Abhijit Naskar's Blog - Posts Tagged "stand-up"
The Temper Sonnet
Where you need to be calm,
You burst out in rage.
Where you need to be on fire,
You walk in silence and not engage.
Where you need to listen,
You scream like a loudspeaker.
Where you need to speak out,
Somehow your words disappear.
Where it requires to be humble,
Pride takes over your humility.
Where your blood needs to boil,
Your veins seem to run empty.
The right use of temper is an act of revolution.
Put it to good use and you'll nourish civilization.
You burst out in rage.
Where you need to be on fire,
You walk in silence and not engage.
Where you need to listen,
You scream like a loudspeaker.
Where you need to speak out,
Somehow your words disappear.
Where it requires to be humble,
Pride takes over your humility.
Where your blood needs to boil,
Your veins seem to run empty.
The right use of temper is an act of revolution.
Put it to good use and you'll nourish civilization.
Brave, The Sonnet
Say o brave, o soldier of eternal heights,
May I be decapitated before my head bows.
Say o brave, o explorer of impossibility,
May I feed another while my stomach growls.
Say o brave, o pedestrian of purity,
I obey no law for I'm the epitome of rightness.
Say o brave, o athlete of amor and amity,
I am sheer insanity exuding real saneness.
Say o brave, o bearer of benevolence,
I am disaster, blaster and master of destiny.
Say o brave, o vessel of valiance,
I devour fear, greed, pride and insecurity.
Say o brave, I am the seed of all assimilation,
The first one standing, earthquakin' egalitarian.
May I be decapitated before my head bows.
Say o brave, o explorer of impossibility,
May I feed another while my stomach growls.
Say o brave, o pedestrian of purity,
I obey no law for I'm the epitome of rightness.
Say o brave, o athlete of amor and amity,
I am sheer insanity exuding real saneness.
Say o brave, o bearer of benevolence,
I am disaster, blaster and master of destiny.
Say o brave, o vessel of valiance,
I devour fear, greed, pride and insecurity.
Say o brave, I am the seed of all assimilation,
The first one standing, earthquakin' egalitarian.
Wake Up From Death (The Sonnet)
Wake up from death and return to life,
For as living dead we’ve been crawling for long.
Wake up from sanity and return to insanity,
For we've been insane in sanity for long.
Wake up from possibility, return to impossibility,
For we've been slave to the possible for long.
Wake up from reality and return to absurdity,
Habits of past have kept us hypnotized for long.
Wake up form truth and return to love,
For we’ve always confused assumptions with truth.
Wake up form ideology and return to the soil,
Integration means inclusion, not ideological coup.
Enough with nonchalance in the name of practicality!
Let us now rise as tornado and wipe out all apathy.
For as living dead we’ve been crawling for long.
Wake up from sanity and return to insanity,
For we've been insane in sanity for long.
Wake up from possibility, return to impossibility,
For we've been slave to the possible for long.
Wake up from reality and return to absurdity,
Habits of past have kept us hypnotized for long.
Wake up form truth and return to love,
For we’ve always confused assumptions with truth.
Wake up form ideology and return to the soil,
Integration means inclusion, not ideological coup.
Enough with nonchalance in the name of practicality!
Let us now rise as tornado and wipe out all apathy.
Role of Arrogance | The Peace Testament
Arrogance has its purpose, but first you gotta learn how to use it, so that it’s a force for good, rather than a primeval tendency of self-aggrandizing.
Let me tell you a story. I was traveling to deliver a talk. The driver friend picked me up at the airport and dropped me at a fancy hotel booked by the organizers. At the reception before me there was an elderly couple. From what I gathered, their daughter had booked a room for them, but they were having a little difficulty communicating it.
I could sense that the hotel people at the desk didn’t take them seriously to begin with, probably because they weren’t dressed fancy. I kept quiet.
Finally the elderly man and woman gave up. They lowered their heads in disappointment and turned around to walk out without checking in. And just as their backs were turned, I heard one of the receptionists make the remark, “village idiots!”
That’s it – I lost my cool! In that situation, at that moment, I felt as if my own parents were being treated like that.
I held the elderly gentleman by the wrist, marched up to the desk, and spoke.
“You think you are so fancy, don’t you – working at a fancy place in your fancy clothes and phony etiquette – so much so that you forgot to treat people like people!
You ridicule them because they don’t speak English.
Well, in that case, I speak more languages than you can count – then how should I treat you – you pathetic little tribal jerks!
It’s not enough to wear clean clothes, go home and wash your heart with some soap. Despite all that cologne, you stink!
You can manage a hotel, you can manage a business, but you don’t manage people, you treat them like family.”
I would’ve went on and on, but the elderly person stopped me. Don’t know whether the people at the reception realized their mistake, but by the look on their face they sure did feel small.
A moment later with a tinge of remorse and utter humility in voice, the other receptionist spoke. She apologized to the couple in their native tongue and finally helped them check in, without any miscommunication or frustration.
Let me tell you a story. I was traveling to deliver a talk. The driver friend picked me up at the airport and dropped me at a fancy hotel booked by the organizers. At the reception before me there was an elderly couple. From what I gathered, their daughter had booked a room for them, but they were having a little difficulty communicating it.
I could sense that the hotel people at the desk didn’t take them seriously to begin with, probably because they weren’t dressed fancy. I kept quiet.
Finally the elderly man and woman gave up. They lowered their heads in disappointment and turned around to walk out without checking in. And just as their backs were turned, I heard one of the receptionists make the remark, “village idiots!”
That’s it – I lost my cool! In that situation, at that moment, I felt as if my own parents were being treated like that.
I held the elderly gentleman by the wrist, marched up to the desk, and spoke.
“You think you are so fancy, don’t you – working at a fancy place in your fancy clothes and phony etiquette – so much so that you forgot to treat people like people!
You ridicule them because they don’t speak English.
Well, in that case, I speak more languages than you can count – then how should I treat you – you pathetic little tribal jerks!
It’s not enough to wear clean clothes, go home and wash your heart with some soap. Despite all that cologne, you stink!
You can manage a hotel, you can manage a business, but you don’t manage people, you treat them like family.”
I would’ve went on and on, but the elderly person stopped me. Don’t know whether the people at the reception realized their mistake, but by the look on their face they sure did feel small.
A moment later with a tinge of remorse and utter humility in voice, the other receptionist spoke. She apologized to the couple in their native tongue and finally helped them check in, without any miscommunication or frustration.
I don’t plea, I execute (Sonnet) – Abhijit Naskar, Iftar-e Insaniyat: The First Supper
I never play the victim card,
because to play the victim one would
have to feel inferior somehow – which I don’t –
I am not inferior to anyone, quite the contrary,
I am one of the most spectacular specimens
of whole human that ever walked the earth –
which is why, whenever I face derogatory remarks,
my immediate response is not that of an offended
minority, but that of a concerned parent
disappointed at their child’s misdemeanor.
I don’t beg for equality, I establish equality.
I don’t plea for mercy, I execute justice.
Millennia yet for courts to catch up to my truth;
I don’t outsource, I am the source of holiness.
