An Ode To Old Virtues Poem by Aniruddha Pathak

An Ode To Old Virtues



Virtue, too old a wine to be virtue,
Admired by vintners of today no more,
But modern times land it a mangled view:
Where bad boasts of new good on world-wide shore.

Surfacing up are achievers hardcore,
And eviler the better if not bolder,
Take Tiger Woods e'en when could roar no more,
For, what roars are millions in his coffer!

If he were not a manic odd man out,
Would Mark be such a Face that he's today?
Would Bollywood biggies have such a clout?
Would scandal-prone netas rule country's lay?

Get me no wrong: achievements are no mean,
They wipe not a single negative trait,
Nor success comes but to purest Brahmin,
‘Tis commerce, big bucks making biggest bait.

The principle's spread to many a field:
Be it movies, business, brands, even books,
Money's the recipe, that whatso cooks,
New reputations worst of ruins rebuild.

Actors are made and unmade by last hit,
Best sellers ‘lone go to make authors best,
The dough drives it all; drives evilest grit,
While old values stare in face of a man modest.

Who remembers the Mensa topper boy?
Who does not the five crore KBC1 man?
Money when sings the world dances in joy,
‘Bad plus big bucks', ‘pon dung-hill hoots the hen.

Let me sound no off-tune with today's time,
Purist, nihilist, nor e'en Gandhian,
But credit to the crass close is to crime,
Nor centuries of values make heaven.

But talking of values of ancient time,
See what the wise Greeks2 said: Thou shouldst secure
Some income ere vouchsafing virtues pure,
Li'le lucre never once was not plum-prime.

Some go for health, power, or reach for riches,
Honours, to some touch of pleasure pleases,
And those that place in virtues their chief good3;
Values of heart all, heady attitude!


To confuse more, there came Confucius4
Defining what a virtue be to us:
‘Gravity's one and magnanimity,
Earnestness, kindness, and sincerity.

I know why virtue as species is rare,
For, all of them at a premium are sold
Today in a world that wallows in gold
Standard, driven by market, a dark mare.

These values vouch nigh universal good,
These prayers of virtue, in quiet said,
Can conquer no world that Lao-tse laid5;
Directionless, confused, I tend to brood.

I dug into many an ancient text—
Mahabharata, a storehouse of lore,
Though in today's times it might lose context—
Tried and failed fixing dharma— roof and floor.

The sage Vyasa failed fully to define,
Failed too Bheeshma, his fairest character,
Man of dharma Yudhishthir, wise Vidur,
All they managed: ah, dharma is divine!

But there seems just one thing I am quite clear:
Virtues and vice be but two things, of all,
Which survive death along with human soul,
I can my virtues cheer, my vices fear!
Or in today's times, driven in fifth gear,
I should my virtues fear, my vices cheer.
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1. KBC: A popular TV show kaun banega crore-pati? ,
Who would a millionaire be?
2. Anonymous Greek saying: ‘First secure an
independent income, and then practice virtue.'
3. From what Marcus Tullius Cicero said on friendship.
4. ‘Five things constitute perfect virtue:
gravity, magnanimity, earnestness, sincerity,
and kindness.' - Confucius.
5. ‘With virtue and quietness one may conquer the
world, ' - Lao-tse: The Simple Way.
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- Satire | 09.08.12 |

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Edward Kofi Louis 22 January 2019

Virtues! ! ! Achievers Hardcore! Thanks for sharing this poem with us.

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Aniruddha Pathak 23 January 2019

Thanks for reading a long piece and comment. But your comments are quite enigmatic as your poems are. This piece, I'm not sure, but I've revised it and the revised version is not yet uploaded, which, I can do only after I return, back to base. Thank you indeed. .

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Aniruddha Pathak

Aniruddha Pathak

Godhra - Gujarat
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