Nellaiappan's Poems-1: "Thanksgiving"

Thanks Giving

I want to thank many people-
A few are not alive today;
Whereabouts of some not known;
Don’t even know the names of one or two.

Some seen only in books;
Many only heard about;
Yet want to thank them all,
For, I am what I am because of them.

Mother, for imbibing gentleness in me;
Father, for imparting the art of reasoning;
Elder brother, for demonstrating ethics and values;
Younger brother, for being my first friend.

Tamil teacher, for inculcating a love for languages;
Sanskrit master, for my English vocabulary;
Lord Alagappa, for my college education;
My old secondhand cycle, for the trips to and fro.

Friend Annamalai -
For introducing Lin Yutang and Dale Carnegie
And for chiseling some thing inside me

Penfriend Sala –
Deserves a handshake
Though faded away now
Like a passing cloud;
For filling a vacuum those days
When the very thought of a friend
in the opposite sex was exciting.
Author Naa.Paa. -
for molding my character;
Kalki -
for the inspiration to write in Tamil;
How one can forget Poorani and Aravindan,
Vanthiathevan challenging Alwarkkadiyan?

Given an opportunity to re-live,
Jeyakanthan’s and Balakumaran’s
Every word I shall read and re-read,
And a red salute to my Vairamuthu.

Who could match Valampuri John?
Voracious reader, Unique orator.
Though political misjudgments
Overshadow his fame;
I bow my head for whatever I learnt from him.

My friends-
Gentle Venkatachalam, busy Chandran,
Innocent Ramanathan and turbulent Mohan
everyone is important in their own way
either one’s company would wipe worries away.

At the career front
Many deserve my thanks -
From some I learnt what to do and how
From some others what not to do and why
Making me a manager and a trainer.

I still keep on learning-
For there is no end to learning;
As Tamil sage-poet would say
What we have learnt is only a handful
And what we have to is like the Universe.

At the home front -
My Kannamma for putting up
With my idiosyncrasies and shortcomings;
My beloved daughters for making
Life meaningful and worth living;
And for all the three of them
For being the driving force behind me.

I surrender at His holy feet
Myself and all that He has given me.
No regrets and no complaints;
I only wonder about His plans for me.