Lotus in full bloom

This is a poem inspired by a Tamil duet of two lovers singing a ode of love to each other...the italics is the lady singing, otherwise it is the man.

Like a fully bloomed lotus
is weighed down shy
your coyness bows your head
waiting me to come by

Your heartbeat quickens as
over the threshold pass my feet,
the sweat of ur passion
yearning for the moment we meet

You are the coveted elixir
for my youthful desire.
Only the depths of your ocean
shall extinguish my fire


Oh my impatient love, who
I cherish in my innermost
Come accompany me thither
To our love, let us toast

There you can have me
For as long as you will
Drink love from my lips
Every moment - a thrill


Your love flows all night
overfills the limitless trough
in the brightness of early sun
I still have not had enough

Every moment I pined
Is now recompensed far above
For like the Love God himself
You have made love

This endearing liveliness
on your blushing cheeks
is more precious than rare pearls
of remote coral creeks

Oh, my love that's my shyness
which has left me stumped
Your pearly praises cant evoke
music in this lyre benumbed

But you are a lyre
of thousand strings
Every string I strain
shall sing a paean to my love

There is a stanza or more in the Tamil song, but I felt that it was a logical completion here. The Tamil lyrics are pasted below. As usual its not known who wrote the lyrics...such a shame! Music is by Ilayaraja...I came across this song when I was searching for songs based on the Raga Reetigowla, my favorite of this raga being "Chinna Kannan Azhaikiran" again by Ilayaraja. More than the lyrics or music, I love this song due to the beauty of Sumalatha, the actress - her attractive expressions have gone a long way in inspiring my rendering in English.

I have pasted this Tamil lyrics from

http://aravindang.blogspot.com/2006/03/thalayai-kuniyum-thaamaraiye.html

Song - Thalayai Kuniyum Thamaraiye
Lyrics:
Movie: Oru oadai nadhi aagirathu
Singers: SPB/ S.Rageswari
=========================

male:
thalayai kuniyum thamaraye
thalayai kuniyum thamaraye
ennai edhirpaarthu
vandha pinbu verthu
ennai edhirpaarthu
vandha pinbu verthu
thalayai kuniyum thamaraye

male:
nee theerka vendum vaaliba thaagam
female:
aaaa.....

==================
male:
nee theerka vendum vaaliba thaagam

female:
paaRkadalin oaram pandhi vaikkum neram
paaRkadalin oaram pandhi vaikkum neram

male:
amudham vazhiyum idhazhai thudaithu
vidiyum varayil virundhu nadathu

female:
thalayai kuniyum thaamari Naan
unnai edhir paarthu, vandha pinbu verthu
unnai edhir paarthu, vandha pinbu verthu

male:
thalayai kuniyum thamaraye

====================

female:
kaathirundhen anbe
ini kaamanin veedhiyil thaer varumo
male:
poomagaL kannagaL ini maadhuLai poal
niRam maaRidumo

female:
aayiram naaNangaL
indha oomayin veeNayil isai varuma

male:
nee oru poN veeNai
adhil nuni viral thodugayil
pala suramaa

female:
poovai nugarndadhu mudhanmuRaya

malle:
hmmmm......hmmmm
vedhanai veLayil sodhanaya

female:
mudhanmuraya
male:
idhu sariya

female:
sari,sari
poovadai kaatru jannalai saathu .

male:
aaa.....aaa

female:
poovadai kaatru jannalai saathu

male:
uththaravu devi thathalikkum aavi
uththaravu devi thathalikkum aavi

female:
irandu nadhigal iNaindhu nadakkum
pudhiya alaigal karayai udaikkum

male:
thalayai kuniyum thamaraye
thalayai kuniyum thamaraye
ennai edhirpaarthu
vandha pinbu verthu
ennai edhirpaarthu
vandha pinbu verthu
thalayai kuniyum thamaraye

Dump the lyricist

I hate it when is so difficult to find the lyricist of a particular song.

You love a meaningful song and wish to know who wrote the lyrics..you search the web...the number of websites who mention the singer or the music director alongwith the lyrics are dime a dozen. Heck, you even find the names of the director and the actors...but no mention of the poor lyricist, because of whom the song came into existence first place, and that too just where they have written down the lyrics!

There are many websites which do not mention the name of the lyricist along with the lyrics of the song.

But I particularly got riled this time around...I was searching for the lyricist of the song "Kahin Karti Hogi" from the film "Phir Kab Milogi" - its a beautiful short romantic melody and one of my favs. Of course as usual many sites did not mention the name of the lyricist and compounding my problems was that this song was copied by that pop wannabe Anamika who sung it out from the female perspective as "Kahin Karta Hoga" and that was all over the web. Heck, one website ascribed the lyrics of the song to her, even though its known that she was singing an older song.

Finally one website "musicindiaonline" mentioned the lyricist of the film to Majrooh Sultanpuri..it seems he has penned all the songs of this film of which this is the most well known one. A poet of Majrooh Sultanpuri's caliber not being accredited with penning this lyric in so many websites is very unfortunate. I wish people gave more respect to the lyricist.

Yearning of Radha

Along the sandy banks of Yamuna,
In chilly misty air
She awaits a love dance again
with her Lover fair

To see His footsteps in the sand
She searches hither thither
In her unceasing wait for Krishna
She slowly begins to wither

Nights pass away with changing moons
Days with the seasons
Yet the day of Tryst is elusive
For some inexplicable reason

Yearning eyes yet lose not faith
Gazing in every direction
Even elements fail to snuff out the hope
For her soul burns in passion

The heart cries out at last
- "Where is Krishna, mine.
Radha's scorching desire be quenched
by just one tryst with thine"

Translation (though not an exact one) of the song "Yamunai Aatrile" reflecting the yearning of Radha, from the Tamil film Dalapathi

Bondage of love

In nigahon mein dooba is tarah
ki apne ruh se ho gaya juda
tum ban gaye ho mere khuda
main bas tumhara adna sa banda

Aag mein jhulaskar tthandak mile
hai yehi yagaanah-i-ashiqui
jis ghulami mein ho fakr
hai woh mere mashooqa ki bandigi

yagaanah - wonder/uniqueness/incomparable

Devoted love

One prompt from you, O love
Shall unleash my tumultuous outpour
I shall kiss you till Kingdom comes
And place you on the divine pedestal

You have worshiped me in love
Undeserving though I am
Now my love is awakened
And you are its only God

Only in my protective arms
Shall you find eternal peace
Only in your soothing shade
Shall I forget my worries

Let us have but each other
No other world apart
Let me immerse in you
As you dissolve in me

this is a rendering of one of my favorite romantic Hindi songs, an evergreen one...its not an exact literal translation (no fun in that!) and also I have interchanged the placement of one of the stanzas. Lets see if someone can guess which song it is...one clue, the 3rd stanza is closest to the Hindi original in a literal manner.

Faerie in red

A melange of orange, ochre and deep red
fluttering in the air
cladding that lissome form
of my love, she so fair

She floats across the hill tops
which are covered in a carpet green
Her smile bestowing warmth
like a faerie of surreal dreams

Bliss suffusing her face
Her hands move in sinuous grace
I reach out to touch her,
She disappears, leaving me dazed

And when I kneel to worship
in the glorious sanctuary
She showers me with pure love
A path emerges through the haze

Wistful reminisces

When even stiff gusts of wind
can't snuff out the spark of dying embers

When even the ravages of time fail
to obliterate that image from your mind

When the passing years cannot wear away
traces of those bittersweet memories

When the whisper of the silent zephyr
brings to mind that raucous laughter

When in the eddies of puddle
you discern a familiar sylph like form

When in tense times of distress
emerges a seraphic smile to soothe

When you haven't forgotten her
long after she has forgotten you

'I' defined

I am higher than the low,
lower than the high

I am wiser than the fool,
and stupider than the wise

I am straighter than the crooked
yet not quite in line

I am livelier than the dullard
but not that full of life

I am simpler than the abstruse
oh, yet not so easy to define

They deem me impulsive
unbeknownst of my shrewd design

When they praise my humility
I find myself puffed with pride

I can dwell in dreams of beauty
yet let pragmatism decide

So don't ascribe me one quality
for I am a bit of either side

The weekend that was...

...with Meenie!

I will not even attempt to supercede her description, for doubtlessly it shall be in vain.

http://catawampusme.blogspot.com/2008/12/weekend-that-was.html

I will conclude by saying that she is a real good luck girl, for thanks to her I most unexpectedly got to see an excellent art museum, with rare antiquities, most treasured being the Halmidi stone inscription - the oldest ever Kannada inscription found and returned with four tomes full of Vijayanagara inscriptions that I am most fortunate to procure. And for all this I shall pray to the God of Physics to forgive her for all the fantastic theories she spun :D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halmidi_inscription

No word for it

I know this is not done, but right now I feel like a mute with no words, yet who is overwhelmed with torrents of feelings that it is difficult to repress, to keep quiet, so I borrow words of others - I came across the following passage while reading a novel and it expresses my sentiments in the raw tormenting manner I feel

“Have you ever wanted something, Sidonie, so badly that it almost maddened you?” he finally said. “Something that made you itch from the inside out, that kept you sitting on the edge of your bed every night with your head in your hands and your heart in your throat? Something you almost, almost had—and then you lost it so suddenly it made you ache with…with what, I don’t know. Frustration? Thwarted desire? No. I have no word for it.”

- in Ch 9 of A Devil To Pay by Liz Carlyle

Bringing Alive

It was a brilliant fire
that sparked up dying embers
bringing heat, bringing life
then it engulfed all
eating up with raw hunger
consuming with ardor
but should it be damned
for this devastation?

The first whiff of breeze
brought life to a dead man
he arose freshly awakened
but then followed a gale
that blew him away
Yet what worth was his life before

Should that storm be blamed for
bringing alive the dead,even if only
for a few moments of meaningful life

Terror in Mumbai

I offer my solemn condolences to those who mourn for their lost family, relatives and friends in the heinous acts of terror in Mumbai. This is a national calamity and fills our hearts with shame and anger, this anger is not just towards those who perpetrated it, but also towards those whose willful negligence and lack of duty consciousness cost the nation its pride and so many lives. Hopefully we will emerge a stronger nation and learn important lessons so that such incidents do not occur in future.

Terror doesn't have any religion or nation, for it is against all humanity.

Divine Love

Translation of one stanza of the song Alaipayuthe Kanna.

This is a devotional song composed by the saint cum music exponent Oothakadu Venkata Subbiyer, who lived in the 18th century. It is addressed to Lord Krishna and the form of address is personal and full of love.

This is a very inspiring song for me. I thank Meena for introducing me to this and Neeru for helping me understand this stanza in particular based on which I composed the English interpretation. Even so I dont think it can ever capture the beauty and devotional love of Venkata Subbiyer's composition.

theLindha nilavu pattappagal poal eriyudhae
dhikkai noakki en puruvam neRiyudhae
kanindha un vaeNugaanam kaatRil varugudhae
kaNgal sorugi oru vidhamaay varugudhae

Even in a serene coolness, your passion sets me afire
My eyes ever turn to wherever you might be
Every whiff of breeze bears your melodious voice
Even with eyes closed, you do not let me be free