The Pretend Fair!

Will you come with me to the pretend fair today
Where the horses are pink and blue and stray
And all that lies in my fantasy
Are ready to dish and serve out in a tray

The gatekeeper laughs and counts me in
and the jokers they cry all day
and it seems like there's nothing wrong with me
Its all just part of this day

How funny this brain it pretends to be
It divulges only what I ever want to see
And the pretend fair is just a reflection of mind
like a cow that jumped over the tree

Will you come to the -  pretend fair with me
I'll show how fantasies and dreams could play
and all that is counted as dusted and done
are just all alive and tad happy and gay

I'll show you the mount which talks about dreams
and I'll show you the river that talks in a funny way
I'll show you the forest that goes spooky at nights
and pretends to be friendly by day

I'll show you the rocks that gleam in the sun
and moan in darkness by night
I'll show you how the little lark that calls
and shrills away into the horizon of light

Will you come today to the pretend fair with me
where the nights are as lively as day
And when you're alone with not even a stone
you can just with the air around play

The fairies they call for those who lost all hope
and the pipers they call for the lost
and the creepers they creep and into rocks seep
and the light just melts away frost

No man would venture here without an escort
It can have its own mighty perils you know
But a dream is a dream that only can be seen
and when its done you are just shown the door

Will you come and search for the pretend fair with me
I search and i search in a haze
and that's when my mum throws at the best of her aims
a pale full of water in place!

Happy Independence Day! and all that Jazz...

Before we get into anything else... Wish you a very happy independent life ahead in a very independent democratic country!

So whats it like to be free? Do what your heart says, do what you think is right within moral agreements and have the power to exercise your rights in matters that affect you directly. Thats what most freedom fighter wanted, and thats what we want today. I think we are all on the same page till here.

What of course changed from then till now is the context. What the heart said then was different from what it says now. What were moral agreements then, are very different from now. And the meaning of exercising ones rights have different connotations every single time. So how do we say that we are free?

Lets just think about this for a moment. Those who fought for freedom wanted a country free from being dependant on a set of people to exercise ones rights. Are we there yet? Does giving a bribe to a cop, or for a gas connection or for a driving license count as freedom? No it does not. But back then someone had their rules here. Now there are rules, but we are 'free' to break the laws. We dont like 'rules'. We didnt like the British 'rule' and now we dont like Government 'rules'.

We talk about morals and how 'moral policing' should stop. But for whom? For people who are ready to pay for things if they can avoid standing in a line? You can blame the ones on the other side for taking it, but didnt you give them the bad habit? You want the PM to be in the Lokpal Bill so that you can catch his collar, since in the guise of crores of rupees dealt with in one scam, we can camouflage the zillion petty scams we are involved in day-in and day-out. So yes, morals have changed. We get angry with Pramod Muthalik for policing the wrong things, but we are happy that such people exist, since the pay-off is that no one will question you for the 100 bucks you paid the cop for not wearing a helmet (for your own safety!!)

That leaves us with what our heart says. I leave that to you. But with the background I have shown you, you might want to re-think where your integrity lies. Its easy to have candle-light marches and facebook campaigns. But is there anyone going to the places that need to be cleaned up?

This Independence Day, change the way you look at things. Dont blame everything on others so that you can justify yourself. Change the way you look at how your country works. Change the way you live.

Jai Hind!

6701

once upon a time i took a little trip

where no paths tread and no one went

with friends i love and dreams anew

where time on worries were never spent

we took our old and brought in new

memories refreshed and moments dwelled

we thought that life could never end

like an endless rhythm in an endless song

we laughed and sang and called out to skies

in little joys we spent the oceanful of dreams

once upon time i took a little trip

in alleys dark and hours wee

with friends who knew me better than me

and allies strong and alliances steep

the moments spent still dance away

like the dazzle of a technicolour dream