LEGACY-11 at Salarjang Musseum, Hyderabad

यादो से तेरी दूर ना करे .....

यादो से तेरी दूर ना करे .....

वक़्त मुझे इतना भी मजबूर ना करे,
कम से कम यादो से तेरी दूर ना करे.
शोहरते बदल देती है रिश्तो के मायने,
मुकद्दर मुझे इतना भी मशहूर ना करे.
कम से कम यादो से तेरी दूर ना करे.
दौलत ,तरक्की या फिर कामयाबीया मेरी ,
ये वक़्त की ऊंचाईया मगरूर ना करे.
कम से कम यादो से तेरी दूर ना करे.
जुदाई भी दी है उन्होने तौफे में 'शफक' ,
कैसे भला कोई इसे मंजूर ना करे.
कम से कम यादो से तेरी दूर ना करे.

ऐ पतंग !!

ऐ पतंग उड़ जा तुझे सन्देश मेरा लेकर जाना हँ,
सात समंदर पार हँ कोई, इसे वहां तक पहुँचाना हँ
चाहे कितनी ही बाधाएं बीच राह मैं तुमको आयें,
चाहे कितने चक्रवात भी बीच राह मैं तुम्हे डराए
मत होना तुम विचलित तुमको आगे ही बढ़ते जाना हँ,
सात समंदर पार हँ कोई, इसे वहां तक पहुँचाना हँ
कहना उसे छोर दूजे पर, ऐसे कई लोग रहते हैं,
जो हर पल हर उत्सव के दिन, याद तुम्हें जी भर करते हैं
छत पर बैठ पतंग देखना, याद तुम्हें भी आता होगा,
अपनों संग त्यौहार मनाना, आज भी तुम्हें भाता होगा,
जाने किस दिन तुम नन्हे संग, देश अपने वापिस आओगी
और बैठ कर साथ हमारे, खीच लापसी तुम खाओगी
जब वो तुमको छू लेगी तब, मन खुशियों से भर जायेगा
और मेरा सन्देश मेरी उस अपनी को भी मिल जायेगा

Me with my friend at Mehboob Nagar

Poems on India

"Where the mind is without fear

and the head is held high;

Where knowledge is free;

Where the world has not been

broken up into fragments by

narrow domestic walls;

Where words come out from

the depth of truth;

Where tireless striving stretches

its arms towards perfection;

Where the clear stream of reason

has not lost its way into the dreary

desert sand of dead habit;

Where the mind is lead forward by thee

into ever-widening thought and action-

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father,

let my country awake."

"Geetanjali"

- Rabindranath Tagore

Better than Heaven or Arcadia

I love thee, O my India!

And thy love I shall give

To every brother nation that lives.

God made the Earth;

Man made confining countries

And their fancy-frozen boundaries.

But with unfound boundless love

I behold the borderland of my India

Expanding into the World.

Hail, mother of religions, lotus, scenic beauty,and sages!

Thy wide doors are open,

Welcoming God's true sons through all ages.

Where Ganges, woods, Himalayan caves, and

men dream God -

I am hallowed; my body touched that sod.

- Swami Yogananda Paramhansa

Is there ought you need that my hands withhold,

Rich gifts of raiment or grain or gold?

Lo ! I have flung to the East and the West

Priceless treasures torn from my breast,

And yielded the sons of my stricken womb

To the drum-beats of the duty, the sabers of doom.

Gathered like pearls in their alien graves

Silent they sleep by the Persian waves,

Scattered like shells on Egyptian sands,

They lie with pale brows and brave, broken hands,

they are strewn like blossoms mown down by chance

On the blood-brown meadows of Flanders and France.

Can ye measure the grief of the tears I weep

Or compass the woe of the watch I keep?

Or the pride that thrills thro' my heart's despair

And the hope that comforts the anguish of prayer?

And the far sad glorious vision I see

Of the torn red banners of victory?

when the terror and the tumult of hate shall cease

And life be refashioned on anvils of peace,

And your love shall offer memorial thanks

To the comrades who fought on the dauntless ranks,

And you honour the deeds of the dauntless ones,

Remember the blood of my martyred sons!

The Gift of India

- Sarojini Naidu

I am still me !!

Look at me
I am still me
I may not look or act like I did years ago, But I am still me.

When I am scared,
I may cry
I may wander.
Reassure me, talk with me.

When I am frustrated,
I may scream
I may strike out.
Let me know I am safe, explain to me what I should do.

When I am cold or hungry,
I may yell
I may be restless.
Help me find comfort, ask me what I like to eat.

Look at me.
I am still me.
I just need your help now to guide me,
to comfort me.
BUT I AM STILL ME

--Erika K. Salmeron, RN
Nurse Manager of Dementia Unit
2006

Timeless Valentine

As time goes by from year to year,
One thing is surely true, my dear;
Though decades come and decades go,
Just seeing you sets me aglow.

Time shifts my body; I start to sag,
When I pass a mirror, it can make me gag.
My joints all ache; I can hardly move;
Still a smile from you, and I'm in the groove.

Getting older can be a pain,
But with you along, I can't complain.
Despite the things that we go through,
I know I'll never stop loving you.

Your loving heart turns life to play,
As we laugh at time from day to day.
So I write this poem, and I'll hang my sign,
Saying, "Always Be My Valentine."