He was happy for her. But sad for himself.
She was happy for him. But sad for herself.
The weddings were a month apart.
She was happy for him. But sad for herself.
The weddings were a month apart.
Thursday, November 29, 2018
On being a dead person
It hit me, I think, on Halloween. Why were the kids dressed up all scary? Someone said that we dress up like the dead (technical word: zombies) to honour the spirits of those who have passed.
Is death really that scary? Why do all these people assume that all deaths are violent, gory and blood stained?
In the Tibetan practice, there is a practice by which a senior monk guides you through the process of leaving your body... gently, slowly, and painlessly. It is a conscious practice. When a monk is ready to go, the senior monk is called in to guide the entire process.
Imagine the difference!
Because we associate death with violence and gore, the idea of dying fills us with fear. Death is a natural progression is a spiritual journey. When the time is right, the soul will discard its cast and move on.
Is death really that scary? Why do all these people assume that all deaths are violent, gory and blood stained?
In the Tibetan practice, there is a practice by which a senior monk guides you through the process of leaving your body... gently, slowly, and painlessly. It is a conscious practice. When a monk is ready to go, the senior monk is called in to guide the entire process.
Imagine the difference!
Because we associate death with violence and gore, the idea of dying fills us with fear. Death is a natural progression is a spiritual journey. When the time is right, the soul will discard its cast and move on.
Monday, November 19, 2018
Palayan/On Leaving home
जब से मुल्क से निकला हूँ,
और भी मुल्क का हुआ हूँ मैं
घर से ये कह कर निकला था
जाने किस ओर चला हूँ मैं.
धरती गोल है, ये बात,
परदेस में घर बना कर समझा हूँ मैं.
मैंने सोचा था बहुत दूर चला आया हूँ,
आँगन के नीम तले ही खड़ा हूँ मैं.
आँगन में, उसी जगह ही खड़ा हूँ मैं.
Sunday, November 18, 2018
Review of play Marnoparant by Barefoot theater
There are 2 areas in Delhi that I patently avoid: Shahpurjat and HKV. Not because one has something against new age posh, but because one just loves open spaces. So events at these places are politely but firmly declined. Before you ask: Yes, I have lost friends owing to this hesitation.
But when a play is about the husband and the lover of a woman meeting after her demise, the premise is enticing enough to travel one hour and brave Shahpurjat. It was worth it.
A simple, one act play that eliminates all things unnecessary and focuses on.. i don't know.. The emotion that is after a demise...somewhere between anger and loss and grief.. like a Venn diagram whose intersections change every minute, hour and day.
The setting is a beach - half wet, half dry. So you can make sand castles, and let dry sand go through your hands - whatever you want, darling. That setting was pure genius.
The fishing net in the backdrop.. the tiny exhaust window that looks out into god knows what. I loved that window.
The characters are well etched but not fleshed out enough. The actors were great in their respective places, but for some reason, I kept switching them in my head all the time. I have no idea why!! But all the time, I felt that the husband was the lover and the lover was the husband.
The person who played the husband appeared to be grieving a lot more than the lover. I guess the only explanation is that after your wife dies, she goes from being a piece of furniture to being all the pieces of furniture in the house.
How does the lover feel when someone he loved but could not have, passes away? The husband has had a sense of closure.. but the lover? That question remained unanswered at the end of the play.
The husband's sense of betrayal is immediate(because he only discovers the affair after the death) and cannot be remedied... because the woman is no more.. but the lover's sense of betrayal? Does he feel cheated out of a future he could have had with her? SHOULD have had with her?
The sound effects, though overall good, faltered at some places. Quite a few times, the sound of the waves was so loud we couldn't hear what was being said. But at one place, there was a significant silence, and sound was used to perfection in that moment.
The lights were perfect.
The performance was intimate and very..i don't know.. straight from the heart. It did something that made u think of the play even a day later. (And it did get a standing ovation from the full house on that day). There was a small chai and chat session later that i quite enjoyed too.
There are some plays that change how you see life. Of course, you don't know that until much later. This play is very likely to make that list for me.
If u do get a chance, catch this play. And in exactly this kind of a setting. This is a play that demands a certain intimate exchange between the audience and the performance. A play that, I think, requires the viewer to get as naked as the performer.
But when a play is about the husband and the lover of a woman meeting after her demise, the premise is enticing enough to travel one hour and brave Shahpurjat. It was worth it.
A simple, one act play that eliminates all things unnecessary and focuses on.. i don't know.. The emotion that is after a demise...somewhere between anger and loss and grief.. like a Venn diagram whose intersections change every minute, hour and day.
The setting is a beach - half wet, half dry. So you can make sand castles, and let dry sand go through your hands - whatever you want, darling. That setting was pure genius.
The fishing net in the backdrop.. the tiny exhaust window that looks out into god knows what. I loved that window.
The characters are well etched but not fleshed out enough. The actors were great in their respective places, but for some reason, I kept switching them in my head all the time. I have no idea why!! But all the time, I felt that the husband was the lover and the lover was the husband.
The person who played the husband appeared to be grieving a lot more than the lover. I guess the only explanation is that after your wife dies, she goes from being a piece of furniture to being all the pieces of furniture in the house.
How does the lover feel when someone he loved but could not have, passes away? The husband has had a sense of closure.. but the lover? That question remained unanswered at the end of the play.
The husband's sense of betrayal is immediate(because he only discovers the affair after the death) and cannot be remedied... because the woman is no more.. but the lover's sense of betrayal? Does he feel cheated out of a future he could have had with her? SHOULD have had with her?
The sound effects, though overall good, faltered at some places. Quite a few times, the sound of the waves was so loud we couldn't hear what was being said. But at one place, there was a significant silence, and sound was used to perfection in that moment.
The lights were perfect.
The performance was intimate and very..i don't know.. straight from the heart. It did something that made u think of the play even a day later. (And it did get a standing ovation from the full house on that day). There was a small chai and chat session later that i quite enjoyed too.
There are some plays that change how you see life. Of course, you don't know that until much later. This play is very likely to make that list for me.
If u do get a chance, catch this play. And in exactly this kind of a setting. This is a play that demands a certain intimate exchange between the audience and the performance. A play that, I think, requires the viewer to get as naked as the performer.
Friday, November 16, 2018
Agyaani
मुझे नहीं पता
कि दुनिया कैसे जीती जाती है
मुझे तो
ये भी नही पता
कि दुनिया
किसने जीती है जग में..
I confess,
I have no idea
How to conquer the world.
I dont even know
Of Anyone
Who has conquered the world!
कि दुनिया कैसे जीती जाती है
मुझे तो
ये भी नही पता
कि दुनिया
किसने जीती है जग में..
I confess,
I have no idea
How to conquer the world.
I dont even know
Of Anyone
Who has conquered the world!
Thursday, November 15, 2018
On being a quiet person..
थोङे शब्दों में ज्यादा कहना
मुझे अच्छा लगता है
और चुप में सब कुछ कह जाना
उससे भी अच्छा ।
I like it
When a few words
Say a lot
But to be silent
And say everything..
Is to have
Communication
Metamorphosise into
Communion.
मुझे अच्छा लगता है
और चुप में सब कुछ कह जाना
उससे भी अच्छा ।
I like it
When a few words
Say a lot
But to be silent
And say everything..
Is to have
Communication
Metamorphosise into
Communion.
Tuesday, November 13, 2018
Dhoop
मुझे धूप
अच्छी लगती है।
नर्म, रौशन, कुनकुनी,
बेवफा।
दिखने में कुछ
होने में कुछ
बिलकुल
लोगों जैसी
पर अंधेरे से फिर भी
सौ गुना अच्छी ।
मुझे
अच्छी लगती है
धूप।
अच्छी लगती है।
नर्म, रौशन, कुनकुनी,
बेवफा।
दिखने में कुछ
होने में कुछ
बिलकुल
लोगों जैसी
पर अंधेरे से फिर भी
सौ गुना अच्छी ।
मुझे
अच्छी लगती है
धूप।
Monday, November 12, 2018
ON holier than thou attitude
You can't lift other people, or even bring them down. You are not a crane. Every person is at the level meant for them. Just like you. There are millions above and millions below. Always have been. Always will be. So please wipe the stupid grin off and put the smugness away.
Friday, November 09, 2018
Katranein
अरे! तुमने पाजेब नहीं पहनी? तुम्हे कितनी पसंद थी!
नहीं । अब नहीं पहनती।
तुम लङकियां भी अजीब होती हो। कोई शौक पालती हो, और कुछ साल में ही उस से, इतनी विरक्ति भी हो जाती है!
हाँ । पर हम लङकियों के शौक, कुछ साल तो चलते हैं।
नहीं । अब नहीं पहनती।
तुम लङकियां भी अजीब होती हो। कोई शौक पालती हो, और कुछ साल में ही उस से, इतनी विरक्ति भी हो जाती है!
हाँ । पर हम लङकियों के शौक, कुछ साल तो चलते हैं।
Sunday, November 04, 2018
Sanskrit Lokokti and Hindi Doha
श्व: कार्यमद्य कर्तव्यं
Do tomorro's work today. Don't leave it to tomorrow.
Kabir Das' Doha which says the same thing:
काल करे सो आज कर, आज करे सो अब
पल में परलय होएगी, बहुर करेगो कब
Do tomorro's work today. Don't leave it to tomorrow.
Kabir Das' Doha which says the same thing:
काल करे सो आज कर, आज करे सो अब
पल में परलय होएगी, बहुर करेगो कब
समझ/Understanding
जब तुम बङे हो जाओगे
तब जानोगे
कि उम्मीद
बङी होकर
बनती है अपेक्षा;
और नाउम्मीदी,
उपेक्षा।
तब जानोगे
कि उम्मीद
बङी होकर
बनती है अपेक्षा;
और नाउम्मीदी,
उपेक्षा।
Friday, November 02, 2018
Why India's educated are the World's greatest hypocrites
Ab mujhe samajh aaya ki Burj Khalifa Hindustan mein kyun nahi bana.
Ek kahani hai.
Once upon a time, on a ship, some scorpions were placed in an open bucket. A passenger on the ship complained to the Captain about keeping poisonous scorpions in an open bucket. They might get out and sting someone!
The captain replied, "Don't worry sir. These are Indian scorpions. The minute one of them tries to make any progress, the rest of them will pull him down and punish him for even trying. Not one of those scorpions will escape on this journey."
Aaj apna facebook wall dekh ke, kasam se kahaani yaad bhi aa gayi aur samajh bhi.
I am proud(not) to belong to a country where the world's tallest statue in the honour of the world's tallest statesman (show me another example of peacefully uniting over 580 princely states into a single country in world history) opens to .... this!
#EffingWorldCapitalOfHypocrisy.
Thursday, November 01, 2018
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