Hecataeus-Father* of Geography

Following is an ode to Hecataeus
                 
 Father of Geography

World After Hecataeus

    
     Hecataeus of Miletus
     Writer of Periplus
     With his work of Periodus 
     Made him the boss 
              
                Of Geography forever
                No title more heavier
                To be given ever 
                To a Geographer never




--------------------------




* Yet another Greek Father to follow
   The present works do seem too hollow
                         
            Compared with works of yonder times

Brad Pitt as Achilles in Troy

            Work hard my friends that you too may shine

Remember Achilles mother, when she said
 Your name will be lost, if you shall wed
                        
            Your death is sure when you go to war
            I 'll loose a son but you shall earn your fame  
     
Though doom and fame follow your name
Go to war and earn your fame 


                        

Greek Scholar Anaximander* and Babylon's Gnomon (Sundial)

Anaximander along with Thales are recognized 
as the founders of Mathematical Geography 
The Geek world became richer with the ushering
in of a sundial from Babylon by Anaximander.
Its working is explained in the following verse
                
             Sundial

Babylon's Gnomon

Behold the shadow
Time it shows
 Nature's Marvel
And no extra bill

Greek world shown

Lead by Anaxi

All can see

           Is simply a pole 

           Set in a hole

           Time be told

           As shadow rolled

And grows at will

But at noon be nil

Is Solaris magic

And the sundial ticks

* Anaximander was a disciple of Thales
  in Miletus
-------------------------------------------------


Wait my friends I will give you more
Thanks for entering my yellow door**
            I will make you walk with me for sure
            A healthy walk will be the best cure
Of boredom in life a nagging wife
A sore throat to doctor's knife                    
           See the world as I show thee
           Dream of places along with me


** Sorry friends, the door has gone for a makeover
    
            

In Memory Of An Ancient Greek Scholar-Homer

Ancient Greek Poet-Homer*

World according to Homer**

Homer was an Ancient
Greek Epic Poet of
the Odyssey and 
Iliad whose contribution
to physical geography
is also very remarkable

Homer's description 
of four winds coming
from different directions

Can be summed up 
in the following verse.

                     




                          
                   Winds

Although strong and although cool

Clear skies bring north wind Bore

                   Warm and gentle east wind Eurus

                   Unlike dreaded west wind Zephyrus

And last of all is Notus wind

Stormy weather brings from south

Greece during Homer's time***

Pictorial sources

* theophiliacs.com

**ireference.ca

***mlahanas.de

                     






                     
                        

A Day of Sorrow, But Years of Mourning-9/11,2001

World Trade Center Before 9/11*

Eleventh September, a black Tuesday                                         

Even the strongest can fall in anyway

Destruction may follow construction

To be remembered lest be done

The pitfalls of a Nation are many

But never to cry over the last penny

Is the spirit of our time

Marching ahead, no more mime

Brainwork of a few

Some say Osama, some say Jews

Missing persons list unending

Prayers for the departed souls all-sending

Warning given to mountain country                                     

Where not a tree one can see

Terror stricken, masses take wing

Sorrow laden, with bundles of belonging

**Afghanistan right after 9/11

Many wars have been fought 

For power and land has all been taught

Blood for blood is the least you want 

Trample not the poor, making ghosts to haunt

Arms age is what I hear

No more soldiers to be sheared

Still the poor make a wall

Shielding the rich from their fall

__________________________________________

* flickr.com
**bestoftheblogs.com 


It seems yesterday when it happened (9/11, 2001)

  To watch it Live (on TV) and cry and cry

                     Then newspaper and eyewitnesses reports 

                     Sorrow in US and  war in Afghanistan

  Made me write this then through tears and tears

  I Prayed for peace for all one and dear

                    

What Happened The Other Day?* ( Remedy of an orthopedic case in a village)

Children’s grandma had a fall

While filling water wearing a shawl

The water pot fell on the mud

And grandma fell with a thud

             No one came to pick her up

             She moaned in pain while others supped

             Dogs barked and helped at last

             Taken to the doctor fast

No gown, no clinic the doctor had

Still an expert and not so sad

Placed his solid foot on her chest

Then pulled her hand in full earnest

             All around could hear a click

             The elbow set no more sick

             For a while she was made to rest

             Thanks be to God, all one said

No car, no trolley, for grandma

Simply walked back with ‘pa

Home at last and rest she will

Soon asleep with a pill

             No payment for the doctor made

             Unlike city ones who simply raid

             No more sad and no more mad

             Is grandma with that fateful day

*This poem was written after a real accident met by my mother-in-law, during winter 2000 in exactly the similar manner as mentioned above. The place of scene is the remote village of Indana in Haryana State. 

Readers Query ( People n Places ?)

Each poem has a quaint story attached,

With words and verbs I have tried to match.

                      To tell of merry tales far and wide

                      To weep over disasters world wide

Laugh or cry as you please

But for sure your heart will sigh

                     What all is occurring in this world

                     Men and matter sadly hurled

Portraits of people will too follow

Biographies of people told

                     War and peace, love naught cease

                     Hope will make you live with ease

                     Telling the truth and never to tease

Are you ready for the next?

I sure will try to put in my best.  

                    Each man to his bed as birds to its nest

                    Tis time for me to take my rest.

Long time ago we all do know

Many things did happen

Many wars were fought

                   But sleep did all when sun reached west

                   Go to bed and be not a pest

A new tale waits you at dawn

What is it? Dawn to dusk a new day

                  Please tell me what you say

                  Give me a story each new day

Bharat India Hindustan* ( In memory of Godhra train burning and Gujarat violence)

1) Ain't that royal enough 

   Kashmiris the royal most

   Punjabis the fearless lot

   Haryanivis big hearts with

   What else can India ask for?

2) 90th Punjabis were an infantry regiment
of the British India army 

              

                 

                  UP with its verdant greens

                  Bihar with its stringent workers

                  Uttranchal like a shield for all

                  What else can India wish for?

3) Muzaffarnagar in UP

4) Mussoorie, the Queen of hills in
Uttranchal (Uttarakhand) 

                                                         
                           

                             

5) North East States of India

                                                      
                   Seven sister too India has
                   Sandy desert to the west

                   Rolling hills in the center

                   What else can India dream of? 

6) See desert beauty with a camel ride

                                                         

                           

                                         

   

                             

7) Vindhyas I am

                             

                             South of Vindhya's what a sight

                             Where beauty intellect side by side

                             Waters hugging Konkan Malabar

                             What a slim figure Kanya has?                           

8) Kanyakumari

9) India and its neighbours

                                                 
                                                
                    

                                                                                 

                   

                    Bharat India Hindustan    

                    Friendly Neighbour Pakistan

                    Lankan Bangla Nepalese

                    Protect India all to see                          






*This poem was written after Godhra train burning 
(27th February, 2002) and Gujarat violence (2002) .    
Pondering over the fact that India has so much, and 
yet-----------sometimes what happens. 

________________________________________
 Pictorial Sources
1) indovacations.net
2) en.wikipedia.org
3) On a family vacation (2010)
4) Home in Mussoorie (2010)
5) globalsecurity.org
6) Indialine.com
7) igf.fuw.edu.pl
8) tourismindiatoday.com
9) network54.com

What Are We Waiting For ?

  
Unborn child in a mother's womb
Knows not what awaits him
Yet there is an urgency to be born
To bear the scalpel and the scissors
To escape from the dark pool
Out into the lighted word


As a child he yearns to grow up
Loves to wear dresses and shoes too long for him
Mimics elders in all that he does
Oh! When will I grow up is all that he utters


Going to school day in and day out
Carrying the burden on his back
Longing for a holiday. Dreaming of places
Oh! At least let me grow up fast
So to college I can go


Now in college along with friends
Longs for a bike and girl friends too
Longs for success and hopes to fulfill
A job, a wife, a house and so on
Awaits the result in all earnestness


A degree in hand, but still depressed
All his merit is at stake
The job, which he thought was his
Given to another ..............sadly
Turns to retrace his steps
Next time I must succeed.


Soon in hand a job so secure
Life is simply sailing he felt
Yet yearned to have a wife so pretty
To be the envy of his friends


Now wife and child too he has
Yet he longs for  worldly  things
To make his family more happy and secure
Works from dawn to dusk
No picnics, No Sundays , No Evenings he is at home


To be with kids he had longed for
He knew not when his kids grew up
Reached that threshold from where
Children move out


Oh! This old age, how will it pass?
With oohs and aahs I suppose
When will I get my eternal sleep?
I long to be with Almighty God


No sooner had he left the Womb
Knew not that he longed for the Tomb
Is this what we are waiting for?

Kalpana Chawla (28th Mission of Columbia-2003)

 

Daring lives on

Last Journey

              Columbia space shuttle was homeward Ho!

              Crowd down below was bustling so 

No sight of spaceship to be seen

Strained their necks, what does it mean?

              No message yet as time did pass

              Restlessness then seized the mass

Gathered relatives of Clark* and Ramon

Friends too of Cool and Anderson

              To partake their joy, but sorrow shared

Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates
 during reentry into the Earth's
 atmosphere, killing seven astronauts. 

              When 28th mission of Columbia flared

NASA officials with downcast eyes

In 17 years scene replayed twice

             
              Watched their child in heat and smoke 

              No words were said as all did choke

Faulty re-entry or hurtling meteorite?

Falling debris, trailing smoke so white

Space travel mysteries do ravel

              
              Just 16 minutes from earthly home 

              Was Kalpana sent to heavenly abode

*The Crew 

1) Commander: Rick D. Husband, a US Air Force colonel and     

     mechanical engineer.

2) Pilot: William C. McCool, a US Navy commander.
3) Payload Commander: Michael P. Anderson, a US Air Force
    lieutenant colonel and physicist.

4) Payload Specialist: Ilan Ramon, a colonel in the Israeli Air Force 
    and the first Israeli astronaut.

5) Mission Specialist: Kalpana Chawla, an Indian-born aerospace 
   engineer on her second space mission.

6) Mission Specialist: David M. Brown, a US Navy captain trained 
    as an aviator and flight surgeon.

7) Mission Specialist: Laurel Clark, a US Navy captain and flight surgeon.