"Life and Living" (2006)
We try to search frantically, for a moment of solitude,
In a life racing against time to reach a high altitude.
As you sit beside your life, watching it hop, skip and run,
Do you remember when you last had pure, unadulterated fun.
Busy earning a living, we have forgotten how to live.
When nature has been there all through, ready to give.
Birds, flowers, sunshine and the marine treasures,
Bring with them a whole world of divine pleasures.
We have taken refuge in vitamins, treadmilled to walk miles,
When just a morning stroll could bring health and smiles.
We pride on the scientists reaching the craters on the moon,
When we see the same on the road, every morning and noon.
We have at our disposal, gadgets and facilities galore,
When our previous generations had the same in folk lore.
With all the things we need, available in natural abundance,
We have become slaves of manufactured and marketed indulgence.
For the father of the nation, non-violence was an irreplaceable boon,
But to remind us of him, we require a lovelorn roadside goon.
I am speaking about Munnabhai, in case you did not know,
In front of such an uneducated scholar, real ones take a bow.
When things are measured by accurately calculated magnitude,
We have no time for expressing genuinely heartfelt gratitude.
Would we rather just exist or live fully is a choice to make.
Before the wheels of our time get halted by the heavenly brake.
While we have the time let us thank those for whom it is due,
We are helped by many others. It’s always us, not just me or you.
A lot can be gained by reclaiming the simple joys of living.
Everyone knows to take, let us master the fine art of giving.
