Manoj Rath Kāvya Dṛśyakāvya

23/06/2026

19/06/2026

About 22 years ago, I saw the play ‘Waiting for Godot’ organised by playwright Ramanand Ainkai in Karnataka’s Sirsi. I was an undergraduate student at the time. The plot of that play and the inner intensity of those characters who wait for a power that never comes until the end haunted me. The uncertainty of the constant waiting and not knowing whether they will live to experience that power, struck a chord in my mind.

When we look at politics and the society around us today, it feels like we have all become characters in the same play. We hear everywhere that whatever we do today, no matter how hard we work, it is for the next generation. So what is the value of the existence of today’s generation? Is our life worthless?

The characters Vladimir and Estron in Samuel Beckett’s play spend their entire lives waiting for an invisible force called ‘Godot’. They have no idea who he is, what he looks like, what he will do when he comes; but they have a blind faith that if he comes, all their troubles will be over.

Collective Godot complex

Indian politics today has transformed into a massive collective ‘Godot complex’ that keeps its citizens in constant waiting, believing that today’s invisible exploitation is a patriotic sacrifice. This is not just a political lie; rather, it is a severe psychological spiral that makes the citizen celebrate his own destruction.

Read more on thewire.in

11/06/2026

Now available @ Amazon

05/06/2026

From Memory

if you plant me
manoj rath

How great it would be
if you plant me as I plea

not inside any precinct
where my shade is given
on the basis of biased need
on the basis of caste and creed
on the basis of colour of the skin

instead let my roots
spread beneath the earth
at a path
where my canopy can shelter
all the creatures
with all their panoply
without any price or prejudice.

manoj rath

29/05/2026

From Literature And History FB Page

Kafka did not predict monsters. He predicted a world where people slowly lose themselves inside work, pressure, routine, and emotional exhaustion.

More than 100 years later, The Metamorphosis still feels terrifyingly modern because millions of people quietly live like Gregor Samsa every day… exhausted, disconnected, and afraid that if they stop producing, they stop mattering.

That is what makes Kafka timeless. He understood that the real horror is not becoming an insect… but becoming emotionally invisible in a system that only values usefulness.

27/05/2026

ଆଜି ନା ମୁଁ ଉଦାସ ଅଛି
ଆଜି ନା ମୁଁ ବିନ୍ଦାସ ଅଛି ।

ଜାଣେ ସରି ନାହିଁ ନାଟକ
ବାକି ଆହୁରି ଦୃଶ୍ୟ ଅଛି ।

କାହିଁକି ଶୁଖିଗଲେ ସବୁ କ୍ଷତ ?
ନା ଶବ୍ଦ ଅଛି ନା ଅବସୋସ ଅଛି ।

ଦୁଃଖ ଥିଲେ ତ କହନ୍ତି କାହାକୁ?
ଭିତରେ ଏକ ଅଜବ ହସ ଅଛି ।

ଅହରହ ଛଟପଟ ଏକ ସ୍ବପ୍ନ ଅଛି
ଆତ୍ମା ରେ ଚୁପ୍, ଏକ ବିଶ୍ବାସ ଅଛି ।

ମନୋଜ ରଥ ।

21/05/2026

Raghu Rai
Pioneer of photojournalism in India
Talking about the instinctive realisation of a moment of creativity.

21/05/2026

these days
Manoj Rath

these days are cheese .

the mornings stored in
a no-current night
split,
boiled and boiled
in the golden hot
searing sun.

I became
left overs of dreams
stale desires
survived the night
of indifference
hypocrisy
indiscrimination
false assurances,

My ‘Id’ crushed
became lazy
I too had to be a
Vermin to survive .

crawled to
the steamed cheese.

I’ve to be thrown out
poisoned
burnt or buried

to make me feel
I exist

I AM ALIVE.