On Spamming my office email

Sometime ago, in my previous job, I had the misfortune of having an amazingly burdened schedule, while some of the people I hung out with, worked at other places in the city and were trying to find something to do to pass the time when they had not much to do (which was most days). So one day, there was this generally degenerative spam session going where these souls were discussing what they wanted to do for dinner, at 10:30 in the morning. I, as usual, was pretty swamped, and this did not interest me one bit. I could have quietly asked to be excluded from the session, but I guess I am abrasive when I am in the mood. So, I sent out this little composition:

Vikram Seth once had written for
Those mindful of burdens by night.
There are also those burdened all day,
Did he ever ponder their plight?

These men have greater loads
Than the thoughts of what next to do,
These are souls that leisure abhors,
And most of their fellows do too.

Tasks pile up like a cosmic dust pelt,
Never visible but ever they loom.
The pressure's akin to what Frodo felt
In the hot crevices of Mt.Doom

Said souls can never plan far,
Least think of dinner at lunch,
Little can they think of, but 'unsigned char',
Between sips of coke and brunch.

To those souls I dedicate my rhyme,
And pray do not take offense,
But to waste my hours is a crime,
With your electronic non-sense.

Well, Sandhya Acharya, one of the gang, a terrific albeit brooding poet, had this to say: (Thanks Sandhya!)

Happy be the souls who can jest
Inspite of endless toil without a rest
Such souls have held the burden in the night
In the day have traversed far without respite
Work shall always loom; now and forever
But there is always time for a little palaver

I said to myself, "Hey! now wait a minute! If what they were doing was 'a little palaver, then it was by no means little and certainly a greater degree of idleness than palaver! Repartee needed!" and here it came immediately. Alas, now I had been dragged into the vicious spam game :-(

Toil does not mean unjest,
Toil does not mean unrest,
Toil means you hang fast,
And it means hardest you strive
Till its time to go, and it's five!

Then be merry and forget worry,
Prepare for dinner, rightly, over tea,
Make plans for your group movie,
When others too are in no big hurry.

All I utter is a word for conscience,
Work the time for which you're compensed!