Children

And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, "Speak to us of
Children."

And he said:

Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts.

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit,
not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you
with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.

Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;

For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that
is stable.

Kahlil Gibran

This is fast turning into a poetry blog .Well, my primary goal was to share some of my thoughts, as well as display some pieces that have moved me and affected my way of thinking. Not that anybody else would care, but, it helps me crystallize my thoughts by penning it. Writing has a way of clearing your mind and making you focus on what is important.
Kahlil Gibran, the visionary poet from Lebanon was born in1931 and was educated by priests in the city of Bsharri.He later emigrated to the US, and, this is where he started his artistic career. Besides being a poet, he was an accomplished artist as well. This poem is from his collection of musings called The Prophet which was perhaps his most popular work.
I have nothing more to say, the poem sings for itself.

Ardh Satya

chakravyuuh me.n ghusane se pahale
mai.n kaun thaa aur kaisaa thaa
ye mujhe yaad hii na rahegaa
chakravyuuh me.n ghusane ke baad
mere aur chakravyuuh ke biich
sirf ek jaan\-levaa nikaTataa thii
isakaa mujhe pataa hii na chalegaa

chakravyuuh se baahar nikalane par
mai.n mukt ho jaa_uu.N bhale hii
phir bhii
chakravyuuh kii rachanaa me.n farq hii na pa.Degaa

maruu.N yaa maaruu.N
maaraa jaa_uu.N yaa jaan se maar duu.N
is kaa faisalaa kabhii na ho paayegaa

soyaa huaa aadamii jab nii.nd se uTh kar
chalanaa shuruu karataa hai
tab sapano.n kaa sa.nsaar use dubaaraa
dikh hii na paayaegaa

us roshanii me.n jo nirNay kii roshanii hai
sab kuchh samaan hogaa kyaa?

ek pala.De me.n napu.nsakataa
ek pala.De me.n paurushh
aur Thiik taraazuu ke kaa.Nte par
ardh\-satya

Translation

Ardh Satya (The Half-Truth)

Upon breaching the Chakravyuuh
My previous identity and state
Will remain erased from my memory
Upon entering the Chakravyuuh
That ,the chakravyuuh and me,
Lie separated only by a fatal closeness
Remains hidden from my eye

Upon exiting the chakravyuuh,
Whether or not I attain freedom from it
Will still,
Not cause a difference in the formation of the chakravyuuh

Will I murder or will I be murdered,
Will I be killed or will I be the murderer
Will forever remain unresolved

When a sleeping man awakes from his stupor
And starts to walk
Then will his world of dreams
Be lost forever from his sight?

And at that light, which is the light of judgment
Will everything appear equal?

At one end of the scale lies helplessness
On the other end, manhood
And right at the tip, lies
The Half Truth

I have added a very loose (unflattering and liberal) translation of Vijay Tendulkar’s poem Ardh Satya.I first heard it in the movie which goes by the same title as the poem. Recited with gut wrenching sincerity by that incomparable actor, Om Puri, It was no wonder that I was instantly hooked. I do not know if the poem was composed specifically for that movie but it expresses the dilemma faced by the protagonist of the movie in a few lines better than most reviewers can with a few pages.

To people unfamiliar with the Abhimanyu story and the Puranas, the chakravyuuh is a formation devised by Drona which is very difficult to breach in battle. The chakravyuuh consisted of many concentric rings of warriors with the chief in the middle. The specialty of this formation was that even when it was breached, the rings would close up again sealing the attacker within .There were only two other warriors besides Drona, namely, Arjuna and Krishna who knew the secret of breaking this formation. Arjunas son, Abhimanyu heard this secret while still in his mother’s womb but due to a trick of fate could only hear the part of getting into this formation but not how to exit it. Confronted by this formation he enters it bravely, fully sure that he can beat this system, but is swallowed within and dies a brave and valiant death.

I did not want to review the movie but I cannot resist a short recap. The Inspector played by Puri, is sucked into the mire that is the system and is forced to shelve his beliefs to get out of trouble. He is forced into the indignity of requesting the villain of this piece to exert his influence, to extricate Shah from a police case which he has fallen into while discharging his duty. Faced with his helplessness, and, shamed by his conduct, he redeems himself by killing the villain in everybody’s presence.

The poem asks the question, What are you willing to sacrifice in your quest?. In an ideal
World, a person would like to live his life according to his principles. But when confronted with an environment that is built on a different set of values, should he make his peace with it and conform or should he fight the good fight.
When the outcome of your choice erodes your identity, will you be able to make peace with yourself? What do you hold dear, your possessions or your principles? Is the pain endured worth the trouble of holding your position? Ultimately, it asks the question that lies at the very core of our existence, what do you stand for?

What he said

What He Said

What could my mother be
to yours? What kin my father
to yours anyway? And how
did you and I meet ever?
But in love
Our hearts have mingled
like red earth and pouring rain.

  Cempulappeyanirar

This poem by the Tamil poet Cempulappeyanirar is another of my favorites. Almost haiku like, this poem
compresses so much imagery and feeling within so few lines. The images of love and longing have rarely been
expressed better. The last two lines are pure genius .Try as I might I cannot seem to come up with words to
express the thoughts evoked by those two lines. Monsoon in India is a special time, the smell of rain in the air,
a longing heart and a light breeze.Perfect.He really has captured the essence of that moment.

A twice seen tale

Rahul Dravid happens to be my favourite cricketer. As you watch him bat, you get the feeling that you are watching a master perfect his extraordinary craft. There is nothing hurried or disjointed about his strokeplay.Calm, measured and Serene, these are the words that spring to mind when you watch Dravid play. There are no oblique angles or rough edges in a Dravid masterpiece, just a beautiful, smooth perfect creation. The purity of his strokes is matched only by his continence in waiting for the perfect ball to execute them to. His batting is an exercise in chastity, letting ball after ball go like a bride casting aside suitors until the perfect groom comes along. Then the coyness disappears and the ball meets its destiny with the bat guiding it to the boundary. Nothing quenches like the fulfillment of a long waited wish and a good Dravid innings always leaves you feeling satiated.

The yin to Dravid's yang is Sehwag.Daring, adventurous and even reckless, he is the perfect antithesis of Dravid.If Dravid is continence personified, then Sehwag adheres to the Saint Augustine school of thought.” Give me chastity and continence, but not yet." seems to be more in line with his belief system. He comes at you relentlessly .There can be no stalemate when he bats, Either the bowler or the batsman will emerge as the victor and it takes a brave man to bet against Sehwag.He crushes you with the savagery of his batting .But, he also delights you with the delicacy of his strokeplay.To see him play the uppercut or to watch him caress the straight drive gives a new meaning to the word "touch”. They seem so different,Dravid and Sehwag that the mere thought of a team guided by such diverge personalities seems absurd. But beyond these superficialities, you sense an underlying sense of purpose, a belief in their abilities and a shared disdain for personal glory and records at the altar of team goals which seems to unite them.

While Dravid seeks to mold this team in his image, it should not be forgotten that this is a twice -born team. The first seeds were sown by Ganguly who cleaned up the drudge that was passed on to him from the Azharudhin era. Players like Mongia were cast aside and fresh blood was infused to liven up the team. He instilled a sense of pride and belief in our players unlike any other captain in recent memory. He fought the Australians to a stand still and during his tenure, we have had the better of the exchanges with the Aussies.The success of Laxman and Harbhajan in the test arena and Yuvraj,Kaif and Zaheer in the ODI's are a testament of his abilities in recognizing and nurturing talent. For the better part of four years, he presided over a united and successful team. He has had the best team of senior players an Indian captain could have hoped for,Dravid,Kumble,Tendulkar and Srinath have always backed him and none were covetous of his captaincy allowing him the freedom to reshape the team into a winning unit.

But a weakening of his batting prowess along with his penchant for skipping the necessary fitness regimen has led to his downfall. Also ,with age he seems to have lost that ruthless edge .He refused to drop the likes of the underperforming harbhajan,yuvraj and laxman like he did a still useful Robin Singh back in 2001.This along with his woeful batting form and his disagreements with chapell did nothing for his case.

This team is undergoing a metamorphosis with Dravid at the helm. New ideas are being implemented in the One dayers with a flexible batting line-up being at the very heart of the team’s philosophy. New players are introduced, and new tactics implemented. But the Test format will most likely follow the paths of old. Wicket taking bowlers and batsmen who can bat for sustained periods have always been the foundations of a successful test team and any drastic changes here do not seem forthcoming. We might see more attacking lines from our bowlers and some innovative field placements during the tests.Zaheer,Kumble and Laxman will most likely make a comeback ,but they will have to alter their thought processes slightly to be more in tune with the new philosophy.Dravid certainly has the necessary weapons to ensure continued success. How he utilizes them will define how his captaincy will be remembered.

Baby steps

1.51 at night .Darkness surrounding me,Mind weakning....resolve weaker still.Perfect.At the sound of the hour,gentlemen,I will be free to commence shooting.Be afraid weary traveller,there be Monsters here.