Tilak Amitava Chowdhury

I was reading Mahabharata, one of the greatest epics ever written. There are so many things I find still relevant today as they were during the rule of the Kurus. One of the things that caught my mind was the succession plan and the way kings retired in those days. They handed over the reins of the kingdom to the heir and retired in the forests amidst austerity. In other words, you slowed down the machine called human body by forcing it to consume less, to lose yourself in search of spirituality and you offered yourself in the company of people who were of your age. Then happened consumerism. The thirties became the new twenties and the forties became the new thirties. So on and so forth. And thus humanity's struggle with age to look younger and sexier began. The rise of cosmetic world overshadowed the spiritual world. We may now be a fine looking corpse today. But it is assured that we will be corpses one day. We still have not found a solution to that. Consumerism has led us

I find you beautiful not because you are good looking I find you beautiful because your eyes share the same pain I see in my own I find you gorgeous because you wear the look of a fellow traveller longing for the train to arrive in the station soon I find you irresistable because I see the fountains of joy that soothes my heart in your eyes as you look at me I find you stunning because you are imperfect and scarred just like me Let's share this life Whatever little is left of it Let's laugh and cry together Let's celebrate the scars and toast the time together as finally we have the chance to be with each other Let's not give up now Let's not wait another lifetime to quench the thirst our souls feel for each other Comeon let's approach the future together Like a pack of wolves chasing a prey And let's feast on moments we conquer  for ourselves...

I'm tired of this eternal conflict Between dreams and reality Between fantasy and facts Between what I want from the world and what the world wants from me I want to run away from all this Go to a place where I can be me Not the images world believes I am I'm tired of this pretence.... Why is it so difficult to find the simplest things in life Pleasure , love and tranquility? Why can't the soul be drenched with fulfilment? Why can't my soul be light like a feather Floating freely from place to place Garnering experiences the heart seeks? Why can't I just play in the rain like a child for hours? Why do worries bow my head down? Why can't I find solace in the company of the beloved The one who torments my waking moments and dreams Too many conflicts and too many hurdles Too many riddles and unfinished puzzles Corroding my soul with endless worries Killing me from within like termites .. I desire the forbidden fruits I long for the pilgrimag