Time to hold your head high

And never say die!

Time to take stock,

May all good things to you flock!

Time to live well,

May all things in your life beautifully jell!

Time to soar into the sky like a kite

Where there will be abundant sunshine and light.

Time to trail a blaze,

May you live up to the phrase!

Time to be kind

So that all the peace in the world may you find.

Time to revel in others’ glory

So that your own life becomes a

fascinating story!

Time to sit quiet

So that you can wake up to the inner light.

Time to say what is right

And not give up without a fight.

Time to go the whole hog

And dispel any mental fog.

Time to converse with your soul

So that you can know the truth whole.

Time for all these things and much more

So that you can bring your best to the fore!

Arun Bhagat

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It is a wonderful land, the land of the living skies,

Aptly described and proudly proclaimed even from car number plates!

It is a land where skies are alive from early morn till late eve,

Beckoning you with a seductive blue- It is surely a blue to die for!-

Or with translucent snow-white clouds floating by

Or with dark ominous ones rushing in from their mysterious abode every now and then!

Whether the rain clouds bring rain or hail or just gusts of cold winds

Depends on their mood or whim.

But what is certain is that clouds will mostly be around,

Engrossed in their play in the skies,

Weaving intricate patterns and their magic web all the time, Scattering ineffable beauty and amazing colours at dawn and dusk as they come and go.

Their unrelenting roller-coaster ride up in the skies

Speaks of the ceaseless crests and troughs and highs and lows of our ives

With daubs of heart-warming beauty thrown in for good measure!

And so the living skies that have been around for millennia

Become a part of the cosmic drama

That unfolded itself eons ago

And continues its enigmatic journey to this day!

Dedicated to Saskatchewan, Canada, which is also called The Land Of The Living Skies and which we were fortunate enough to visit some years ago

Arun Bhagat

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उमदा और ख़ूबसूरत रिश्तों की बात ही कुछ और होती है!

वे होते हैं सर्दी की पीली धूप में खिले ख़ुशनुमा फूलों की तरह,

वे होते हैं ताज़ी मीठी हवाओं के लहराते झोंकों की तरह,

वे चमकते हैं जाढ़े की नम ओस के मोतियों की तरह,

वे होते हैं एक मासूम बच्चे की बेबाक़ खिखिलाती हँसी की तरह,

वे होते हैं नर्म गुदगुदाते एहसासों की मानिंद,

वे होते हैं सुंदर सावन में पंख फैला नाचते मोर की तरह,

वे पुलकित करते हैं सुबह के एक रोमांचक सपने की तरह,

वे होते हैं बेशक़ीमती अनमोल हीरों सरीखे,

वे होते हैं दिल में उठने वाली एक मीठी हूक की तरह।

वे होते हैं हमें अपनी जाँ से भी ज़्यादा प्यारे,

वे सच में होतें हैं इस दुनिया में सबसे न्यारे,

और बेशक उनसे ही होते हैं हमारे वारे न्यारे।

वही करते सही मायनों में हमें मालामाल,

वही रखते सच में हमें ज़िंदा सालों साल!

वो ही देते हैं हमारी ज़िंदगी को मायने,

उनके सिवा दिखाए कौन हमें आइने?

वही देते हैं हमारी ज़िंदगी को नए आयाम,

बस यही है हमारा उनके लिए प्यार भरा पैग़ाम!

अरुण भगत

If one day you don’t feel like talking to anyone,

Call me.

We will be silent.

Silently together we will navigate the mysteries of life,

Silently will we try to solve its riddles.

Silently will we bond together

And bask together in the warm glow of that bond.

Silently will we listen to each other’s pain

And silently reach out to each other for succour.

Silently will we hold each other’s hands

With the full-blooded consciousness

That only such hand-holding will take us all through life’s choppy waters.

Silently will we cherish that moment

Knowing that the sacredness of that moment is all.

Silently will we traverse the universe within

Knowing full well that what we see outside is

Just a reflection of what resides inside ,

And thus together will we embark on

A silent journey to know ourselves.

Arun Bhagat

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( with the acknowledgement that the first four lines have been borrowed from Gabriel Garcia Marquez whose amazing observation triggered my own thought process and flow of feelings)

For any stranger that comes calling, keep the table warm,

That is what will to your life add beauty and charm!

For anyone who hobbles past your door,

Lend him a helping hand and do something more!

For anyone who bares before you his broken soul,

Do all that you can to once again make it whole!

For anyone who has abandoned all hope

And in frightening darkness does grope,

Show him at the end of the tunnel the light,

Help him shrug off his angst and fright

So that he returns to life with a spark in his eyes

Because you have saved him from dying many times before he dies!

Nurture someone’s spirit , don’t let it wilt,

It is of such stuff that God’s real temple is built!

Arun Bhagat

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When the layers of your personality you peel off,

You are likely to come across a lot that is dross!

We have to ourselves a darker side,

Which often does its time bide

Before coming every now and then to the fore,

Leading us to despicable ways

That cloud and darken our days!

This darker side often us into the web of evil does suck,

It can land us into inextricable muck,

It can rain ruin and damnation,

It can park us pat in the middle of moral stagnation,

It can be a huge impediment in the way of our salvation!

Even knowing all this, we walk into its insidious trap

Because of temptation it wears the seductive wrap

Before which all talk of right and good seems just crap!

Evil has its own insidious charm,

So too often we embrace it with a wicked delight and without any qualm!

Of the many ironies of life, this is one,

But for many of us it is a deal that is sealed and done!

Arun Bhagat

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Master your mind

If lasting peace you want to find!

Control every runaway desire

That your greed and lust does fire!

Into your psyche go deep,

Let some wisdom into it seep!

Probe the insidious working of your mind

And quite some evil there you will find!

The rot within might take you by surprise,

But cleaning the Augean stables will surely you energise!

Do not flinch from seeing in the mirror your real self

Whose ugliness can not be hidden by any possible power and pelf!

Learn to look your shabbiness squarely in the eye,

If a better life you wish to live and a better person you want to die!

Do not be taken in by your deceiving treacherous mind

Which makes you believe that a better person than you it is difficult to find!

Arun Bhagat

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दिल है कि मानता नहीं,

बाँवरा है, कुछ जानता नहीं!

कभी इधर दौड़े,कभी उधर भागे,

पूछो,”क्यों चैन नहीं तुझे, अभागे?”

क्यों चाहे यह हर व्यंजन खाना,

क्यों चाहे है सब कुछ पाना,

क्यों यह हँसता, क्यों यह रोता,

क्यों मौज की नींद नहीं यह सोता,

क्यों जब डर से यह बैठा जाता,

क्यों तब कुछ इसे नहीं है भाता?

क्यों यह सारी दुनिया घूमे,

क्यों यह मस्त पवन सा झूमे,

फिर कभी यह क्यों जाए मुरझा,

और कोई इसे न पाए समझा?

अबोध बालक सा हर खिलौना माँगे,

न दिलाएँ तो सूली पर टाँगे!

बोले यह,”चित भी मेरी, पट भी मेरी,

मुझे झेलना, क़िस्मत तेरी!”

मन का यही झमेला है, मन की यही रीत,

जिस ने मन पर क़ाबू पाया, है बस उसी की जीत!

अरुण भगत

When you dispel from your mind ill-will and hate,

You build for yourself a good fate!

When you listen to voices sane,

You let upon yourself blessings rain!

When you see through your ego and conceit,

You are able to transcend a life of deceit!

When to the universe you open out your heart,

Rest assured you have on the stage of life played well your part!

When you attach no conditions to your good deeds,

Your calls and prayers the Almighty certainly heeds!

When to whatever you do you give your all,

In the universal scheme of things you stand tall!

When you refuse to succumb to the seductions of the evil inside you,

A great service to yourself you surely do!

When to every moment you are alive,

You have found for yourself the way to prosper and thrive!

If to keep your balance in life, you keep moving,

You will find yourself to the cosmic rhythm grooving!

Arun Bhagat

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वक़्त अच्छा भी आएगा,

फिर सब कुछ भाएगा,

फिर बजेगी मन की तार,

फिर थिरकेंगे पाँव,

फिर झूमेगी मस्त पवन

सपनों की होगी उन्मुक्त उड़ान,

लहराएँगे उम्मीदों के फिर परचम!

बस्तियाँ होंगी फिर आबाद,

फिर कहकहे गूंजेंगे,

फिर महफ़िलों के दौर चलेंगे,

फिर सजेंगी बारातें,

फिर मिलेंगे हम सब गले

जब मौत के मंडराते सायों से

हम आख़िर होंगे आज़ाद!

जो हमसे बिछुड़ गए हैं

उन्हें करेंगे नमन सादर

और फिर बढ़ जाएँगे

इस जीवन पथ पर

गले लगाने एक नयी सुबह को,

भरने नये नये रंग

नये जोश के संग!

अरुण भगत