NATURE FOR AN EIGHT YEAR OLD

My friend wanted me to write a poem on nature for her 3rd grade daughter's school assignment. As I had barely a few minutes to do this (she had to memorize and recite it as well), I was not sure how much can a child say about nature. So here it is, nature, from an 8 year old's view.

Picture courtesy: http://www.clker.com

NATURE

My dear trees, oceans, mountains,

Please pause for a moment to hear my concerns.

Grandfather says it is'nt raining as it used to, these days;

Neighbour uncle worries about the scorching heat waves;

I know not what they mean,

But I understand, what is now is'nt like what had been.

Mother tells about the small chirping morning sparrows,

Which I have seen, only in library books that I borrow.

Father talks about dwindling numbers of tigers,

For me,  a mere comparison of facts and figures.

 

We must nurture our nature,

Says my teacher.

I promise to keep you clean, green and in tact my dears,

Donot make me mumble over your absence, in my later years.

An ode to orkut

Dear Orkut,

It's been years since I interacted through you with my friends and family members. Today, a mail from you made me realize that I can only interact with you for one last time before you expire on September 30, 2014.

Orkut, you, had been our first window to the now buzzing social networking sites. When a friend introduced you to me, little did I know that this will change the way I am going to spend time in the future. I had just finished my school and did not have much of contacts to get back in touch with. However my seniors whom I admired as role models could be approached; mere acquaintances for years became close buddies. A personalized message made me feel important. I as a person had an identity to reckon. What a boon you were to people who wanted to say million things but were shy facing others!

I had played games like anthakshari, riddles and puzzles earlier but imagine playing all these online with people whom you don't even know?! I mean, I had never played a game without knowing the players though attempted some, not knowing even the rules :) But this was exciting than anything else. Forum discussions helped me share my views on various topics. I also learnt different ways of looking at a half-filled glass.

You had your ways of tricking us and I was no exception falling prey to it. I chanced upon ( okay okay say searched for) the profile of my favorite television anchor and found his name with a single letter misspelt. Too busy poor lad, I thought. After waiting anxiously for a couple of days , he accepted my friends request and I was on cloud nine! When I asked him about his profile photo which looked like a younger him, he casually said it was a recent picture. After chatting, I came to know that he was actually the brother of the celebrity whose name rhymed with his sibling and face resembling the celeb very much! And there ended my silly searches for big heads!

Marriages are made in heaven. You showed people that relationships could begin with Orkut. Interestingly, I decided to break one such marriage proposal through you. As I was not ready for marriage, I searched for the profile being considered by parents, found it, made pretty sure that it was the right guy and decided to tell him a no if the proposal was accepted by my family. Luckily horoscopes didn't match and I didn't have to take that extreme step. On a serious note, Orkut taught there was a way, of letting others know your say ! No fairness cream or stylish two-wheeler could do that in today's distant lives. You gave us the courage and confidence to express ourselves better.

People accuse you of not changing with time but that's fine. Pioneers only share blue prints. Initiators only inspire once. We have taken to different forms of social networking and virtual connectivity but without you, this would not have happened. The unlimited availability of networking  has resulted in a slow down of our online activities. We no longer develop goosebumps like we did, when we opened you in closed browsing center cubicles. The restricted ones linger for long in our minds. So will you, Orkut. We may not miss you but will remember you forever as the one who transformed our social networking experiences to the next generation platform.

Love you!

Picture courtesy: indianexpress.com