Mr. And Mrs. Mouse - A Poem

 

Mr. Mouse married Miss Mouse. He brought her to his house; to lead a “happy” life, with his beautiful wife .... Read how their marriage progresses ...

Mr. And Mrs. Mouse

Mr. Mouse married Miss Mouse.

He brought her to his house;

To lead a “happy” life

With his beautiful wife.

Mr. Mouse was rather lazy.

After marriage, he also became crazy.

First, Mrs. Mouse enjoyed the favour,

Then, she lost her temper.

One morning, she began to shout,

“Mend your ways or get out ….”

Poor, dear Mr. Mouse !

He had to leave his house.

Mr. Mouse began to earn for a living,

He, also, became hard-working.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Mouse was in trouble.

Life, to her, was a lonely struggle.

One day, when she slept quietly,

A cat crept in swiftly.

The watchman Dog came just then,

Seeing him, away the cat ran.

Mrs. Mouse felt sad and scared,

“Oh ! Can these miseries not be ended ?”

She dressed herself and went to Mr. Mouse

To bring him back to ‘his’ house.

She felt sorry for being impertinent,

And made up her mind to be loving and patient.

Mr. Mouse came back, gladly,

For, he had also suffered badly.

- Vanita Thakkar (written sometime in the first half of 1984)

Memories about this poem ....

My friend, Shipra Mathur and I, were classmates and bench-mates, studying in seventh standard (seventh grade) in the Central School (Kendriya Vidyalaya - 1 (K V - 1), Vadodara).

My passion for reading and writing was known. Shipra wanted to see me write a poem. I agreed. We sat down and I started writing.

During those days, in our English lessons, we were studying the nonsense poem - The Owl and the Pussy Cat, by Edward Lear.

So, I thought of writing a nonsense poem. And this poem - Mr. and Mrs. Mouse - is what came up. We laughed and laughed as I wrote the poem.

Shipra loved the poem. She took it home and made her little brother memorize it. He recited it at an upcoming poetry recitation competition at his school and won the first prize.

That was great joy for all of us !!

 

© 2021 Vanita Thakkar

The Sculptor - A Poem

 

 

The Sculptor

A sigh of grief slipped out

As he got the blow;

The Sculptor too was moved

And tears began to flow.

But, tenderness was to be checked

For, the piece He was to create

Would otherwise remain incomplete;

So, he went on, contained and sedate.

Don’t you lament, oh statue !

For, the hard blows you are getting

Are to teach you to endure

And to carve your being.

Pleasing hue to be loved by all

Is the gift of these hardships.

So, try to bear the woe

With a smile on your lips.

- Vanita Thakkar (23.07.1988)

This is one of my old poems, written in school days. I had written this poem when my English class was going on. My friend sitting next to me was anxious that I would get caught. Fortunately, I wrote it without getting caught and both - my friend and I, were happy.

 

© 1988Vanita Thakkar

THE QUEST : Some Thoughtlets, Thought Waves ....

Perceptions Steer Relationships - In Professional As Well As Personal Life .... Clarity; Focus On Merits, Principles And Objectives Of Common, Higher Interests Is Essential ....

The Quest ....

Whatever I see of you in you

Is but an image of myself,

Because even though my eyes look outwards,

I am continuously searching myself all round.

Short-comings of the other person

As seen by me –

They may be my beliefs

Or may be a proof of my short-sightedness.

How to know that

Someone is proud, jealous .... ?

It may be our doubt.

What is the need of judging others ?

Why bother about others’ short-comings ?

From all that I have seen of myself and others,

Judgments have more to do with the person who judges

Than with the person who is being judged.

Sometimes, the shortcomings or drawbacks

Which we think others have

Are the reflections of

Our own drawbacks in them.

So, whenever, one feels that

The other person lacks so and so,

Instead of worrying about that person,

One should check one’s own self first.

- Vanita Thakkar (04-06-1991 - from my old diary)

 

Superimposition of one's own fault on someone else to justify one's possessiveness to one's preferences, is an example of one of the "Klesha"s (afflictions) described in the Patanjal Yoga Sutra (classical text on Yoga by Sage Patanjali), which creates havoc in administrative systems as well as relationships ....

In administrative systems, focus on Merits and Principles is essential and in relationships, Love is the essence.

- Vanita Thakkar (21-08-2017)

Life begins as a quest of the child for the man, and ends as a journey by the man to rediscover the child.

- Sam Ewing.

The real reason for a quest is always self-knowledge.

- Thomas C. Foster

From HubPages .... Published on 29th July, 2020.

The Mirror - A Parable On Human Ignorance ....

 

Life is a continuous process of regaining lost faith and maintaining it ....

THE MIRROR ....

Once, along with many other gifts,

Life placed a lovely mirror in my hands.

It was beautiful and reflective.

I held it before myself

And gazed at the reflection in it.

I liked it so much

That I started examining minutely

Every curve of the beautiful image it reflected.

While doing so,

I came across an ugly, undesirable curve.

There were some more such curves.

There was also

A thin layer of dust on the mirror.

I did not like their presence

And in order to remove them,

I scratched the mirror’s surface.

One scratch, two scratches ....

The curves did not vanish,

Nor was I able to

Wipe out the layer of dust completely,

But my dear mirror’s beauty,

Its reflectiveness was marred.

And suddenly,

I realized how delicate it was !

“Oh my dear mirror !

My dearest, delicate mirror !

I don’t want to loose you !”

My heart gave an anxious cry.

I clasped it – my dearest, delicate mirror !

I held it tight against myself.

CRASH !!

Alas !

My grip broke my mirror !

Tearfully, I saw its broken pieces

Lying on the floor

In a pool of my heart’s blood.

- Vanita Thakkar (from my old diary - written some time in 1992)

Life is a continuous process of regaining lost faith and maintaining it ....

- Vanita Thakkar

“A true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that is holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life.”

– Elizabeth Gilbert

“The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.”

– Sydney J. Harris

From HubPages .... Published on 27th July, 2020

Two Poems on Tomorrow - Who Has Ever Seen Tomorrow .... ??!! And Tomorrow's Today

.... Tomorrow Will Be Today, Tomorrow, Who has ever seen Tomorrow .... ??!! .... .... Now, on hand, Ever slipping .... Make the most of it, To Make Tomorrow's Today Blest and Lit.

Who Has Ever Seen Tomorrow .... ??!!

Yesterday was tomorrow

The day before,

Today was tomorrow,

Yesterday,

Tomorrow will be today,

Tomorrow,

Who has ever seen

Tomorrow .... ??!!

Who has ever seen

Tomorrow .... ??!!

- Vanita Thakkar (23-03-2021)

Tomorrow's Today

The string of Time

Rolls on and on,

Gone, ever gone,

Coming, ever coming,

Now, on hand,

Ever slipping ....

Make the most of it,

To make

Tomorrow's Today

Blest and Lit.

- Vanita Thakkar (23-03-2021)

Reflections ....

Tomorrow is a dream, an aspiration, an uncertainty - that arouses many feelings including, hope, curiosity, inspiration, apprehension and so on. It is on the farther side of the flow of Time, always presenting itself as the present and moving on to become past .... What we have on hand is today - now - the present .... And a lo...ng trail of unchangeable past that keeps adding up every moment also has to be handled by learning, enjoying and obtaining strength and inspiration from the memories, letting go and moving ahead ....

- Vanita Thakkar (25-03-2021)

This is in response to the word prompt challenge by fellow author and poetess Brenda Arledge on Tomorrow ....

This word prompt - Tomorrow - also reminds of a very famous Doha by the great Saint Kabir on the importance of overcoming the usual, mundane laziness of postponing important tasks to the morrow ....

Kaal Kare So Aaj Kar, Aaj Kare So Ab,

Pal Mein Paralay Hoegee, Bahuree Karegaa Kab.

Meaning :

Better do (the work) today than tomorrow, better do (the work) now than today.

Destruction / Doom takes just a moment to occur, when will you accomplish (your work) ?

About Doha ....

Doha is a very old "verse-format" of Indian poetry. It is an independent verse, a couplet, the meaning of which is complete in itself, that consists of rhyming couplets made up of twenty-four syllables each, composed in Mātrika metre.

Links to some Doha Songs available online ....

Kabir Amritvaanee - Some Popular Doha of Sant Kabir - The Doha Kaal Kare So Aaj Kar .... starts at 05:53 minutes in this compilation (just for information)

Doha from the Ramayana by Sant Tulsidasji - absolutely beautiful, divine music.

From HubPages .... Published on 25th March, 2021

The Shadow - A Poem

 

Shadows are a part of our existence. They nurture us, teach us and stay with us till we last, like past ....

The Shadow

We march into the future,

Venturing through the present,

Leaving behind everything on the way –

Moment after moment, day after day.

All the time during this journey,

We are ensued by the Shadow of Past.

Step by step, as we move ahead,

It remains with us, till we last.

- Vanita Thakkar (10.07.1988)

This is another old poem of mine. I wrote it as a higher secondary student, contemplating on the flow of time. Future moves from present to past. What we are and what we do in the present becomes past and leads us to future.

I had written two poems on similar lines of thoughts much later, on HubPages, inspired by Brenda Arledge's word prompt - Tomorrow. The link to those poems is ....

https://vanitathakkar.blogspot.com/2026/02/blog-post.html