Two of my published poems @ Bards Annual Poetry 2015

I thought of sharing two of my poems that were already published in the Bards Annual Poetry (poetry organization in Long Island, NY) in the year 2015.  (Bards Annual 2015: The Annual Publication of The Bards Initiative by Bards Initiative | Goodreads)

The reason being that interestingly, both of them have the element of Fire in them, which seems apt given the turn of cold winter weather (which I for one dislike) going on. 

One of them is titled "The Phoenix of Longing" and the second one is titled "Fireball":

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1. In this particular poem without giving away much (which a poet should usually avoid as a poem should be subject to interpretations by the reader), I would say that the central theme is actually that of Sufism/ mysticism, and so it's actually longing of the spiritual love/ Beloved, and because the soul can never be destroyed by fire (similar to the Vedic shlok of Bhagwad Gita which says : नैनं छिन्दन्ति शस्त्राणि नैनं दहति पावकः, meaning that soul cannot be cut by weapon or destroyed by fire), it keeps on rebirthing itself or rather its longing and desires keep on taking birth again and again in an endless cycle.....

2.  In this second poem, I would say that this was written out of a deep place inside the soul when the soul feels handicapped (reference to the metaphor of being seated on a wheelchair) and is a spectator to the world (the dunya). The immense longing and pains cause the soul to turn the gaze inward from the cold world (both literally and figuratively) and realize that the true power and warmth lie beneath in the soul which can be made into any form one likes and is the only true Sun.

                    

Perspective of a scientist and a poet- a beautiful conversation from the Hindi movie (Mili)

 

Sharing a beautiful and poetic scene, I stumbled upon, that is a clip from an old Hindi movie Mili (1975). I was pleasantly surprised by the simplicity and beauty of the dialogues between the actors. The hero in the movie is engrossed in observing the stars via his telescope explaining the scientific facts and location of the stars and why they aren't visible at night. On the other hand, the heroine of the movie (Mili) seems to have a poetic and playful perspective on why the stars are not visible to the eye at night. As the conversation goes on, we can see the scientist (the hero of the movie, played by the legendary Amitabh Bacchan) smitten by the heroine's description and perspective and interestingly, the hidden poet in him is awakened and he responds to her (in a quite poetic and truly honest manner) acknowledging the limitation of science in expressing the beauty that is often a domain of poetry...

 The clip can be heard here:https://www.instagram.com/reel/DSeX40bEqD0/?igsh=cjNuZDdsaHpzOHR2

Here is the written dialogues between them (with my English translations in parenthesis):

Heroine: "bataiye to din ko ye tare kahaan jaate hain? (Tell me, where do these stars go during the day?)

Hero: "jaate kahan hai wahi rehte hain, 

aur sooraj ki tez roshni ki wajah se dikhai nahi dete." (They don't go anywhere but remain at their place, due to the bright light of the sun, they are not visible")

Heroine: "hmm. ye to gyaan vigyaan ki baatein hui" (This is like a talk of knowledge and science)

Hero: "to?" (So?)

Heroine: "apko aisa nahi lagta ye tare sharir bacche hain

vo dekhiye wahan jhund banakar aapas main khusar-pusar kar rehe hain

aur wahan akela ek taara naaraaz hokar sabko ghoor raha hai

lekin subah hote hi jaise hi headmaster sooraj ji aate hain

sab gayab ho jate hain

maidaan bilkul khali..."

(Don't you think these stars are like naughty children, look there some are gossiping quietly in a cluster of their own, and elsewhere look one lonely star is staring at everybody out of melancholy. But as soon as the day arrives, because of the Headmaster Sun, all these disperse and disappear, leaving the arena completely empty...)

Hero: "theek keh rahi ho

vigyaan ke bade shabdon mein yeh ras kahan." (You are saying true, such essence is not to be found in talks of knowledge and science)

Heroine: "nahin aap mera mazaak uda rahe hain...". (No, you are making fun of me)

Hero: "main sach keh raha hu Mili, tum bhi ek sooraj ho

aati ho to mere chhote bade dukhon ki parchaiyan bhaag jati hain

aur main tumhari roshi main apne aap ko bilkul saaf dikhai dene lagta hoon..." (I am saying the truth Mili. You are also like a Sun; when you arrive, the shadows of all of my small and big sorrows flee away, and in your light, I can see myself clear and pure.."

(sharir is an Urdu word that means naughty)

    Interestingly, I remembered that this movie had one particular song (which I used to have especially recorded in cassette and listen in my childhood) sung by Kishore Kumar, and the song was so close to my heart...The melodious song can be heard here: Badi Sooni Sooni Hai with lyrics | बडी सोनी सोनी है के बोल | Kishore Kumar | Mili | HD Song

And its beautiful lyrics are as follows:

"बड़ी सूनी सूनी है ज़िंदगी ये ज़िंदगी - (२)

मैं खुद से हूँ यहाँ अजनबी अजनबी

बड़ी...

 

कभी एक पल भी, कहीं ये उदासी

दिल मेरा भूले

कभी मुस्कुराकर दबे पाँव आकर

दुख मुझे छूले

न कर मुझसे ग़म मेरे, दिल्लगी ये दिल्लगी

बड़ी...

 

कभी मैं न सोया, कहीं मुझसे खोया

सुख मेरा ऐसे

पता नाम लिखकर, कहीं यूँही रखकर

भूले कोई कैसे

अजब दुख भरी है ये, बेबसी बेबसी

बड़ी..."

LyricsIndia: बड़ी सूनी सूनी है, ज़िंदगी ये ज़िंदगी - ba.Dii suunii suunii hai, zi.ndagii ye zi.ndagii / मिली -(Mili)

Perfectly Imperfect - a poetic scene from a Hindi movie (Hamari Adhoori kahaani)

 

A particular scene from the Hindi movie Hamari Adhoori Kahaani (2015) is quite philosophical and poetic and I thought of sharing it. Apart from the melodious soundtrack of this movie, this scene depicts the depth of the heroine (played by actress Vidya Balan) in this movie and how her poetic words instill a new insight and perspective of life in the actor. 

In the scene, the actor is able to sense the incompleteness of his perfectly maintained garden of flowers and yet is unable to decipher the secret to complete the garden. The heroine then steps in and provides him with the key to that query by revealing the absence of dried/decayed leaves that are a natural part of a natural garden. She likens this to the beauty of the moon, which is also beautiful because of the scar or blemish it has....The hero is in awe of the answer which reveals the mystery of life to him, and he understood that the presence of few dried leaves in his flawless garden add to its natural form that is beautiful when naturally expressed...

Indeed, the whole of creation itself reveals that there is no such thing as a perfection, as everything is bound by the cycle of life and death and thus, decay or scars or pain or suffering are part of life that should be embraced and expressed....and their inclusion makes a thing complete and beautiful, not its omission.....

The dialogue can be heard at this link here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKDm2kcBFaM/?igsh=cnZlNHByNm12MHdx

I have typed the Hindi dialogues here (the link already has the English captions)

Hero: "chaalees hazaar phool hai yahaan pe, its stunning, its beautiful, par fir bhi ek kami si lagti hai,  kuch to hai jo nahi hai, tum dekh ke bata sakti ho isme kya kami hai.."

Heroine: "murjhaye huye patton ki kami hai....Jis bageeche me murjhaye hue phool na ho, kuch sukhe patte na ho, vo bageecha bageecha nahi hota..

yeh jagah bahut hi khoobsoorat hai, aur shayad isiliye dil ko choo nahi rahi.....

har khoobsoorat cheez main daag hota hai...chand main bhi daag hai to fir ye bageecha itna bedaag kyu?"

Hero: "kya baat hai, chand hi lafzon mein mere sawaal ka jawaab de diya tumne, saare experts ko maat de di"