Archives
Goodbyes no more
Friends waving goodbye to Basho
did I hold you back?ffice
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with my prolonged adieus
waiting to see you
turn around, to my sound
of recurring goodbyes
my intent suspect
not realising
when I stop saying byes
I can truly let go
what a fool, I
Word weaver II
these words you weave
sets about a gentle teasefficeffice" />
bestirs the mind
with vagrant opine
yet, in these garments of mind
that you stitch over time
there’s missing a certain fragrance
of a soul, needed to come alive
pray will you bare
yourself some more
and delicately spin
a bolt of dream
from your heart?
- Abhi
Dedicated to a pal to whom word weaving comes naturally.
Dil ki baat
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| Getting down from her school bus a girl sees a labourer's daughter inviting her to play. VO: “Nigahen nigahon... | ...se mila kar toh dekho. Naye logon se rishta bana kar toh dekho.” Seeing a loving young couple in park, an... |
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| ...old woman looks at her husband and smiles. VO: “Hasratein dil mein dabane se kya haasil hoga, apne hoth... | ...hila kar toh dekho.” We now see a boy leaving after dropping his girlfriend at home. At an instinct he runs... |
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| ...back and kisses her. VO: “Khamoshi se kab hoti hai khwahishein poori, dil ki baat bata kar toh dekho.” |
The camera moves to a deaf and dumb boy expressing his feelings to his teacher. VO: “Jo hai dil mein usey kar... |
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| ...do bayaan. Khud ko ek baar jata kar toh dekho.” An athlete being trained in gymnastics falls in the middle... | ...course of action. Motivated by the coach, she now shows herself as a skilled gymnast. VO: “Aasmaan... |
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| ...simat jayega tumhare aaghosh mein, chahat ki bahein phaila kar toh dekho... | ...Dil ki baat bata kar toh dekho.” Super: “Airtel. Express yourself.” |
Rarely does one see things inspirational and poetic in commercials. The exception is the current Airtel's Dil ki Baat ad. Can’t say the same about their service. Sure would like to know who wrote its lyrics. Sounds so much like Javed Akhtar
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Nigahein nigahon se mila kar to dekho,
Naye logon se rishta bana kar to dekho,
Hasratein dil me chupane se kya faida,
Apne honth hila kar to dekho
Khamoshi se kab hoti hai
khwahishein poori,
dil ki baat bata kar toh dekho
Jo hai dil mein usey kar do bayaan.
Khud ko ek baar jata kar toh dekho.
Aasmaan simat jayega aagosh mein,
Chahat ki baahein faila kar to dekho
Dil ki baat kar ke to dekho…
My transcreation:
hold that gaze…linger awhile
pull in a stranger within the radius of a smile
release those dreams hidden within your heart
let your lips loose shackles, let truths set off some sparks
whence has silence ever fulfilled the desires of heart?
hear out your heart, let it sing aloud its song this while
make evident that which your soul yearns
try out expressing yourself just this once
the ceiling of limits will collapse in surrender
were you to spread out wide the arms of desire
let your heartbeats play out its tune without guile
hear out your heart, let it sing aloud its song this while
Abhi
And here's a version which Aparna created, with its formatting:
Hold that gaze
Do linger a while
Make a new friend
By sharing a smile
Ardent desires
Struggling for voice
Unshackle your lips
That the heart may rejoice
Give life and expression
To the song in your soul
Let yearnings see light
Don't fear losing control
The sky with its bounty
The world with its charms
Is yours for the taking
So spread wide your arms
Let your heartbeats play out
Their tune without guile
And between two hearts
You'll have traversed a mile
- Aparna
Mahabharata, White Lies and Self Images
www.ahmedabadcity.com
This post came about from a recent conversation with a friend. It centres around one of the final incidents in Mahabharata.
As Mahabharata draws to an end, the five Pandav brothers ascend towards heaven. On the way, one by one, each of the brothers, as also Draupadi, falls down and dies. Only one is finally left standing, the eldest brother Yudhistra, the righteous...the one who has never told a lie. Yet even the righteous is made to go through the purgatory (as in Hinduism there isn’t any concept of Hell. The purgatory or Narak is the place where you are purged of your attachments to the Mayalok, the realm of Maya or illusions)fficeffice" />
It’s commonly believed that the reason was due to the fact that Yudhistra had lied so as to incapacitate Drona, the guru of the Pandavas and the Kauravas, the indomitable warrior, who had been granted ichchaamrityu (death by one’s self desire). As one by one the Kaurava chief’s fell, there was only Drona left, and with him alive there was no way that the battle of the Mahabharata could be resolved. Nor could any weapon system kill him. The only way he could be brought down was if he was induced to forsake his body on his own. Drona’s only attachment was Ashwathama, his son, himself an indomitable warrior. Coincidentally Ashwathama was also the name of a war elephant in the Kaurava camp. It was then decided that Bhim would kill this elephant, as it was infinitesimally easier to do so than Drona’s son, and declare aloud that Ashwathama is dead. Yudhistra would corroborate the declaration as nobody would doubt the verity of his words. This might induce a grief stricken Drona to leave his body.
The strategy was played out. After killing the elephant Bhim went about loudly shouting ‘Ashwathama hatah!’ (Ashwathama is dead). Drona, in disbelief, called for Yudhistra, as he knew Yudhistra would never lie and asked off him if the news was true. Yudhistra paused and then said ‘Ashwathama hatah...iti gaja’ (iti gaja = the elephant) The ‘iti gaja’ he said under his breath so that no one heard. Thus Drona, grief stricken and realising that the last attachment for whom he existed, was no more, sat down in his chariot and relinquished his body.
Thus it’s commonly believed now that in telling of this white lie, that Yudhistra, the unblemished, got punished by that momentary visit of the purgatory. For lying, in lieu with neo-Christian influences, is considered to be a sin.
There’s no concept of ‘sin’ in Hindu belief, as is in the current Christian belief, though with the conflux of religions, it might easily be mistaken as such. A ‘Paap’ in Hinduism is an attachment to the vestiges of ego and the Maya and any actions brought about there of. As also, one doesn’t go through a Hell, as is currently believed in Christian lore, but one does get purged. Though Paap and the purgatory have in current usage been equated with Sin and hell. However, if one were to look into it, it’s not truth or lies which are more important as taking responsibility of all words uttered as also acknowledging their creative power.
Yudhistra was truthful so that he never needed to postpone the results of his actions and faced them then and there. It was thus the power which his utterance had accumulated which made him the unblemished. For the greatest bravery is at all moments being ready to face the consequences of one’s actions as also being honest with oneself. However it was his attachment to his self image, as that of Yudhistra the truthful, which made him infinitesimally hesitate that one crucial moment.
And it was this hesitation, brought about by attachment to his self image, which needed to be purged. For as a warrior, and on having taken up weapons, he had to fulfil the dharma of the battle. And in the battle scenario if he could take up weapons to vanquish his adversary he could well use words, as long as he was responsible for them.
However the above isn’t being said to champion the cause of white lies.
Little white lies are in reality white truth, words spoken for the future without taking responsibility of the present and sired by a refusal to face its challenges. They are words uttered which are not thought out immaculately and out of sync with the continuum of happenings. Such words, when they present themselves to us, mangled by time, due to the illegitimacy of their birth, by us, we quickly label them unfeeling act of callous fate!
For many a times have I seen, an excuse offered by me to sidestep a responsibility, quickly become an inopportune apparent reason in near future. I also saw it when a protégé of mine offered excuses of ill health and comp problems, and actually had them manifested within the very next day.
Many a times have I taken recourse to convenient ‘creativity’, as also decried fate when it sent bouncers my way, never quite acknowledging that my own words and thoughts were the progenitors of my experiences. And now as the correlation gets stronger, I’ve started paying more attention to them, my thoughts and words. Yet the seduce of keeping one’s self importance and image intact by slipping into the convenience of a little white lie still does persist.
I’m also left wondering...what if Yudhistra had told the white lie, consciously. What would he have faced then? I guess we’ll never know.
With Male-ice towards one and all
John Abraham
There’s something different about ffice:smarttags" />ffice" />
My ears at once perked up. The comment was coming from my friend, an American, a New Yorker at that and generally had the kindest of things to say about
Ah, here’s going to be revelation, I thought. We’ve always look down upon ourselves. Here we’d get to see ourselves in favourable light, in a manner we never bothered to see. I leaned forward to here this.
There’s something different about the Indian male. I wonder what is it in them which makes them piss every 20 mins?
Oops. This wasn’t what I was expecting!
I mean, you know, what is it about them which make them different from a European male or an American male or a male anywhere else in the world? Said my pal, throwing up his arms.
Woops! I could feel this might get sticky!
Is it something about their bladder? And when they want to they pee anywhere!
Possibly they might be marking their territory? I replied defensively, though many a times I had looked upon the general urinary habits as akin to dogs. Anytime, anywhere. But this time I was trying to use it as defence.
Ahhh! Mark their territory over public property? Maybe democracy has something to say about that! He asked with raised eyebrows.
The property came out as praahpatee, in the typified American accent as also other a’s and o’s, but I was maintaining silence.
The other thing that bothers me, oh no, is how they spit aaall over the place!!
This time he really threw his arms about!
Its genetics, I tried to tell, comes from having ancestors who hunted with blowpipes! But how would I trace the modern Indian’s lineage back to the Amazon rain forest dwellers without having historian to say something about it. Throwing in Gondwana land wouldn’t help either! I continued to maintain silence.
And... oh no there was more coming
And I have this theory, said he in a tone of a scientist who’s very conscious about his intellectual property and leaning over, gesticulating with his hand in a typified manner, I have this theory, that Indian Males have detachable parts!
I goggled!
They do?
They have to! For every 5 mins I see them clutching their crotch to check if everything is there! They seem like Michael Jackson forever doing the moon walk!
In fact, I have this theory, that in those big tokra thing you see people carry on their heads in trains and all, they carry these spare parts around! And offer new for old for 5 rupees or something like that!
Hmmm what theory or philosophy did I have in response to that?
And...
I thought it was best to make a detour at this stage!
What news of Priyanka Chopra?
There was this pause! Obviously Indian women make a better impression. I could see blush suffuse over the fair skin. Ahh well...Preeyankaa, oh well, still no news!
The active mind got busy focusing on how to get to know Priyanka Chopra. American minds are like that! They stay focussed.
The Indian male lived to tell another tale!
Habiliment
I wish I could write
And spin the words I had once spun
Weaving garbs of stupendous thoughts
Stitching seamless seams of disjointed idioms
And make a gossamer gown of adulation
For you, my love, to adorn
Yet my lexical loom now lays barren
The words milling around, abound
But none which would lend itself
To the yarn with which I could sew
A gossamer gown of adulation
For you, my love, to adorn
So while I twiddle my thumbs n' fiddle the keys
Spinning spindles bereft of inspiration's fleece
You, my dearest, must continue to exist
in banality's disarray and dishabille
Gossamer has become the gown of adulation
For you, my love I do adjourn
- Abhi