I Remember-2 Poem by Indira Renganathan

3ToMy Uncle

Over there in the vast firmament
The sunshine in the sky
Seems to be you to my heart
Uncle, affectionately you were so high
Your mind of beneficence is still perfuming
Your good soul is still with us dwelling
Your personality is still spoken about
Your niece still wishes to be your sort
Keep the celestial gate open
Let your blessing droplets fall on
Am I next honoured the way you wished
My wisdom to be atop ranked
Will I ever forget your gifts
Will I ever forget your interests
For my music and learning to grow
To all your wishes I always bow
Uncle, you're not gone..just up there
To see your niece graciously grow greater
With all her brilliance like you so higher


This poem was written by me 25 years ago in fond memory of my
only maternal uncle who was very much affectionate towards me and my siblings.
'Better late than never' struck me and I realised that I should post this poem now
as a tribute to him
- - - - - - - - -

4My First Flight

Fear of first flight swirling in lub-dubs
Pumped my heart beats in bumps
closed my eyes and soon sleep appeased me
Morning..jig of aurora nudged...to show me
Too foamy an amazing pervasion of clouds
Hide and seek the air-craft was playing
Through the mist.A conservative Chennai-being
In submission so devoutly patted my cheeks
Chanting prayers to Shiva in Kailas
Joked 'homam that sages might be performing'
Landed into an embrace of fog
That triggered off my memory in logs
Of Mom blowing into the smoky wood-oven
Me sneezing over sambirani on coal-oven
Grand-ma behind smokes burning balls of cow-dung
More so, the sublime semblance
The fog had of domestic smokes
Melted it into a picturesque land
Ecstatically I exclaimed'heavens! wonderful Newzealand'



*Homa is a Sanskrit word that refers to a ritual, wherein an oblation or
any religious offering is made into fire.
A homa is sometimes called a "sacrifice ritual" because the fire destroys the offering,
but a homa is more accurately a "votive ritual".
The fire is the agent, and the offerings include those that are material and
symbolic such as grains, clarified butter, milk, incense and seeds.(taken from the internet)


*Sambrani is called benzoin resin in English and it is the resin of a tree that is dried,
powdered and sold in the markets, either as a powder or in blocks.
Sambrani usage has been in the culture for many years and in fact every South Indian home
will have sambrani holders that will be more than 100 years old.
Even Ayurveda, advises us to use sambrani, as it calms the nerves, and produces tranquility,
thus making the person ready for prayers. Years back women after having their hair wash,
used to light up sambrani and keep a straw basket above it. The steam will seep out of the
pores of the straw basket. If you keep your wet hair near the basket,
it will dry it very soon and also leave a beautiful fragrant smell in your hair.
Even if you have hair wash during winter months, if you use sambrani,
you will not get a headache, especially if we have long, thick hair.
The sambrani smoke is a lot more beneficial for you.*- (Taken from the internet)


*To make the holy ash or vibhuti they used to burn dried cow dung balls
along with the rice husk in those days.My grand mother followed that practice for many years