And cattle grazed in the meadows

Then came down countless gods and goddesses

Crowding the computer room. They hastened

On the digital greenway and arrived

In time to watch the new animation

Of world events. In a dazzle of lights,

Controlled by smart blink of the infra-eye,

They could see things even a hundred yards

Farther away. Remaining connected

To the internet and in accordance

With the fabled protocol they practised

Collective meditation to include

In their schemes even body’s feelings.

Sometimes they played swift electronic games,

Or else in the ancient gallery scanned

Paintings by the renowned masters. Moses,

Michael Angelo, Mahatma Gandhi

Soon formed wallpapers on the soft and pink

Background, even as a small clock ticked by

In the rush of thunderous happenings.

As the gigabytes rolled in front of him

Another age Vithoba Patil sensed

Dawning in the subtle sky. An image

Rode a laser beam and traced distances

As if some far superior glow filled

One after another twelve great shrines

Of death accomplishing life. He stood awed

In the chanting of Bhavani’s first hymn

And felt magic and power of the sword

Forged in fire that burns with atomic fame.

Now to meet another Malik Kaffoor

With his thirty thousand horsemen ready

He was. No wonder, the cornfields grew rich,

And cattle grazed in the meadows and scent

And hue brought a strange silence that adores

Divinity in each pixel. Someone

Who is vast found the spirit’s algorithm.

RY Deshpande

24 September 2004