PADMAJA IYENGAR-PADDY

PADMAJA IYENGAR-PADDY

On Integrity

Integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is watching - C.S. Lewis

Ever tempted when no one’s looking …

To pick that nice knick-knack

From the invisible store rack?

To go ahead and jump a signal

On a seemingly empty road?

To use neighbour’s backyard to dump

Your own massive garbage lump?

To decide to permanently keep

A borrowed book without feeling cheap?

To mentally undress that chick

And get a massive mental kick?

To silently curse under the breath

When a party stops due to a death?

To silently help a person needy;

And to serve, be always greedy?

Dear God, please let me be this always;

Let all other mean thoughts get “Nay”s!

Integrity is all about our acts being clean;

Doing the right things even when unseen.

Outlet …

Into my heart, my tears receded

And they dried up there unshed.

Into my being my words receded

To remain there forever unsaid.

Tears or words …

They do need an outlet

They are much like birds

Freely flying and flowing …

With unshed tears dried up

And unsaid words tied up

All within my inner being

So sore with their kneeing

I’m waiting to find some light, some day

In the endless tunnel, may be, just a ray …?

Wrangling

(Translation of poet’s own Hindi poem)

Padmaja Iyengar-Paddy, INDIA

Wanted to say something but couldn’t quite

Wanted to write something but couldn’t write

Some suppressed words remain unspoken

Blank pages continue to remain unwritten

Some words retreated after reaching my lips

Some went back after reaching my pen’s tip

Thoughts wrangling away, words in disarray

Amidst these I, a dumb puppet, in their sway

Heart says SPEAK, words say NO, NO

Muse says WRITE, pen says NO, NO

What and how should I say, or should I not

What and how to write or better I write not

Words in a conflict and thoughts in a wrangle

My heart seems all set to get them to untangle

PADMAJA IYENGAR-PADDY

PADMAJA IYENGAR-PADDY, a senior ex-banker and a former urban governance consultant, is currently the Hon. Literary Advisor, CCVA, Vijayawada, Editorial Counsellor-India, International Writers’ Journal, USA and on the Advisory Panel of ISISAR, Kolkata. Paddy’s maiden poetry collection ‘P-En-Chants’ has been recognized as a Unique Record of Excellence by the India Book of Records. She has compiled and edited 6 international multilingual poetry anthologies, one of them ‘WWW – Women, Wit & Wisdom’ of women poets. The other five, ‘Amaravati Poetic Prism’ 2015 to 2019, have received world-wide recognition with the 2016, 2017 and 2018 editions recognized by the prestigious Limca Book of Records published by Coca Cola India and the 2019 edition with 1303 poems in 125 languages by over 761 poets from 86 countries, yet again in Limca contention. Paddy’s poems, articles and short stories, some of them prize winners, have been published in several poetry anthologies, literary journals, e-zines and newspapers, and translated into several languages.  A recipient of many awards, she is regularly invited to national and international litfests to read her poems.