,
the Moon stops ...

A Prisoner Of Your Thoughts

Penned By Narayan-Chandra Rauf

Before you made home in my heart
The nights were forlorn
Life was diddly-daddly
Buried was I
under the crumbs
of stale moments

Lonliness draped the heart
Neither joy nor sorrow perched
The path of life wore not a dream

When you came
the pain slept easy
in my cheering pulse
A glimpse of your face
has a date with me
every moment,
every second, for now!

Your thoughts have
taken me captive
I am
a prisoner of your
memories, for now,
My Love

Palace Musings - Love At First Sight - 3

Penned By B D Narayankar

When I saw you for the first time,
my eyes told me the truth as never before
because I never saw true beauty before that night

She shows the moon how to burn bright
She stands out against the night
like a kohl waxed against the eyes of a Chennaiyin
She outshines the other women like a lotus amidst the dirt ...

Your eyes are like holy abode that my heart is unworthy to visit
If you are offended by the touch of my poetry,
my heart is standing as blushing pilgrim,
ready to take sin from your heart to make you better

What a woman, you are!
You are as tender as any flower
You are perfect as if sculpted from marble
Just look into my eyes,
I lack only a lover to make me perfect and complete like you

Come, embrace me
I will give you happy nights at the end of happy days,
My Love

Palace Musings: Love at First Sight - 2

Penned By B D Narayankar

I felt a fever of the mad
when I saw you for the first time
I alone, who was present
plunged in your alluring beauty,
breaking loose the chain
that I had fastened around me for some reason

Among everything about me,
my heart, looking at your effulgence,
was the first to leap,
shrieking, "Heaven is empty,
and all the beauty is here,
in this beautiful appearance of yours."

Belgaum Musings: Song On Wheels

Penned By B D Narayankar

I

I have left those streets miles away
from there where your lotus-like foot used to fall
from there where a whirlpool used to form in your cheeks
from there where the river turned at the twirl of your waist
from there where the flowers bloomed with the sprinkle of your laughter
from there where the mist used to billow from your wet eyes

II

I have heard on those tresses
the night used to reside
And sometimes
this night used to meet me beside my bed

III

The heart is a piece of pain,
Like a lump of clay,
Is it a cavernous well?
or a blind alley?
It is all but a small moment,
which never dies,
and torching it thousands of time,
doesn't reduce to ashes - the piece of pain

Death Comes To EveryOne, Why Not Life?

Penned By B D Narayankar

Death comes one by one
to each one of us
Why not Life,
My Lord?



                                               Obituary


It's very sad day for for me and the entire journalistic fraternity. We have lost a very young journalist - Shri N D Shiva Kumar, who worked for the Times of India.

I am probably, the only journalist who knew him before he became a journalist.

My memories about him are as fresh as fresh flowers of today.

We both were neighbours in Koramangala. I was living in the Survey of India Quarters and he, resided in the neighbourhood of PWD Quarters.

We used to play cricket against each other in various tournaments.

He was attracted to me for my batting and running commentary skills.

One fine morning, he came to me and said, "Sir, I like your commentary and batting skills, and I also came to know you are a journalist. Sir, I want to be a journalist - for that what should I do?"

After imparting the nuances of breaking into the world of journalism - thereafter I did not see him.

After two years, I found him in one of the journalistic functions and he wished me and thanked me. I said why? He said, "I am with the Deccan Herald. Thank you very much for your advise, sir."

It was two years hence, but he remembered and paid back the debt by thanking me - that's Shiva Kumar for you - Humble, never forgot to pay the debt back to anyone.

May his soul rest in peace!

Fascination For All That's Beautiful

 

Penned B D Narayankar

I have a fascination
for sweet dawns and dusks

for nestling on the wings of the wind

I have the fascination
for the eloquent eyes
for seven notes of melody

I have fascination
for the silences of the heart
for the rosy cheeks
for a smile blooming in her stifled desire

I have fascination
for sailing in the boat of her eyes
for drowning myself in her love
for wearing the muffler of clouds around my neck

Wish this life could be scraped
in a child's play!

Belgaum Musings - Where Is This Wind Taking Away My Love!

 

Penned By B D Narayankar

To which city is this wind
taking my beloved away from me
Somebody stop!
This wind is
taking life away from me



 I

I had seeded the time,
reaped the sprout, for him

I had strung the beads
of moments for him

This wind is taking away
the shine of day and night
from me

II

Poisoned are the moments
but I have to live,
live on the largesse
of his one glimpse

The smile which is
on my lips
This wind is blowing it away
out of me

III

Life has squabbled with me
has taken up a new lover
Also taken a new twist

One last hope which remained

This wind is blowing it away
out of me

Belgaum Musings - Winter Session Without You

 Penned BY B D Narayankar

When I am in your city
the pleasant air
scrapes me,
signals your arrivals
A bright day
beyond the blueish horizon ...
sinks,
signals your departure

What sort of a city
my heart has taken me to
I know not -
The day here, without you
neither breaks,
nor the night wanes!

I haven't yet sown
the new lease of life
you had given me,
for what use would it be
without you -

Without you,
beyond you
there is all but
dank darkness,
dank hollowness,
My Love!

February Last Callings: IPL Auction Musings

Penned By B D Narayankar

Somewhere in those lowered eyes
something like a smile bloomed
And around those eyelids
something like sunshine lingered
The lips didn't say a word,
but around those quivering lips,

Thousands of untold stories hovered around

I had seen the blooming fragrance in her eloquent eyes ...

Those Lines - Are They Lines Or Our Fate?

Penned By B D Narayankar

Whenever I pull the sheet 

of the night over me,

the sleep sits in my

eyes wide open

and begins painting 

an image of yours

with the night's ink

Whenever people 

see our hands,

they say

these are nothing 

but mere lines

But I have seen

these lines meeting

each other;

wedded to each other 

with no doubts invited

Whenever I am alone,

without you

I gaze at the sky,

I find this old sky,  

giving something to everyone

I ask all but few drops -

but, however hard I wring

my eyes

not even a single

teardrop falls

Is Any One As Beautiful As My Love?

Penned By B D Narayankar

Whenever I watch this milky moon
I ask her -
Have you seen anybody as beautiful
as my Love?
The moon says -
I swear on the moonlight
there is no one, no one
as beautiful as your Love!

Whenever I watch these flowers
I ask the garden -
Have you seen anybody as beautiful
as my Love?
The garden says -
I swear on every flower
there is no one, no one
as beautiful
as your Love1

Whenever I see my Love's gait
I ask myself -
is this a flow of ecstasy?

Whenever I see her tresses
I ask myself - are they the story of
the night?

Whenever I see my Love's lips
I ask myself -
Are they the fragrant roses?

Whenever I see the grail
I ask the grail -
have you seen an intoxicant as beautiful
as my Love?
The grail says -
I swear on the tipsiness
there is no one as intoxicating
as your Love

The beauty which she
have been gifted with
has deprived God
of all Godliness
Should I liken her to Mir's Ghazal
Or address her as
Khayyam's Rubayee?

I ask a poet -
Have you seen anybody
as poetic as my Love?
The poet says -
I swear on my poetry
there is no one, no one
as poetic
as your Love!

February Callings - Motherhood

Penned By B D Narayankar

When the snow-clad valley
begins to melt
because of the sunshine,
the seeds open their eyes
in a tingling passion
with a hope brimful
that the expectant valley
might some day,
sprout a bud
and bloom with motherhood!

Kiss Of Love: Where Are Those Who Are Proud Of The East?

Penned By B D Narayankar

These bands of invading nights,
These spidery tentacles
These handful of humans breeding darkness;
hanging honour from the scaffold
Where are they,
the defenders of the virtuous?
Where are they,
who are proud of the Orient?
Where are they?

These lecherous eyes in quest of illusive beauty
These carnal inklings chasing the lips,
These burnt and ashen flower buds
These hollow demonstrations for sale
Where are they,
the defenders of the virtuous?
Where are they,
who are proud of the Orient?
Where are they?

Remember,
you are the daughter of Eve!
Radha's child, Yashoda's breed;
Prophet's race, Zuleikha's seed
Where are they,
the defenders of the virtuous?
Where are they,
who are proud of the Orient?
Where are they?

Call the guides of the nation
show them these sights.
this view
Bring on those who are defenders of the virtuous;
Bring on those who are proud of the Orient,
Bring them on! Bring them on!

NEXT UP

February Callings
In The Hope Of Motherhood

As Base-less As Base-less Utensils

Penned By B D Narayankar

The pitcher which I dip to draw water
from the lake to nourish plants
has no base
No wonder then,
the plants wilt

The mug with which I bathe
sitting on the shores of Cauvery
too has no base
No wonder then, the body stinks

The vessel with which  I draw water from the well
to fill other utensils
has also no base
No wonder then, all containers remain thirsty

Base-less is my life
without you
No wonder then my life wilts,
stinks and ... thirsty
without you!

NEXT UP -

Where Are Those Who Are Proud Of The Orient?

This is a poem against #KissOfLove campaign

Lamborghini Musings: Those Meaningful Eyes

Penned By Narayan-Chandra Rauf

It is in your eyes
that the cold islands
of clouds float
It is in your eyes
that the fire red horizon
melts into the stream

Your eyes -
are they a pair of twin souls
swimming in the pool of love?

When you raise them,
the days wake up from the sea bed
And, when you lower them
the nights washed ashore

Your eyes -
are the genesis of creation
Your eyes -
the absolute meaning of life

In Search Of "Another" Moon, In Search of You

Penned By B D Narayankar

Sometimes,
I feel to rustle in my palms
the dry leaves of the night
and splash it over the sky

Sometimes,
I feel to peel off the soiled
bundles of clouds
and see what lies behind

May be, there is 
another moon; 
another like you,
My Love!

NOTE: Moon is another name of HERS


NEXT UP:
The Talking Eyes At Lamborghini

The Talking Silence At Lamborghini

Penned By B D Narayankar

Before you had 
a glimpse of me
there was all but
chaos at the Lamborghini

The windows were opened
the chests of walls searing
the doors stood with the hands 
on their hips - raging
the tables, the chairs were
like lumps of chaos

Under the floor 
the noises of the day
began burrying
There were locks too
On every lock
a boisterous sound 

If I could hear the silence;
Only silence of your eyes
the day could be saved
Together,
we could save the day

... And together, we saved the day ...
before the night could wrap the day
and throw it into the golden dust

This Half-A-Rupee Coin Memory Of Hers

Penned By Narayan-Chandra Rauf

Sometimes,
she drops like the moon
Sometimes,
she crosses my eyes
like a wayward wind
This half-a-rupee coin (Atthanni) memory of hers

Sometimes,
she walks away into the unknown 
like an ascetic
Sometimes,
she comes drop by drop
like the life itself
This half-a-rupee coin memory of hers

Sometimes,
she tumbles into my dreams
Sometimes,
she stands under the scorching sun
and at other times,
she finds solace under the moonlight
This half-a-rupee coin memory of hers

Sometimes,
she comes like 
a newly-wed bride in a palanquin
and blossoms in all innocence
And at other times,
I find her with a flower in her hands,
trying to propose, beckon me
This half-a-rupee coin memory of hers

... Lord!
Grant me one last wish -When
this half-a-rupee coin memory of hers
is buried
You bury me next to her!

NOTE: 

Next Up  - Lambhorghini Musings

I Am But A Dismembered Fragrance In Search Of Flower

Penned By B D Narayankar

The night has returned -
The night of dreams
Come, 
light up 
beside my pillow ...
dreams;
so that
sleep creeps into me

Sometimes a shadow (beloved)
calls me out;
Sometimes
somebody (beloved) scribbles
an unvoiced tale in waters
I am, 
but a dismembered fragrance
in search of a flower,
Wish I could sit on 
a branch of a tree
Wish a blade of breeze
craddles me
for a while, atleast

Come, 
light up 
beside my pillow ...
dreams;
so that
sleep creeps into me


NOTE:

This poem is dedicated to one of my best female friends in my profession. When ever I see her I feel for her; the melancholy  of being separated from her beloved. I can fathom as she has very expressive eyes - any good Bharatnatyam dancer should have so.

But, this piece and all others I had written and will write - will be on only one girl - nobody can take her  place - naa, no one.

Love At First Sight: Bangalore Palace Musings

Penned By B D Narayankar

That night,
you came draped 
in the night's shawl
after the evening had
emptied the sun's brimful pot
at the doorsteps of the ocean

The night kept melting 
from your body 
as your body was like a searing planet
A skyful fragrance was your voice
like the mud kneaded with milk and daylight

You were speaking
The lips kept chiseling 
the pieces of moon
and I stood wondering ...
wondering at your presence ...

After a while,
holding the fingers of the moonlight
you left the scene
before the morning 
with a pot 
brimful of the sun 
could emerge
in the distant expanse 
somewhere

It was like a comet 
hidden in the mystery of time,
you came from the cosmos
and returned to it!

Signs Of Love

Penned By B D Narayankar

I milch the dark night ink 

and keep filling it in my pen

to spell your name, all night long

Look -

What's come over me!

I pluck your voice and keep 

wearing it 

on my ears 

like the tinkling ear-rings,

Look -

What's come over me!

I collect in my palms

the glow of sunset

and ever so stealthily

paint your cheeks

with molten red-gold hue

every evening

Look -

What's come over me!

I have lost myself

wandering

in search of you,

asking strangers perfect 

your home and address

Look -

What's come over me!

I sip

the drops of light

slipping from your soul;

suffusing your lips

Look -

What's come over me!

I carve out 

a peck of a dust 

with my nails

gathered on your portrait

day in and day out

Look -

What's come over me!

I watch out for you
on television
with my teary eyes
Capture you
frame by frame
and store in
my smartphone
Look -
What's come over me!

Wish this love could be gambolled away

in a child's inocent play

Sounds Of Silence, Sounds Of Love

Penned By B D Narayankar

Love is not in words
Love is not in sounds
It is just a silence,
which speaks and hears
Neither it extinguishes
nor stops 
It's a light
which flows through the ages

It is just a sensation,
feel it with your soul

Let love be love,
do not label,
stamp it 
with any other name or 
relationship!

Kiss Me As Hymns Kiss My Lips

Penned By NarayanChandra Rauf

Without you
these mad easterlies
come and billow
my muffler
You, My Love
sometimes just like
the easterlies
embrace me, lightly

Without you
these sacred hymns
kiss,
bring solace to my soul
You, My Love
sometimes just like 
the hymns
kiss my lips, gently

Without you,
these tender verses
calm my frenzied heart
You, My Love
sometimes just like
the verses 
give meaning to my lunacy

It's just a small matter
of few simple words (I love you)
Come, reveal yourself to me
let my heart read you
like lyrics from a song book 

Wipro Musings on Drenched Diwali Evening

Penned By B D Narayankar

You had cast a spell on me
The kohl in your eyes 
had whipped up
a craze in my aged heart

That evening was drenched, 
crying for the missing sun
but your heart
throbbing with love for me
had warmed the sky
embellishing it with droplets
shinning like your ear-rings

I had the chance
to have said those words
that you and I had 
pulled back from our lips
after you looked at me -
blushing, lowering your eyes
sitting three-seats away
from me at Wipro, 
My Love

Poem: But That's An Excuse, Honey!

Penned By B D Narayankar

She spells a charm
into the sunglasses
smokes it with her breathe
and seeks me out
to hang it around my collar
but,
that's an excuse
to hold me in her embrace

She seeks for the washroom 
in her office
sprinkles water on her face
but that's an excuse
to hide her tears that
the tender verses of my poem brings

She pulls my portrait
close to her chest
and tucks it in her bosom,
saying I don't have it
but that's an excuse to search her

All these ...
I wonder
would it happen
in this lifetime?

A Pinch of Salt, A Pinch Of Sugar, Flavor My Verses

Deeksha Seth


Penned By B D Narayankar

Each night,
a pinch of salt
from your eyes;
a pinch of sugar
from your lips
I steal 
to flavor my verses

Each night,
I peep into your eyes;
remove shards of
dreams one by one
to find my face in them

Each night,
I calm the
spiteful darkness
and invite pleasing
mornings for you

Each night,
I flame the lamp
along the path
you would come by

Each night,
I fill your thoughts 
into the pan of my loneliness

Each moment
I remember 
I had spent in your presence
as though 
I have been born
again and again for you;
My Love!

Missing Cebit, Missing Infosys

Penned by B D Narayankar

When I creep into
a venue for a grist
and feel your absence
my hope begins to breathe

No footfall;
Not even a whisper 
of your endearing presence,
and yet I feel 
you are here - somewhere

How should I tell
in my sinews 
you flow 
like the blood in my veins

If you could understand this
I can then
stitch together
the tatters of our dreams
lacerating from our eyes

The Very First Impressions About You, My Love

Penned By B D Narayankar

That night,
when I saw
you for the
first time
at Bangalore Palace

How I wished
that this night
doesn't drown

How I wished
you stopped
the night
and both of us ran
for the shadow
so that the sun
doesn't grip us,
my love

How I wished
when the tired moon
clambering down
the Palace,
steps on to
the muggy walls
would slip

How I wished then,
you stalled the night
and I would spread 
the mesh
you would haul her
on your back
and I will give you
my hand as support

How I wished that
the night never ends

If you had gone,
my love,
I would have said katti
to you - I swear

Waiting For You, Honey!

Penned By B D Narayankar

I have been waiting a century since

No one passed by this path

A few chariots of moon

had passed by

But nobody disembarked

from the moon

Parting clouds,

the moon peeps,

on the sly,

smiles at my discomfiture

Can't even curse you, O moon,

that you may be forever 

bedeviled by an eclipse, 

for my beloved is known

by thy name!

Poem: Nasscom Musings At The Marriots

Penned By B D Narayankar

From where you had taken a turn

that bend in the room 

is still lying there

My mind is 

still rooted there

with countless whirls

tied round my feet

You were steadfast -

I call you out,

And I had this hope

you would reach me out

Your name was on my lips

but my voice ... broken

How I wished

we could break the ice

and trudge through every day ... living

Strange Is The Life, Honey!

Penned By B D Narayankar

For the first time 
when I saw you 
at Bangalore Palace
some three years back
My heart,
clipped on its wings 
flew 
where the night was young 
on its dreamy thread

When I peeped into your (Beloved) eyes
I felt 
I got another chance to live life
but I hadn't thought 
these eyes of mine
would thirst 
after my own tears

You haven't been kind to me
O life,
each day you authored
something sweet, mostly sour
and whatever you decreed
I  lived it faithfully

I wish
you come and wipe the darkness
of my night,
Darling!

Show Me The Way, Honey!

Penned By B D Narayankar

I am at the crossroads
gazing at the roads

One is always complaining
it spreads its leg,
snores all day;
another wanders into a barren land;
one is tired
yet keeps on walking
on an endless journey

The one that goes through
the branches of solitude
is stale, silent
Yet another winds into
scalding wilderness

I am at the crossroads,
My Love,
gazing at numerous roads

One morning,
or my be one evening
you will come,
hold my hand
and point to me;
this is where we have to go

Tell me, Honey!