serenade

' ordinary things '

a mundane routine
melodious with her walk
the payal jingles
and the earth serenades me
with the song of life ..

[ payal ~ trinkets worn on the ankles by indian women ]

~ twaicoo-23 /original/z.g.©

naisaiku week 11

[ echoes of indian poetry - 4 ]

" unka joh hai farz woh ahle siyaasat jaaneN
mera paiGham muhabbat hai jahan tak pahunche "

( ~ Jigar Muradabadi - a voice from urdu poetry )


here to wherever
politics its duty knows
MY MESSAGE IS LOVE
( left to itself politics )
here to wherever ~ Jigar Muradabadi

/naisaiku 4 /translation/z.g.©

{ loosely interpreted so as to conform to the naisaiku format-
- - paraphrase_ those that indulge in politics / politicking , would know of their duties-mine is a message of love as far as it would go // cited for educational purposes only.}


the teacher teaches
as it's ever unfolding
THE MEANING OF LIFE
as it's ever unfolding
teaches the teacher ..

/ naisaiku 4 /original /z.g.©

fever

' april '

igniting april
soaring with the mercury
a summer frenzy
every petal is burning
on the gulmohar ..

/twaicoo- 22 /original/z.g.©


[ the gulmohar tree has flaming reddish-orange colored flowers / Delonix regia / Royal Poinciana - Caesalpinioideae ]

no answers

.. ' a question of love '

what is this traction
why do the tides rise and fall
does it not happen
that a moon waxes and wanes
and the chakor weeps ..

~ twaicoo-21 /original/z.g.© ..

[ ~ a popular indian belief that the chakor (a bird) is an eternal lover of the moon ]

mehendi

' the bride '

a heart is aflame
reflecting the soft twilight
with her mehendi
she holds the hues of first light
in her bridal palms ..

..
~ twaicoo-20 /original/z.g.©


[ ( mehendi ) -henna / please see the previous post for more info ]

beauty

' mehendi '

burgundy or brown
on her palms the mehendi
elevates beauty
but a heart broken lover
imagines blood stains ..

~ twaicoo-19 /original/z.g.©


[-as per popular indian belief, the darker the color of the mehendi, the greater is the love / mehendi is deemed to be a color of auspiciousness, of good omen /an intricate part of indian wedding ceremonies / ( mehendi ) -henna stains the skin in some color between orange, red, burgundy, brown or coffee./source:www ]

the night

' kaajal '

anaesthesia
blacking out the suffering
this night's a respite
away from a burning day
the kohl of her eyes ..

~ twaicoo-18/original/z.g.©

[ref:: ' kaajal `aka surma-( kohl ) applied by indian women on the eyes / Eyeliner ]

dance

a whirlpool of love
the sway of green foliage
dancing the kathak
a torrent comes to a freeze
and so does my breath ..

~ twaicoo-17/original/z.g.©

[kathak~ an indian classical dance form]

traditional wear

' does she find a shade '

red watermelons
forty degrees celsius
she looks for a shade
of green or yellow mangoes
on ghaghra -cholis ..

~ twaicoo-16 /original /z.g.©

[ ghaghra -choli- traditional indian skirt and top ]

let the love grow

it has rained flowers
in shades of the moon and sun
harsingar petals
carpetting the earth below
for love to walk on ..

~ twaicoo-15/original/z.g.©

[harsingar~ aka parijata- shephali-the stem of the flower is saffron /orange in color and the petals are white.( botanical name is nycanthus arbortristis) ]

village urchins

it's all about ice
in the blistering hot sun
the kulfi-wallah
village urchins celebrate
the summer season ..

~ twaicoo-14/original/z.g.©

[kulfi-a form of icecream indigenously made in india]

naisaiku week 10

[ echoes of indian poetry - 3 ] ~

" huyee muddat ke ' ghalib' mar gaya par yaad aata hai
woh har ik baat peh kehna ke yun hota to kya hota " ~

long dead is ghalib
had ' what ifs ' for everything
WHAT IF THIS WAS THAT
his thoughts they keep returniing
( but ghalib does not ) ~ ghalib

[ ~ ghalib~ urdu poetry ]

/ naisaiku / translation(draft) /z.g.©

raise the spirits high
this vodka whiskey and rum
THEY SEND ME FALLING
this vodka whiskey and rum
raise the spirits high .

/ naisaiku / original /z.g.©

priestess

rajanigandha
cloistered priestess of the night
embracing darkness
in the scent of her silence
rajanigandha ..

/twaicoo-13 /original/z.g.© // [Monday April 20 .09 ]

[rajanigandha~Tuberose bulbs-growing white flowers with a night time fragrance]

earthenware

surahis of clay
the terracotta pitchers
to quench all those thirsts
a potter always at work
digs out the parched earth ..

/twaicoo-12 /original/z.g.©

an insomniacal moon

strikes a different chord
that flute fragrant with malkauns
half way through the night
an insomniacal moon
melts into a trance ..

[raaga malkauns~ a specific melody structure in indian classical music]
[ED-line 4:the trees,the moon and the stars / line 5-melts replaces 'goes'/go ]

/twaicoo- 11 /original/z.g.©

water

' drops'

welled up in the eyes
would she spill a drop or two
fetching the water
but the blister on her sole
holds some water too ..

[-girls and women walk long distances in the scalding heat to fetch drinking water]
(post edited-april 18.09)


/twaicoo-10 /original/z.g.©

hearts / naisaiku week 10

my proposed 'naisaiku' entry for week 10 was-

" infatuation
breaks circadian rythms
A LITTLE GIRL'S HEART
breaks circadian rythms
infatuation "..

[ but coincidence had other plans / overlap ]

'naisaiku' /original/z.g.

the commoners

' the british raj-'

looted and plundered
a civilization robbed
the commoners know
done by a queen it's conquest
otherwise plain theft ..

(snapshots of indian history)

/twaicoo-9 /original/z.g.©

environment

' governance '

searching for a shade
this sultry scorching summer
what do the birds do
no cooler and no ac
where do the birds go ..

/twaicoo-8 /original/z.g.©

' thirst '

' summer '

a taste of water
colorful ice ball candies
this season of thirst
but when nothing does quench it
just taste the water ..

/twaicoo-7 /original/z.g.©

naisaiku week 9

[ echoes of indian poetry 2 ] ~

" Poochtey haiN woh keh Ghalib kaun hai
Koi batlao keh hum batlayaiN kya " ~

' ( for i am ghalib )
and who is ghalib they ask
PRAY TELL ME SOMEONE
when they ask who is ghalib
what does ghalib say ' .. ~ ghalib

[ ~ ghalib~widely considered to be the ultimate voice of urdu poetry ]

/ naisaiku /translation /z.g.©

'nother love affair
'tis quietly building up
ONE SIMPLE HEARTACHE
'tis quietly building up
'nother love affair ..

/ naisaiku /original/z.g.©

summer

' indian summer '

say the mango groves
the haunting fragrances talk
in burning whispers
the sweltering breezes speak
of a koel's call ..

~ twaicoo-6 /original/z.g.©

ganga

' ganga '

do i poison you
for you are so forgiving
oh holy ganges
for washing the sins of man
should i poison you ..

(~a dip in the ganges washes the sins -the scriptures say)
[effluents flow into Ganga at approximately 1.7 billion litres each day out of which -1.4 billion litres is untreated.]


/twaicoo- 5 /original/z.g.©

a bulb

' little girls '

a little girl reads
her way out of the darkness
a bulb is aglow
simply electrifying
the lives of the little girls..

/ twaicoo- 4 /original/z.g.©

the rickshaw

' babu u no sit i no eat '

the rickshaw puller
pulling his own crucifix
just how can that be
something surely crucified *
the rickshaw puller ..

[in my country india man pulls man on a cycle rickshaw- the puller says:-
' babu u no sit i no eat ' ]

/ twaicoo-3 /original/z.g.©

[ED-could something have crucified * ]

farmers

' what harvest '

a harvest of words
cannot reverse a suicide
the farmers suffer
political bigwigs reap
a harvest of words ..

[ Over 16,600 farmer suicides in 2007 -ref:-
http://www.indiatogether.org/2008/dec/psa-16k.htm ]

/ twaicoo-2 /original/z.g.©

carousel / twaicoo

'carousel'

"cannot figure out
who's ahead n who's behind
on the carousel
the cops and the robbers play
a cat n mouse game" ..

[twaicoo-a common central theme_ on the carousel- with two different (or opposite) perspectives /5-7-5-7-5 syllables/ the last line may or may not echo the first]

/twaicoo-1 /original/z.g.©

naisaiku week 8

[ echoes of indian poetry 1 ] ~

"aami jene shoone beesh korechi paan "_tagore r .n._

' consciously,with awakened senses i've partaken of the death potion '_

no he's not talking of suicide here_he could well have used the word_which he avoids doing _it is the 'beesh'-the poison of life that he is talking of _ the hemlock that he willingly & knowingly consumes- out of free will ..

'alive i remain
with the senses awakened
SIPPING THE HEMLOCK
that puts me to sleep each day
but never kills me ' ..


/naisaiku /translation/z.g.©

~ ~
keep the stars burning
brighter on a moonless night
AGONIES TWINKLE *
brighter on a moonless night
keep the stars burning

/naisaiku /original/z.g.©//ref:-cmnt 1-!nversed Poignancy! /

[POST EDITED-the verse 'carousel' was deleted & replaced by the above-after cmnt 3/ED-AN ABSENCE TWINKLES*]
(Clickthis to find the deleted verse 'carousel' at Sr. No.10- )

naisaiku week 7

(as jeeves would say)
dear all,

unable to find my cmnt posted yesterday @ 'pretty prats' repeated it today as follows_
--
" hi pretty prats,
was my cmnt as under unable to reach u _

"tears dark with smoke"_
is really expressive-

[_ ' hazaaron tarah ke yeh hote hain aansoo-khushee mein bhi aankhein bhigote hain aansoo-
_nahin jaan sakta inhe yeh zamana ' _ & a crude translation could be -
tears of a thousand kinds_even in joyfulness wet the eyes _the world cannot fathom their depth -
from a great song by 'mukesh' * ] "--

-followed on to the 'naisaiku challenge' & the writeup of 'Andy Sewina aka Danny Wise '_

{& hence this first attempt / kindly forgive the liberty taken with the ' form ' working out with six lines instead of seven}

thousand kinds of tears
the eyes wet with joyfulness
UNFATHOMABLE
the eyes wet with joyfulness
thousand kinds of tears ..

[ credits- original lines from a hindi movie song rendered by the late mukesh kumar mathur */cited for educational purposes only]

/ translation /z.g.