Sunday, December 18, 2011

Blossoms Dropped..


















He made his way amidst the trees
Splashing corals from beneath the seas
His mane of ocher turned just white
As he rose, fiery and bright.

She stood to see the arch, his way
A sight to behold each passing day
Passion swept her swooning mind,
 She longed, to walk along his wind.

His smile had blessed her gentle face,
She took his hand to be his grace,
But his smile  did bloom many a flowers
Passion shared amidst his towers

Wretched became her heart with pain
She swore to see him never again
She fell, and from the ash did arise,
A tree which blooms before he would rise..

His rays would touch but only the stem
The blossoms would fall, away from his hem..

  (Last Sunday, when I went to my brother's place, this Parijatha tree was in full bloom.I mean,by the time I took photos, these flowers were dropped to the ground.. I knew there were so many mythological stories woven around this flower and that these flowers were adored by Kannan..The one which took to my fascination was the story where a princess falls in love with Sun-God only to find that he has many wives..So she kills herself and from the cremated ashes, this tree arises.

( I promised to write a post today, in exchange to know what book has been sent for the new year.Came home after  a medical camp only late in evening and so was not in a mood to sit in front of computer.. But this story and pic was in my mind for so long..பதிவு எதுவும் எழுதாமல் நிம்மதியா இருந்தேனுன்னு நினைச்சுட்டிருந்தேன்?! யோசிக்காம செயல்படுறது சுலபமா இருக்குது.. I thank all my friends who kept prodding me to break my silence.. and  for their concern..)

Friday, November 25, 2011

I need a break...

I need a break, for sometime..
The reasons may be many..
Hope to come back soon..

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Baby booties... :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sriraamkalingarayar/6265323102/


அழகிய பாதங்களை
சிக்கென பற்றிட
துறவு அணிந்து
தவமிருக்கிறதோ?

( Waiting in penitence?
Wearing the robes of Ochre
to hug those beautiful feet?)

 வாங்காமல் சென்றாலும்
கொஞ்சி விட்டு செல்லுங்கள்
இவை அணிந்த பாதங்கள்
நன்றி சொல்லும்..

( Never bother if you don’t buy them
Just blow them a kiss
The legs which fit into them
Would thank you..)

 பார்த்து வாங்காமல் போன
ஏக்கம...
இதற்க்கும் இருக்கிறது
காத்திருந்து தழுவாத
ஏக்கம்.
 
(Glanced and never bought,
They too have the longing
To have shown and never bought)

 பாதங்கள் வளர்ந்து விட்டால்
தூக்கி போடாதீர்கள்
பின்னாளில் நடக்காத நடைக்கும்
கதை சொல்லும்

 
(Do not throw away
When the feet have grown
They would tell stories
 Even of the walk
Which never happened)

 தங்கி இருந்தால் மகளுக்கு
அணிவித்திருக்கலாம்
உன்னை போன்ற எத்தனையோ..
கொடுத்து வைக்கவில்லை
உனக்கும் எனக்கும்..

 
(If she had stayed,
I would have bought
So many like you
We were not gifted
 Both You and me)


 இழைகளால் உன்னை பின்னும்பொது
அறிந்திருப்பாரோ?
இறைவனே இதற்க்கான பாதங்களை
வடிவமைக்கிறான் என்று?

 
(Would they have realized?
When you were woven
That God himself had designed
A pair for you?)

 வலை சன்னலை மூட நினைத்தேன்
இன்னுமொரு கவிதை என்றாய்
யோசித்து பார்த்து சிரித்தேன்
நீ ஒரு காவியத்துக்கே உரையாவாய் அல்லவா?
 
(I hoped to close the web window
You asked for another poem
A smile spread my surprised face
“Why? you gonna become
A cover for a Poem!?”)

It is difficult to maintain a separate Tamil blog..What to do when Nothing flashed to write in English.. Tried hard to translate those Tamil poems..Though both set in free verse, I liked the Tamil ones better . That is why I put the translations in bracket




Sunday, November 6, 2011

Chasing the rainbow.


The sun shone very brightly when I sat in the balcony with the novel. I  came inside and switched on the tv. Nothing was interesting me. I hate these lonely days. Meena and adhi had gone to Coimbatore for some family function  and I stayed back because of hospital commitments.I switched off the tv and  opened the front door. There was this rainbow forming from yercaud hills and with a big curve, going somewhere towards an another insignificant hill.  Sasmita, our neighbourhood girl was standing near their gate. She is of Adhi’s  age. I pointed towards the hills and showed her the rainbow. She told that she couldn’t see anything. I asked her to come near, showed the rainbow and then asked her to make a wish. I told her ‘when you see a rainbow, you have to wish something. Your wish would come true’. She nodded and then asked “Uncle, where is adhi?” I told he will be coming on Tuesday. Then I told her that  I am going to find out where the rainbow starts. She had an amused look on her face.

I went inside, quickly changed to some simple clothes, took the novel along with me ( thought I will sit somewhere on the side walls on the road and read till it darkens) and went to my bike. The foothills itself is some 3 kms from our home.  As I went along, there was a slight drizzle, never in any means bothersome. Then, I crossed the road to opposite side to take photos of the rainbow from my mobile camera.  As I started climbing uphill, the rainbow started fading. Probably I was inside the production unit. It was just faintly visible. The other end too was not much discernible. The sun , from the opposite side was still bright. There was this usual place, where adhi and myself would station the bike and go hiking up the hill or sit there watching the vehicles move by.


I continued driving the bike. The first stream showed up, fresh and  clean waters erupting through the rocks just beside the road. Yercaud itself was some 20 kms from there, can be easily reached within half an hour. I had no idea of going to yercaud, but just wanted to see how many more streams form in this side. Two, three, four.. there were so many. I saw a girl standing in front of one of the streams, alone and was wondering  what she was  doing there. I went forward, there was  this another person standing over the parapet turning towards the sun. Crazy ppl , as crazy as I was, to have come alone along this road. Another  3 kms upwards, there was this bigger stream, and a small teashop. I stopped there , took some photos of the stream, sipping tea and wondering, how I missed adhi today. He would have enjoyed, definitely we would have atleast soaked our feet in the cold waters.

The horizon was turning dark, and I turned the bike towards the city. The cold wind clamping my  t shirt. I had to plan for dinner tonight. I was surprised to see the girl and the guy ( seemed not yet married) station their bike near the same stream and then chatting happily, ( Oh, war and peace..Good, good).


As I reached the foot hills, there was this big truck parked in front, and a big tummied police annachi  directing all bikes towards one side of the road.. OMG, I forgot to even get my wallet, no driving license  in hand, No one at home to fetch it too. I pretended to search my pockets. He came towards me and told ‘ Karnataka vandiya?’( is this Karnataka registration vehicle) I just nodded my head , cursing myself as to why I came in such a hurry. He let the first person in front of me go, and then came near me. “ Drinks saptirukkengala sir” ( have you consumed alcohol?sir?) I was bowled by his politeness.. ha ha, I was becoming  normal, This , definitely I need not worry, at least now. I told an assertive "NO".. He smiled and told “ Polam, vandi registration a maathunga” ( you can go, change the vehicle registration). I smiled back, relieved and powered my accelerator. The rainbow had disappeared by that time..

Rainbow from flat
Rainbow where it starts
Rainbow where it ends
Inside production unit. Disappearing rainbow.
first stream
How I wish I had company
green all the way
Smolensk? War and peace.
Fresh stream, joined down by another.
Just beside the road.
Darkening horizon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

P.S. This is my hundredth post. Is this something to be happy about??

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Love shared..

This I wrote in bits and pieces.. the psalm itself  was read from an open Bible while waiting for my friend to get ready.. The page inspired me to think of the words and write something.. Weaned.. but not orphaned.. were the thoughts that were going on for a few days..Google searched to get the psalm.
photo courtesy - Sri raam kalingarayar.
My heart is not proud O lord,
My eyes are not haughty,
I do not concern myself  with great matters.
Or things too wonderful for me
But I have stilled and quietened my soul
Like a weaned child with its mother,
Like a weaned child is my soul within me..
Psalm 131
 I do not know, how far those words apply for me..have I stilled and quietened my soul? Do I not concern myself with matters which are great, desires which are materialistic? when I think of that, I remember another pasuram by Nammazhwar.. somehow I connected both the shepherd and the cowherd..the english translation too written sometime back while sitting simply in clinic..

Love shared..

Weaned, but not orphaned,
Held, but not burdened
Loved ,and so set free
Bond unseen, like roots of a tree
Cast, answered, by a rolling dice
Of fate, which wrought some joy and vice..
Always but, you did hold in place
A mere pawn though, safe and cared.
The hands are but of your own grace..
That plays and mocks,  and the  love shared..

The Nammazhwar pasuram..




' கையார் சக்கரத்தென்  கருமாணிக்கமே !' என்றென்று 
பொய்யே கைம்மை சொல்லி புறமே புறமேயாடி 
மெய்யே பெற்று  ஒழிந்தேன் : விதிவாய்க்கின்று  காப்பாரார்?
ஐயோ! கண்ணபிரான் அரையோ இனிப்போனாலே ..

நம்மாழ்வார் 

"Disc adorned lord, My dear  black pearl"
My tastes lie low, In vain I praise thou.,
My false love you claim, To flaunt as pure and true.
My heart is locked with yours, In divine grace and bliss
Will I stop the flow? lest others? stop this Love?
Could I cease to bond? 'Kanna!' my dear, My lord!
Nammazhwar.

I thought there were not much mystic poems in tamil.. Haven't read Rumi In Persian, Don't know the meanings of Abhangs.. But these 4000 verses, still sung in some temples, though with some mechanical recitation, captivates when read and savoured alone..
Probably religion also is a sort of exaltation., when will I become sober?

Friday, October 28, 2011

Tugging the nets..

The title ( Caption for photographers) is a borrowed one.. I used to be surprised as  to how crisp and poetic were the captions.. Made up? for example..( http://caughtoncamera.aminus3.com/image/2010-05-27.html).. But this particular photo, caption and the small write up..made me write a poem in tamil  and an english translation...( Fisherfolk at Kasimedu tugging at their nets .These nets were entangled in the sea during the recent storm. The fishermen were surprisingly very friendly....). Never meant to be critical..It was just my opinion about the write up at that particular time..

why this post now? A story By KP sir and the response by Anil Kurup( Such values are often found more among the poor and economically marginalised. ) reminded me of  this old poem..
photo courtesy - sriraam kalingarayar.http://caughtoncamera.aminus3.com/image/2010-07-06.html.

வியக்கத்தகும் நட்பு ??

அவர் கடமை அவர்க்கு உண்டு
ஒரு தசையும் உன் விழி பார்த்து அசையவில்லை
தன் செயல் செய்திடுவார், தத்தமது  போக்கினிலே,
ஒரு முகத்திலும் அயர்ச்சியோ , களைப்போ இல்லை
விதண்டாவாதம் பேசி வேதனை படுத்தாதே நண்பா ,
பேச்சை கொடுத்துப்பார், உயிரை கொடுத்திடுவார்
வியக்கத்தகும் நட்பு, வீதியிலும், சேரியிலும் உண்டு..
மாடியிலும், மேட்டுக்குடியிலும் தான் அரிது..

The english translation..

Surprisingly friendly??

Not a brow raised against your lens.
Diligent and involved, tangled livelihood
Not a face showing disgust, nor resent
They are on their own, why blame them mate?
Give them your words, they'll pour out their hearts..
Never tis surprising to find true friendships
in penury and lowly, than find truth in affluence and fame...

those photos have reduced if not stopped all together.. but it was at that time, that I took small steps writing poems in English  and revived my Tamil writing..

Sunday, October 23, 2011

when I have nothing to write...

Actually I had small small moments to write down somthing.. to store in the drafts of my cell phone.. An open bible which I happened to see while waiting for my friend to get ready ( car pooling)..and something which evoked me to write.. A nammazhwar pasuram which i tried translating ineffectively..
And, If i sit in front of computer on a sunday, with kids running around, phone calls to attend, festive season in the air.. what poetry could i try to write all of a sudden?.. Some one wants a caesarean section at a particular time today. The operating doctor had called me to assist.. haven't got much time either.
But I wrote an email today.. actually for my friend who went to watch  this movie "Engeyum Eppothum" tamil movie with his pregnant wife.. which they had to quit half way because of the tragic incident which takes place in the movie.. He asked me to send me a review of the movie..
So I just copied to paste the mail..
( A short recap of story - the movie it self starts with two buses colliding head on, coming from opposite directions. It is about the lives of people who travelled inside those buses.. Meeting of two lovers.. their flash back and a climax where the two love tracks end..)


hi thambi..

The primary aim of director is commercial success..If his concern was genuine, at least 50 %that his message should go across, then his intention has to be appreciated.
we don't know how much of good things we follow watching movies..the influence itself lasts few hours..I mean, how much of personality change is effected by such movies. Ppl tend to grasp easily the darker side of such things.
coming to the movie proper.. the characters are woven around the central theme of the accident..to make it appear appealing, the accident itself shown gruesome.,but that 's what happens in accidents.. this, when compared to some english movies like final destination is very very mild, and predictable thing.
though , the hero who dies is not met with any of those gory butcheries..he is shown only to bleed a little from his ears..the director is intelligent in that respect.. hasn't made it more disgusting for the one whom we have seen thru the whole movie..
the success of the movie lies in the way the passion is created between the characters.. both the love stories are told in a very simple, yet gripping manner.. the flaw in the one between Sarvanand and Ananya is that, it is somewhat unbelievable that a girl from trichy has so much of ignorance about city life.. but certain characters are like that.. her secret glances, her stubbornness, fear, passion, faith all captured in that one walk of that day..
even Sarvanand's initial irritation, the one hour permission, extending into the full day leave, and his fascination into her naive personality is sequenced without much skepticism. When she takes a dig at arranged marriage, that love seems more plausible with her explanation.
Jai and Anjali's story appears amusing.. their love itself is strengthened by the small pranks, and the way she tries to over power him. and his submissive nature..the ego between the conductor and the passenger, because of which these two are forced to get down later on, tells about the scheme of destiny..
the other characters which are being cast are shown to tell how eager, the father, or how illustrious the  kid in the bus is.. keeps us queasy  as to who is going to die and who will survive..
though they come for a short time, the passion is shown effectively, between father and daughter, and an infatuated girl and boy.. and a newly married couple.. though some excesses are shown in those characters...
to up the effect the screeching of both buses are shown.. it keeps us guessing what went wrong, who violated the rules and all..
the song, govinda.. is nice..others I don't remember..
ultimately, when we come out , we feel heavy hearted, little fearful..
over all the movie was nice..
but did i start wearing seat belt? did i stop talking in mobile phone while driving? do the private bus drivers stop blaring  behind us while driving the bike? do ppl stop over speeding because they saw this movie?
everyone has a passionate wife, kid or mother , each life is precious..reminds me of the incident whre a night sleeper bus caught fire and all in that lost life..( KPN?)..
meena shuddered in between, wept and all..
are traffic  laws stricter in foreign countries? Is the sheer enormity of our population makes life here cheap? because everyone knows to subvert or bend the laws..a driver too has got a family and some responsibility towards them too.. whom to blame?
the other day, when my ent friend's car came to leave his wife in my college, i called him up later and asked.. whether he saw the movie.. because his car itself was zooming past with the turn of my head..
at least helps to make fun..
bye
saravana..

Monday, October 3, 2011

Journeying through....

Splintered, fallen and lost all edges,
Shed all dust, polished and tamed
Slimy and wet, with a greenish vein,
The smoothness carved, without any pain
The ripples and the river were a potter's hand
Shaping and caressing even along the bend.,
And then, some day, the river ceased to flow
The sun beat down to crack and to frown
Still I lay, reflecting the heat,
Some rain, some day, would drown me again
Some sun, another day will break me to grain...


photo courtesy - sri raam kalingarayar..





சத்தம் போடாதே, சலசலத்து நடக்கின்றாள்


மூதாட்டி பெரும்பாறை உடைந்து சில்லாகி 
வழியெங்கும் காத்திருக்க, 
புனலாய் இச்சிறுமி, பெருநீர் பெருக்கெடுத்து 
கூட்டி ச்செல்வதென்று?

பேச்சை தொலைத்து விட்டு 
பாறை எல்லாம் நின்றிருக்கு
கல்லு சில்லெல்லாம் ஓடையோடும், ஓசையோடும்
துணையாய் செல்கிறதோ?

எட்டிப் பார்க்கும் சில பாறைக்குள்ளும் கூட
ஈரமும் காற்றுமாய் உள்ளே போய் வெளி வந்து
மெல்ல கரைக்கின்றாள்
தந்தை மார்பில் கிடந்த பெண் குழந்தை போல் இந்த
சின்னஞ்சிறு அருவி... 
 
the tamil poem was written long time back..parents and kids came to stay with us for ten days.. so I lost touch with blogging for some time.. nothing flashed too..but then i wrote this english poem while i was waiting for a patient to deliver.. and I knew what photo to select for this.. The added bonus was, there was already a tamil poem for that.. but an entirely different theme..

  
 


Saturday, September 24, 2011

Abandoned Railway station

photo courtesy - Sriraam kalingarayar.


‘Tell me a story” It is her way of asking me to tell something about what happened in the hospital.
‘I  am so tired, I have to wake up early, feel so sleepy’.
Adhi had  slept after listening to stories already read out from book.
‘You always have some reasons to tell only if I ask you to talk to me, while you talk so much to your friends over phone’.
‘ We talked so much about hospital gossips in the evening’..
‘Who did the talking? You started and I did the whole talking’.
‘Isn’t that enough? ‘I asked ‘ I got up early today too, and after college and clinic, let me sleep early on the days when I have no cases to operate’
Some song was ringing in my heart and I was singing “ thennai vanaththinil  unnai mugam thottu ennaththai sonnavan vaadugindren, ennathai sonnavan vaadugindren”
‘Is it MGR , Saroja devi movie?’ she asked
‘I don’t know, I just know the lyrics . Thats all’
‘How does the song start?’
‘ Sivagaami...Or should I sing Meenatchi..Hmm?  It starts with Ponezhil pooththathu puthu vaanil’
‘Oh! It is definitely MGR movie only’
(I spent my childhood in karnataka and we had our TV only when I reached 9th standard. No DVD players then. After I joined college , I was completely cutt off from tamil movies and songs. The college itself was in some interior part of karnataka, where I stayed for 5 years. I know only of the songs but not much about the movies )
‘Hmmm! Is it so? Let us  see from youtube’
Every other song is uploaded in You tube..There it was, MGR in his best ( I was never a fan of MGR, Rajini had captivated us with his style by then) and Saroja Devi, with her fluttering eye lids and roving eyes, singing this song.
‘MGR would have been in his forties, See how smart he looks, square jaw, broad shoulders and the charisma in his face’ she told
Not to be left behind ‘ Even Saroja Devi looks beautiful, though there is an extra layer of makeup, small face, round and attractive’ I complemented
‘Who wrote the lyrics? Kannadasan or Vali ? My dad used to say- the music doesn’t impede the lyrics and happens to flow along the voice’
We searched for that too and It was by Panchu Arunachalam ,a lesser known Lyricist
Though we both had not born when the movie was released
And then She told ‘Search for the Sivaji and Savitri Bharatiyar song’
‘I know all of Bharatiyar tamil songs which have come in movies. But what you tell has no head or tail’
‘The one which Sivaji sings commending  the greatness of each state of India’
‘Oh, that one.Sindhu nadhiyin misai ‘
After that it was quite a few bharatiyar songs.. And where was my tiredness?
Then there was an sms, “ watch Vijay tv super singer show’’. She was amused when I switched on the tv.
A new face was singing an old song based on carnatic music. ‘who sent the sms?’ She asked.
“Krishna, the anesthetist “
“Even your new friends know all about you, its only with me you don’t tell stories”
Oh My God.. It has started again..

The abandoned railway station

We sat  together ..
Where no one  comes
Where no train passes
Just  we two,like new friends
Like the rails of  the track..
The words couldn’t be rememberd
 It was enough that we Sat there..
 Intent to listen, eager to share..
Gossips, dreams and our past
We sat there at the station
Where the Gulmohar and silver oak
Wet after the night’s shower
Like two aged grandmothers
Stood still listening to our words
Dripping flowers now and then..

( This was written sometime back, about our old days spent in KGF..Hmmm those were days..though the station shown here is not  the same one)
 P.S. this is an excerpt from the blog which tells about the lyrics of the song.
There are just so many songs that have exceptional tunes and lyrics. Although I don't claim to be a genius in this department to critique them, I could write down the enjoyment.
Here are the lyrics for ponnezhil poothathu from kalankarai vilakkam:
 http://and-i-say.blogspot.com/2007/03/ponnezhil-poothathu.html