Madison

A sonnet on Madison and the UW!

A visual treat are her colorful Spring flowers,
While in the Fall, the leaves take their place.
Apart from the odd mid-summer cold showers,
We enjoyed all her seasons' beauty and grace!

Yeah, a polar vortex was such a small price,
For all the joy that Mad-town did bestow.
Never before did we skate so well on ice,
And throw in jest so many balls of snow!

As a course for fun, we learned social dance,
Yet, for all the finals, we still had to cram!
Who knows, they will come in handy, perchance,
But boy, are we glad we'll not take another exam!

Relishing the world's cuisines on State street,
And looking in awe at the majestic Capitol dome.
In spite of its small size, it felt so complete,
If only for a few years, we called this town home.

We swam in the waters of her gorgeous lakes,
And cheered with thousands at a homecoming game.
Admist all the turns that our journey takes,
"We are Badgers!", we will proudly proclaim!

An Ode to Science

An ode, nay, a paean, to all of science and technology. Enjoy! :)

We see you in the beautiful helix inside our genes,
And in a black hole that bends distant star light.
You are the changing bits in our computing machines,
The object of our wonder every time we board a flight.

The eternal engine of our enigmatic existence,
You have revolutionized our entire civilization.
Defeating all forms of irrational resistance,
Your advance will continue without any cessation.

No nation on Earth can claim you as theirs alone,
For you are a unifying language for all nations.
Little by little, all of the seeds you have sown,
Have blossomed into deeply helpful applications.

Alas, you have often been misused due to our flaws,
Leading to tragedies on an unimaginable scale.
Still, the pursuit of you has never stopped because,
In the end, your righteous use does always prevail.

The contrast of your rigor with the arts is stark,
Yet, at the very frontiers, you seem to converge.
Indeed, what powers both is a bright creative spark,
From which the best of both science and art emerge.

Yes, the most incomprehensible thing about reality,
Is that so much is comprehensible, thanks to you.
Even our finite and fragile minds grasp your beauty,
Though like the vast cosmos, you are infinite too.

Discovering a timeless objective truth will leave us profoundly awed,
For this experience enabled by science is like seeing the face of God!

Impermanence

A sonnet in Tamil on the doomed quest for permanence:

Un nizhalai pidikka odinaal,
Mudivillaadha oru otram.
Nilaiyaai nindru naadinaal,
Puriyum adharkillai thotram.

Maatram undaakkum kalagam,
Maaraamal iruppadhu edhu.
Maarikkonde irukkum ulagam,
Sollum mattram mattrume adhu.

Edhayum edhirpadhoru gunam,
Aanal thevai adharkum mudivu.
Etru kolla vendum manam,
Vegamaai vandhu vidum vidivu.

Interpretation in English:

After your shadow, if you dart,
It will have no conclusion.
Standing still, pick it apart,
Its form is but an illusion.

Change does muddle the mind,
For nothing remains forever.
A changing world does remind,
Change alone changes never.

'Tis our nature to resist,
But it cannot go on and on.
For acceptance is the gist,
As it ushers in a new dawn.