Three Poems — Coronavirus and the Lockdown
Shri S.K.Bhatnagar was born in 1937 and brought up at Beawar, Rajasthan. After post-graduation in Botany from Ajmer, he dabbled in agricultural aesearch for a couple of years and then became a lecturer for a short period. He started his career as a civil servant in the Rajasthan Administrative Service. He joined the Indian Revenue Service in 1961 and retired in 1999 as the President of the Customs Tribunal.
Shri Bhatnagar's interests lie in the field of biology, literature and mythology. Under the pen name of Santosh Ratan, he prefers to write on scientific topics in poetic format instead of prose. He likes to draw illustrations from Indian mythology and that too in both English and Hindi. He has published 6 books so far — two in English and four bilingually, including poems on the natural wonders of the world. One of his books, Jeev Jagat Ki Aadharshila has been published in paper format while the others are online at http://santoshbhatnagar.weebly.com/ and https://www.scribd.com/user/379765454/S-K-BHATNAGAR-SANTOSH-RATAN.
Poems:--
Lockdown
1. Girls / ladies view
“What is this life if, full of care” * / W.H.Davies in Leisure
We have: no time for any thing for which we care
No time for a little walk in nearby park
and hear kuhoo kuhoo of koel or lark.
No time to see flowers bloom as it dawns
and butterflies fluttering on flowers at sun rise.
No time to say hello or hi to friendly guys
as they pass us when we are busy otherwise
No time for a little nap during daily chores
or to relax with a little chat with friends or ‘bros’.
What is this life! if, we have to wait all the time
for the ‘bai’ to come and ring the bell some time.
What a life if, we have no time to do what we want
And have to do what we are not used to or do not want.
2. Boys / Men’s view:
What is this life if we have all the time
but no way to use it the way we care.
We have time to play as much as we want
but no one with whom to play when we want
we have time to play ludo carrom or cards indoor all
but no way to enjoy football hockey or cricket at all
We have all the time to peep from windows & peer
at shutters of shops and empty lanes everywhere
we have all the time to gaze quietly at the stars
as they shine at night here there and everywhere.
We have lot of time to tease a beauty with bright eyes
but alas now a days no beauty passes by
We used to crave for little time to have some fun
and now we have all the time but alas no fun.
What is life if we have to pass time somehow here
Without doing something worthwhile some where
A poor life if, we cannot do whatever we desire
And pass time with a sense of apprehension everywhere.
— Santosh ‘Ratan’
Corona days
अरे कोरोना तोरे मारे
हम तो परेशां होय गया
चारो और छाया सग्नाटा
भीतर बाहर सूनापन ।
आना जाना नामुमकिन है
उचित नहीं है बहिरगमन
मिलना जुलना हुआ मुहाल
सताने लगा अब अकंलापन ।
बोर हो गथे बैठे बैठे, होकर
अपने ठी घर बद , दिन रैन
कब तक सुनते रहेगे रामायन
बहलाने को अपना मन ।
कब तक सुनते रहेगे खबरे
करतीं जो अति चिंतित मन
कब जाकं कस्नेगा शिकंजा
समाजकटकॉ कं ऊपर, है! भगवन ।
बहौत ही गया हाथ जोडना
अब उपाय कंवल डडा धारन
त्राही त्राही मची दुनियाभर है
कोरोना रूपी राक्षस तो कारन ।
हो पायेगा कब तक है राम
इस रावण का तुमसे मर्दन
कोरोना का कालिया नाग
दाना रहा हजारो फ़न
आओ क्तन्हइया जलदी आओं ।
कुचली इसवी सारे फ़न
महाभारत मची है फिर से
फिर से प्रश्न यहीं है श्रीमन
जीबन मरन मानब जाति का
निर्भर आप कं ऊपर भगवन ।।
— Santosh ‘Ratan’
Raksha bandhan
अनोखा पर्त
आया अबकं ऐसा अपूर्व अनोखा रक्षाबंधन
जिन्होंने हो रहा दूर दूर से ही स्नेह मिलन ।
पास नही तो यया साथ तो है मन से हम
लिये हार्दिक भावनाओ रवै मरे सजल नयन ।
कह रहा बारम्बार स्वत ये भाबभरा आतुर मन
हो सबकं लिये शुभखुशियो रवै भरापूरा जीवन ।
स्वस्थ रहे सब भाहुँबहन मगलनय तो उनका जीवन
परस्पर स्नेह सौहार्द से परिपूर्ण रहे उनका रात मन । ।
— Santosh ‘Ratan’
Editor's Note
This story is part of our series on the coronavirus pandemic of 2019-2020. Here is the complete series so far. Readers are welcome to keep contributing!
- Life and times during a pandemic quarantine by members of a family scattered worldwide
- Adjutant Stork (Laptoptilos dubius) – A Ray of Hope by Vinod Goel
- A kindergartener in lockdown by Anaya Jindal, age 5
- A lively discussion in these corona times by Jatinder Sethi, Joginder Anand, Gurvinder Khaneja and Subodh Mathur; moderated by Subhash Mathur.
- Musings of an octogenarian on the human predicament by V. N. K. Kumar
- My muse – In the midst of the Corona storm by Subhash Mathur
- My West Side Story – The Man with the Stetson by Subhash Mathur and Shriprakash Rao
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