Author Archives: montecyril

If you are surly, contemptuous of human nature, and a misanthrope to top it, what would you be? A cynic, I presume. And despite the clever witticisms that cynicism may entail, one would hardly delight at the thought of a man given to deprecation.  Oscar Wilde, though no altruist himself, described the habitual disparager asContinue reading “Of clowns, comics and cynics: Just for laughs “

She taught him the mystical universal music of the stars  That we are what we are meant to do in our living hours  He stood for justice and integrity, never belied the truth  She gave him the lesson: to strive regardless if it bore fruit  In holy books, she was called the maid of MaryContinue reading “The church of Sarah and James: A poem”

On Friday, 6 May 2022, China flew 18 warplanes into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) as part of the military drills it is undertaking in the East China Sea, amid growing tensions in the Taiwan Strait. In response, Taiwan deployed defensive weapons to monitor China’s activities.  “Radio warnings issued and air defense missile systemsContinue reading “For Taiwan, independence is hardly guaranteed “

It is true that power corrupts  From its throes strife erupts.  Those that are endowed with this mortal gift  Should for peace and prosperity always lift  Not to use it for disparity and go tellingly adrift  With war and callousness, thus only causing rift  To use influence and greatness for resounding goodness  Is the callingContinue reading “Power: A poem “

The joy you gave us   was tremendous  Filled us with so much cheer  As we shed a mighty tear  at your passing.  That your ceaseless spirit of love  was a gift from the God above  O little soul that you should find   A greater paradise than you left behind  That is worth muchContinue reading “Phoenix: An epitaph “

Sri Lanka’s current bitter debt crisis was the topic of discussion at the annual spring meeting of global financial leaders in Washington under the auspices of the World Bank and IMF last month (April 2022).  Sri Lanka is ridden with a debilitating debt crisis, that has resulted in an acute shortage of foreign currency, whichContinue reading “China’s insidious debt-traps; and how to rule the world “

Growing up amid the love of siblings  The joy of sharing and the well-fared tidings  Tender years in the open playing fields  Blessings of childhood that innocence yields  And those calming dawns at the breezy beach  Uncaring and free, for the stars to reach  Dad’s open-heartedness, Mum’s love and duty  Untrammeled happiness that was ourContinue reading “Sisters: A poem “

With Pakistan recently (in April 2022) conducting a series of airstrikes in Afghanistan’s border districts of Kunar and Khost, relations between Pakistan and the Taliban have nosedived. At least 47 people have been killed in the Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan’s eastern border areas, prompting an acrimonious response from the Taliban.  Taliban has fulminated against Pakistan’s newly-formedContinue reading “Taliban-Pakistan: The long honeymoon seems over “

He who casts a spell  In evil does he dwell  Staking a claim on everything  And also to the rood and ring  And leaves the good prince with nothing  Not even his heart-felt wishing  Everyone fears the evil wizard  For his spells are a mighty hazard  Pain and suffering in the wake  He reaches outContinue reading “The evil wizard and the good prince: A poem “

What indeed sets the human race apart  What haunts it, what is truest to its heart  Dreams and aspirations guide it to much progress  But a surfeit of these is only a decadent regress  Because when greed sets in, injustice reigns  The snare of lust is what causes man to deign  Coveting what is notContinue reading “Greed: A poem “