And when all the wars are done,a butterfly will still be beautiful…


Baghdad,Iraq-A bomb struck a small bus in Baghdad as it headed to a predominantly Shiite area on Sunday, killing six passengers and wounding 10, police said. The bomb was left in a bag by somebody who got off the bus, police said. Sirens wailed as police and ambulances rushed to the area, and rescue workers pulled the badly burned bodies from the charred bus.About 45 minutes later, a parked car bomb exploded outside a restaurant in eastern Baghdad,wounding six people,according to police…

There is a freshness in the predawn air that always heralds sunrise and the promise of a new day.After all these years,I can tell exactly when that time arrives.I linger on the edge of the valley.It is a clear day and I can see far into the horizon as the sky slowly brightens and the first light touches the distant mountain tops.Gradually,ever-so reluctantly a red orb makes its way into my line of vision.It does not have much strength yet and the early morning mists continue to swirl in the valley,obscuring the hills just enough to add to their mystique.Not for long,though!In minutes,seconds maybe,the sunrays shine forth and the hitherto all-encompassing mists fade into dreamlike oblivion.The sun is now well above the horizon and the red has now yielded to gold. A new day has come and the promise is fulfilled…

Mogadishu,Somalia-Two days after the United States launched an airstrike against alleged al-Qaeda terrorists in southern Somalia, U.S. officials declined yesterday to provide details of who, or what, was hit.In Mogadishu, the Somali capital, reports circulated that as many as 50 people, many of them civilians, were killed in the attack by a U.S. Air Force AC-130 gunship.Somalis have already begun to express anger toward Ethiopian troops. Last night, a former police building in the capital, now occupied by the Ethiopians, was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired from a speeding car. One Ethiopian and one Somali soldier were killed, and three civilians were injured…

Late afternoon.The sun is dipping slightly in the west and the sunshine is just the right temperature to bask in.A steady breeze is blowing across the cricket ground kicking up an occasional light puff of dust.Once again I am alone…sitting on the edge of the wall that lines the ground.Or maybe,I am not all that alone.A little puppy joins me-running into the field.Shortly followed by another of nearly the same age.The two are a sight to watch-running,rolling over,gamboling,mock-fighting.Unconscious of their surroundings,unloaded by multiple worries,carefree!The dust makes one of them sneeze and I cannot help but wish that I had a camera to capture the exact expression on its tiny face before and after it sneezed.Before for the puckered nose,after for the bewildered expression it sported! And as they go off again-one chases the other clear across the field-I cannot help but smile…

Bangalore,India- In a bitter sequel to the riots on Friday, localities in Bangalore East witnessed another round of mob fury on Sunday as miscreants attacked shops and torched vehicles, while a 11-year-old boy died and five sustained bullet injuries in police firing. Over 10 policemen have sustained injuries.Overall, more than 60 people sustained injuries, over a dozen vehicles including three BMTC buses were torched, several two-wheelers, and hundreds of shops damaged, nearly 30 houses looted, five chicken shops and 15 houses burnt, and places of worship stoned…

The evening is nearly gone.Only a last faint shade of mauve remains against the canvas of the nighttime sky.The trees are black looming hulks enveloped by the shadows of the night.The air is filled with the chirping of birds returning to their nests for the day.There is something about the flight of thousands of birds-grace,movement,exhilaration,an exquisite randomness all the more beautiful for its disorder. For a minute I too am part of the cacophonic panorama unfolding in the heavens above-a modern Icarus with wings of imagination instead of wax.The sounds gradually die down as the birds settle.A magical silence takes over.I return to earth.Another day in time passes…

Papers in the roadside,

Tell of suffering and greed.

Here today, forgot tomorrow,

Ooh, here besides the news,

Of holy war and holy need,

Ours is just a little sorrowed talk.

In a small garden somewhere is a tall creeper winding its way up a wall of ivy.A butterfly has been flitting back and forth to that creeper.Elsewhere there is war, death, hunger, suffering and cruelty.But none of that pervades this solitary garden.Here there is peace and life and beauty!So it shall be long after the depressing headlines of the day’s newspaper have faded from a fickle memory.And when all the wars are done,a butterfly will still be beautiful…