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Quote by Abhijit Naskar

“Sonnet 1103 Our ancestors are not the boss of us, Life must be dictated by living conscience. Dead people may have the right to make suggestions, But they do not have the right to issue mandates. Our ancestors belong in history books, Our descendants belong in comic books. Only we are alive to belong here and now, Don't waste that life, submissive to books. Too much involvement in the past cripples your present, The same is true with too much involvement in the future. If you are oblivious to the human condition of now and here, Ignorance and intellect will equally end up causing disaster. Use past and future as markers of direction, But never as authority on living tradition.”

Quote by Abhijit Naskar

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Vande Vasudhaivam: 100 Sonnets for Our Planetary Pueblo

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Abhijit Naskar

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“Vande Vasudhaivam Sonnet 68 Don't be fooled by my attire, You think of me a fool because I want you to think of me a fool. I am a behaviorist, and by behaving idiot I study who's true, who's a tool. I don't dress all ancient like a monk, yet monks come to hear the words I utter. I don't dress fancy like world leaders, yet world leaders look to me for answer. I don't wear the uniform of law, yet coppers study me to be better cops. I never got to put on a white coat, yet white coats study me to be better docs. I am the person beyond the paradigm, I am but a reflection of the best of humankind.”

“Only Bow to Love (Sonnet 1360) I don't bow to truth, Truth is my toy. I don't bow to science, Science is my toy. I don't bow to law, Law is my slave. I don't bow to wealth, All wealth end in ashes. I don't bow to no constitution, I pen constitutions in my sleep. No holy writ is my authority, I pour out holiness on a daily basis. I am love, I only bow to love. Till I sleep, everyday I fall anew. Facts, faith, law, go get in line. When I see fit, I'll call you.”

“All Fergusson's verses, indeed all humanist verse, has within it an eligiac seam; always present beneath the surface is the assumption that the world is imperfect, that it has fallen from grace. As with the disintegrating Tory ideal in the country, there is in Fergusson's poetry an ideal, imagined city of the past, hopelessly toppling as the new Babylon lays down its foundations: city of chaos, dirt, noise, broken communication, luxury, disorder. In essence the poet follows in his representation the timeless humanist imperative, attempting 'to create order out of disorder, and to make sense of life'. Hallow-Fair and Leith Races to a degree make just such a clear demarcation between the two cities of past and present in their thesis - antithesis structures. The two cities embody two different Scottish cultures: Auld Reekie, the pastoral, civilised, humanist culture; and Edina, the Athens of the North, but more often, Babylon, the counter-pastoral, brutal, Whig culture. Hallow-Fair, Leith Races, The Election, The King's Birth-Day in Edinburgh, satirise the new Babylon; the poems of this group celebrate an older Scotland, and Auld Reekie, in the same eligiac vein as The Daft Days. Yet, as we have seen, the poet, at times, undermines too rigorous a humanist position: demarcations are not all that clear; ideals don't always elevate the human codition; the endless wheel of change and creativity, diversity and unrest, may be forging themselves into a new order.”

“Sonnet of Fields Art is a mirror of time that shows, What's been, is and could be. Science is a bridge of time, That helps us build the future to be. Philosophy is a spank on the tank, That makes us cautious of mistakes. Faith is but an imaginary friend, That fills in when the sky darkens. Education is a liaison to social lanes, That arms us to engineer new lanes. Medicine is a keeper of health, That helps us overcome sickness. Each social field has a noble cause, Whether they fulfill it depends on action of ours.”