From Here and There

A poetic coincidence

Two images, so uncannily reminiscent of one another:

-"Time, thou glorious beam of Light awakening from the depths of the Cosmic Ocean!"

- the song 'Pralayapayodhiyil' by Vayalar from the film 'Mazhakkaru'; my translation.

-"The Edge of Breath, a sliver of Light, polished and burnished by the flow of Time"

- from the poem 'Portrait', by Malini Murali

The Metro, again

Has the Kochi Metro eased traffic congestion? Most folks answer this question in the negative. Along its path, the metro has cluttered roads with pillars and stuff and made construction of flyovers well nigh impossible so some offer the gloomy prediction that traffic woes are actually going to get worse.

However, as I have just discovered, the above question is totally beside the point; the Metro's intent is not to decongest roads. It aims - first and last - to give an alternative and quick means of transport; period. Earlier, no one had a fast way to get across the city. Now, at least some have a choice. To give a similar example, the graded, paid Darshan system at Tirupati does not aim to make things easier for every pilgrim - indeed it might make the wait longer for those who can't pay - but those who do pay will get quick service.

Two ponds

Here are two kulams (home ponds) from Monsoon Kerala - less than a hundred meters apart, they look very different due to the wildly different floating vegetation.





And it is not just the appearance. Shortly after the latter pic was taken, I had to plunge in and pull ashore the scummy raft of weeds - it became an experience reminiscent of what happened to Kuppu Achan on his nocturnal fishing expedition (Khasak).

Stoicism - A desi Parable ( as narrated by eminent poet Sugathakumari; I don't have any comment on it)

On a visit to an arid village in Rajasthan, I asked a laborer engaged in breaking stones:"How long have you been doing this work?"

"As long as I can remember!" He replied. "My father and his father were stone breakers too!"

- "What about your children? Do you not want them to go to school?"

- "I have a son. And he too will break stones for a living."

- "Don't you wish at least for him an easier life?"

- "An easy life? Even Lord Rama had to suffer so much. My son too shall face his karma!"

The unlettered laborer's words, to me, contain the quintessence of the Indian world-view - a world-view that enshrines such a beautifully detached and wholehearted acceptance of Life - the rock-solid foundation of our civilization!



In Dubious Parentage

"Leonardo da Vinci had the good luck to be a bastard. Otherwise, he would have been expected to become a notary like the first born legitimate sons in his family stretching back at least five generations." (from a biography of the great man I happened to look into today - and didn't buy owing to its steep price)

A French Physicist once told me: "Back in 18th century France, the word 'bastard' was an honorific. It was reserved for the king's sons by one of his (acknowledged) mistresses. If you are a bastard in 18th century France, you aren't quite a prince but a very important person nevertheless!"

And here is a bit from the B(ast)ard's 'Troilus and Cressida':

Margarelon: Turn, slave, and fight.

Thersites: What art thou?

Margarelon: A bastard son of Priam's.

Thersites: I am a bastard too; I love bastards..... One bear will not bite another, and wherefore should one bastard? Take heed, the quarrel's most ominous to us ....Farewell, bastard! (exit)

Margarelon: The devil take thee!

Metamorphosis - another parable ( I heard this last month and quote without comment)

A certain Jack was an alcoholic and binge eater. One evening, returning home from the tavern, he passed out at the doorway of his house. He suddenly had a stunning vision. The angel of death had come for his soul: "You Sinner, your present life has been such a waste! You are now dead! But God has granted you another life so you will soon reincarnate as a hen!" Soon, Jack saw he had become hen cooped up in a poultry farm. Remarkably, he could remember every moment of his just concluded human life and his excesses but couldn't tell anyone about his Fall. As he sadly contemplated his new station, Jack could sense something beginning to move in his belly. He heard a voice within say: "Time for you to lay an egg!" Soon, Jack the Hen could sense an egg roll out from within him - it was a pleasantly fulfilling feeling. Soon thereafter, another egg developed within and he/she prepared to let go of it....

Suddenly came a violent blow to the head and the feeling of a fog lifting painfully from the eyes. And the voice of his wife from his former human life rang out, yelling: "Good for nothing scum, you shat all over the doorway!"

A remarkable quote

"Even the villages in Kerala are more beautiful than the cities in Bihar" - Sushil Kumar Modi, BJP leader from Bihar, married to a lady from Kerala.

And this pic has been christened the 'Jyotirlinga' - a criminally bald English translation is 'pillar of light'.



Signing off: My writing efforts are feeling the burden of age. But I am very happy to note I used the word 'thou' for the first ever time today, just a few lines above this.