BIO
Having explored the worlds of banking and urban governance in senior positions, Padmaja Iyengar-Paddy is currently the Hon. Lit. Advisor of The Cultural Centre of Vijayawada and Amaravati (CCVA). She has curated 4 International Multilingual Poetry Anthologies. The latest Amaravati Poetic Prism 2017 has 948 poems in 85 languages contributed by about 500 poets from 67 countries, already recognized as a Record by the India Book of Records and the previous 2016-edition recognized by the Limca Book of Records. Her maiden poetry collection ‘P-En-Chants’ has also been recognized as a Unique Record of Excellence by the India Book of Records for its never-before-attempted movie reviews and management topics presented in rhyming poetry. Her poems have been featured in several international poetry anthologies and she is regularly invited to national and international poetry meets to read her poems.
.Music of the Heart
As the music from his flute wafts the air,
A gentle calm prevails everywhere.
Leaves gyrate sensuously to the music,
While the flowers bloom in its magic.
Birds neither twitter nor their wings flutter;
They are spellbound by the melody utter.
The captivating music draws all to it,
As their senses surrender to it bit by bit.
As his flute plays on imploring her to come,
Her heart beats faster yet her senses go numb
The music from his flute pervades her being,
From her body, she feels her senses fleeing.
As the music is able to contain her no more,
With gushing love, she rushes out of the door,
Only to find the exit from her house barricaded
By societal and religious norms that had graded
Her as an upper caste and him as a nobody,
Their love and union rejected by all as lowly.
Even if the society and the time were against them,
He hoped one day this caste-rot would surely stem.
With his flute he continued to chant her name,
Praying their love will always remain the same.
As he plays the flute, his eyes look for her,
Till he sees her he decided, he will not stir.
Will she ever heed his flute or his heart beats?
Or will he be forever kept standing on his feet?
.
Atithi Devo Bhava….
(Guest is like God)
He was a tourist guide much sought after;
His wit and humour evoked much laughter.
Foreign tourists were often referred to him,
Because of his English knowledge and vim.
He would regale the tourists with witty anecdotes,
While on the history of the royal palaces and forts.
He was handsome and had great charm,
And a smile, that’d often anyone disarm!
Obviously, he was quite a hit with the females.
For them, he always had some ‘special’ tales!
A few female tourists obliged him “all the way”
And this gave him a misplaced sense of sway!
There was this lady tourist with an indifferent air.
She did not about anything or him, seem to care.
As was his duty, he showed her all the places
And tried to woo and win her in lonely spaces!
He wondered, why at all was she there;
Her indifference to him seemed so unfair!
Of any interest in him, she gave no sign;
Rejected his invitation to wine and dine.
He was completely obsessed with her,
And felt all kinds of desires in him stir.
Her visit to the place was nearing its end,
And in no way could he, her resolve bend.
His chances with her appeared very dim,
As she continued to studiedly ignore him.
Finally, at this place, it was her last night;
By then, he’d lost sense of wrong and right.
He entered her hotel room using force,
With just that one intention of course!
In one swift move, he was on her all over
And felt a great surge of desire and power.
At last with this woman, he had his way,
As she lay, unable to do anything or say.
Sated and fulfilled, he fell fast asleep,
To get up later with a hangover deep.
Not finding her anywhere around,
His heart started to loudly pound.
The hotel desk told him, she’d checked out
And that left him feeling further like a lout.
They handed him a large-sized envelope
That had some cash, a note and a rope.
He pocketed the cash and opened the letter,
And what he read, gave him the jitters!
“Welcome to the world of AIDS!” it read,
“Use the rope to hang yourself”, she said.
*****
.
