Solitary Confinement

Solitary Confinement

(Prof. R.P. Garg)

Day in and day out
I shrink with fear and retreat.
Forebodings of disaster
Chimeras and phantoms of evil
Chase me back to my hovel
And leave me cribbed and caged.

Fear of public humiliation
Of receiving a shabby treatment
Of being ignored or rebuffed
Of being pooh-poohed or rejected
Fear of my friendly smile
Arousing some one's frowns
Fear of my not coming up to expectation
Of being called and found wanting
Of falling in esteem
And being the butt of the whole group
Fear of appearing weak
Incapable ineffectual small
Fear of leaving behind a poor impression
Of appearing a Pygmy to those
Who have always taken me for a colossus
These fears have been my strangle hold
The monster always mutters
"Your veneer may come off'
"Your defences may drop"
"Your disguises may fall
And the naked you, the weakling
Like a skeleton from a cupboard
May jump out."
Thus in solitary confinement
My life I breathe away
Posing as a lover of solitude.

R. P. Garg
5 4 I 8, Mansarovar, Jaipur- 302020
Mob. 941464669

Obsequious People

Obsequious People

(Prof. R.P. Garg)

Since my dizzying leap
To the highest rung
Crowds of obsequious people
Around me I have seen.
With a lump in their throats
And mist in their eyes
In tremulous voice
Showering praises upon me
Warbling paeans in my honour
Calling me an epitome of this and that.
No more shall I find people
Who in no uncertain terms
Let me know of my shady spots
My dark recesses
And yet laugh away my vanities
Hoping against hope
That I shall improve.
On public platforms
People pay their rich tributes
To my gifts of head and heart
But none cares to know
Whether I slept last night.
With rapt attention and obedience
People listen to what I say
But none feels pang in his heart
For what I leave unsaid.
They interpret and obey my words
But who will see the things
That mv words camouflage ?

54/8, Mansarovar, Jaipur- 302020, Rajasthan (India).
Mob.9414646696

Figures on Sands

Figures on Sands

(Prof. R.P. Garg)

All that you said to me
And all that was left unsaid
Has vanished into thin air.
All that I whispered to you
And the lulls that came in between
Have dissolved into nothingness.
Was it all just sketches lines dots
Drawn in the air ?

Drowned, faded away, dimmed,
All those scenes sights and faces
Which thrilled my whole being
And filled meaning in emptiness
Were they no more than diagrams
Drawn on choppy waters ?

Where should I search
For those resolves and moves
Those fears hopes and dreams
To which all my thoughts converged
And which pushed and pulled me
Like a toy, a puppet ?

Where have they all melted
Leaving a void behind
Were they all just figures
Children draw on sands ?

 R.P. Garg
5 4 / 8, Mansarovar, Jaipur- 3 02020
Mob. 9414646696

Hide and Seek

Hide and Seek

(Prof. R.P. Garg)

All living things
Rush to their safety
From all other living things
Hide and seek is life.

Constitutions policies customs
Courts treaties agreements
Awards crimes laws
Rebellions murders gods
All these are sparks
Emanating from the fireball of fear.
Pride dreads destitution,
Fame is scared of disgrace,
Beauty recoils from decrepitude,
Power abhors enemies,
Learning shrinks from disputations,
Peace is apprehensive of violence,
Hoarded wealth is solidified fear,
Even hope is fear of the real,
To be is to fear.
Whether it is a laugh or a tear
No time or space is free from fear.

R.P. Garg
5 4 I 8, Mansarovar, Jaipur- 3 02024
Mob. 941464669

An Epic Lies Buried,

An Epic Lies Buried

(Prof. R.P. Garg)

Deep deep in the inner most layer
Where the heart throbs
Of this silent brooding hill
The history of a billion years
You can see recorded.
All the blooming brilliance of flowers
The songs of birds, dances of leaves,
All the colours of butterflies,
And messages carried through winds
lie buried in its dark unseen rocks
Inscribed by the hands of time.
All the gales and tempests
Whirlpools and hurricanes on the sea
Are chronicled in its deep waters.
Here, for these ancient castle walls
Resound with the thunder of battles
Whispers of conspiracies, bloody acts of vengeance,
Tearful regrets, frenzies, sighs,
Invasions, deceits, quaking fears,
And all the events of a thousand years.
I can still see marked in the sky
All the flights of all the birds
Since life came to this earth.
Nothing is lost to oblivion
Nothing done becomes undone.
An epic lies buried 
Deep in every grave.


R.P. Garg
 54/8, Mansarovar, Jaipur-302020
Mob.9414646696

Repeating His Words

Repeating His Words

(Prof. R.P. Garg)

Woven as my father was
In the fabric of his small village
I often felt he lived in bygone days
And thought in outmoded ways.
Yes, I always found him off the track
Though I often yielded to his whims
And acceded to his wishes without fail
I couldn't help grinning and bearing
His funny parochial views
No doubt I always thought him wrong.
Many centuries stretched between us
For he could not think beyond his village
And I had global concerns.

He is no more now
But often I catch myself red handed
Repeating his words, his phrases, his tones
When I am vexed at unending arguments
And empty disputations of my son
Who always thinks I am wrong.

R.P. Garg
5 4 / 8, Mansarovar, Jaipur- 302020
Mob. 94146466

Gust of Wind

Gust of Wind

(Prof. R.P. Garg)

It caressed me and left
For its destination unknown
The willful gust of wind
A gipsy of the continents
Tramping over the oceans
And tropics and poles
Eternal wanderer.

It roared in the hills and deserts deep
When there was no man nor a living thing
And it will throb the hills
and pulsate the oceans
When life after its brief sojourn
Is seen no more on the earth.

The earth which spins and whirls
Is not a clod of clay
for it breathes its gusts of wind
That tramp over the oceans
And tropics and poles.


R.P. Garg
5 4 / 8, Mansarovar, Jaipur- 302020, Rajasthan (India)
Mob. 9414646696

After Our Brief Sojourn

(Prof. R.P. Garg)

It doesn't make news
When in a dense dark forest
A dry leaf flickers in the air
comes off the twig
Whirling down in its last frantic dance
Descends to dust.
Nor is it a news
When from the dark clouds
A drop comes down wafting in the air
And falls into the roarins sea
Lost in oblivion
Leaving behind no name or fame.

Who is going to note
When a dust particle
Flies from the mountain peak
Waving and steering its path
Comes down to the valley
And merges in the soil.
None will notice the grain
When from the corn field below
couched in the beak of a spaffow
It travels from tree to tree
And from the beak it reaches the bird's guts.

None will notice you or me
When after our brief sojourn
We cease to be.


R.P. Garg
5 41 8, Mansarovar, Jaipur- 302020
Mob.941464669

Sky
(Prof. R.P. Garg)

In light and dark O sky !
With wide open eyes
You watch the earth
Earth that floats in your blue infinity
Like a particle of dust.
Is there anything in the space
Or stars or galaxies
Or minds of living beings
which can escape your scrutiny ?

A billion trillion galaxies
Dance in you for a while
Like specks of dust
Vanishing and appearing every moment
And in your absolute unconcern
You notice them not.

In your brooding silence
Your eternal meditation
You see nothing and see all
Hear nothing and hear all
For vou are the seer and the seen
You are the do\F and the deed.

R.P. Garg
54/ 8, Mansarovar, Jaipur- 302020
Mob.94146466

Mere Words

(Prof. R.P. Garg) 

From the dazzling peaks of the Himalayas

In all your resplendent glory

You descend to the plains

And down to the see you flow my river. 

From the sea again you rise

In dark spiralling vapours 

And fly back to Himalayan peaks 

Again to trickle down to the plains.

Floating and dancing in the air 

You come down to dust my leaf

For who can flee his destiny

But from the dust you rise again

In the sap you flow back to leaves.

Life and death, rise and fall, 

Coming and going, growth and decay, 

Are mere words 

Mere sounds 

I sing for the eternal flux. 

R.P. Garg 5 4 / 8, Mansarovar, Jaipur- 102020 Mob. 9414646696