Save me not from dangers
give me the courage to face them.
I don’t want your consolation
for my aching heart, grieving soul
give me the power to overcome grief.
Don’t provide me shelter against problem
give me the strength of facing problems.
Even if I am deprived everywhere, lose all
let my soul never accept it as loss.
Don’t rescue me when I am in trouble
give me the power to overcome it.
Don’t carry my loads for me
give me the strength to carry it myself.
When I am happy let your face shine
in my humble, loving heart.
When the entire world turns my foe
let me not suspect your glory for a second.
Rabindranath Tagore.
Bengali: bipode more roksha koro e nohe mor prarthana
Friday, September 11, 2009
bow my head
Bow my head
down under your feet
drown all my arrogance
in the drops of tears.
To glorify myself
I invite insults to myself,
I waste my time flittering
around my very self.
Drown all my arrogance
in the drops of tears.
May I never glorify myself
in any thing I do.
Let your desires fulfill
through the life of me.
All I yearn for is
your endless peace,
your divine presence
in my very soul.
Hide my ego reveal yourself
in the lotus of my heart.
Drown all my arrogance
in the drops of tears.
Rabindranath Tagore.
Bengali: amaar matha noto kore dao
down under your feet
drown all my arrogance
in the drops of tears.
To glorify myself
I invite insults to myself,
I waste my time flittering
around my very self.
Drown all my arrogance
in the drops of tears.
May I never glorify myself
in any thing I do.
Let your desires fulfill
through the life of me.
All I yearn for is
your endless peace,
your divine presence
in my very soul.
Hide my ego reveal yourself
in the lotus of my heart.
Drown all my arrogance
in the drops of tears.
Rabindranath Tagore.
Bengali: amaar matha noto kore dao
Friday, September 4, 2009
saratchandra: a brave writer
Well, I guess every one has heard his name, atleast most of the people have courtsey multiple super hit movies made on his novels.
I think all his stories has been shot in bengali and everyone of them has made good impact on viewers. I appreciate him more as a writer. A brave, reformist writers. I have been reading his works since I was five or six years old.. no don’t smirk, he has written for every age group. I have read, re-read his works and the more I have read them the more I have become mesmerized by his mental strength, reformist mentality and power of creating magic by pen.
In one hand he portrays the pain of women.. widows, children of sex workers, sex workers.. on the other hand he portrays the steel which some women have in them, through all adversity. Their affectionate nature which fills up their entire being even when they are in dire straits. Different complexity of human nature, specially the nature of women.. their vices and their glories. Their rise and fall. I wonder if any other writer of indian origin has captured the mindset of women this perfectly.
I particularly love his character shodashi bhairavi.. a woman who was the priest of a village temple, the eyes of the lusty landlord fell on her and the surrounding village politics.. that woman inspires too much of my awe.. well my head simply bows to that woman of extraordinary mental strength and courage. There are some equally touching softer characters too, or the rebels like kamal, rajlakshmi, annada.. so many of them. somehow he had a strange capacity of giving his female characters a complete, normal yet above normal life.
I think all his stories has been shot in bengali and everyone of them has made good impact on viewers. I appreciate him more as a writer. A brave, reformist writers. I have been reading his works since I was five or six years old.. no don’t smirk, he has written for every age group. I have read, re-read his works and the more I have read them the more I have become mesmerized by his mental strength, reformist mentality and power of creating magic by pen.
In one hand he portrays the pain of women.. widows, children of sex workers, sex workers.. on the other hand he portrays the steel which some women have in them, through all adversity. Their affectionate nature which fills up their entire being even when they are in dire straits. Different complexity of human nature, specially the nature of women.. their vices and their glories. Their rise and fall. I wonder if any other writer of indian origin has captured the mindset of women this perfectly.
I particularly love his character shodashi bhairavi.. a woman who was the priest of a village temple, the eyes of the lusty landlord fell on her and the surrounding village politics.. that woman inspires too much of my awe.. well my head simply bows to that woman of extraordinary mental strength and courage. There are some equally touching softer characters too, or the rebels like kamal, rajlakshmi, annada.. so many of them. somehow he had a strange capacity of giving his female characters a complete, normal yet above normal life.
Kapalkundala
I was very young when I first read Kapalkundala by Bankimchandra, I remember that I loved Kapalkundala since our first introduction.. though I was too young to understand her then, still I wanted to be as brave and honest as her. Being a book worm I have devoured hundreds of books but I have not met a character like kapalkundala again.. she is unique, perfect in my eyes.
A little girl most probably abducted by a tantrik, being brought up by him with not very honorable intentions in a scary forest. She grew up roaming in the forest completely alone, serving the tantrik she called father, her only other companion was the priest of a nearby temple.
He rescues the hero, nabakumar who gets lost in the forest. Though she knew that the tantrik will kill both of them, still she saves him from being sacrificed and takes him to the priest. He marries them off and requests nabakumar to take her with him. Who happily does so, first reason because she saved his life and second reason was she was gorgeous, even though she was a perfect tomboy.
He brings her home, her family members too start to love her. She was a very charming lady, her domestic skills were perfect, but she just did not knew any thing about married life and was not least keen to learn any thing about conjugal life. Her husband’s love for her was so deep that he did not forced any thing on her but waited patiently.
Fate had something else in plan, nabakumar’s first wife who deserted him for money comes back to his life and falls in love with him. She slowly poisons his mind, convincing him that kapalkundala refuses him because of infidelty.
In a strange irony of fate nabakumar hands her over to the same tantrik from whose claws she has saved him risking her own death..
The tantrik asks nabakumar to bathe her and bring her back to his hut for sacrificing. As they both were standing in the river bank, Nabakumar’s love overpowers his hatred and he begs her to tell him that she is not infidel. She calmly says that he is the only man she has ever loved. When nabakumar asks her why had she not told him before, she calmly says because he did not asked.
The river bank collapses and they both perish in the raging river.
The traits which make me Kapalkundala’s admirer are her complete un atachment to material things..she gave away her entire box of jewellery to a beggar.
Her extreme honesty and truthfulness is the second trait of her which is magnetic to me.
Her fearlessness.. lack of fear for any thing including death is something I would have loved to have within me.
A little girl most probably abducted by a tantrik, being brought up by him with not very honorable intentions in a scary forest. She grew up roaming in the forest completely alone, serving the tantrik she called father, her only other companion was the priest of a nearby temple.
He rescues the hero, nabakumar who gets lost in the forest. Though she knew that the tantrik will kill both of them, still she saves him from being sacrificed and takes him to the priest. He marries them off and requests nabakumar to take her with him. Who happily does so, first reason because she saved his life and second reason was she was gorgeous, even though she was a perfect tomboy.
He brings her home, her family members too start to love her. She was a very charming lady, her domestic skills were perfect, but she just did not knew any thing about married life and was not least keen to learn any thing about conjugal life. Her husband’s love for her was so deep that he did not forced any thing on her but waited patiently.
Fate had something else in plan, nabakumar’s first wife who deserted him for money comes back to his life and falls in love with him. She slowly poisons his mind, convincing him that kapalkundala refuses him because of infidelty.
In a strange irony of fate nabakumar hands her over to the same tantrik from whose claws she has saved him risking her own death..
The tantrik asks nabakumar to bathe her and bring her back to his hut for sacrificing. As they both were standing in the river bank, Nabakumar’s love overpowers his hatred and he begs her to tell him that she is not infidel. She calmly says that he is the only man she has ever loved. When nabakumar asks her why had she not told him before, she calmly says because he did not asked.
The river bank collapses and they both perish in the raging river.
The traits which make me Kapalkundala’s admirer are her complete un atachment to material things..she gave away her entire box of jewellery to a beggar.
Her extreme honesty and truthfulness is the second trait of her which is magnetic to me.
Her fearlessness.. lack of fear for any thing including death is something I would have loved to have within me.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
rabindrasangit
Music in my eyes is the most beautiful creation of human souls. It reveals every emotion of human being..love, anger, hatred, adoration, affection… no human feeling or passion is untouched by this.
Rabindranath tagore is most probably the expert of exploring human emotions through songs. I have not heard another single person with such a splendour of talent.
I have listened to rabindrasangit for years, his music can mould your thoughts to purity. Whatever he touches becomes pure.. love, nature and devotion.
With his magical grip on pen he wrote song after song covering every emotion of human beart. The miraculous part was his choice of magical tunes for his songs. They fitted in perfectly. They enhanced the beauty of his already fabulous poems to the level of heavenly.
He was born amongst and surrounded with people of extraordinary talent. Who helped him in creating tunes for his songs but he always was a part of it, so it was his taste which reflects in all of them.
Whenever I listen to rabindrasangit this is the thing which overwhelms me, how can an artist be so perfect. Not only that, the singers whom he handpicked and trained to sing his songs are the most beautiful singers I have ever heard.. kanika banerjee, shantideb ghosh.. as if he left his soul in them.
Tagore left a magical legacy for us, who can understand his thoughts and lose ourselves in his music.
Rabindranath tagore is most probably the expert of exploring human emotions through songs. I have not heard another single person with such a splendour of talent.
I have listened to rabindrasangit for years, his music can mould your thoughts to purity. Whatever he touches becomes pure.. love, nature and devotion.
With his magical grip on pen he wrote song after song covering every emotion of human beart. The miraculous part was his choice of magical tunes for his songs. They fitted in perfectly. They enhanced the beauty of his already fabulous poems to the level of heavenly.
He was born amongst and surrounded with people of extraordinary talent. Who helped him in creating tunes for his songs but he always was a part of it, so it was his taste which reflects in all of them.
Whenever I listen to rabindrasangit this is the thing which overwhelms me, how can an artist be so perfect. Not only that, the singers whom he handpicked and trained to sing his songs are the most beautiful singers I have ever heard.. kanika banerjee, shantideb ghosh.. as if he left his soul in them.
Tagore left a magical legacy for us, who can understand his thoughts and lose ourselves in his music.
Kazi Nazrul Islam
Kazi Nazrul Islam(1898-1976):
Kazi Nazrul Islam was born on the 25th May 1898 at Churulia in the district of Burdwan, West Bengal, India.
The poet died at Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh as National poet on the 29th August 1976.
Well, during my growing age I did not liked his poetry, because I thought that he mixed urdu, farsi words freely with sanskrit and bengali words. Now, he is my second favourite poet after tagore.
When I listen to his poems my eyes moisten just to think how the divide between hindu and muslim has been created in india in post independence era. Here is a kazi, who married a brahmin widow and writes that I will sing a song of krishna sitting in the laps of mother goddess kali. His poems are a strong blending of hindu and muslim cultures and his noble soul.
I have a collection of his recitations and I just love them one and all, I have listened to them atleast five hundred times and wont mind listening another five hundred times. There are some recitations I cant resist myself from repeating end to end. May be someday I will translate and share them so you can understand the meaning but what about the magic which he created by blending of urdu and sanskrit?
Kazi Nazrul Islam was born on the 25th May 1898 at Churulia in the district of Burdwan, West Bengal, India.
The poet died at Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh as National poet on the 29th August 1976.
Well, during my growing age I did not liked his poetry, because I thought that he mixed urdu, farsi words freely with sanskrit and bengali words. Now, he is my second favourite poet after tagore.
When I listen to his poems my eyes moisten just to think how the divide between hindu and muslim has been created in india in post independence era. Here is a kazi, who married a brahmin widow and writes that I will sing a song of krishna sitting in the laps of mother goddess kali. His poems are a strong blending of hindu and muslim cultures and his noble soul.
I have a collection of his recitations and I just love them one and all, I have listened to them atleast five hundred times and wont mind listening another five hundred times. There are some recitations I cant resist myself from repeating end to end. May be someday I will translate and share them so you can understand the meaning but what about the magic which he created by blending of urdu and sanskrit?
bankimchandra
Not a very popular writer, if we count by the number of people who read his works and will admit anonymously that they love his work (people often call him their favourite in fear of being looked down upon).
I have picked up some odd writers because of my mother, who was an avid reader and had a uncommon taste. Bankimchandra is one of them. She just loved his works and so do I.
He was more like shakespeare, picking up the most exquisite words and painting a picture out of them. He was truly the emperor of classic bengali language.
I often feel awe struck, how could he use such exquisite word yet create fantastic novels and immemorable characters. Characters so real, like kundanandini or kapalkundala. Bhramar, Indira or Suryamukhi. Kapalkundala is my favourite character in fiction world.
The immense strength of character which this lady had I have never seen another lady with such strength of character. She embodied truth and honesty. Her fearless honesty is awe inspiring for any woman.
Just like I will never forget anandamath, durgeshnandini or bishabriksha… such fantastic usage of language yet such immemorable characters.
I have picked up some odd writers because of my mother, who was an avid reader and had a uncommon taste. Bankimchandra is one of them. She just loved his works and so do I.
He was more like shakespeare, picking up the most exquisite words and painting a picture out of them. He was truly the emperor of classic bengali language.
I often feel awe struck, how could he use such exquisite word yet create fantastic novels and immemorable characters. Characters so real, like kundanandini or kapalkundala. Bhramar, Indira or Suryamukhi. Kapalkundala is my favourite character in fiction world.
The immense strength of character which this lady had I have never seen another lady with such strength of character. She embodied truth and honesty. Her fearless honesty is awe inspiring for any woman.
Just like I will never forget anandamath, durgeshnandini or bishabriksha… such fantastic usage of language yet such immemorable characters.
books
Well, I am one of those blessed creatures who was born in a family of bookworms.. who was surrounded by books instead of toys and expensive clothes.
A family where money was spent on books and true education, not on material luxury.
I have read all types of books .. actually devoured them. starting from cheap thrillers to writers like maxim gorky. No, I don’t read any thing but fiction.. I am not a serious reader. I have read non fiction only in school, college and other spheres of study.
Books are the best friend any human being can have, all he/she will have to do is select the type of book which will help him or her to reach his destination.
I will simply love to share some of the writers and books I have been touched by. I cant put my finger on a particular writer and say he/she is my favourite.. actually I cant even pin point half a dozen of them as my favourites..
A family where money was spent on books and true education, not on material luxury.
I have read all types of books .. actually devoured them. starting from cheap thrillers to writers like maxim gorky. No, I don’t read any thing but fiction.. I am not a serious reader. I have read non fiction only in school, college and other spheres of study.
Books are the best friend any human being can have, all he/she will have to do is select the type of book which will help him or her to reach his destination.
I will simply love to share some of the writers and books I have been touched by. I cant put my finger on a particular writer and say he/she is my favourite.. actually I cant even pin point half a dozen of them as my favourites..
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