The Bindu and Raza: A Short Poem by Keki Daruwala

Image courtesy Raza Nyas

Keki Daruwalla

 

The Bindu and Raza

The Bindu is amphibian , moving up

               the well of consciousness,

 its hundred lives  dredged from the ages

or from  mystic or non- mystic states

in which the bindu was caught up.

The ages don’t have a sure foothold themselves, are mixed up,

falling over each other as they grapple with this circular

           primordial bit from the past.

It changes colour, substance, scale and squats in front

and tells you gently to meditate: both are meditating

                                                Bindu and Raza.

Now it has turned into a small circular bit

 of granite, with its veins

running through the history of the planet;

it is not scabrous but  is plain and rough

till the waters of the past and waters

 of myths run over it and add lustre

till bindu is Brahma

and all else is blotted out.

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S.H. Raza

 

 

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Keki Daruwala, born 1937 in Lahore Pakistan is an Indian poet and short writer. Among his notable works over the years are the poetry collection The Keeper of the Dead for which he was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1984, the short story series The Minster for Permamnent Unrest and Other Stories 1996, Collected Poems (1970-2005) 2006 and Swerving to Solitude:Letters to Mama 2018. He was awarded Padma Sri, the fourth highest civilian award in India, in 2014. He lives in New Delhi