Maiden to her Paramour

Scene of Radha a cow-herdress addressing her beloved Lord Krishna. As promised by Him, He agrees to meet her on a full-moon night on the banks of River Yamuna. At the specified time, Radha rushes out of her home, kith and kin in a state of exceeding love to meet Him. As they meet, Lord Krishna holds back her approaches. To Him, the love-lorn Radha addresses in words that are not only of deep love but also of legendary devotion. (scroll down for explanations on the verses)

1. In the moon-cooled sands by the abundant river,
Bathed by Thy eyes that art a love-filled quiver,
I stand transfixed facing thy benevolence’s might,
Oh! I am killed even with death nowhere in sight.

2 Lured out of the walls, you now have me in sight,
Now if unclaimed, how pathetic is my plight.
Fickleness in my love and this poisonous vanity,
Needs Thy embrace that would kill all Duality.

3 From the Lord who claimed all worlds by His strides,
Three steps of Earth I beg, that would lead to His side,
On the Stage of our love and to the tunes of Thy flute,
May we dance in ecstasy, my thoughts thus rendered mute.

4. A pompous bird that flew out from these sands,
To heights only lesser than her pride’s pangs,
Unleash Thy gravity that would slay my wings,
And bring me to Thy bosom, to what exalted bearing!

5 The butter that Thee hold is from incessant churning,
Of this creamy milk, behold! Here is my learning!
Thus pray churn me out from my entangling ignorance,
Hold me, deem me and consume me in Thy Fragrance.

6 All said, there still remains this cruel distance from Thee,
On one end, art the Lotus and on the other, a restless bee.
Embrace me so that there be no individuality, even a wee,
For, to the yearning seekers, the Divine Paramour art Thee!

1. Radha meets Krishna on the moon-light banks of River Yamuna. By "love-filled quiver" she means His eyes to be a quiver of arrows that aim love-darts at her. She is transfixed by His beauty and smile that she finds herself life-less even though there was "death nowhere in sight". Alternatively the egoism is killed.

2. Lured out of the walls: compounds of her home. Alternatively, the 5 sheaths that according to Hindusim sepearate the human from the divinity within him/her. Radha laments, if thus lured and not claimed, her plight is unimaginable. She believes her love is weak, and she is proud, and only His embrace can kill all these weakness and Duality in her thoughts. Killing of the "Duality" is supposed to be the highest spiritual state that is attained after the "5 sheaths" are broken.

3. The Lord is believed to have covered all the worlds by his strides in an episode. Radha requests just 3 steps of all he has covered, the 3 steps that seperate Him from her so that she could reach Him. She wishes to dance with Him in bliss to the tunes of His flute.

4. Radha compares her pride to the wings of the bird that breaks away from the earth's gravitation to fly high. She begs Him to break her wings and bring her back to earth, alterantively to kill her pride and bring her back to His bosom.

5. Just like butter is formed by continous churning of milk and then taken out of the container, Radha prays Krishna bring her out of ignorance by put her through various travails of life so that she can become one in union with Him. The reference to butter particularly is because of Krishna's strong liking for butter. Radha compares her to be his butter.

6. Radha compares herself to a restless bee that seeks the beautiful lotus, that is Krishna. She prays He embraces her so close that they are one in union and they are no more individuals. Alternatively, the killing of duality explained above and in various Hindu texts. Needless to say she treats Him as a Divine Paramour who would not only love her but also lead her to Liberation spiritualy.

And so it happened.

Sound of Silence

The thousand wayside lamps that promise to illuminate
Together, a few miles, in Darkness’ engulfing senate.
Blots don’t steal a white shirt’s reverence,
Words don’t subdue the sound of silence.

Oceans have never been a thirsty throat’s feed,
My wallet that never served a single beggar’s needs,
Time doesn’t deter a heart’s loving incense,
Words don’t subdue the sound of silence.

The Sun that awakens the buds so coy,
The infant’s toddle and the mother’s joy,
His eyes that dance to her smile’s ambiance,
Many a verse penned by the sound of silence.

Just words spoken do not break the silence between people. The conversations need to be listened to, accepted and reciprocated. Words and silence, Ocean and thirst, Wallet and the needy etc are illustrations used to show that the spirit behind the action drives the results, not mere actions.
Often, we do not need words to communicate, a baby doesn't need to ask for attention and so on. Here the spirit fills in for the absence of words!

An Ode to a Ship

With her pompous horn and a winsome mast,
Those intriguing aisles and the deck so vast,
With a proud nose that were to pen glorious tales,
Amidst hurrays and cannons she did set sail.

With determined rotors to cut the demoniac currents,
With sails to guide the winds that came in torrents,
With stoic mast that stood a symbol of her esteem,
For decades she wrestled the oceans’ gory seam.

And then that one gush that undid her sail,
The valiant rotors that laboured yet failed,
Alas! That one wave that finally humbled her deck,
The seas had conspired in this project of wreck.

The winds that bowed now deemed to vow,
The unsurpassable deck now at a piteous low,
The rudder that guided now forced to abide,
Her entire self trapped in the claws of the tides.

But, gauge her not by this heart-wrenching sight,
Her victories are greater than any ocean’s might.
The winds might threaten to ravage her frame,
But Time would step forth to declare her fame.

I know not her purpose or her destination,
I am not to judge for then, how come this aberration?
Keep her mast aloft O Lord, in Thy mysterious ways,
Grant her, her esteem and gift her Thy Grace.

This is in tribute to those heroes who did countless feats in their healthy days, but now are afflicted with diseases and troubled by age. They might be a pale shadow of their earlier selves, their bodies might have broken down. The world might write them off, but beneficiaries of their heorics must stand up and pray. Not out of sympathy but out of love.

The Potter's ways

Potter:
The touch of my palm and the speed of my wheel,
Brings forth to reality my imagination’s zeal.
Burnt by the furnace and abandoned by Time,
Tested by my rod and finally worthy of a dime.

Requested by the little girl, the potter explains his process – he creates his object with his palms on the wet mud that is driven by a rotating wheel. He then burns the wet formation to high temperatures in the oven, then allows it to cool for an exceptionally long time(abandoned by time). He checks its hardness by tapping the pot with his rod. Only when he is confirmed of the quality he puts it on the selling table, else, he sends it back to the furnace. The little girl completely “mis-understood” the information as:

The little girl:

The wheel of time and that touch of Divinity,
Brings forth our lives, weighed by serendipity.
Burnt by troubles and abandoned by solutions,
Our misgivings fall prey to wisdom’s lotions.
And finally the He declares our worth proven,
Or alas the failure leads us back to the oven.

By the Will of God(the palm) and the governed by Time(the wheel), we take birth in line with our serendipity. We are then put through a lifetime of troubles and sorrow(in the furnace); we are left to feel abandoned and defeated. All this slowly only transitions our way of thinking and lifestyle from that of weaklings to strong individuals, steeped in wisdom and character. And based on our advancement(tested by the rod), we are either ready to live happily ever after, or are sent back to the cycle of seasoning.
The potter was the famous Saint Gora Khumbar and the little girl when on to become a great saint whose name I fail to recollect.

A-B-C Rhetoric

Each phrase begins with three successive letters of the English Alphabet.

Astute Business Case

Dewy Eyed Fairy

Great Himalayan Invincibility

Jokes Kindle Laughter

Male’s Nine Orifices (eyes, nostrils, ears, mouth, urethra, anus)

Pastor-Qualified Relationship (a wedding)

Sensuality Talks undercover (Sensuality – a hidden trait felt over time, rather than seen in a minute)

Vendetta Wielding Xenophobes (racists)

"Alliteration..sort of" - contd.

Poetry perturbed purists

Quests quelled Quixote. ( Don Quixote took up impossible quests and was
unsuccessful each time.)

Rum raising rascal

Soviets spread socialism

Tongue tells taste

Unplugged under umbrella (Remember the “Pyaar hua ikraar hua…” song?)

Vampire’s veiled venom.

Wield with wisdom (exercise an act with wisdom)

Yelled yet yielded (vocally revolt but give way in act)

Zoo’s zealous Zebra

Alliteration - sort of

Ambush at altar ( a sudden wedding – referred to in a lighter vien)

Back breaking bundle

Cupid’s clandestine court (where lovers meet)

Destiny’s design doctored ( Destiny’s ways corrected)

Enticing Easter Eggs

Five fumbling fingers

Ghost’s glittering garment ( a problem that seemed otherwise)

Heart’s hundred heaves

Inkling in ink ( a written(in ink) clue)

Jack jests Jill

Lip-locking lovers

Monsoon misses May ( Indian south-west monsoon supposed to begin only in June)

None needs none ( everyone needs someone or the other)

Oomph oozing Oprah ( ya right )

..... to be contd.

Draupadi's Beauty

Complexion that shone as the rain-bearing sky,
The cascading tresses and those lotus-like eyes,
The ripe-red lips that caused every fruit’s bow,
The bow-shaped lashes on a winsome brow,
The neck that hath wrested the grace of a conch,
Her youthful laughter, what music did it launch,
The great archer arches to Her rapturous smile,
Her blue-lotus fragrance that rules over miles,
The flaw-less skin about her creeper like frame,
Was she the Creator, or Creator’s Divine game?
Such was Krishnaa the Princess of Panchal!
Notes:
..rain bearing sky - She was dark complexioned(hence called Krishnaa)
..caused every fruit's bow - Lips so red that they won the admiration of the most ripe fruits
The great archer arches.. - Arjuna who bows to her highly attractive smile
..Fragrance that rules over miles - She blessed with a fragrance that spread over miles
(hence she was called yojanagandha)

Dark complexioned, yet glowing, bestowed with flawless features, Draupadi was an unparalleled beauty. The beauty stunned every person who met her, beyond measures. That combined with her immense intelligence, mastery over arts, political science and all so well balanced with touching nobility and humility- the perfection was nothing short of Divine.

He-She

Speaker 1:

May big things have all our intersest,

Yet may happiness come from small things.

It is a palm full of water that serves the thirsty, best,

though inspirations are drawn from the sight of springs.

Speaker 2:

May big things have all our intersest,
Yet may happiness come from small things.

Though what filled his two palms gave him zest,

It's what slipped between fingers that set his spirits to wings.

Which among the two verses could be perhaps spoken by a male?

Vicious circle

“The love that my heart bears for her, my maiden,
is as strong as that the deathbed bears for life”.
“Who among the maiden and life has thy love laden,
I am here to grant thee that, that wins this strife”

Translation:
Lover boy: I love her as much as I would love life when on deathbed.
God of Death: Her or life, you better make up your mind. What you love most will be granted to you!

What a vicious circle? What should our lover boy choose?

My train of thoughts after I listened to “Hum tumhe chahte hain aise…”