Springs of Hope in the Seasons of Despair

By Dr. Babu Ram

Seasons of despair are causing relentless misery and pain, death, and destruction worldwide. The darkness blanketing hope is thickened by archaic beliefs and traditions, bigotry, greed, falsehoods, and ideological and religious fault lines. These negative forces perpetuate fear, disillusionment, and confusion, and nurture despondency in society.


Changing narratives further blur the line between truth and untruth, shifting the public's perception in favor of vested interests in the society. The human resilience, social cohesion, and political stability are challenged.


How does one come out victorious through the seasons of despair?


Springs of Hope in the Seasons of Despair is built on the core foundations of the unwavering human spirit: faith, integrity, ingenuity, mutual love, respect, and trust. Through poetry, the author brilliantly illustrates how to create everlasting Springs of Hope in our hearts and minds, leaving behind the seasons of despair.


The poems are universal, with flavors of American, African, Chinese, and Indian culture and ethos. They shade light on society's pains, pleasures, hopes and dreams. These poems are inspirational and uplifting, and guide the reader on how to avoid the traps of even darkest despair.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Yorkshire Publishing
• Release date: Jul 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781954095472

Dr. Babu Ram

After thirty-five years of a highly impactful career in the energy sector, Dr. Babu Ram is creatively pursuing academic and literary interests and projects, while running an energy non-profit entity based in Washington, DC. He spends his time between the USA and India. In addition, he enjoys traveling to international destinations for business and leisure.

Book preview

Preface

It all began in the city of Wuhan, China in December 2019, and the despair soon spread to the rest of the world. It has been protracted, with no end in sight.

The gathering to view the spectacular Cherry Blossoms in the capital city of America was banned. The avenues of hope and happiness, bread and butter, and teaching and learning were made out of bounds. People started living in unending fear and suspicion. The despair, above all, is due to the fact there is no medicine or vaccine as yet. And it is now becoming deep-rooted as the months and seasons pass.

The hopelessness robs a man of passion, and the woman of her dreams. Hope is a blessing driven by action. If you want hope, you have to give it to others. Hope springs forth when an action addressing a burning issue demonstrates to all concerned that there is hope for a better life. So, hope is not a desire. Nor a wish.

The Springs of Hope in the Seasons of Despair are poems grouped into four themes (1) Global (2) African (3) Chinese and (4) Indian.

The global themed poems capture the pandemic, symbols of faith, divine justice, heaven, hell, reincarnation of the soul, superior souls, family, and human ego amid fear and privacy of the internet and social media. The pandemic poems reflect genuine human concerns and curiosity, whether the Covid-19 virus is nature’s rebalancing act, a biological weapon, a divine punishment to men and women; and will there be a vaccine for everybody in the winter?  Endeavoring helps the creation of new medicines, building hope, and bypassing anxieties in desponding times.

The African-themed poems revolve around such symbols as father figures, hyenas, lead cows, herds, Kraal, the Sahelian dust, soccer, and bread riots. Yes, Africa is rising! Can we say Hakuna Matata?

The Chinese-themed poems are impressions of all that I observed while I lived in Africa and what I saw during our journey to China. Dragons, pandas, the Great Wall, and Terracotta Warriors are special to the Chinese people as they are to international travelers. The spring festival is a symbol of happiness, while the curtailment of freedom in Hong Kong offers despair to its residents. The examples of the Yin-Yang disequilibrium can be found in the South China Sea and on the Line of Actual Control between China and India.

India is a land touched by every religion on the earth. A billion plus people practice the faith of their choice, aspiring for peace and prosperous lives.  India’s Ubuntu, We are because they are is as important for internal peace as the defense forces for guarding the frontiers. The tolerance to opposing opinions is increasing.

There is universal disapproval of spoken words that are scornful, satirical, hateful, and abusive to others. Karma accompanies the trolls, cuss words, scorns, abuses, and satires. The Karma is subtle and invisible, but the consequences are adversative to speakers.

There is ample evidence that human optimism has been prevailing over wickedness in the seasons of despair. That wickedness will be exposed to and expelled from the world is my hope. No doubt, the seasons of despair though protracted, are temporary. We need more springs of hope and fewer seasons of despair. Rather no despair at all!

Acknowledgements

The author gratefully acknowledges Sandra’s help for useful discussions and copy editing of the book. I also thank Anand and Pari for sparing time to hear the poems. I am thankful to my wife Sneha for her continuous support, encouragement, and inspiration.

About the Author

After thirty -five years of a highly impactful career in the energy sector, Dr. Babu Ram is creatively pursuing academic and literary interests and projects, while running an energy non-profit entity based in Washington, DC. He spends his time between the USA and India. In addition, he enjoys traveling to international destinations for business and leisure.

GLOBAL THEMES

Global Pandemic

The Wuhan virus has unleashed a global pandemic.

People all over the world are in pain and panic.

Not only have hundreds of thousands lost their lives,

but they have also been denied the chance for a dignified funeral.

The entire human race observes a self-imposed locked down.

The factories close; workers are furloughed; and businesses shutter down.

The families’ teary eyes mourn their loved ones from a distance.

Unemployed workers register for jobless claims; and retailers file for bankruptcy.

A homeless man shifts a meagre asset from one bench to another; and is uneasy.

Out of the reach, are meats, cheeses, and blueberries.

Schools close; pupils await an uncertain future; and minors go nuts.

Train stations close; migrant workers walk thousands of miles to reach their villages.

Social distancing is widening further the age-old social cleavages.

The world is turned upside down by the deadly virus.

Does Nature Tilt Balance in Its Favor?

Proud of his muscles,

The man rips nature’s pristine face.

When greed peaks,

It acts like a leopard returning,

After tasting the blood and flesh.

Men may think that they are winners.

But nature, tired of men,

Tilts the balance in its favor.

In the wet markets of Wuhan, China,

Due to human carelessness,

A virus contaminates the food supply chain.

The virus infects the throat and sinuses.

The virus is able to see man.

Everything, minus the virus, is visible to man.

The value of human life to the virus is less than a nickel!

Still there is no weapon in our arsenal to kill the virus.

Is Coronavirus a Biological Weapon Unleashed Accidentally?

Life’s jigsaw puzzle is replete with innumerable illusions.

In the mind’s perception, we are powerful, they are small.

But the coronavirus has smashed all hypotheses,

And exposes delusions of our human capabilities.

The virus, like a self-guided missile, tracks and kills its target,

The virus changes colors; matches a target’s age, blood, and brain.

Like a man of multiple standards, it changes tone, tenor, and content to suit a situation.

Is the coronavirus a biological weapon unleashed accidentally?

Whether the COVID-19 Pandemic is Divine Punishment?

This is the Covid-19 novel coronavirus pandemic.

Some cultures still believe that

This pandemic is a divine punishment

Their god decides

Who among the men and women lives?

And who dies?

That the faith will shield them from the Covid-19 virus is mythical and goofy.

If this is the case,

Why do followers of the faith die of cardiac arrest and diabetes?

The virus holds no familial ties with humans.

Its lethal attack on mankind is terribly inhuman.

It is like a biological weapon accidentally detonated.

A million have perished;

And millions have been infected.

The end of darkness is not yet in sight.

Though everyone, wishes to see the light.

Taking chances is to ask the virus to come and kill me.

The virus acts impartially,

When it strikes,

It does not discriminate on the basis of faith, color, gender, and caste.

The truth is this,

One out of a lot

Nature selects.

The fittest survive.

And

The weakest die.

Defeating the virus,

A centenarian woman smiles,

As she walks out of the New York City hospital.

Due to his succumbing to the virus,

The family of a young man condoles and cries.

In the fight against the virus, immunity, strength, and self-discipline matter.

The dreams of the overconfident and irresponsible shatter.

The virus is spreading in all the States.

It is like a drunken elephant out there,

It will tear you into pieces, if you come out and stare.

You would invite trouble

If you were out bare-faced and dare.

The virus is like the Bali of Ramayana.

The demon possessed the ability to diminish the potency of its enemy with a mere look.

He became an invincible warrior and a crook.

We may have bombs, but we cannot nuke the virus.

We may have wealth, but we cannot buy a favor from the virus.

We may have muscles; but we cannot crush the virus.

But we cannot win over the