Kshitij's Rajatotsava - Ab na banegi dehri - a review

"Ab Na Banegi Dehri" is a book that I have loved. So when one heard about its dramatization, one moved heaven, earth, and everything in between to go for it.


The play was a production of Kshitij – a 25 year old theater group, that is, incidentally, celebrating its silver jubilee this year. Only on going there did one realize that the group has nsd alumni (yes one is biased and all that)

It is very difficult to bring the tenderness of a love story on stage. It is even more difficult to do it when the love story is supposed to be “covert” – hidden. On a stage, you do not have the advantage of camera angle, close up shots, or location.

And yet, the magic of the love story was so beautifully brought out on that stage… one saw love happen while the rest of the world went about its everyday life… we saw the pain , the fear, the wanting to hold back but not being able to…

In this play.. almost everything was outstanding.. but what stood out the most, was the acting. Everyone from Mukaddam Chacha to the lead pair to Nandu.. everyone stood out.. there were multiple characters… and each one stayed with the viewer on the way home.. as did the questions raised by that play…

My jackpot moment of the day? Sitting right next to the author – Padma Sachdev ji, for a brief while, and hearing from her about the story.. :-) Yes, she was there to see it.

for the woman protester in egypt

no need to tell me
of the whip lashes
you suffered..
i can see
the welts
all over you.
raw, and sore
they will be
forever..
When i touch them,
not a muscle moves
anywhere.

Wince, China Doll...

translation from the browsing corner

मैं तुम्हें चाहता हूँ

जैसे रोटी को नमक के साथ खाना

जैसे तेज़ बुखार में रात को उठना
...
और नल से मुंह लगा कर पानी पीना

जैसे डाकिए का लाया

भारी-भरकम पार्सल खोलना

तेज़ धडकनें लिए, आनंदित, अनिश्चित

एकदम बिना जाने कि उस में है क्या

मैं तुम्हें चाहता हूँ

जैसे हवाईजहाज़ में

समुद्र के ऊपर से पहली उड़ान भरना

जैसे मेरे भीतर कुछ आंदोलित होता है

मैं तुम्हें चाहता हूँ

जैसे ईश्वर का आभारी होना

- Update in Sep 2019: I have no idea who wrote this in which language and why it was translated and by whom. 

Book review - because he is..

for the last 2 days, the rest of my life stands ignored.. parenting ,  housekeeping, everything. because, for the last 2 days, i have been actively ignoring everything to read this book.
the jacket says the first print came out in 2004, and a reprint in 2007. HOW DID I MISS THIS BOOK?

Because he is, is a biography of gulzar, penned by his daughter, meghna gulzar..

its a lovely book, written with sensitivity, clarity, and oodles of emotion. the pictures complement the words in just the right way, and gulzar's poetry to bind it all together.. this is 180 pages of pure, incontaminable bliss!!

1 line review: MUST READ.

on reading a book

when i read a book that is very engaging..a book that involves the heart and the mind and the soul, i find that i cannot read it at one go. My 700 wpm reading speed goes right out of the window.. these books cannot be read as a marathon.

after a few pages, one finds that one has  to stop... live the emotion for a while... wait for the moment to abate, before one can pick up the book and read again.. it happened with the last 2 books of poetry , and it happened with the new book one is reading - because he is... biography of gulzar..

does that happen to you too? when u identify with a book, do u need to pause too??

501st post - on gratitude..

gawd! no happy posts in a while?! this isnt even fun to read!

today, took time to be grateful, and the number of things one can be grateful for, is not funny..

presenting, only the most condensed list: :-)

one is grateful for:

1. being able to put both my feet on the floor and walk
2. being able to open my eyes and see
3. having a roof on the head
4. access to internet
5. food in the larder
6. an education
7. a family that never pushed me to become a doctor/engineer, and was happy to trust my decisions.
8. a family that loves me, idiosyncracies and madness included. :-)
9. a child who sleeps till 8 on school days and promptly wakes up at 7 on a weekend.
10. friends who drop in unannounced.
11. friends who stay up to talk.
12. friends who dont give up on you.
13. beautiful, wintery mornings.
14. lovely, sunny afternoons.
15. a library at home
16. agatha christie, erma bombeck, and amrita pritam, among others..
17 moon streaming in through the window at 4 am
18 .....

500th post - Christina Georgina Rossetti

no, it wasnt planned.. i knew the 500th post will be special, but i didnt mean it to be one of my all time favorite poems.. just that.. this piece is not on the blog, and it is an all time favorite piece, so here goes...

When I am Dead, My Dearest

When I am dead, my dearest,
Sing no sad songs for me;
Plant thou no roses at my head,
Nor shady cypress tree:
Be the green grass above me
With showers and dewdrops wet;
And if thou wilt, remember,
And if thou wilt, forget.

I shall not see the shadows,
I shall not feel the rain;
I shall not hear the nightingale
Sing on, as if in pain:
And dreaming through the twilight
That doth not rise nor set,
Haply I may remember,
And haply may forget.

Sometimes, pablo neruda knows best.

I do not love you except because I love you;

I go from loving to not loving you,
From waiting to not waiting for you
My heart moves from cold to fire.

... I love you only because it's you the one I love;
I hate you deeply, and hating you
Bend to you, and the measure of my changing love for you
Is that I do not see you but love you blindly.


Maybe January light will consume
My heart with its cruel
Ray, stealing my key to true calm.


In this part of the story I am the one who

Dies, the only one, and I will die of love because I love you,

Because I love you, Love, in fire and blood.

Pablo Neruda

lies are
such lovely things
to live with. :-)

Pain

pain
like water
fills up
the ocean
and the thimble

pain
like water
takes the shape of
every mould
the heart makes
for itself.

pain
like water
makes up
60% of
me.

This is a song from the film Aakrosh - i LOVE the song for the way it brings together poetry, music and good singing to create a magical effect.. :-)

सीधे सादे सारा सौदा सीधा सीधा होना जी,
मैंने तुमको पाना है या तुमने मैं को खोना जी..
आजा दिल की करें सौदेबाजी क्या नाराजी,
अरे आ रे आ ....




सौदा है दिल का ये, तू कर भी ले,
मेरा जहां बाहों में तू भर भी ले,
सौदे में दे कसम, कसम भी ले,
आके तू निगाहों में संवर भी ले
सौदा उड़ानों का है, या आसमानों का है,
ले ले उड़ानें मेरी, ले मेरे पर भी ले..
सौदा उम्मीदों का है, ख़्वाबों का नींदों का है,
ले ले तू नींदें मेरी, नैनों में घर भी ले.


दिल कहे, तेरे मैं होंठों से, बातों को चुप के से लूं उठा,
उस जगह, धीरे से हौले से, गीतों को अपने मैं दूं बिठा..
सौदा तरानों का है, दिल के फसानों का है,
ले ले तराने मेरे, होंठों पे धर भी ले,
सौदा उजालों का है, रोशन ख्यालों का है,
ले ले उजाले मेरे, आजा नज़र भी ले..

मैं कभी, भूलूंगा न तुझे,
चाहे तू मुझको देना भुला
आदतों जैसी है तू मेरी, आदतें कैसे भूलूँ भला,
सौदा ये वादों का है, यादों इरादों का है,
ले ले तू वादे चाहे, तू तो मुकर भी ले,
सौदा इशारों का है, चाहत के मारों का है,
ले ले इशारे मेरे, इनका असर भी ले..

कारवां गुज़रा किया , हम रहगुज़र देखा किये,

कारवां गुज़रा किया , हम रहगुज़र देखा किये,
हर कदम पर नक़्शे-पाए राहबर देखा किये...

यास जब छाई उम्मीदें  हाथ मल कर रह गयीं,
दिल की नब्जें छुट गयी और चारागर  देखा किये,

रुख  मेरी  जानिब  निगाहे लुत्फ़ दुश्मन की तरफ
यूँ उधर देखा किये, गोया इधर देखा किये...

दर्द - मंदाने वफ़ा की हाय   रे मजबूरियाँ
दर्द-ए-दिल देखा न जाता था, मगर देखा किये..

तू कहाँ थी ऐ अज़ल, ऐ नामुरादों की मुराद,
मरने वाले राह तेरी, उम्र भर देखा किये..

hear it here:
http://www.muziboo.com/vikaszutshisn/music/asha-jee-carvan-guzra-kiya-hum-reh-guzar-dekha-kiye/#

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JduNAY2V7-s