Sunday, 26 January 2020

Re: [www.keralites.net] Re: [aryayouthgroup] HINDUISM NOT BEING TAUGHT IN INDIAN SCHOOLS

 

James Kinney- The Cold Within

The poem "The Cold Within", is about six people who by coincidence are stuck in the cold with a burning fire whose flame is about to burn out if one of the six people does not put their stick of wood inside the fire.

All the people in the poem are from different backgrounds and religions making it hard for any person to put his stick into the fire because of their grudges towards the other members in the groups' affiliations. 

A very poignant piece of prose, especially in today's increasingly jingoistic, divisive n fanatical world ... sharing coz I love the piece for it's artistry and topicalism

The Cold Within

Six humans trapped by happenstance
In dark and bitter cold
Each possessed a stick of wood--
Or so the story's told.

Their dying fire in need of logs,
But the first one held hers back,
For,of the faces around the fire,
She noticed one was black.

The next one looked cross the ways
Saw one not of his church,
And could not bring himself to give
The fire his stick of birch.

The third one sat in tattered clothes
 He gave his coat a hitch,
 Why should his log be put to use
To warm the idle rich?

The rich man just sat back and thought
Of wealth he had in store,
And keeping all that he had earned
From the lazy, shiftless poor..

The black man's face bespoke revenge
As the fire passed from his sight,
For he saw in his stick of wood
A chance to spite the white.

And the last man of this forlorn group
Did nought except for gain,
Giving just to those who gave
Was how he played the game,

Their sticks held tight in death's stilled hands
Was proof enough of sin;
They did not die from cold without --
They died from cold within.


On Mon, 27 Jan 2020, 08:48 G.G. Krishnan, <krishnan.gg@gmail.com> wrote:
Ramblings of the Rambunctious Rowdy

"Deadly" Dilemma

 

I was thinking of "Life", "Death" and "After Death". Life and Death did not interest me as much as "After Death".

 

I could not decide where I wanted to go after completing my earthly sojourn.

 

No, the choice was certainly not between Heaven and Hell or Jannath and Jahannam or Swarg and Narag. I certainly did not want to be deep fried in burning oil. It had to be either Heaven or Jannath or Swarg/Indra Lok. I had no clue where the Jews, Budhists, Jains etc. went after death and since they were only minorities in the world, I felt that my choice had to be between a Christian Heaven or an Islamic Jannat or the Hindu Swarg/Indra Lok.

 

I was told that the journey to paradise in all the religions began while on the earth itself and I had to prepare for the same when alive. Seemed a bit ridiculous but nevertheless I felt it was worth trying since I was not sure about the length of my tenure in Paradise.

 

While one religion proclaimed that I had to accept that I was a sinner and repent to be permitted entry to Heaven, another said that I had to do good "Karma" to reach there and yet another said that I had to just chop off the heads of a few infidels in the name of Allah and I will be well on my way to Jannath. The last option in realty seemed easy enough except that I may be forced to experience Jahannum on earth for a long time before moving to Jannath post death. In any case there seemed to be a wide variety of routes to Paradise.

 

However, before I embarked on the route I wanted to know what was on offer at the "various" Paradises viz.. the other side of death.

 

"Heaven" did not seem attractive enough as there were those dumb Angels and Messengers of Gods just floating around among the clouds and I had to do nothing other than watching them wave their wands stupidly. There just did not seem to be anything worthwhile to do there. In any case I have enough of turbulence flying by plane while on earth itself and did not feel like floating in the fluffy cotton any more post my demise.

 

The Swarg or Indra Lok also did not have much to offer other than watching live performance of Apsara and Menaka in the presence of Indra, the God of Indra Lok. I felt that earth offered much more variety than this and the price that had to be paid in terms of good karma on earth seemed a bit high considering that at best I could only have a balcony view of the dancers' performance in Indra Lok. At the end of performance I was sure that the danseuses would not oblige me but only retire with Indra. So Indra Lok was not my pick either.

 

That left only Jannat and I felt like having a preview before choosing the same. Wow!! 72 virgins all waiting and I with a heaving chest was rearing to go. It did seem a good proposition and the entry price also seemed reasonable. I set about preparing in right earnest but the procedure for going there seemed a bit strange. Apart from separating a few necks from their torsos, I had to also sheer off a bit of my skin to qualify myself. It did seem a bit painful but I decided to reserve that for the last leg of my life on earth. Of course, I also had to pray that my wife on earth did not appear again as one of the virgins in Jannath!!!!

 

Death seemed to offer interesting Life after Death!!!

 

****

GGK

24th July, 2019


(Please do not troll me.....This was a light hearted piece...)_,__

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Posted by: "G.G. Krishnan" <krishnan.gg@gmail.com>
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