The Thermopylae of Rajasthan

(A Poetic Tribute to the famous Battle of Haldighati, fought between the numerically superior and materially prosperous Mughal Empire led by Raja Man Singh and the fiercely Independent Mewar Kingdom led by the famous Maharana Pratap, on 18th June, 1576 CE. The battle is regarded as the Themopylae of Rajasthan for the heroic last stand of Mewar.) 

The Forts of Rajputana shook at the Great Mughals' gumption

with new allies and old foes all seeking redemption.

Yet, on the turmeric colored pass, Mewar's Rana stood tall;  

For his warriors, the battle's a game, with no fear of fall. 

@ Museum, Haldighati

Men, Horses, Elephants all set for glory; 

Ambition clashed with courage, and the result's very gory. 

Near the impregnable Kumbhalgarh, a tryst with blood  was sought,

and with Saffron clad frenzy, the outnumbered Rana's troops fought. 

 

Me at Haldighati Pass

But the forces of the Emperor's trusted lieutenant were not ill prepared,  

and the deadly battle raged on, with hell's cynical glare.  

The adjacent pond became redder and redder with each passing minute;

The victors and vanquished became inseparable with no escape route 

Me at Haldighati

Then at that fateful movement, the noble & sweet stallion Chetak was wounded;

With worse to come, with all hope lost, the Rana’s forces were rounded. 

The Bhils rallied behind Rana, but the battle was long over,  

The bloody day ended, but the battle and the warriors’ deeds remain etched in Mewar’s folkore. 

Samadhi of Chetak, Halighati

"The Thermopylae of Rajasthan" (Poem /Poetic Tribute/ English) 

Maheeth Veluvali, 

16 Saladi Jamindar Street, 

Palakollu. 

Friday, 20eth of March, 2026.

Tribute to Shri Ratan Tata

Shri Ratan N.Tata . Picture Credits : Wikipedia

 (Poetic Tribute to Shri Ratan  N Tata, who passed away on 9 October, 2024 and whose name requires no introduction.)

The nervous nineties shuffled a nation's economic coil, 
whither do we go? What fortune binds ?
That household brand seemed to be in a boil,
troubled times called for tougher minds.

In these times of shorter attention and fickle fame, 
where man dances to the tune of color paper,
and where inequality is cherished to the core,
one man stood tall, simple and honest and he did matter. 

A rebranding done, all challenges accepted, 
a life well lived, warming many hearts. 
A Gentle Giant passed away in the dead of the night, 
An era ends, a noble soul departs. 

"Tribute to Shri Ratan Tata" - on Shri Ratan N.Tata

16 Saladi Jamindar Street, Palakollu

Thursday, 10th of October, 2024.

Maheeth Veluvali.

The Taj Mahal

March 2023 CE (Chaitra 1945 SE) - Taj Mahal, Agra, Uttar Pradesh

"

An idyllic walk down the battered roads of Agra, by and by,

led to the Mausoleum of the Emperor's ladylove. 

And lo, this glittering monument of beauty,

more a symbol of skill and power, than love.

Pages of praise, poignant and poetic mark this Mahal's story, 

where medieval engineering married opulent endeavor.

The Mughals left, so did the British, with no sorry,

Yet this timeless grandeur flourishes with matchless measure.

The outward pointed Minars and the Bulbous Ivory White Double Dome,

the Pristine Pietra Dura  and the Joyful Jali work;

Here, the nightmares of reality are toyed by dreams that roam,

and sheer marvel and appreciation make their mark.

 

On the banks of Yamuna, refusing to be ravaged by the tests of time;

stands this Wonder of the World, in all glory and prime.  

 "    

"The Taj Mahal" - on Taj Mahal, Agra

16 Saladi Jamindar Street, Palakollu

Sunday, 08th of September, 2024.

Maheeth Veluvali.

Sweet Victory

(On Saturday, 29th of June, 2024 - India beat Republic South Africa to clinch ICC Cricket World Cup T20 2024, a major cricket title after an agonizing near misses of eleven years. This is a poetic tribute to the men in blue.)

"

In Barbados, an old tale seemed to play out, 

a familiar eerie script, a Deja vu of sorts. 

The hopes and dreams seldom in doubt,

but aren't twisted tales a part of sports?

The West held promise unlike the travails of past, 

what's that good in the game of cricket, many would feel?

But the nation of passionate millions waiting for a blast,

got everything when Rohit Sharma's men sealed the deal.

Fandoms passed down from generations, 

a cult that survives and thrives. 

One game of bat and ball with twenty two players

a feverish craze beyond mere words. 

Let the negativity and naysayers wait for all that matters, 

And hear, hear; - Indian Cricket, another glorious chapter is added.  

What a game it was, and catches do win matches,

a gloomy decade gone, let us bask in glory, with our boys' backs' patted.

"

"Sweet Victory" (Poem / Poetic Tribute) 

                                                                                                                            16 Saladi Jamindar Street,

Palakollu. 

Monday, 1st of July, 2024.

Maheeth Veluvali

Conquest of Chandra's South Pole

(At 06:04 PM, 23rd of August 2023, India became the fourth nation to soft land robotic lander on the moon, first to do so on South Pole. The poem is a tribute to Chandrayan-3 mission of ISRO)

That dreaded deja vu of 'fifteen minutes of terror'
played havoc on everyone's mind.
Four years ago, that countdown held a mirror,
to the calamity that's handed down. 

The moon was distant, the media was cruel, 
the maverick prophets of doom triumphed.
The Gods smiled this time, with fate's duel,
human endeavor and scientific temper combined. 

Slowly and steadily, billions watched, 
with fervent hope and bated breath;
amidst raging worse news, our hearts touched,
an event memorable even in death.

Who knows, some future dreamers may take birth today, 
in non-descript rural school buildings without fuss. 
For now, let's Hoist the tricolor, praise the brilliant minds and bask in pride,
for The Lord Soma himself, his mysteries intact, hosted us.

Maheeth Veluvali,                           

16 Saladi Jamindar Street, 

Palakollu.

Gorbachev

Mikhail S Gorbachev

"

The sick sickle and hammer suffered since the sixties,

when the war that wasn't hot was too hot to handle,

there was beauty in struggle, like autumn's lillies,

brought up in the red banner of Moscow's granduer.

 

A clash of ideologies set after a gory war, 

brought no glory to the common man,

swollen pride mattered little with prices they can't bear,

and one man understood the rut, a reformer in a dying clan.

The warriors of west, those champions of democracy mocked 'Trust but verify',

with the ashes of the second world consigned in Afghanistan's battlefields.

But, one little Gorbi made one last stand, 

hated by left right and centre, still not corrupted by power. 

Glasnost and Perestroika, the comrade general secretary ensured in letter and spirit, 

unmindful of history's partisan junior judges, unaware of the betrayals by one and all,

Tried till the last to hold the republics, but never forcing the winds of change, 

'This is how it ends, Sasha' said the maligned Gorbi and quietly slipped out with no applause.

"

 

Mikhail S Gorbachev passed away in August 2022. He was the president of the Sovier Union from 1985 to 1991, whose well meant reforms of Glasnost and Perestroika could not save the Union from disintegration. Although there is divided opinion on his legacy, one should accept his role in the end of cold war and his unappreciated efforts to save the people reeling under an in-efficient socio-enconmic system, his untiring efforts to unite the union till the last, and his stoic refusal to quell rebellions in the republic. 

Tuesday, 27th of September, 2022

16 Saladi Jamindar Street, 

Palakollu

1971

 

Picture information and credits below

The ides of march brought ill tidings to us all, 

for we lament the East that's bleeding red;

while the politics of power was vested and small, 

behold the Bengal of yore, the beauty brutalized;

 

The western beacons of democracy went silent, 

and refugees set for the noble land as problems piled;

There was neither time nor space, every day's a torment;

A sinister ploy left our brains raked and our hearts riled.

 

Then in winter, we made the impossible possible, 

a team was set and everything's in place;

A defining moment of glory so indomitable, 

wherein bluffs were called and risks were taken.

 

From the sea at Karachi, amidst clouded skies over Calcutta,

crossing the Meghna and liberating Dhaka -

To those valiant many who fought and died, 

and to the people of the new nation, 

What a glorious victory was it, etched forever in loving memory!

 

Poem / Poetic Tribute (English) - 1971

Exactly 50 years ago this day, i.e, 16th of December 1971, the Third Indo-Pak war concluded with the surrender of Pakistani forces in the then East Pakistan, leading to the formation of Bangladesh. The poem is a tribute to the Indian martyrs and is a commemoration of the 50 year friendship between the nations of India and Bangladesh. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Pakistani_War_of_1971

Picture above - Lt Gen A A K Niazi signing the Instrument of Surrender under the gaze of Lt Gen J S Aurora (left), General Commander of the Indian and Bangladeshi Forces. 

Picture Credits - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistani_Instrument_of_Surrender

 

 

Maheeth Veluvali, 

16 Saladi Jamindar Street, Palakollu,

Thursday, 16th of December 2021.

India @ 75

Seventy Five years ago, our nation began her tryst with destiny,

with an echo of freedom that warmed few million hearts.

An era of despair and destruction ended emphatically;

but all's not good, for the new nation was already scarred.

 

Unified yet diverse, from the lofty Himalayas through the Gorgeous Ganges;

with bountiful plains and forests of yore, is a timeless ideal that seized the minds of men,

and lusted by traders and conquerors, this land of Bharatas;

Our India, an amalgamation of ideals and melting pot of cultures!

 

As we scan the annals of our glorious history, our chests fill with pride

at the supreme sacrifices of freedom fighters and nation builders,

And in the march of nations, ours is but a unique tale,

as we celebrate 75 years of freedom, wonder with what glorious tales of success the future beckons!

 

 

Poem (English) - "India @ 75" - On the eve of 75th Independence Day of India. 

 

Saturday, 14th of August, 2021,. 

Maheeth Veluvali,

16 Saladi Jamindar Street, Palakollu,.