The day is done...

A simple beautiful one by Longfellow.

The Day Is Done

The day is done, and the darkness
Falls from the wings of Night,
As a feather is wafted downward
From an eagle in his flight.

I see the lights of the village
Gleam through the rain and the mist,
And a feeling of sadness comes o'er me
That my soul cannot resist:

A feeling of sadness and longing,
That is not akin to pain,
And resembles sorrow only
As the mist resembles the rain.

Come, read to me some poem,
Some simple and heartfelt lay,
That shall soothe this restless feeling,
And banish the thoughts of day.

Not from the grand old masters,
Not from the bards sublime,
Whose distant footsteps echo
Through the corridors of Time.

For, like strains of martial music,
Their mighty thoughts suggest
Life's endless toil and endeavor;
And to-night I long for rest.

Read from some humbler poet,
Whose songs gushed from his heart,
As showers from the clouds of summer,
Or tears from the eyelids start;

Who, through long days of labor,
And nights devoid of ease,
Still heard in his soul the music
Of wonderful melodies.

Such songs have power to quiet
The restless pulse of care,
And come like the benediction
That follows after prayer.

Then read from the treasured volume
The poem of thy choice,
And lend to the rhyme of the poet
The beauty of thy voice.

And the night shall be filled with music
And the cares, that infest the day,
Shall fold their tents, like the Arabs,
And as silently steal away.

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Democracy, civilisation and other things...

Its been a roller coaster day.

Just this morning, I was reading an interesting article by Amartya Sen - an analysis of democracy and its impact on India. The article can be found here http://muse.jhu.edu/demo/jod/10.3sen.html Although I dont completely agree with all of it, it does make for an interesting read.

However, the reason for this post at 2am in the morning (travails of a banker's life) is another article I came across on the GreatBong's blog http://greatbong.net/2006/10/31/justice/ . The main article in reference can be found here http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-222682,curpg-2.cms

I feel disturbed, troubled, helpless, pained, agitated ....what kind of civilised society are we talking about here??? At what level and scale does this function in India?? I wonder about the sheer futility of debating the relative merits and demerits of a form of governance, when it has collapsed completely at a grassroot level in case of incidents such as this one. Where basic notions of humanity have been dispensed as a 'majority of people' felt a gruesome act such as this one was appropriate.......

Stockholm

Barcelona (more pics)

Barcelona

New beginnings

Will keep this one short – simply put, this blog will be the farty companion to my other blog http://inkkognito.blogspot.com/ (which I have decided to use only for paintings). The usual travelogues, poetry, opinions, thoughts, random trivia to follow shortly....