Essentials of Living: Meenakshi Mohan

Hope is like Sun, which, as we journey towards it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us ….

Samuel Smiles

 

Fear Not

You came from a town in Wuhan,

flapping your bloated, venomous wings,

overshadowing the world

with fear, distress and calamity.

You signed your name with blood

in the world’s history.

You stopped travels, businesses, social gatherings,

confined billions in their homes,

robbed them of their freedom,

caused many causalities.

The world shriveled with your name,

COVID

Like Raktabeej, you had many fangs.

You may dance your devil dance as much as you want --

***

 

But fear not!

You cannot defeat humanity.

The modern Kali has appeared in many Avatars:

Scientists, researchers, pharma companies, doctors, nurses

and all those who make life moving

with their dedication and sacrifices.

Your fangs are already getting weaker,

watch and see how you are erased from the face of the earth.

 

You will be just a small dot in the books.

You came and left defeated.

Our songs rhyme with Victor Hugo:

Winter is on my head,

but eternal Spring is in my heart.

 

Notes: 

            Raktabeej Blood-seed) – a demon.  Every drop of his blood that touched the ground recreated a fiercer version of him.

Kali – the dark Goddess entered the battleground with her hair unbound, crackling like a hag with her tongue spread out sucked all the blood from Raktabeej before it spilled on the floor, and thus freed the earth from the terrors of this demon.

copyright@meenakshi mohan January 24, 2022

***

God gives me hills to climb and strength for climbing ….

Arthur Guiterman

 

I learned many Things

Dear COVID

I learned many things:

 

I am on a raft in the ocean,

a huge tide comes.

Ah! I am not going to drown,

as learned to ride the tide.

 

You came to chain the world,

stop travels, human contacts,

but I learned we can connect with people

all over the world –

find lost relatives and friends

in the remote corners.

 

You spread your many fangs

and thought you can terrorize the world with constant fear.

But research in medicines and technology

accelerated the process of innovation.

And I learned how you are getting weaker and weaker.

 

You thought you could stop businesses

and create havoc in the financial world,

I learned how we can create home offices

and work and hire more people across the globe.

 

You thought you could erase beauty

from the face of the earth

by casting shadows of your ugly, hideous countenance,

but I learned we can build more on our inner strength.

Art, music, writing, and spirituality has become a part of our lives.

 

Today, as I join and raise my hands in reverence,

I notice my fingers pointing upwards to Heaven,

and I feel a platonic energy and strength fill my heart.

I feel assured the good will win over evil.

 

So, COVID, leave and let the world be in peace.

***

[Illustrations by Diane Simmons, are taken from the book, The Rebirth of the Demon, published by Third Eye Butterfly Press (2021).]

Meenakshi Mohan, Ed.D.

Dr. Meenakshi Mohan is an educator, art critic, children’s writer, painter, and poet.  She has taught at universities in Chicago, Boston, and, more recently, for Towson University in Maryland.  Her specialization is Early Childhood Leadership and Advocacy.  She has published widely in this area and presented numerous papers and workshops. Her book reviews, art critics, interviews, and poems regularly appear in different journals and anthologies. She has been listed twice in the Who is Who Among American Teachers. She authored three children’s picture books, The Rainbow in My Room, The Gift, and The Rebirth of the Demon.  In addition, she edited Tamam Shud, poems of Kshitij Mohan and coedited a book of poems for children. She recently had a solo exhibit of her paintings in Potomac, Maryland. Some of her artworks are selected for the book covers.  She is on the Editorial Team for Inquiry in Education, a peer-reviewed journal published by National Louis University, Chicago, Illinois. Meenakshi lives in the USA.  www.meenakshimohan.com

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Setu, January 2021