Goan Boy

You were raised in the arms of the ocean
Playing by the feet of the mountain
Blessed with loneliness, you noticed the waves embrace
and heard the stream say her prayer in absolute grace

Nobody but you, noticed the mountains grow
and you alone could see the palm trees touch each others toe
The sun and the moon, told just you that they were married a long time ago
You could see their sacrifice of being apart, so that they can help us all grow

My Goan boy, you then grew up and were forced to look the other way,
Where fanatics were killing, sowing seeds of destruction in what they say
Abusers don’t give a damn towards you, let alone acknowledge the soul of the oceans and the streams
In a world where Mother Nature’s songs are overshadowed by human screams

Tagore, why did they ever let you grow my Goan boy?
The darkness of mankind came after you and killed your joy
I know you want to go back home, but would it be the same?
But the sincerity of life awaits you from where you came

Note: After a very long time, I wrote a poem about ME, about how I was feeling when I was talking to my father recently. Then something strange happened, and I felt as if my father had written these words about me, having heard my talk. I was going on and on about awareness and the lack of it in the human race today. I think anybody else would have thought of me as a misfit, but dad didn’t and I could sense that he knew where I was coming from. The times when I grew up away from them, from a very young age, in lovely GOA, to the time I faced life in London from the age of 15. I had grown on my own, in a somewhat fairly tale assumption of life and this world. There are those of you out there, who do believe in the goodness of life, of people and above all in the beauty of God and HIS creation. You’ll are RIGHT, absolutely right, and because you see the world this way, there are time when you will be hurt. The mountains and the oceans that I refer to in this piece of work are like the good beliefs that we have, and when we are made to look the other way, I mean what we see man do today, right from killing at war, to backstabbing, to taking for granted the ones around them. Let it be, your reward awaits you…when you get back home. In the mean time, this is the journey and we still have a long way to go, but be assured that we will all eventually, and when the time is right get home. I pray for you, I love you and I smile at you in pride as you connect with your own GOA – this creation, my every brother and sister who I take the liberty to refer to as my Goan boy and my Goan girl. Goan smiles & wishes from the universe – Tagore Almeida -

Beautiful Woman

You are a woman with every drop of beauty within you
Your smile is like nature, you voice is like the birds that sing,
Your eyes are the ocean in which the moon and sun sink.

You could have had the best of life,
The wealthiest man would make you his wife..
The oceans and the forest together would sing,
As you could have become the queen to the richest king.

You discarded the chariots, you discarded the kings
You discarded the wealth and all the materialistic things
You left your innocent world, before your life had begun
You surrendered to a call, my beautiful woman.

You chose a carpenter, instead of a king,
And you sat on a mule and traveled through the fields
Palaces should have graced you, but you knocked on every inn,
They all turned you away, as you carried your child within.

And so the beautiful woman, settled into a stable
And tried to rest where ever she was able.
Amidst the cattle, sat there the carpenter and his lady
Bring into this world a messenger for you and me.

This special woman, the most beautiful of all,
She sacrificed it, to bring us the coolest man of them all
As a mother, you sacrificed and gave us your son
Thank you for the messenger who died too for me, thank you my beautiful woman.

Note: I wrote this years ago when I begun to be embraced by my faith. It was my song for Mother Mary. My own mother recently travelled back to India after having spent a 45 day vacation with me. It was great to have her here. She shopped, and shopped more and then still stood assuring as she declared that she hardly purchased anything. The cutest thing was that after a 100kilos of baggage she still convinced us that she had got nothing. This incident brings tremendous joy to me, coz I thank GOD that I can provide my family with this. God is truly most generous. When ever I do my 'uncultured' related events to promote peace, love and tolerance in the world, I have been often told that I do a very noble task. Maybe I do, thats not important. Today I have realized that what is important to people is what GOD's guardian for us does, and this guardian is our parents, specially our mother with who we establish a connection much before we physically enter this earth. From great men like Jesus, to mere mortals like you and me, we all have this beautiful woman in our lives called 'mothers'. Give back to them, a token of appreciation in the best way that you can, for all that they have done for us. Exalt thyself my dear brothers and sisters so that from the heavens, our most beautiful GOD watches your beautiful woman, as she sacrifices and yet sheds a tear of joy, as she sees her child (YOU), do the best for her and the rest of this creation. To the beautiful woman of each one of us, smiles & prayers - Tagore Almeida -

Imagining Lennon

I’d like to believe that there is a heaven.
And I have that comfort, so I don’t have to try.
I feel there is hell below us, and that a good GOD lives above the sky.
But, I really do wish that all the people would live for today.

Yes John, why the hell are there so many countries.
I wish we could just see this land as one, and it isn't hard to do.
This world is evil & people cannot imagine there being ‘nothing to kill or die for.’
I wish people had just faith, and like you said ‘and no religion, too’
How I wish John. Imagining all the people living life in peace.

I definitely do not think that you were a dreamer.
And for sure you were not the only one.
Don’t know about the rest, but I’m in, and I’ll pass on your hope
So that really the world will really be as one.

It’s such a shame, but will we ever be able to imagine no possessions?
I too wonder John. I wonder if we can.
Wouldn’t it be beautiful, when there’s no need for greed or hunger?
Thanks for reminding us about a brotherhood of man.
I’m remembering you John, and am really hoping and trying,
To imagine all us people sharing all the world.

Today, tomorrow and forever and ever.

Note: I recently talked to a bunch of youth and tried to convince them that they were the future who I depended on. My talk was called 'the unsung hero' and very soon i'm going to be making it a part of my entire 'uncultured' talk. John Lennon to me was the perfect example of 'the unsung hero'. you may be stunned and wonder how one can refer to this man as the 'unsung' one, specially taking into consideration that he was the front one of the world's first greatest band. Well thats my point, everyone remembers him as the front man of the Beatles, as the guy who was shot dead in New York, and the guy whose wife was Yoko Ono, and last of all we do add the fact that 'yeah he was the guy who spoke about peace'. To me though, John Lennon was first about peace and then everything else. He spent his life crying, pleading and singing to the rest of man kind to 'give peace a chance'. I wish, i truly wish we remembered him for this first and then everything else, coz truly - this is what he was all about. In a world full of self greed, dirty politics etc, we yet again ignored an amazing hero. Today it is upto you and I to never give up our efforts to be the change that we want to see in the world. Live on, never give up, coz by being the 'Unsung Hero' you will touch atleast one life. Imagine!! - Tagore Almeida -

It’s All About Love

Gone are the days when I woke up with a heavy heart
Hardly slept a wink, kept looking out for you in the dark
Gone are the days of fear, gone is the flow of my tear
Eyes opened like they were before, I can now see life so clear

It’s all about love, It’s about you making me want to smile
It’s all about love, it’s about sensing each other’s pain from a mile
It’s about being the reason to live, God how could it ever be the reason to die?
Just transparent, the truth is not distorted, no room to lie.

Love is when I smile, and smile just thinking about a part of you,
That lives in me, while a chunk of you lives in me too
It’s not about sex, it’s not about lust and lack of dialogue
Only love can be your vision as you travel in the fog

Love is freedom in the midst of being prisoned by your affection
feeling so secure, insecurities don’t stand a chance against your dedication
but every one has to see the darkness I guess to know the real value of the light
Love is Allah’s hug, bringing me out the darkness as HE held me tight

Note: This is my poem to myself, as a token of appreciation that I can relate to life like I always did until a couple of years ago. It’s coming back man! Thank you Allah, thank you Jesus and thank you to my most wonderful bunch of people who have held my hand and taken me back to the spot on my path from where I got lost. Talk to me about life, talk to me about the universe, hey talk to me about love. Sanjay wants to see me make two walls fall in love again and make them have babies. I have promised in these coming weeks, I will. My beautiful people, if someone takes you to the edge of life, you don’t need it. If someone cant tell it to you as it is and has to often say ‘I meant this and I meant that’ you don’t need it. In love, in freedom there is no concept of ‘little bit’ – it’s the open skies, free yourselves from the pain and breathe the universe, breathe the soul of mother earth – breathe it for Allah. I am back to living like a Hindu, loving like Christian and praying/believing like a Muslim. Life awaits you and when someone loves you, they will feel for you and put you before anything else. If they tell you that they don't know what to say or do, leave them now, coz they do not love you. Allah himself has put love into us, and thus we will always know how to love. Bismillah. Alleluia. Hare Hare. Take the deep breath and live knowing it’s all about love – Tagore Almeida -