HARLEM BLUES
Lingering perfumes float through the night air,
Life was a drudgery for him and no one cared!
With neon lights blinking and flashing every-
where!
The jazz band in the saloon played a soft tune,
And the lady there sang the Blues and also
crooned!
Now the solitude of the night gets to him,
As he drops down into a corner seat where lights
are rather dim!
Signals the waiter as he lights his cigar,
And orders a large whiskey and soda, having
come down so far!
He remains enthralled by the lone singer’s
voice,
He must spend this ‘blue night’ all alone, -
since he had no other choice!
The singer now comes pretty close to him,
And he could see her white teeth dazzle and
gleam!
But when he looked into those dark eye lashes, -
Sad memories from the past before his eyes
flashes!

He had been a clarinet player of some renown,
But his wife couldn’t tolerate its piping sound!
His habit of playing the pipe at mid-night hours,
Made her to desert him for their marriage had
gone sour!
The 'blue notes' in the saloon soon comes to an
end,
But the music goes on simply to entertain!
The singer now invites this loner to her room,
He accompanies - trying to forget his loneliness
and gloom!
She pours out two drinks in her upstairs room,
And places his head gently between her *****, -
Which makes him to swoon!
The ‘blue notes’ still plays on in his mind,
It is then when she pulls out a clarinet from
behind!
Seeing him surprised - she laughs out loud;
He stares at the clarinet with misgiving and doubt!
“Don’t worry darling I had met you wife,
She had shown me your picture and told me about
your life!
From my childhood days I had loved the clarinet,
It turns me on before I go to bed!
So play the pipe gently as I get into my slip-on,
And we shall make love right into the morn! ”
He picked up the clarinet and played it so
tender and so light, -
The music echoed through the lonely Harlem night!
                      -By Raj Nandy, New Delhi.

(While reading up the History of Jazz for composing my Jazz Story Part Two, I received an inspiration for writing this fictional poem for you! For reading thank you!)

Dear Poet Friends, having read Henri Bergson’s ‘’Creative Evolution’’, which won him the Noble Prize for Literature and is now considered a Classic, I was impressed by his words, ‘’Life does not end with death. It conquers death through reproduction……..and creative evolution.’’ Bergson’s book inspired me to compose this poem way back in 2008, and post it on ‘Poem Hunter.com’. Hope you like this short and simple poem. Thanks, - Raj.

     THE CHURCH AND THE GRAVEYARD
The Graveyard lies silent behind the Church’s cool
shade,
As the shadow of the belfry tower falls over the
world of the dead.
Perhaps they are mysteriously compatible in certain
ways!
Through the front door of the Church we enter;
And with passage of time through the rear door
we exit and go,
Forever mingling with Life’s eternal flow.

In the Church marriages are solemnised.
New born babies are christened and baptised.
Hymns and sermons are heard on Sabbath Days,
People kneel down in silence to pray.
Some to repent and confess, -
To seek salvation and are blessed.
And when the older generation pass away,
In the graveyard behind the church they are
laid to rest.

Yet amidst death Life goes on .......
With peels of bells and chorus songs.
The world of the dead is surrounded by Life,
Our younger generations live and thrive.
For the epitaph cannot bury Life’s eternal song!
Green grass grows around the dead,
And trees showers flowers from overhead.
Bouquets of roses on cold marble slabs,
With fond memories a tear drop is shed,
In loss of the loved one, now in the world of
the dead!

While Life surges, swirls, and flows all around,
As the dead lie in their graves where silence
surrounds.
New Life sprouts, and memories slowly fade …….  
The Graveyard lies in the Church’s cool shade!
                                                                    -Raj Nandy.

Friends, Part Two will get posted after a break. I have added short notes at the end, for appreciation of all Jazz lovers. To know how the word 'Jass' became 'Jazz', - kindly read the Foot Notes below. Best wishes, - Raj, New Delhi.

    THE STORY OF JAZZ MUSIC IN VERSE:
                         PART- ONE

                      INTRODUCTION
Before writing about this true Jazz Story,
I had delved into its long checkered history!
I had plowed through many articles and
books,
Making personal notes to make Jazz better
understood.
My love for this music flows in my veins,
From writing this true story myself I could
hardly restrain !

THE ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE
The story begins some four hundred years
ago in History,
Drenched in the blood and sweat of the black
slaves which was no mystery,
Painting a sorrowful background to our Jazz
Story !
It was a time when the English , Spanish , French ,
Portuguese and the Dutch became frantic , -
To gain control of the slave trade across the vast
Atlantic !
Slave trade those days was a very profitable
business proposition;
The funds generated had also financed Britain’s
Industrial Revolution!

In 1619  a Dutch sailing ship had carried the first
lot of fifty slaves from West Africa, -
To work in the cotton, tobacco, and sugarcane
plantations of English Colony of Virginia !
Only twenty slaves had survived that hazardous
Atlantic journey;
And here my friends lies the roots of my Jazz
Story !
While it is true that in New Orleans Jazz got
cradled and also nourished;
But it had taken birth in the regions of Western
Africa where slave traders had once flourished!
Later, many more slaves were transported across
to work in the plantations of the Southern States
of America,*  (see notes below)
And in their hearts one could hear the tom–tom
and drum beats of native Africa ! * (notes below)

HOLLERS AND WORK SONGS
Those slaves took no musical instruments with
them,
And worked under the whip lash of their white
Overseers bound in chains !
But they had cherished their ancient music which
fed their hope and the will to survive;
And from the depth of their sorrow and suffering, -
sprung the rhythm and beat of their life !
While at work they were forbidden to talk to each
other,
So they sang in a rich sing-song voice and called
out to one another;
Which was not understood by their whip-wielding
Overseers.
They also called out and communicated to other
working gangs in the distant fields,
Who also replied back in a similar fashion to
make their communication network complete.
The ‘hollers’ and ‘work songs’ also did help,
To lighten the burden of their treacherous fate.
This ‘call and response’ later formed one of Jazz
Music’s basic elements,
As ‘improvised music’ got composed with Jazz
providing a proper vent.
From their tormented soul they sang to wipe away
their blues,
Giving birth to ‘blue notes’ later , for WC Handy
to pay his many handsome tributes !
The slaves longed for freedom and emancipation,
Singing their ‘spirituals’ with faith and devotion !
While singing they often got into a trance,
And felt like the Israelites in ******* in Egypt,
ordained by fate and chance !
The Mississippi was like the River Jordan across
which they hoped to see, -
A band of Angels coming in their chariots to set
them free,  @
From their suffering, drudgery, and captivity !
Thus ‘improvisation’ becomes a vital ingredient of
Jazz Music;  $
For ‘freedom of expression’ is its distinguishing  
feature, which Jazz music forever seeks.

CONCLUDING  MY PART ONE
‘Jazz’ had come to America in chains, buried
deep inside the black man’s soul.
With a longing for freedom from torture and pain,
Which was then beyond their control!
The tom-tom beats, work songs, Spirituals and the
Blues, -
Were all precursor to Jazz, and here I pause to
pay my homage and heart-felt dues,
To those valiant predecessors who had come in
chains ,
Giving a painful birth to ‘jass’, - from which Jazz
gets its name ! # (notes below)

FOOT NOTES:-
Slaves were sold at 15 dollars per head. Early 1700s saw 75,000 slaves auctioned! By1800s there were one million slaves in US alone! Slaves came from Senegal, Ashantis, Gold Coast, Niger Delta, Dahomey, & the Congo; with a variety of beats and music buried in their minds and hearts !
** The Drums were an essential form of communication in Africa. They believed their Gods communicated through their beats . Those drums provided the basic beats of Jazz Music.
+ 'Blue Music' = became a part of cultural landscape of Southern US by early 1900s, but had remained unnoticed till W.C.Handy published his song –‘Memphis Blues’ in1914.
@ I refer here to the famous ***** Spiritual song -‘Swing Low Sweet Chariot’ ! I use to sing this song in my Missionary School in Calcutta in the 50s !  Slaves had sung them in plantation ‘Praise Houses’ during their weekly prayer meetings.
# "JASS" = originally an Africa-American slang meaning ‘***’! Born in the brothels of Storyville (New Orleans)  & the Jasmine perfumes used by the girls there; one visiting them was  said to be 'jassed-up' ! Mischievous boys rubbed out the letter ‘J’ from posters outside announcing -"Live Jass Shows'', making it to read as ‘'Live *** Shows'’! So finally ‘ss’ of ‘jass’ got replaced by 'zz' of JAZZ !
$ “Improvisation” = is the process of spontaneously creation of fresh melodies over the continuously repeating cycle of chord changes of a tune, which distinguishes Jazz from all other musical forms - raising it to its own great Individualistic Heights !
….ALL COPY RIGHTS ARE RESERVED BY RAJ NANDY OF NEW DELHI---
E-Mail : rajnandy21@yahoo.in

FEW POETIC REFLECTIONS  ON OLD AGE
Dear Poet Friends, after a long break, I have composed a few lines as a very senior citizen and a lover of poetry. If you like the same, kindly Re-post this poem for wider circulation. Thanks and best wishes, - Raj Nandy of New Delhi.
  
It has been often been said that old age is that period of life,  
When all bad habits are given up on doctor’s advice,
And yet you don’t feel all that good while you survive!
Yet I do try to take some solace from Robert Browning’s poem
‘Rabbi Ben Ezra’ which says;-
‘’Grow old along with me!
  For the best is yet to be,
  The last of life, for which the first was made.’’

Despite my grey hairs and wrinkled face,
With creaking joints and scattered aches and pains,
‘’Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing
  For every tatter in its mortal dress’’,
In thanks giving to the Lord and sings his praise;
As I recall WB Yeats’ ‘Sailing Byzantium’, - that
lovely poem from my college days.

As our biological clock continues to tick incessantly,
Getting older becomes compulsory.
But becoming Wiser in wrinkled years remains optional,
A choice our free will has the opportunity to make!
I recall what Agatha Christie had once said,
That an archaeologist is the best husband a woman can get,
For the older she gets, the more interested in her he
becomes;
With due respect to our women whose age is impolite
not ask.
Here I recall what the Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Frost
had once said,
That a diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman’s
birthday and not her age.

I recall the observation of Sartre the famous French philosopher
who had said,
That more sand that escapes from the hourglass of our life,
The clearer we should see through it as a blessing of time!
It is true that we live in deeds, not in years; in thoughts, not breaths;
In feelings, not in figures on a dial, - as James Bailey had said.
I finally conclude by quoting the first stanza from ‘Beautiful Old Age’  by DH Lawrence;
‘’It ought to be lovely to be old
  To be full of the peace that comes of experience
  And wrinkled ripe fulfilment.’’
                                                   ­  -Raj Nandy of New Delhi.

Dear Poet Friends, while trying to retrieve my old poems from ‘Poetfreak.com’ which is closing down by this year end, I found this love poem of mine which was composed in the year 2010!  Hope you like this short love poem where the beloved begs her lover not to leave, but to spend the night under the ‘shamiana’- which is the ‘canopy cover’ created by her dark eye lashes! Hope you like the same! Thanks, - Raj, New Delhi.  

UNDER THE SHAMIANA OF MY
        DARK EYE LASHES !

O my love, please do not insist on leaving me
tonight!
Instead, keep sitting under the shadows of my
collyrium-laden eye lashes,
Where you shall find peace comfort and
solace!
Please do not insist on leaving again, nor be
adamant;
Sit under the sprawling shamiana* of my
gazelle-like eye lashes,
Which I have spread beside the oasis of my
two brimming eyes, -
Whose bottomless depths reflect my love for
you always!
For here you may bathe to get refreshed,
and sip your sweet vine sitting by my side!
But do not insist on leaving me behind,
to remain alone in the silence of this night!

My love, let us sit and relish these few ephemeral
measured moments,
Granted to us by the munificence of merciless time!
For once gone, these moments shall return no
more!
Whisper softly into my ears those sweet words
of love;
Saying all the while how you love me,
How you cannot live without me, even though
it be against your will!
And transform this into a magical, mystical
night!
For even a falsehood spoken convincingly, and
repeated like a sweet refrain, again, and again,
Assumes the colour of Truth, I heard people say!
But your words shall make this lovelorn life of
mine worthwhile;
And all my efforts to possess you for the night
shall not go in vain!
                                              - Raj Nandy
(* Shamiana = like a tent or a canopy cover)

This month of December is of special significance, since it
brings the present year to a close, and ushers in the coming New
Year, which the spirit of Christmas enfolds! This poem is dedicated
to Catherine Jarvis of Arizona, and all my Poet Friends of this Site.
May the coming New Year 2016 bring peace and prosperity, leaving
old tensions behind! -Raj, New Delhi.
  

           JOHN THE BAPTIST
               By Raj Nandy

Out of the wilderness there came a man,
With staring eyes and unkempt hair ;
A leather belt around his waist ,
And clothes made of camel's hair.
He never begged for any money,
Lived in the desert on locust and wild honey !
His voice in the wilderness spoke of the Lord ,
And preached the arrival of the Son of God !

"Repent ye sinners," John had cried, "wash
away all your sins ",
In the flowing waters of River Jordan ,
He summoned all to be baptized by him!
Then out of Galilee there came a Man ,
With gentle looks, both meek and tall;
And looked at him and softly said, -
"Baptize me John"!
John at once realized, it was the Messiah
standing before his sight!
So he asked the Lord to baptize him instead,
But the request of the Lord must be obeyed !
As John baptized Jesus there descended from
the Heavens above, -
The Holy Spirit in the shape of a Dove ,
And alighted on the Lord's head !
Then a voice was heard from the Heavens, -
"This is my beloved son in whom I am well
pleased'', - the voice echoed and said!

Now friends whenever we seek His blessings,
and in His name drink our toast,
Remember that we are thrice blessed always,
By the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost !
                                                 -Raj Nandy

A poem dedicated to all true lovers of Jazz.

TRIBUTE TO JAZZ MUSIC
      BY RAJ NANDY
I can feel its rhythm and beat,
Along with its pulsating pain!
Its music flows freely….
Through my arteries and veins!
Its beats always echoes,
Through the corridors of my mind,
As I get wafted slowly, on the wings
of mystic time!
Its music gets synchronized,
With my heart’s muffled beat,
As I try to keep time, -
With the tapping of my feet!
Each of its pulsating rhythm,
And all its background chimes,
With its syncopated lilts,
Jazz remains harmonized!

The piano players dancing fingers,
Caresses a rhythmic sway,
While the Sax’s deep-throated tenor,
Drives my loneliness away!
When I hear my old Jazz music,
And those golden classic tunes,
I forget I am getting old,
To time I become immune!
For it is then when I begin to feel,  
like the old King Cole;
As this music tingles my mind,
and rejuvenates my soul!
           - Raj Nandy, New Delhi.

I dedicate this poem to all my Friends here, as I narrate the interesting facts about Snowflakes,which is seen in abundance during this time of the year, as I wish them all A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR 2021. A Snowflake is a single ice crystal hardly visible to our naked eyes. During 1805, an American Wilson Bentley for the first time captured in his camera by magnifying them several time for us to see!  Best Wishes from – Raj, New Delhi, on the New Year’s Eve of 31st December2020.

VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR 2021 TO MY FRIENDS
    WITH MY TRIBUTE TO SNOWFLAKES
                    Composed By Raj Nandy

Deep within the snow covered landscape,
Lies a Symphony of Nature’s microscopic
beauty unseen!
Lying crystallized in a multitude of Snowflakes,
Like a vast hidden world of dreams!
Till young Wilson Bentley became the first,
To photograph the Snowflake’s hidden work
of Art!
These flakes are minute crystals of hexagonal
shapes,
Where no two flakes ever look the same!
Some are shaped like needles and dendrites,
While others like star crystals look bright.

Perhaps those Heavenly Stars from eons past,
Watching mankind that turns to dust,
With their petty quarrels and strife,
And with all their arrogance and pride,
Vainly trying to challenge God’s might;
So they shed their starry tears all through the
night!
Their tears float down as they waltz through
space,
Falling gently like some gossamer lace,
To get congealed into Snowflakes white,
Presenting in the morning a dazzling sight,
Like a drapery over Nature of dazzling white!
While all our impurities they cover and hide,
Those little Snowflakes of little pearly ice, -
Makes the Earth appear like Paradise!
Snowflakes are God’s unique work of art my
friends,
We humans cannot achieve His artistic level of
excellence!
                                                      - Raj Nandy, New Delhi,
NOTES :-
It was young Wilson Bentley , who in 1805 , fitted a microscope
to his camera to take the first photographs of Snowflakes ! He
thereby exposed this hidden world of Art to our World ! Hexagonal in shape each snow crystal is made up of about 200 separate crystals with the bonding of hydrogen & oxygen atoms, – forming an infinite variety of patterns, where no two snowflakes look the same! Snow crystals grow faster near 5 degrees Fahrenheit , - falling on ground with temperature below freezing ! The 6 basic shapes of Snowflakes are; - Plate or Flat,  Stars , Needles , Dendrite, and Capped column shape.
**ALL COPYRIGHTS RESERVED BY RAJ NANDY

Dear Poet Friends, the famous Coffee House is located opposite Presidency College (my alma mater) at Calcutta, it was set up during the British days, initially known as The Albert Hall. However, this poem has been inspired by an old Bengali song . Hope you will like it. Thanks, – Raj Nandy

MEMORIES OF COFFEE HOUSE OF OUR
                      STUDENT DAYS

Those nostalgic memories and our colorful dreams have
receded with the past.
Our regular evening meetings at the Coffee House has
flown with time’s arrow, - since nothing lasts!
Be it summer, monsoon, or winter, we had regularly met,
To exchange notes and gossip, even heated discussions
use to take place.
Our old friend Nikhelesh had left for Paris, and Moidul
settled in Dacca, as I last heard.
Guitarist D’Souza of the Hotel Grand now lies buried in a
walled cemetery next to a church.
Betrayed in love singer Reena Roy is spending her days in
a lunatic asylum alas!
While Amol suffered from a raging cancer, life had proved
merciless for him till the very last!
Renuka was perhaps the happiest amongst us all, having
married a millionaire husband as I have been told.
She lives in a luxurious bungalow covered in jewelry of
diamond and gold.
Sanyal of Art College who drew pictures for an Ad Agency
those days,
With wide eyes listened to the narrations of Runa Roy, the
amateur actress, during those Coffee House days.
Long haired Basir, the amateur poet, has been forgotten in time;
None of his poems got published, his talents had remained
unrecognized!
Between sips of coffee and cigarette smoke heated arguments
use to take place.
Topics ranging from politics, poetry, art and football, were
very popular even in those days.

Those black round wooden tables and chairs still remain
unchanged to this very day.
But with the passing of time the faces of its occupants have
all changed, as generations have faded away.
Thus the cycle of life revolves as new flowers bloom.
But the Coffee House shall continue to last through many
a moon.
                                                           ­      -By Raj Nandy of New Delhi.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT AND REFLECTION !
The Mandir, Masjid, and the Church, each contain six words.
The Geeta, the Quran, and the Bible, each contain five words.
Collectively they all proclaim that God Is One.
Yet we ignorant human beings, over religious differences have
cut each other’s throat for centuries!
More lives have been lost in religious wars, than all our
World Wars combined.
Religion has divided, instead of uniting mankind!

MANDIR = 6 words  ……………..    GEETA = 5 words
MASJID  =  6 words  ……………..    QURAN = 5 words
CHURCH = 6 words   …………….    BIBLE = 5 words

                 6 – 5 = 1   (GOD IS ONE)
                                                            ­        - Raj Nandy

Friends, I welcome the Season of Christmas with lesser known facts about Rudolph and the other Reindeers who brings Santa loaded with gifts for the children! I have also posted the lyrics of this popular song here below, –Raj Nandy, New Delhi, 01 Dec 2020.

WELCOMING THE CHRISTMAS SEASON WITH -
     ‘’RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER’’!

A Sad Beginning - With a Popular Melodious Ending:
The original story of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer began in 1939,
With a Jewish Chicago copywriter named Robert May.
May  worked in the ad department of Montgomery Ward, a department
store chain,
Which every year purchased and gave away free Christmas coloring books
to children.
In 1939 they decided to create their own brand, and tasked May to
compose about an animal for amusement of children as best as he can.
May did so in August, following the death of his wife due to cancer, with a small daughter Barbara left behind to look after!
Remembering his daughter’s love for deer at the Lincoln Park Zoo, May composed about a little reindeer with a shiny nose.
That year during Christmas Montgomery Ward distributed 2.4 million copies which became very popular!
In 1940, May’s brother-in-law Johnny Marks, a song writer, composed the famous lyric to the legendary song as we know today.
Gene Autry sang the lyrics recording as hit No. I on the US Charts the week  of Christmas of 1949 as records say!

Lesson Embedded in the Song:
The other reindeers named Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, *****, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen,
All bullied the Rudolph, the youngest of them all who had a bright red shining nose, and left him out of all their reindeer games!
But in the true spirit of Christmas, Santa selected Rudolph to lead and guide his sleigh,
Thereby disapproving all types of Racial Discrimination due to one’s Looks!
Now friends read the Lyrics of this legendary song which has been sung by various famous singers like Dean Martin, Nat King Cole etc,
And they are all available on ‘You Tube’ for free listening!

Lyrics of The Famous Song:
“You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and *****
Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen
But do you recall
The most famous reindeer of all?
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Had a very shiny nose
And if you ever saw it
You would even say it glows
All of the other reindeer
Used to laugh and call him names
They never let poor Rudolph
Join in any reindeer games
Then one foggy Christmas Eve
Santa came to say
"Rudolph, with your nose so bright
Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"
Then how the reindeer loved him
As they shouted out with glee
"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
You'll go down in History"
…………………………………………………………………………………………….

Dear Poet Friend, I have tried to render a true story in verse, which our school teacher had told us way back in the 1950s! If you like it,
kindly re-post the same. Thanks, - Raj Nandy            

           ON THE PSYCHIATRIST’S COUCH !
A man under depression met a psychiatrist one day,
And began to speak as on the couch he lay.
“Doc I feel depressed all day, as if a pall of mist is
surrounding me,
I move around like a lifeless robot you see;
I wonder what has come over me?”

The doctor said, “Cheer up my friend, from your
daily routine you must now take a break!
A new circus has come to town, and there is that
famous Grock the jovial clown.
His antics will make you laugh your guts out.
For Laughter is the best medicine for you no doubt!”

But the sad old man with his long drawn face,
Was not impressed with what the Doctor said.
He got up from the couch with a frown,
And said, - “Doctor I am Grock, that circus clown !”
                                                -Raj Nandy, New Delhi.

Friends, while composing the ‘Story of Italian Renaissance in Verse’, I read about the history of Mona Lisa, and had composed this poem on the 30th Dec 2010, posting it on various poetry
sites where it was liked. Hope you like it too, – Raj.

A TRIBUTE TO DA VINCI’S MONA LISA

BACKGROUND :
Unlike the legendary Helen of Troy, Mona Lisa’s
enigmatic smile,
Never launched a thousand ships as 'Dr. Faustus'
had said;
Yet she continues to inspire artists, poets, and
viewers alike till this day,
Even though five intervening centuries have passed
our way!
Leonardo Da Vinci who had left many of his paintings
incomplete;
Commenced painting 'Mona Lisa' in 1503 AD, taking
four long years to complete!
He had carried the portrait with him for sixteen
long years,
While seeking work in Milan, Rome, and during his
exile in France!
But after Leonardo's death in 1519, the portrait became
the possession of Francis the First, the French King.
But later, Louis the XIV had moved 'Mona Lisa' to his
Royal Palace at Versailles!
It had also adorned Napoleon’s bedroom, who hung
it over the mantelpiece for some time.
We learn from Art Historian George Varsi, that the
portrait belonged to one Lisa Gherardini.
She was the wife of a wealthy Florentine merchant,
Who had commissioned Leonardo to paint his
wife’s portrait.

AESTHETIC VALUE OF 'MONA LISA' :
Leonardo here creates an innovative painting style,
Using oil instead of tempera on poplar wood panel,
which was unique in his time!
The three quarter pose with a wide pyramidal base,
A ‘stumato’ blending of translucent colours with
light and shade ,
Creating depth, volume, and form, with a timeless
expression on Mona Lisa’s countenance!
Here, Leonardo’s passion and pre-occupation of a
life time came together,
As he waved his magic brush to create 'Mona Lisa'!
Lisa’s mystic smile with its play of light and shade,
Appears and disappear when viewed from different
sides,
Creating an optical illusion before the viewer's eyes!
Mona’s mystic smile and her gaze, creates a mixed
emotion on her countenance,
Mesmerizing the viewers as they stand before it to
admire and gaze!
Insurance Companies have declared that this portrait
is beyond Insurance, -
Since its value remains priceless!

SECURITY MEASURES ADOPTED :
In 1911, during broad daylight from Louvre in Paris,
The painting was stolen by an employee!
He hid it for two years in an attic, before smuggling
it to Florence in Italy;
And was apprehended trying to sell it to an art
dealer clandestinely!
Later in 1956, a mad man named Ugo Ungaza,
Threw a rock creating a patch near the left eye
of 'Mona Lisa'!
The Art Curators at Louvre now toil ceaselessly,
To preserve this fabulous painting for posterity!
Today the priceless 'Mona Lisa' is housed in a
dehumidified, air-conditioned container,
Protected in a triple bullet-proof glass chamber;
With six million tourists visiting her every year!
“It is the ultimate symbol of Human Civilization ”
  - exclaimed President Kennedy!
And with this I pay my tribute to Mona Lisa of
Leonardo da Vinci,
Thanks for reading patiently, from Raj Nandy of
New Delhi.

(Dear Friends, reacting to the latest TV Report about China’s claim
of the Himalayan Range this verse got composed. Hope you like it.)

CHINA’S  VAULTING  HIMALAYAN  AMBITION !
                           By Raj Nandy
From Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’: “vaulting ambition,
which o'erleaps itself and falls on the other.”
……………………………………………………………………….
China, having infected the entire world by unleashing
the deadly Corona virus,
Have now started to measure the height of the mighty
Himalayas!
Having begun a dispute with Nepal, her peaceful
southern neighbor,
By trying to claim that entire Himalayan range as  
part of China!
Ignorant about Macbeth’s ‘vaulting ambition’, -
which led to his downfall and destruction!
In the Tibetan portion of this mountain range,
An unmanned radar device was earlier set up by
China for air surveillance.
Now under the pretext of monitoring air traffic
over Tibet,
Two more radars devices are being set up on the
Himalayas once again,
Which will also act as snooping devices upon her
peaceful southern neighbors!
China already has her jaundiced eye upon India’s
Arunachal Pradesh,
Not forgetting her earlier illegal occupation of India’s
Aksai-Chin region.
She also has full co-operation from her ‘boot-licking  
friend’ present across India’s western borders.
Unfortunately, only Historians remember the rise
and fall of ambitious Empires.
China too shall one day realize her Himalayan
Blunder!  
                                      -Raj Nandy, New Delhi; 16 May 2020

TRUE CONQUEST
A bird's resting nest may be very small ,
But that is of no consequence at all !
Since the sky above its head is vast and
wide ,
Where it can spread its wings and fly, -
Across the vast expanse of the ethereal
blue sky !

Here on ground where we jostle for living
space ,
Man’s hunger and greed does not abate !
Alexander , Napoleon, and ****** had tried
conquer and shackle this earth,
But their conquests never could last!

I recall Leo Tolstoy's short story once more.
After having covered the furthest corners
of the land under his feet;
Galloping at top speed to make his conquest
complete ,
The rider totally exhausted falls on the ground,
Collapses and dies without a sound !
Only six feet of ground sufficed for his grave!
And so it has been for the bravest of our braves !

Now I recall the great Buddha under the banyan
tree ;
And the Messiah who entered Jerusalem mounted
on a donkey,
With shouts of ‘ Hosanna’ and with palms spread
across His feet !
Were true World Conquerors beyond defeat!
- Raj Nandy
   New Delhi
•

THE SUMMER’S WIND!

As I walked the lonely beach the other day,
You had come in like the summer’s wind,
blowing in from the sea miles away!
You blew around enclosing me with your
swirling turns,
And made me feel as if I was momentarily -
in your loving arms!
You rekindled memories of days when we
walked the beach hand in hand,
When we had playfully built our castles on
the golden sand!
Those days when your kisses were thousand
miles deep,
And I in your arms use to fall fast asleep!
Then with the turning of the tide you went
off into the sea,
Never looking back to see what has become
of me!
Now the waves wash my feet as I walk the
beach all alone,
And you remain in my mind playing like an
old summer’s song!
- Raj Nandy, New Delhi

Even under lockdown and quarantine,
The Poet's mind forever remains free.
Free of all earthly ******* and takes flight, -
To that ethereal land of poetry!
Nothing lasts forever in this world of
change and flux.
But poetry tingles my mind, gladdens my heart,
and elevates my soul,
Free from all our earthly virus!
                                       - Raj Nandy, New Delhi

Friends, you may recall the famous song by ‘Bonny M’ during late1970s, about the infamous RASPUTIN, advisor of the last Russian Emperor Nicholas-II, and lover of the Russian Queen, who was assassinated on 30th December, 1916: ‘’Ra, Ra Rasputin/Lover of the Russian Queen… Russia’s greatest love machine/ It was a shame how he carried on!..’’ Now once again he is reborn as VLADIMIR  PUTIN, driving the World to the brink of a Third World War, and is likely to meet a similar fate, unless his cancer overtakes!  This is a parody of that lyric I recently composed.  – Raj Nandy, 07 May, 2022, New Delhi.

+RUSSIAN RASPUTIN REBORN AS
           VLADIMIR  PUTIN+
Ra, Ra, Vladimir Putin, with all his
land-grabbing war machines,
With ravenous hunger to swallow
neighboring Countries,
It is really shameful how he carries
on!
Oblivious to human suffering and
pain,
He has brought the World on the
brink of another World War once
again!

Putin became the Russian President
since 2012 as we get to see,
Became a virtual dictator of his country!
Divorced in Two Thousand and Fourteen,
Lives as a frustrated bachelor in Russia
ever since.
People look at him with terror and
dismay as he is full of aggression and
fire!
But to his henchmen and young Russian
maids he is such a lovely dear!
Ra, Ra, Vladimir Putin with his nuclear
bombs and war machines,
It is utterly shameful how he carries on!

He changed his personal guards many a
time afraid of assassination!
Sacrificed his senior generals and
countless soldiers in his ceaseless war
of aggression,
To glorify his personal ambition!
Now to save Ukraine and the World,
May the Devil soon come to claim its
very own.     {See  photo)

Ra, Ra, Vladimir Putin, with his many war
machines,
It is utterly shameful how he carries on!
Oh! Those Ruthless Russians!
…………………………………………………………………………..

THOSE PRECIOUS LITTLE THINGS!
Dear friends, our very life and existence being transient and ephemeral, I have learnt to love those little things which provides me pleasure and happiness! Hope you like this short reflective poem. With best wishes, – Raj Nandy, New Delhi, 21 JAN. 2023.


THOSE PRECIOUS LITTLE THINGS!
Little things of life I have learnt to love and
enjoy.
Rays of the radiant sun streaming through
the window of my study;
Along with a glimpse of the radiant blue sky,
Dew drops on a blade of grass shimmering
in the early morning light.
Even a beam of the golden moon is enough,
To make me heave a nostalgic sigh!
Yet for some, enough is never enough,
As they try to cling on to those ducats,
Which slipped through miser Shylock’s
fingers when he died!    (see photo)

Butterflies multi-colored wings,
Parrot feather of emerald green,
The sight of a Gulmohar tree in bloom
ablaze with tinges of yellow and red, -
Are enough, and my day gets made!
And so are those pearly drops of tears
shed from your doe-eyed eyes,
shall suffice,
To bid me farewell on my demise!
                           -Raj Nandy, New Delhi.

Dear Poet friends, kindly listen to Alan Dale's song 'Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White' - available on the 'You Tube' for free! Thanks, - Raj.


A TRIBUTE TO ALAN DALE :
Prince Of Baritones (1925 – 2002)

Long, long, ago, as the story goes,
A cherry tree had grown next to an
apple tree!
And underneath them a boy had met
his bride to be!
As he looked into her blue eyes, the
breeze began to blow,
And blossoms fell on their heads gently
so.
And as he held her tight, the branches of
both the trees got intertwined!
And ever since then it has been said,
On a full moon night, when young lovers
meet,
Under that Cherry and Apple blossom tree,
One can hear Alan Dale the crooner’s voice,
singing, “ Cherry pink and apple blossom
white”, -
Echoing through the moonlight night!
                                                               -Raj Nandy

Notes:
Alan Dale, the Prince of Baritone from the 1950s, became popular for two of his all time hits of 1955; ‘Sweet and Gentle’ and
‘Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White’!  The last three lines of his famous song, has been modified by me as way of a compliment!
Born in Brooklyn, NY, his parents had migrated from Italy. He had featured in TV reality shows & movies with Bill Haliey and his Comets! After a Mafia attack in 1958, his career went gradually on a back slide! But his evergreen song survives!
* ALL COPYRIGHTS RESERVED BY RAJ NANDY

Dear Poet Friends, I had composed this short poem almost a decade ago, and had posted it on 'Boloji.com' poetry site, where it was declared as the best poem of the week. Hope you like the same. If you like it kindly re-post this poem! Thanks, -Raj.  

        NOT MY CHOOSING !
I had existed beyond time and space,
In a dimension which was divine,
Till You brought me here,
And said this World was mine!

With passing of each year,
I get closer to Thee,
For it is You who have brought me here,
It is You, who must set me free!

I never came of my own choosing,
You only decided my fate,
And placed my soul within
This skeletal human frame !

Now with the advancing years,
My soul yearns to be free.
For You have brought me here,
It is You, who must set me free!
                                - Raj Nandy, a very senior citizen of New Delhi.

Dear Poet Friends, this was a comic poem written in a lighter vein way
back in August 2008, when ‘breath test’ was being carried out by the
Delhi police to check drunken driving. I was not involved, only my
imagination! Hope you like it. Thanks, - Raj.


      WITH  FRIENDS  AT  THE  CLUB!
That first large peg of whiskey gives you its
real authentic taste.
Two pegs seem too inadequate, and the drink
seems a waste.
After three pegs you begin to say now this is a
real drink.
For it makes you feel all at ease when into the
couch you begin to sink.
And with the next one, all barriers begin to
dissolve.
Your problems now take on wings, and there
is nothing you cannot solve!
And when your friends pester you for that
last one for the road,
You can hardly refuse them, though your voice
begins to choke!
Then finally during your drive back home when
the breath test on the road is done,
Those policemen look all amused, though you had
all the fun!?
You get a ticket, or pay a fine, or even land-up
in jail;
Promising to your wife all the while, that you
will never drink and drive again!
                                            -Raj Nandy, New Delhi

Dear Poet Friends, this is an old poem of mine composed in the style of a
dramatic monologue, being an admirer of Robert Browning myself. Hope you like it.  Thanks, - Raj Nandy.

                          AT  THE  CEMETERY
I came to offer my bouquet of flowers and pray for my father’s
departed soul,
Had he lived on this day, he would have been a hundred years’
old!
But I have watched you all this while my friend, sitting still, all lost
in thought;
Facing that marble grave strewn with flowers, which your grieving
heart had brought.
Fate and destiny we cannot fight, the old must leave with time you
know;
Like the Autumn leaves which gently fall, in the Winter’s breeze both
soft and slow.
Such going and coming is a part of life, do cheer up my friend and
take heart;
Think of your family and life ahead, these passing sorrows do not
last.
You have a wife at home and perhaps children too, who will keep
you happy to forget this loss;
But my consoling words failed to stop his tears, which kept flowing
without a pause!
Who is it you so grieve for my friend, let’s arise and carry on with
life;
But the stranger continued kneeling and softly said, - ‘Sir, it is my
newly wedded wife’!
                                                          ­                          -Raj Nandy, New Delhi.

BEST WISHES FOR ALL MY POET FRIENDS FOR 2020 !
May the coming New Year bring forth goodwill, happiness,
and good cheer!
May the Members of this great Hello Poetry site,
Learn to reciprocate by reading poems of other Members
posted here from time to time!
Even though I mostly compose non-fictional Books in verses
these days,
I never forget to read the verses of my good old Hello Poetry
Friends!
BEST WISHES FOR 2020 ALWAYS!
                                                              -Raj Nandy, New Delhi.

Well this is a request, & not a poem! Kindly do read my poem-
'A BRIGHT STAR OVER BETHLEHEM'- composed for this special occasion of CHRISTMAS,  & do re-post the same if you happen to like it ! Thanks & best wishes, - Raj New Delhi, 25 Dec 2018.

PRAY MY DREAM COMES TRUE!
I wonder what inspired by thoughts to grow wings and float
up high,
Into the fathomless depths of the boundless blue sky.
Past the realms of the silvery showers of glittering stars.
Past budding galaxies which are cradles for new born baby
stars.
To witness the radiant glow of a Supernova a rare sight,  -
Which is the afterglow of a dying star seen at night!
Finally I reach that planet where the past remains forever alive,
And see the faces of my loved ones, who have left me behind!
How I wish I could join them to become a part of their eternal
presence.
When a sudden loud sound jolted me back to earth once again!
Please pray that someday my dream comes true,
For which I shall forever remain grateful to you!
                                                                   -Raj Nandy, New Delhi

Friends, while reading about Quantum fields, vibrating energies and frequencies, which form an unseen but an important part of our life and existence, I got the idea to compose a short poem about Echo. Hope you like this simple poem. With best wishes, - Raj Nandy, 24 July, 2022, New Delhi.

((( ECHOES THROUGH THE CORRIDORS
                        OF TIME )))

Ever since our Universe with the Big Bang
evolved some 14 billion years ago,
Plasma waves had reverberated through
interstellar space and continues to do so.
They have been detected as a background
humming noise which our Cosmologists
have claimed, -
As the echoing birth pangs which had
given rise to the Universe itself!

We know that bats use their echolocation
to navigate in the dark,
And the SONAR echoes can detect under
water enemy Subs.
Our life is an endless echo, but what we
utter and say,
Comes back to us like the boomerang
one fine day!
Therefore, we must mind the words
we utter and speak,
Since our echoes like our shadow, shall
continue to follow us and seek!

History is a symphony of echoes which
often repeats itself with time.
Even though we have failed to heed its
echoing sounds most of the time.
Perhaps because it fails to sing or rhyme!

Our very thoughts which pop-up continuously
like bubbles from our conscious mind,
Also dissipate and vanish with the passage of
time.
But some of those thoughts remain as echoes
to haunt us later in our dreams,
When the subconscious mind seeks wish
fulfillment during our restful sleep.

In our finely tuned universe the feeling of love,
joy, and happiness, are but echoes of God’s
life within.
Let our footsteps echo down the corridors
of time, -
To make our present journey complete!
                                                       ­    -Raj Nandy.

Dear Poet Fiends. Inspired by the dramatic monologues of Robert Browning, I have composed this short verse. In the last stanza however it breaks into a short dialogue format. Hope you like it.

"CAN YOU HEAR ME CLEARLY DEAR MARY ANN?"
                                              By Raj Nandy

“Hello, is that you dear Mary Ann? I have finally got that long
awaited job with the Oriental Fans.
You can refuse that marriage proposal now dear Mary Ann.
Tell your folks that you are not getting married there anymore.
My job gets confirmed after three more months they have
assured.
Our dreams will get materialized very soon.
No more visits to those cheap cafes in the afternoons.
And weaving dreams of happiness under the full moon.
We can now start a family pretty soon.
But why are you so silent dear Mary Ann?
That marriage proposal you can now disown, yes you surely can.
Though this trunk line seems rather faint on my side.
Hope you can hear me on the other side? ”

It was then when a gruff voice replied, “Mary Ann got married
at the St Paul’s Church last night.
You are a bit too late this time. Wish you better luck next time!”
                                                    - By Raj Nandy, New Delhi.

Friends, this is a short poem about naming of the mutated forms of Corona virus. So far the names of the variants ‘Delta’ and‘Omicron’ have been taken from the Greek Alphabets which are 24 in number. But the Chinese who gifted the World this deadly Corona virus, have around 20,000 charters for their use. Therefore, they have a wider option to choose from for naming the virus when it mutates  in China in the future. With Prayers For a Corona Free World, - Raj Nandy, New Delhi, 09 JAN. 2022

+NAMING THE CORONA VIRUS VARIANTS +

MY FRIEND ASKED ME ONLY THE OTHER DAY,
DO YOU KNOW THAT OMICORN VIRUS IS ALSO
SHOWING FLASHES OF DELTA VIRUS THESE
DAYS?
I TOLD HIM I ONLY KNOW THAT THE WORD
‘CORONA’ HAS BEEN DERIVED FROM THE
LATIN WORD FOR CROWN WHICH IS ‘CORONAM’,
AND THAT ON 11 FEB 2020 W.H.O. NAMED THIS
NEW DISEASE AS ‘COVID-19’, WHICH IS SAME
AS ‘CORONAM’.
IN THAT CASE HOW ABOUT THIS ‘DELTA’ AND
‘OMICRON’ MY FRIEND HAD ENQUIRED.
I TOLD HIM THAT THEY ARE MUTATED VARIANTS
OF CORONA, USING THE TWO LETTERS OF THE
GREEK ALPHABETS BETWEEN ALPHA AND OMEGA.
NOW MY FRIEND WAS AWARE THAT THERE ARE
24 LETTERS IN THE GREEK ALPHABETS.
SO 22 LETTERS ARE STILL LEFT TO CHOOSE FROM, -
AT A FUTURE DATE;
LETTERS LIKE BETA , GAMA, LAMDA, MU, SIGMA AND
UPSILON, AND SO ON.
BUT THIS VIRUS SHOULD DIE DOWN BY THAT TIME
I HAD HOPEFULLY REPLIED.
BETWEEN ALPHA AND OMEGA THERE WOULD BE
SUFFICIENT  TIME!

BUT IN CHINA THINGS ARE NOW GETTING
OUT OF CONTROL I HAVE HEARD.
EVEN FRUITS THERE ARE GETTING CONTAMINATED
WITH THEIR HOME- MADE VIRUS!
FOR THAT YOU NEED NOT WORRY AT ALL MY LEARNED
FRIEND HAD CONFIDENTLY REPLIED.
THE CHINESE HAVE MORE THAN 20,000 CHARACTERS
INSTEAD OF ALPHABETS, - ON THEIR SIDE!
BUT THE CHINESE HAVE TO KNOW ONLY BETWEEN
3000 AND 4000 CHARATERS FOR THEIR DAILY USAGE.
WITH ENOUGH CHARACTERS TO **** THEM SEVERAL
TIMES OVER, SHOULD THE VIRUS CONTINUE TO
MUTATE AND SPREAD!

WHILE I PRAYED FOR THIS CORONA VIRUS TO
DIE DOWN AND FADE,
WHICH HAS BADLY SHAKEN UP OUR WORLD
AS ON DATE;
BUT AS A POET I ALSO SEEKS ‘POETIC JUSTICE’
FROM THE GODS OVERHEAD, -
TO PUNISH THE COUNTRY RESPONSIBLE FOR
ITS INITIAL SPREAD!  AMEN!
                                    -RAJ NANDY, NEW DELHI.

My poet friend John Stevens was born on this great day,
While I wish John Many Happy Returns of 04th July today,
I wish the people of America - A Happy Independence Day!
Self and John are both born in the year 1943.
Though separated by land and sea, -
We both love to read and write poetry!

Presently I am composing in verse the 'Story of the Blues',
Which I hope to post on this Site this month end, hoping it
will be liked by you!
Unfortunately, I am unable to post the maps and the
photographs on this Poetry Site.
Nonetheless I do hope you will like my well researched
poem about the Blues, when posted on this Site!
BEST WISHES FOR JOHN STEVENS ON THIS DAY,
MAY MANY MORE BIRTHDAYS COME ON HIS WAY!
GOD BLESS!                   - Raj Nandy, New Delhi, 04 July 2019

Friends, this is an old poem of mine from ‘Poemhunter.com’, which has been re-written for my readers here. Hope you like it, - Raj.

IN THE  WINDMILL  OF MY  MIND
As in the poem ‘The Brook’, by the English
poet Rupert Brooke,
Our mind keeps chattering all the time,
Like the flowing chattering Brook!
As one thought flows into another right
till our bed time.
Even during sleep the chattering continues,
nor does it get left behind.
For dreams appear and disappear, even
though our body is at rest.
Only a sedative can truly put our mind, -
To a complete peaceful rest!

Now in the silent chattering of the mind,
many thoughts come and go.
Some get realized with time, while others
simply flow.
A few thoughts stagnate, and some thoughts
get lost.
But the chatter continues all the time, at any
cost.
What I know not, I know not, it should not
bother me at all.
Yet the quest for the unknown and unseen,
In some of us remain pretty strong.
As search for that philosophic truth, continues
all our life long!

The Autumn brings brittleness, with whitening
of my hair,
Yet I like to dream those dreams, and also to
dare!
As the withered leaves of Autumn, keep
dancing in the whirlpool of time.
My thoughts keep churning, in the windmill
of my mind!
                                    - Raj Nandy, New Delhi.

Dear Friends, here are the latest reflections of a very senior septuagenarian which is being shared with you. This poem was posted on the ‘Facebook’ along with photographs, which I am unable to do on this Site! With Best Wishes, - Raj Nandy, New Delhi, March 2022.

+REFLECTIONS ON MY DAILY MORNING
                        PRAYERS+

DURING MY DAILY MORNING PRAYERS I DO
SINCERELY PRAY,
BOTH FOR THE WELL-BEING OF THE LIVING,
AS WELL AS FOR THE ETERNAL PEACE OF THE
SOULS OF THE DEAD.
THEY NATURALLY INCLUDE MY FAMILY MEMBERS
AND ALSO MY FEW CLOSE FRIENDS.
BUT NOT FORGETTING MY HELPING HANDS
WHO ASSIST ME TO SURVIVE DAY TO DAY.

NOW, AS I PLOD THROUGH MY REMAINING
YEARS WITH ITS MIXED BAG OF JOY AND PAIN,
I FIND THAT MY REMEMBRANCE OF THE DEAD
HAS GRADUALLY +OUTNUMBERED+ THE LIVING
DURING THESE DAYS!
MY FRIEND TELLS ME THAT THIS HAPPENS TO
MOST OF THE ELDERLY AND FORMS A PART
OF THEIR LIFE,
BUT AS LONG AS THE BIRTH RATE OVETAKES
THE DEATH RATE,
MANKIND SHALL CONTINUE TO SURVIVE!

THEREFORE, I PAUSED TO REFLECT ON THE
POLITICAL TURMOIL IN OUR PRESENT DAY
WORLD,
ARE WE ON THE BRINK OF A THIRD WORLD
WAR NOW HOVERING OVER US?!
SINCE IN THE EVENT OF A NUCLEAR WAR
THERE SHALL BE HARLDY ANY SURVIVORS,
WHEN THE DEAD WILL OUTNUMBER THE
LIVING  ALL AROUND US!
SO I ALSO PRAY FOR A MORE PEACEFUL
WORLD THESE DAYS,
EVEN THOUGH MR. PUTIN TRIES TO
OUTSHINE ****** TO REPEAT HISTORY
ONCE AGAIN!
AMEN! – Raj Nandy, New Delhi.

THE CAT AND MOUSE GAME*
Walt Disney’s ‘Tom & Jerry’ cartoons are popular
even to this day.
Cat’s stealth-like pursuits with near captures,
and the mouse’s repeated escapes, -
Is the very essence of the Cat and Mouse Game!
A test of patience and perseverance for the Cat,
But that Mouse usually manages to escape the
paws of the Cat!

The serious game our Doctors with patience
and dedication have continued to play,
Ever since that elusive Chinese virus has come
our way, deserves our Commendation!
As with sprays, hand sanitizers, and a mask we
try to prevent Corona’s inhalation.
Fighting an unseen enemy which continues to
haunt and escape detection!
Wish there was ‘a game plan’ for its destruction!

A rat poison can be more effective than the Cat,
But only an anti-dote or a vaccine can **** our Rat!
Let us pray that soon a vaccine comes to light,
To drive away our gloom and make the future
look Bright!
                                       -Raj Nandy, New Delhi.

Dear friends, this poem was posted on the ''Facebook'' last month along with maps and photographs, and was much appreciated. Unfortunately, I am unable to post any maps or photos on this Site! I post on the 'Facebook' these days which provides greater visibility & interaction! Hope you like this composition, - Best wishes, - Raj, New Delhi. Feb. 2022.

DATING EVENTS OF ANCIENT HISTORY : BY RAJ NANDY

FURTHER WE GET BACK IN TIME, WE ENTER THE FOG AND MIST OF THE PAST,
WHEN KNOWLEDGE BECOMES INSECURE, AND SPECULATIONS AND GUESS WORK STARTS!
WHEN WE ENTER THE REALM OF LEGENDS AND MYTHS
TO ENTERTAIN OURSELVES WITH FANCIFUL FACTS,
WAITING FOR HISTORY TO TAKE SHAPE, BASED ON RESEARCHED WORK AND VERIFIED FACTS!
IN OUR NOBLE PURSUITS AND ENDEAVOUR OUR ARCHIEOLOGISTS, GEOLOGISTS, ANTHROPOLOGISTS, - ALL COMBINE TO HELP US;
AND THEY HAVE INDEED HELPED OUR MODERN HISTORIANS, TO UNRAVEL MANY HIDDEN MYSTERIES
OF THE PAST!

NOW WHEN IT COMES TO DATING EVENTS OF THE ‘ANCIENT HISTORY’, IT MUST BE REMEMBERED BY
ALL OF US,
THAT EXACT DATES OF EVENTS CANNOT BE MADE AVAILABLE TO US!!
SINCE DATES ARE BASED ON INTERPRETATIONS OF ARCHIEOLOGICAL FINDINGS  MADE BY OUR  
LEARNED SCHOLARS,
WHICH HAS KNOWN TO VARY BY A CENTURY, OR
EVEN BY MANY MORE YEARS!!
SO IT IS WITH FACTS OF ANCIENT HISTORY, WHERE
WE CAN NEVER BE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN,
WETHER HOMER WAS REALLY BLIND, OR THAT HIS EPICS WERE DICTATED BY HIM OR WRITTEN?
THE TROJAN WAR IS THOUGHT TO HAVE TAKEN PLACE BETWEEN 1200 AND 1150 BC,
BETWEEN THE MYCEANEAN GREEKS AND THE TROJANS,
IN THE NORTH-WESTER CORNER OF PRESENT-DAY TURKEY.
IT WAS A PERIOD WHICH SAW THE COLLAPSE OF THE MYCENEAN BRONZE AGE CIVILIZATION.
COMMENCING THE 400 YEARS OF “THE DARK AGES” IN GREECE, -ABOUT WHICH WE HARDLY HAVE ANY NOTION!
SO SCHOLARS HAD RELIED ON SEVERAL ARCHIEOLOGICAL DIGS, WHILE COMPOSING ANCIENT TROJAN HISTORY.
WHICH WE NOW GET TO READ, THOUGH SURROUNDED BY FEW MYTHS AND MYSTERIES!

NOW THE SEVEN LAYERS OF THIS TROJAN CITY WAS DUG UP  IN THE 19TH AND THE 20TH CENTURIES AT PLACE CALLED ‘HISARLIK  TELL’;              (Tell = is a mound)
WHICH WAS A MAN MADE MOUND BUILT ONE ON TOP OF THE OTHER, WITH MANY HIDDEN MYSTERIES AS WELL!
SO THE CITY OF TROY DID EXIST, AND A TROJAN WAR MIGHT HAVE ALSO TAKEN PLACE.
BUT THE REAL CAUSE FOR THIS WAR REMAINS ELUSIVE,
AND OUR  SCHOLARS CAN ONLY GUESS!
WE GO BY GENERAL CONSENSUS AMONG SCHOLARS WHO SPOKE OF MARTIME RIVALRY BETWEEN THE MACENEANS AND THE TROJANS,
FOR CONTROLLING THE SHIPPING LANE TO THE BLACK SEA UP NORTH, BY SAILING ACROSS THE WATERS OF
THE AEGEAN.      (Map here cannot be shown on this site!)
NOW AS FOR “THE FACE THAT LAUCHED A THOUSAND SHIPS” WHICH WE FIND IN CHRISTORHER MARLOW’S ‘DR. FAUSTUS’ DURING LATER DAYS;
WELL, IN THOSE ARCHEOLOGICAL DIGS THERE ARE NO TRACES OF ANY ADULTEROUS LOVE, OR OF FAIR HELEN’S BEAUTIOUS FACE!

FRIENDS, LET US NOT FORGET THE BRITISH AUTHOR JK ROWLING,  WHO BECAME ONE OF THE RICHES FEMALE NOVELISTS OF OUR WORLD;
WITH HER ‘HARRY POTTER’ SERIES WHICH DESCRIBES A LEGENDARY, MAKE-BELIVE AND A FANTASY  WORLD!!
NOW AS A POET I DO LOVE THE MYTHS  AND LEGENDS OF THE PAST, IMAGINING THAT THEY ARE TRUE,
BUT WHEN IT COMES TO ‘DATING EVENTS’ OF ANCIENT HISTORY MY FRIENDS,
I REMAIN AS SKEPTICAL, OR EVEN AS GULLIBLE AS YOU!!
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
NOTES:  IN ANCIENT GREECE HISTORICAL DATING IS SAID TO HAVE COMMENCED WITH THEIR FIRST OLYMPIC GAMES HELD DURING 776 BC, WHICH FOLLOWED A CYCLE OF A FOUR YEAR PERIOD, WHICH HELPED IN THEIR SUBSEQUENT DATINGS.  ARTIST’S IMPRESSION OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES HAVE BEEN POSTED FOR YOU.   - By Raj Nandy, New Delhi, Jan. 2022.

Dear friends, as an old poet I lament the happenings going on in our World in one of my blue moods! – Raj Nandy, New Delhi.

   LAMENTATIONS OF AN OLD POET!
The World shall continue to move at its own pace,
With global warming making things difficult for
the entire human race!
As Covid virus continues to mutate, with China’s
expansionist policy trying to dominate!
World Leaders lack the guts to condem China!
Unfortunately, these myopic Leaders only remain
fixiated on the past crimes of Adolp ******!
Religious fundamentalism shall continue to
persecute humanity,
In their fight that can never be fully won in
reality.
Our dishonest politicians shall continue to cheat
and rob their very own!
While the rich shall continue to become richer,
With the poor becoming more poorer, - as the
World goes on!
The World is changing fast and it is no longer
the World we had earlier known!
I wonder what legacy shall we leave behind for
our growing generation?
Perhaps they have to develop survival skills on
their own!
Now I conclude with a quote from the English
poet William Wordsworth:-
“If this belief from heaven be sent,
  If such be Nature's holy plan,
  Have I not reason to lament
  What Man has made of Man?”
                                         -Raj Nandy, July2021, New Delhi.

Dear Friends, that famous short story of Leo Tolstoy which I heard during my school days, has an eternal lesson applicable even for our present age! Best Wishes, Raj Nandy, June 2022, New Delhi.

+ WHEN THE STARTING LINE BECAME LIFE’S
                    FINISHING LINE +

ALL TYPES OF RACES HAVE A FINISHING LINE,
BE IT THE HURDEL, STEEPLECHASE , SPRINT OR
THE MARATHON  OF 26 LONG MILES.
BUT FOR THE OVER AMBITIOUS AND GREEDY
THIS FINISHING LINE NEVER ENDS!
AND HERE THE RUSSIAN TOLSTOY PRESENTS
US WITH A SHORT STORY TO TEACH US AN
ENDURING LESSON!

A  GREEDY PEASANT WAS ONCE PROMISED
ALL THE LAND HE COULD COVER GALLOPING
ON HORSE BACK TILL THE FURTHEST END.
PROVIDED HE GETS BACK TO THE STARTING
LINE BEFORE THE SUN SETS!
NOW IN HIS GREED TO GRAB MAXIMUM
LAND HE HAD GALLOPED WITHOUT ANY REST.
WHEN HE SUDENLY REALISED THAT THE SUN
HAD BEGUN TO SET IN THE DISTANT WEST!
SO HE TURNED BACK QUICKLY GALLOPING
AT BREAKNECK SPEED,
ONLY TO DROP DEAD WITH EXHAUSTION TO
MAKE HIS RACE COMPLETE!
NOW SIX FEET OF GROUND WAS ALL THAT
WAS REQUIRED FOR HIS BURIAL.
LIFE FOR HIM HAD INDEED COMPLETED A
GRAND FULL CIRCLE!
                                       -Raj Nandy, New Delhi.

Dear Friends, as the year 2020 comes to a close, the poet Raj Nandy here shares his few nostalgic and passing thoughts, as he sits in his rocking chair and ponders about life. Dedicated to John Stevens who is also on his 77th year like me.With best wishes, - Raj, New Delhi.

A POET’S NOSTALGIC THOUGHTS
When the Autumn leaves start to fall,
With Winter lurking just behind,
The year is gradually coming to a close,
With nostalgic memories haunting my
mind.

Those loving faces I had once known,
Have all departed one by one.
As I sit and dose in my rocking chair,
Bathed by the Autumn’s mellow sun.

Those nostalgic faces beckon me,
As the day gradually comes to an end.
And I ponder in my rocking chair,
Has all this living been in vain?

Next, I hear and see Children laugh
and play,
Around the Snowman they had made.
Life’s eternal force is suddenly all
around me,
Which shall surely conquer death!

The Winter has been severe this year,
And the landscape is covered in a thick
blanket of ice.
But the snow shall melt one day and
buds shall bloom,
Can Spring my friends be far behind?
                                                    -By Raj Nandy, 27 Dec 2020.
NOTE:-
In  Poetry the  imagery of Children & Spring have been traditionally used to represent resurgence and continuation of Life.

Friends, seeing death and suffering brought on by the Chinese Corona virus all over the World, and despite efforts made to create a ‘smart’ and a better World, I become nostalgic at times when past memories of better days begin to haunt me, which gets expressed in these few reflective lines of poetry!
                                 -Raj Nandy, a very senior citizen of Delhi.

BREATHLESS IN THIS VIRTUAL AND
     SO CALLED ‘SMART’ WORLD!
As my age begins to grow, time begins
to reduce its rapid flow.
Though I knew one day I shall depart,
But the mind could not accept such
thoughts at the start.
Tough I had aspired to reach for the sky,
But my body gradually failed to respond,
and I sighed!
Yet, I had always dreamt of a better World, -
Healthy, peace loving, and strong.
But did not realize that one day over
ambitious China with its Corona virus, -
Will prove me wrong!!

Having seen seven decades plus seven
on this Earth,
I now survive with nostalgic memories
of better days gone past.
When love, goodwill, and trust had better
survived.
When postman brought letters laced with
love and blessings of elders, -
Which made me to thrive!
Now smart talks, smart cities, and smart
phones, - fail to impress and console me!
Since by prefixing the word ‘smart’ neither
the city nor its people become smart in
realty!
And now lockdown and quarantine is
trying to enslave humanity!

In this uncertain and lovelorn World
at my present age of seventy seven,
I wonder if God is also trying to build a
‘smart’ digital city up  there in Heaven?!
If that be so, Heaven only exists in my
mind virtually;
In keeping with our modern times, it
exists only as ‘Virtual Reality’!
                                          -Raj Nandy, New Delhi.

A MESSAGE FOR MY POET FRIENDS HERE!
Dear Friends,
           Some of us, especially the Senior lot of poets, are posting on the 'FACEBOOK' these days where we have greater visibility! We are able to post our selected Photographs on the 'Facebook' to better illustrate the theme of our poems. There are many senior poets posting there who were earlier posting on poetry sites like 'Poemhunter.com', 'Poetfreak.com', including the 'Hello Poetry' site. I am also posting on 'Hello Poetry' site from time to time, but mainly posting on the 'Facebook' as 'Raj Nandy'. You may kindly have a look there if you wish, it is a free site! Best wishes & happy writing! - Raj Nandy, New Delhi, 07 MAY 2021.

Friends, this is a short reflective poem which I have recently composed for you. Hope you like the same, - Raj, 27 March 2021, New Delhi.

       * REFLECTION OF ETERNITY*
The old withered man had wide big eyes,
His eyes had the color of deep blue sky.
His white long beard had few streaks of
Black.
While matted locks of snowy hair flowed
down his back.
He sat on a pavement wearing a faded
dusty cloak,
Mostly remained ignored, while some
even laughed calling him an old bloke!
Few coins were tossed inside a small
bowl lying by his side,
As he sat on the pavement with nothing
to declare or hide.

Perhaps he was caught up in Time’s wrap
woven by destiny and fate.
It was difficult to tell if he was sane or
insane,
Or how many moons had passed over
his head.
Perhaps he waited to be liberated from
this earthly cycle of life and death.
Since his wide blue eyes mirrored eternity,  
As he stared into the fathomless depth
of celestial blue space!
                                           -Raj Nandy, New Delhi.

Friends, this short love poem is to usher in the Season of Spring on this Basant Panchami Day, and is dedicated to our veteran romantic poet Fay Slimm of Cornwall, SW England, and also to
all my Readers here. Hope you like the same, - Raj, New Delhi, 16 Feb 2021.
    
  THE MAGICAL TOUCH OF SPRING!
With the arrival of the magical month of Spring,
When the bees and the birds begin to buzz and
sing,
Love gets ignited in the hearts of young lovers
as they meet,
Under the cool shade of an evergreen tree.

With her face shining like the full moon,
Her large dark eyes like two glistening pools,
Wearing a white dress with earrings dangling
from her ears,
And with a coy smile on her face, -
She steals the heart of her lover away!

Love soon gets ignited on both the sides,
As they gaze into each other’s eyes,
And soon get charmed and hypnotized!
Thus love’s flame consumes them both as birds
chirp and sing,
One may blame it on Cupid’s arrows, or on this
enchanting month of Spring.
Or perhaps it was destined and ordained by fate,
That they should meet and fall in love on their
very first date!
                                       -Raj Nandy, 16 Feb 2021
NOTES:-
According to Greek mythology Cupid's arrow is one of the arrows that Cupid is supposed to fire from his bow. A person struck by the arrow immediately falls in love. So Cupid's arrow means Love.

CONTINUING WITH THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS
HERE IS THE STORY BEHIND THE ENGLISH HYMN:
          “ONWARD  CHRISTIAN  SOLDIERS”

"Onward, Christian Soldiers" is a 19th-century English hymn. The words were written by Sabine Baring-Gould in 1865, and the music was composed by Arthur Sullivan in 1871. Sullivan named the tune "St Gertrude," after the wife of his friend Ernest Clay Ker Seymer, at whose country home he composed the tune. The Salvation Army adopted the hymn as its favoured processional. This piece became Sullivan's most popular hymn. The hymn's theme is taken from references in the New Testament to the Christian being a soldier for Christ, for example II Timothy 2:3 (KJV ) :  "Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ."

Now Arthur Sullivan was the son of a military bandmaster, who composed his first anthem at the age of eight, and was later a soloist in the boys' choir of the Chapel Royal. ... To supplement the income from his concert works he wrote hymns, parlour ballads, and other light pieces, and worked as a church organist and music teacher.

    LYRICS OF THE FAMOUS HYMN
“Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus going on before.
Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe;
Forward into battle see His banners go!
o Refrain:
Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus going on before.
At the sign of triumph Satan’s host doth flee;
On then, Christian soldiers, on to victory!
Hell’s foundations quiver at the shout of praise;
Brothers, lift your voices, loud your anthems raise.
Like a mighty army moves the church of God;
Brothers, we are treading where the saints have trod.
We are not divided, all one body we,
One in hope and doctrine, one in charity.
Crowns and thrones may perish, kingdoms rise and wane,
But the church of Jesus constant will remain.
Gates of hell can never ’gainst that church prevail;
We have Christ’s own promise, and that cannot fail.
Onward then, ye people, join our happy throng,
Blend with ours your voices in the triumph song.
Glory, laud, and honor unto Christ the King,
This through countless ages men and angels sing.”
……Posted by Raj Nandy of New Delhi.……

BEST WISHES FOR THE NEW YEAR 2022  ALONG WITH BEST OF HEALTH & HAPPINESS ! - RAJ NANDY , NEW DELHI, 01 JAN 2022.
( Those who are interested will find my poems on the 'Facebook' along with illustrated photographs, if you type on the search column there -''Poems by Raj Nandy'', God Bless!)

Dear friends, these are the personal reflections of a senior septuagenarian as this year draws to an end. The poem is dedicated to my contemporary John Stevens of Chicago and all my friends, with Best Wishes For the New Year 2022, – Raj Nandy, 30 Dec 2021, New Delhi.

    MY LIFE’S TRIAL BALANCE SHEET
During the *** end of my life, after collecting
data from the General Ledger of those years
gone by, I now find, -
The Debit side has overtaken the Credit side,
In the balance sheet of my life!
Here I am not speaking of those earthly treasures
which moth and dust doth corrupt,
Where thieves break through and steal!  @ (NOTES)
But of those treasures laid up in Heaven which
remain immune from such earthly contaminations.
Even though these treasures have provided me
with short- lived comfort and satisfaction!

I now speak of people who have loved and cared
for me,
Of all those whose love I had failed to reciprocate
and return.
I speak here of unrequited love!
These regrets shall forever remain, since all
our earthly possessions are finally left behind;
And in the final balance sheet of life,
Only memories of people whose love I had
taken for granted,
Now show up on my Debit side!
But within this limited time frame, gaining
‘moksh’ has become my earnest quest,
Through good actions and deeds and also  
to be blessed.
I now recall what our great teachers and
philosophers have often said,
That a wise man does not seek the treasures
of this earth,
But freedom from the eternal cycle of birth,
death, and rebirth!
                                    -Raj Nandy, New Delhi.
NOTES: @ Reference is made to the gospel of Matthew chapter 6,
verses 19-20 of the New Testament.

HERE ARE FEW REFLECTIONS IN A LIGHTER VEIN
BUT MANY A TRUE WORD IS SPOKEN IN A JEST!
We become aware how precious our teeth are,
When we start paying the dentist for the sittings by
the hour!
And so it is with our sight, hearing, and body parts,
Be it our liver, the kidney, or the heart!
The brain, our master control, also becomes forgetful
as the years go on.
Now hearing all this the **** angrily exclaimed, -
“You have totally forgotten me my dear old friend.
What if I decide to shut down from today itself?”

Now please don’t ask me about the Soul,
Since many are unaware and doubt if it exists at all !
Unfortunately, they may not come to know when alive,
And who knows if there ever going to be a next time!
Now there are other who offer 'lip service' to the Soul
just to keep it pleased.
Since they feel it is better to err on the positive side
as some doubt in their mind exists!
But there are many who do yoga and sincerely meditate,
In order to unite the Body, the Mind, and the Soul, -
in order to integrate!
                                             -Raj Nandy, New Delhi.

Dear Readers, thses are my few old memories of Calcutta from my early childhood days, after having reached the milestone on the road side reading 77.  Hope you like it ! Best wishes, - Raj, New Delhi.

REMINISCENCE OF A SENIOR SEPTUAGENARIAN
I was born in the early forties during those black and
white days,
When those big old valve radios and gramophones
records played.
The British flag was flying over Calcutta, the city of
my birth.
That first old capital of British India with its horse
and buggy, crowded buses, and tram cars.
The main streets got washed with water hoses from  
high pressured hydrants every morning,
And the lamplighter with his ladder lighted the
street gas lights every evening.
Radiograms were a status symbol, and transistor
radios had come decades later.
With rickshaws pulled manually by poor old
rickshaw pullers!
Juke Box played popular songs (during our school
days in the fifties) in ice cream parlors.
Whoever even thought of a TV or a mobile phone,
during those happy hours!
For the Bongs the theatres of north Calcutta was a
classical source of entertainment.
Eye ball contact was meaningful with a hug and a
hand shake, - life remained fully extroverted.
Unlike our present highly advanced Corona days!
No wonder I love that great old South Indian serial
titled the ‘Malgudi Days’!
Like our old songs, those golden days shall forever
remain cherished and nostalgic;
And as a part of a senior citizen’s waking dream!
Now please smile, take a selfie with your I-phone,
and go to sleep!
                                       -Raj Nandy, New Delhi.

Friends, the phrase ‘Hobson’s Choice’ originated with Thomas Hobson, a livery stable owner in Cambridge in 16th Century England, who offered customers the choice of either taking
the horse nearest to the stable door or taking none at all!
Therefore in reality he offered no choice! A Catch-22 situation, like the Devil & the Blue Sea, or the Morton’s Fork, - all meaning the same thing.                                      -Raj Nandy, New Delhi.          

              HOBSON’S   CHOICE
As explained above, this phrase means no choice
at all.
Since you are forced to choose the only offered
thing or none at all!
A Catch-22 situation when you are in the ‘horns
of a dilemma’, or ‘between the devil and the
deep blue sea’!
When caught between the two horns of a bull,
You are in the ‘horns of a dilemma’ indeed,
Quickly throw some sand in the bull’s eyes,
And run zigzag on your feet.

Now John Morton who demanded gifts for the Royal
Treasury during the 15th Century England, had
loudly proclaimed, -
That if a man lived in luxury he was rich, but if he
lived frugally, a lot of money he must have saved!
So either way to the Royal Treasury he had to pay!
This came to be known as the ‘Morton’s Fork’,
And became a well known phrase, not yet forgot.

Take care of the penny and the pound will
take care of itself, - I was repeatedly told.
So I locked up all my pennies, and spent all
my pounds, and soon became stone broke!
I was called penny wise and pound foolish,
And became the **** of many jokes!
Now, one fine morning chased by the Devil I
landed up on the edge of a high cliff by the sea;
And was offered the choice between the Devil
and The Deep Blue Sea!
I pleaded with the Devil to toss up a coin and
give me one more choice.
The devil replied, “Ok that’s fine with me but
remember before you chose, Heads I win, and
Tails You Lose, so quickly toss up and choose!”
You may well guess what happened after that
Hobson's Choice!?
                                           -Raj Nandy, New Delhi,
                                            composed on 04 July 2020.

This is a simple translation of Tagore’s Rabindra Sangeet : ‘’Akash bhora, surjo tara,’’ from his ‘Gitobitan’ – ‘Book of Songs’. Translating Tagore word by word though possible, is not advisable, because it breaks the poetic rhythm & melody of his verse! Therefore, the basic essence & meaning of his song I tried to capture along with its philosophical & inner content. Tagore, our universal poet & Noble Laureate, belonged to the reformist ‘Brahmo Samaj’, which believed in the worship of an eternal and a single formless Divine spirit which pervades the entire Universe! English poet William Wordsworth had also shared this view in many of his poems.    -Raj Nandy, New Delhi
                                                                                                                      
SKY  FULL OF SUN AND  THE
       GLITTERING STARS !
The sky is full of sun and starlight.
The entire cosmos is pulsating with life.
Within this glorious vast expanse I found
my place,
Making me to burst forth into song in
wonder and amazement of this
marvelous sight!

This world swings in the lap of time, with
its eternal ebb and flow.  
And I feel in my veins its pulsation and
beating rhythm,
As in wonder and praise my words begin
to flow!

I have walked barefoot on the grass,
While traveling through the forest path.
Startled by the fragrance of flowers,
Which gladdened my beating heart!
The song of happiness pervades all around,
And with merriment it me surrounds!

With eagerness to hear, and with eyes opened wide,
I have poured myself in the flowing river of Life.
As I sought to seek the unknown, which lies hidden
within the known, *
And which has so far eluded my sight!

This outpouring of my song in wonder and
admiration I have put to verse.
For having found my habitat and abode,
Amidst the sun and the glittering stars of this
Universe!
                                                   -Translation by Raj Nandy.
                                                     20 June 2020
NOTE: *Here we find Tagore’s mysticism which takes us on a Spiritual quest to seek the infinite in the midst of the finite; unity at the heart of all diversity; and the Divine in all beings and things of the universe! This theme recurs in Tagore’s other poems also.

Friends, this is a recently composed short reflective poem of mine, hope you like it. – Raj Nandy, July 2021, New Delhi.

       MY LIFE’S ETERNAL SONG
Please let me remain as I want to be,
I have adapted myself to remain free!
Free from the never ending clutches of
desires of this World which begets pain!
I do not regret what could not be
gained.
I have forgotten those things all the
same.
If everything could be attained,
Life would become rather dull
and mundane!
No doubt I speak here for myself.

I remain happy with whatever I have,
With whatever now  remains.
To sing my song of liberty as a Poet, -
I am not afraid!
That yawning chasam between our
desires and material gains, -
Shall forever continue to remain!
As this World continues to spin
round and round, -
Like a puppy dog trying to catch
it’s own tail!
                          -Raj Nandy, New Delhi.