Ambigrams with Poettery

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Internet

Internet
Originally uploaded by punyamishra

The Internet
inking pacts
across the world.

Linking
and connecting
all humanity.

Shakily
connecting
all the dots
into one
continuous whole.

GB #29

Internet II

Internet II
Originally uploaded by punyamishra

Small knots
woven together
become a net.
Flexible, stable,
and very strong.

Small computers
inter-connected
become the Net.

Unleashing
the power
of communication,
of creativity,
and
of community.

Small individuals,
linked together
become the
Internet.

GB #28

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Douglas R Hofstadter

Sides-reversed-is
Originally uploaded by punyamishra

Douglas R Hofstadter
sides reversed is
Retdatsfoh R Salgoud
sides reversed is
Douglas R Hofstadter
...
is one Strange Loop.

Hofstadter wrote
Godel, Escher and Bach:
An eternal golden braid.

A personal review follows.

Four young boys
growing up
the Modern way:
Gaurav and Hartosh,
Punya
and GB.

Like other 16 year olds
just focussed on
having fun.

Fun,
defined for them
by Hofstadter
with wordplay,
Palindromes,
Anagrams, Ambigrams,
and paradoxical
self-referential statements.

Many years went by,
in the pursuit of fun,
doing what they please,
each in their own way.

Until,
like everyone else,
they grew up
and became serious.

Each in their own way,
they did what
they had to do;
they became what
they had to become:
Consultant, Journalist,
Professor,
and Manager.

And thats what
they are
in this life.

Their one
and only one
life.

Only one life?

Is it ever
enough
for anyone
to live
just one life?

Memories of
a fun-filled youth
don't just die:
They bring in
A Certain Ambiguity -
Ambigrams,
and not to forget,
Ambi-Poettary.

Back to Hofstadter
and the book review.

Just one life
is certainly not enough
for Hofstadter's
Godel, Escher and Bach.

But do not fear.
Perhaps one day
a Gardner will come
to annotate GEB,
and give us a chance,
to figure it all out
in just one life-time.

GB # 27

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Dog

Dog
Originally uploaded by punyamishra

A dog,
wags his tail,
seeks attention.
And licks your face,
without asking for
your permission.

Comes up close
and becomes
personal.

And becomes
your best friend.

GB #26

Saturday, February 14, 2009

God

God
Originally uploaded by punyamishra

GOD
looks the same
whichever way
you look at it.

Look down from the top
or up from bottom --
and find GOD.

Look in the mirror
and see GOD.

Just like the 0,
symbol for
nothingness.

But still,
required,
to count from
one to infinity.

GB #25

Friday, February 13, 2009

Darwin

Darwin
Originally uploaded by punyamishra

"Beauty in mathematics,"
says Polya,
"is seeing the truth
without effort."

Polya's dictum applies
to Science
as well.

Darwin explained
nature's bounty --
from simplicity
emerged complexity,
adapting by competing.

Darwin explained
so much, so simply,
so beautifully.

GB #24

Infinite

Infinite
Originally uploaded by punyamishra

Infinite plane
made compact
becomes a sphere.

Still infinite,
but compact,
somehow closer to
being finite.

GB # 23 (also Math Poettary)

Look here too.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

No-x-in-Nixon

No-x-in-Nixon
Originally uploaded by punyamishra

NO X IN NIXON

A palindrome
but False.

NO X IN NIXON
sides reversed is
NO X IN NIXON

Truly
a longer palindrome.

sides reversed is
sides reversed is
sides reversed is

(repeated ad infinitum)

truly
the longest
palindrome.

GB #22

Sense-non-Sense

Sense-Non-Sense
Originally uploaded by punyamishra

Image in
No Og
de Nash,
No Jabber
wock soever.

No pun
ya at all.
No Ji,
No Bee,
No ambi,
just potty.

Life sans
non-sense,
makes no sense:

It is
like this sentence.
Meaning less,
or none at all.

Or like this one.
Not funny;
no fun at all.

GB #21

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Love

Love
Originally uploaded by punyamishra

Fools marry the girl they love,
Wise men love the girl they marry,
goes an old dictum.

Love turns
most of us
backwards --
into a fool.

Eventually,
all turn wise.

GB #20

Saturday, January 31, 2009

Play

Play
Originally uploaded by punyamishra

"Come back soon from play,
and finish your work"
is what you hear.

Until work becomes work,
and play, play.

Play hard enough,
and play becomes work.

But, work hard enough,
and work becomes play.

And if you look hard enough,
PLAY becomes LEARN.

Now you don't need,
to hurry back from play.

GB #19

Friday, January 30, 2009

Discover

Discover
Originally uploaded by punyamishra

The scientific training,
teaches how to discover.

The artistic training
teaches how to uncover.

The mathematician uncovers,
only to discover --
new things to uncover.

GB #18

Monday, January 26, 2009

Darpan (rotates to mirror)

Darpan (rotates to mirror)
Originally uploaded by punyamishra

When you read something in Hindi,
do you turn it around in your mind,
and think it through in English?

When you speak in English,
do you think it through in Hindi,
and turn it around in your mind?

Does your mind let you see
what you really are,
when you look in the mirror?

GB #17

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Blogger

Blogger
Originally uploaded by punyamishra

I may not write very well
but still,
I do write.

I may be confused,
but still,
I do express myself.

I may not have much to say,
but still,
I do say it.

I may not think too deeply,
but still,
I do think.

I am
a Blogger.

GB #16

Ali

Ali
Originally uploaded by punyamishra

Ali said to himself:
"I'm the Greatest".
And for many,
he was
The Greatest

What do you
tell yourself?

GB #15

Friday, January 16, 2009

Visual Wordplay

Visual Wordplay
Originally uploaded by punyamishra

A picture, they say,
is worth a thousand words.

Then what about words,
that are also pictures?

What about
Visual wordplay?

GB#14

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Anand (reflection)

Anand (reflection)
Originally uploaded by punyamishra

Anand.
Simple,
humble,
down-to-earth,
impassive.
A nice guy.

Aggressive.
Listens to
his opponent's
breathing,
to read
their mind.

And works his own
with lightening speed.

Anand,
chess champion.

GB #13

Smita

Smita
Originally uploaded by punyamishra

P-Smita,
A love story.

Psmita,
listened patiently,
to every story
through the night.
While the Other
dropped off.

Psmita,
flipped P over,
for ever
and ever.

Psmita,
continues to
listen patiently --
even though
this P
is never silent.

Gb #12

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Good-Evil

Good-Evil
Originally uploaded by punyamishra

Good and Evil,
black and white.

One cannot exist
without the other.

When you remove
the evil,
is good
left-over?

GB # 11

Madam-i'm-Adam

Madam-i'm-Adam
Originally uploaded by punyamishra

Madam I'm Adam.
Could be the first
sentence ever spoken,
the first
palindrome.

It reads the same
front to back
and back to front.
Flip it over,
and still,
its the same.

First ever sentence,
an ambigram.

GB #10

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Teach-Learn

Teach-Learn
Originally uploaded by punyamishra

We are here
to teach what we learn,
and to learn what we teach.

We are here
to learn when we teach,
and teach when we learn.

We are here,
to give what we have,
and take what we can.

GB #9

Teach-Learn (all mixed up)

Teach-Learn (all mixed up)
Originally uploaded by punyamishra

Some say that
one teaches best,
what one needs to learn
the most.

Teach-Learn
Two sides
of the same coin?
Or are they,
one and the same?

GB #8

Friday, January 9, 2009

Logical

Logical
Originally uploaded by punyamishra

Logical
If o looks like a,
Then a looks like o,
and conversely.
Look at the mirror g
and tell me,
what can you see?

Through the looking glass
they say,
beyond what is
logical,
you can find
the meaning of life --
the universe, everything:
The number 42.

GB #7

GB #1