This poem was selected in the official longlist of Wingword Prize 2023. Top 200 participants were a part of the list

The world waited with bated breath

but the Buddha was calm, serene

like a lake of tranquillity

although there was no water in that lake

it was all sands, and only sands all around

hot sands, dusty winds and dancing mirages.

The Buddha had his eyes closed

no movement, no murmur in those lips

no blinking of eyelids

nothing ruffled that calm countenance –

marching of troops, arraying of arsenal
surveillance of satellites, stacking of sand bags
arrival of ministers, helicopters, frantic phone calls –
The Buddha was unmoved…. Suddenly

the faint orange rays of morning sun broke into the cave
a white light glowed in the centre of the forehead -
Was it the moment before the enlightenment?
The heart beat was slowing down
Ida and Pingala - Yin and Yang
electrons in halted motion
you could almost hear the anahata
in the secret chamber of the Buddha’s heart.

At eight hours five minutes sharp heart beat suddenly stopped
Shiva and Shakti were united, drawn magnetically into
the heart’s centre, electrons split, Kundalini fired
in a cataclysmic orgasm
shaking up the body in multiple tremors
pulsating through its myriad cells

In a blinding flash

the Third Eye blinked open

in a momentous quake

the earth was raised

a bellowing thunder

reverberated through firmament

as a cloud of sand dust

engulfed the horizon.

Pokhran was born. Pokhran was dead

in less than a millionth of a second :

the hymen of secrecy was breached for ever

the infant had become a big boy

at once shy and bold

with the suddenly acquired carnal knowledge

of creation and annihilation.

and then the Buddha smiled.

Poet’s note: “Smiling Buddha” was the code name of India’s first ever nuclear explosion at Pokhran Test Range on May 18, 1974 at 8:05 am. Little Boy and Fat Man were code names of the first nuclear bombs dropped on Japan in 1945.