Skyskapes

Day fades slowly these days,

Basking in the warmth of twilight

I allow my thoughts to wonder,

In the blink of an eye I am a thousand miles away,

Having left my messy tangled up room behind,

Intoxication sweeps over me as I gaze across a ravine,

Hearing the howls of the wolves and watching the gazelles flee,

Slowly, the scene changes and I am aboard a ship, headed for uncharted land,

Not knowing what awaits there, I can feel a pleasant cocktail of fear and excitement

All this happens in the turn of a page,

While my mom wants to engage me in conversation,

On the patio sipping a cup of coffee

And wondering if Frodo’s gonna destroy the Ring or not!

 

The Bilge Master

Holes

Hello Stranger, will you have a little wine?

I want to tell you about this hole of mine,

It’s on a hillside where the sun doesn’t shine,

Flowers do not bloom there,

And the house nearby is covered with vines,

A lady used to dwell there,

Her beauty was divine,

Her skin was snow white, her hair like summer moonshine,

I never knew a lady more fine,

But this story is about a hole; do have some more wine,

It’s six feet deep, and six feet wide,

Filled with earth and twigs and twine,

In it I’ve kept a long box with nails,

And everyday I stop there in that little vale,

And look upon the words etched on a stone,

My only wish is that I could somehow atone,

Tell me is it a sin to want her forevermore?

Come now stranger, let me tell you some more,

About the hole in my heart, that I’ve carried since yesterday and must again tomorrow

The Bilge Master

A Letter

This article is yet another in what seems to me to be a long chain of articles being written about rapes. I know it must be tiresome for you readers to be reading the rants of an eighteen year old boy, but nevertheless, this is what I feel.

 

I read an article this morning about how it’s always the woman’s fault that she gets raped. Apparently, her crimes are numerous. She drinks. She smokes. She speaks her mind on matters which are important to her. She’s got a boyfriend and hangs out with a group that has both men and women in it. She gets up in the morning and dresses in jeans to go to college or to work in a skirt. These are the crimes that have one punishment. Rape. I suppose the times have changed and we must adapt to this growing trend of ours with as much haste as possible.

 

The most recent rape case, no that’s too harsh. The most recent meting out of this lawful punishment was to a five year old girl, who was later tortured. I am told the accused, her “saviour” was later arrested, but doesn’t that make him a martyr to his most noble profession? I mean come on, we must be very thankful to the rapist. After all, he could spend so much of his time getting a job or studying so he might do his parents and relatives proud. He’s truly a great man for being unable to see the women of today  become so characterless and is truly a freedom fighter, using his “manhood” as his weapon in his crusade against women.

 

Wake up my dear policeman and officers who are supposed to uphold the law. You people are there to protect us not to let these animals escape. You have the right to kill in the line of duty. You do not have the right to make a mockery out of a woman who has come to report that her honour has been looted through no fault of her own. But no, I’m incorrect. I must be, or else why would I be reading in the newspapers about how judges in courts make victims of rape recount the trauma, word for word, blow by blow. “Did he fondle you?” “Did he have an erection? He did. Would you say the shortness of your dress was the cause of this erection? Now tell the court if you please, what time it was that he was done with you.” “You say the ambulance drivers argued about whose jurisdiction it was. Can you prove without a shadow of a doubt that you were actually raped?”

Is this for real? I feel like I’m writing a horror story right now. But you know what, that’s the tragedy. This is very real, it’s very much out there and nothing is being done about it. I wish I knew what I am going to tell my daughter when she comes and asks me the meaning of rape. Am I going to tell her that it’s the modern way for society to punish her for being born a woman? A, I going to tell her that it’s a social stigma she’s inherited, by virtue of her sex? Or am I going to tell her the truth, that rape is one of the most heinous crimes that a person can commit. It is a sin worse than murder and the person who does it is not fit to be called a human being? Either way, I'm definitely teaching her to defend herself, because it is clear to me that the people my father pays taxes to protect her will not do their job. I will teach her to keep an open mind, be frank and  to wear whatever the hell she wants to. She has that right. The right to be free. And Society, that’s the fact that you need to accept, instead of this futile drive to convert Kolkata into London.

 

With warmest regards

 

Ashesh Mitra

Welcome to Neverland

 

“She’s gone to Neverland Peter, and you can visit her anytime you want”

“How?”

“By believing”

Finding Neverland

 

Funny how when you least expect it something pops up in your mind, isn’t it? Funny how your mood swings from being outrageously happy to inconsolably sad in the blink of an eye. Funny, the power your mind has, you know. It’s your greatest gift actually…..

You know the things that your mother used to tell you only happened in the movies? They kind of stay with you. No matter how grown up you get, you always come back to that one place, in that one time which gives you that special feeling deep down within yourself, a place where I guess, it’s just you. Untethered. Unchained. Free. At peace. I call that place Neverland.

 

Yeah Neverland from Peter Pan. One of my favourite stories as a child. I mean come on it had pirates, Indians, a crocodile and a boy who (like me) refuses to grow up! I would have killed to have one day to spend with Peter!. That’s when I realised, we are ALL Peter. All of us have that one special place, that Neverland in us. We just need to find it.

 

So an obvious question guys….what or where is Neverland? The answer is anywhere you want it to be. In the pages of a book, somewhere in the verses of a song, maybe a smell you really like or the sound of someone’s voice. Anything that reminds you of a time and place where you feel content, defined…..where you feel YOU. As in the poem “Leisure”

 

“What is this life, so full of care?

We have no time to stand and stare?”

 

You see mate, when you do that, when you just stand and stare, you’ll somehow realize that there’s a lot going on even when nothing’s going on. When you do, you’ve found Neverland. Trust me, you’ll like it. Go on then. Stop reading this and LOOK!

 

The Bilge Master

The Well of Souls

Part One- The Assassin

 

He stood facing his target, one he had come many a mile to eliminate

He struck without any regret and the world was rid of another man,

Who had naught but false smiles and empty promises

On a day like any other this deed was done, in the absence of the shining Sun…

 

Part Two- Transitions

 

As the dust settled on his past life, one that was cloaked in shadows

That did dance and revel in the moonlight,

His senses left him and he felt his heart go still,

He wondered if this was what dying felt like,

Thus in the blink of an eye, the Reaper came and whispered

You are Mine…

 

Part Three- The Keeper of Souls

 

I was called to bear witness to the sins of a man,

Who was bereft of all his senses

I saw the light leave his eyes and knew then

That I had acquired yet another soul

To convey to the trial…

 

Part Four- The Boatman

 

I ferry the souls across this mystic water,

To the lands of neither mind nor matter,

But your journey will end at the cradle of the Maker,

For only he has the power to free you from Samsara

And to grant you Moksha and Nirvana…

Part Five- Oblivion

 

Journey’s end, his soul is now free

It has reached the grove of trees,

Ahead is the palatial palace and behind him waters running deep,

It is here that the Maker dwells, he makes them ready for their final journey

“Thy kingdom come Father”, the soul says

And is answered, “Be at peace my son”…

 

 

 

The Bilge Master

Directions to a New Day

 

Hey wake up mate

Let’s not let this day go to waste now

What’s wrong why so gloomy?

Aren’t you feeling groovy?

Relax, there’s never nothing going on yknow

Shake the cobwebs from your hair,

You’ve been hiding behind a rock too long,

Come with me see the sun shine

It rises up in the East each day, setting in the West,

A bit like me

I wake up and greet the day and wonder what I’m gonna do today

You know what they say, a day without laughter is one gone to waste

Come feed the rain, slake your thirst on the desert plains

Let me take away your pain, and show you how to be whole again

 

The Bilge Master

Comics!

Phew! Been a while since I blogged. Reason being college entrance exams. Thankfully the last one is on Sunday next so…..
Either way, this post is about those pages in the newspaper that I haunt, and the world refers to as the funny pages. Calvin and Hobbes, Beetle Bailey, Hagar the Horrible and of course the immortal Garfield without whom Sunday mornings are a waste man!


This inadverently brings back memries of Tintin and Snowy captive in Marlinspike Hall while Haddock sets off on a treasure hunt or Obelix and Asterix out for a little shopping


Last but not the least, welcome to the dark world of the Amadeus Arkham Asylum, where the Joker reigns supreme.


Like it or not folks, comics be here to stay!

The Bilge Master