naisaiku week 25

[ echoes of indian poetry -18 ]


'' Zahid sharaab peene de masjid mein baith kar
yaa woh jagah bata de jahan par Khuda na ho " ~ ghalib

[ Ref : Inner World Outer World by T.N. Dhar - Google Books - 210 pages
books.google.ca/books?isbn=8183242472 ]

oh righteous one
let ' ghalib ' drink in the mosque
FOR HE'S EVERYWHERE
tell me a place where He's not
let ' ghalib ' have wine .. ~ ghalib


naisaiku / translation / z.g.©

Note :

[ i believe that this couplet is sometimes misunderstood . . ' mosque ' here should apply to any place of worship . It alludes to the Omnipresence of The Lord Almighty .Nothing can be or is hidden from Him .To my mind ' ghalib ' is certainly not seeking a license to partake of wine inside any place of worship . . ' mosque ' or otherwise , all that he is possibly saying is that a vice is a vice
afterall , anywhere and everywhere and that the final judgement belongs to the Lord Almighty.

Ghalib , learned as he was , must certainly have known that such ' permission ' was
anyway out of the question , so he's merely teasing the devout ! .. ]


~~ .. ~~

the right and the wrong
playing a game of ' eyes spies '
CHANGING PERCEPTIONS
playing a game of ' eyes spies '
the right and the wrong ..

{ indian kids play hide and seek & call it ' eyes spies ' }

/ naisaiku / original /z.g.©

naisaiku week 24

[ echoes of indian poetry -17 ]


Laali mere laal ki, jit dekhun tit laal,
Laali dekhan main gayi, main bhi ho gayi laal .. ~ kabir

i went to see red
the red of my beloved
RED IS EVERYWHERE
the red of my child , lord , love
has made me red too .. ~ kabir

[as per the devotional traditions of india the lord is worshipped as a 'child ' ~
' baal gopala '~ just one of his ' rupas ' or forms ]

naisaiku / translation / z.g.©

~~ .. ~~

you deal with yourself
when nothing is happening
BE THE BEGINNING
of something that could happen
you deal with yourself ..

/ naisaiku / original /z.g.©

naisaiku week 23

[ echoes of indian poetry -16 ]

deen gooli mor shonaar khanchaye royilo  naa 
shei je amar na na ronger deen gooli ~ tagore 

my days they escape
from their cage of halcyon
        DAYS OF MANY HUES
            escape from their golden cage
                      my 'halcyon days'~tagore

naisaiku / translation / z.g.©

[ ref: walt whitman _ halcyon days ]
                       
 ~~ .. ~~

( ref: john masefield -

- " i have seen flowers come in stony places
and kind things done by men with ugly faces
and the gold cup won by the worst horse at the races
so i trust too " ) ~

betting on a horse
somehow it always loses
WHAT IS GOING WRONG
murphy's law or hobson's law
ain't no law for luck ..

/ naisaiku / original /z.g.©

naisaiku week 22

[ echoes of indian poetry -15]

'bada hua to kya hua jaise ped khajoor
panthi ko chaya nahin phal lage ati door'- kabir

tall, the date palm tree
no shade to the traveler
THE FRUITS ARE FAR OFF
the traveler without shade
could you call that tall .. kabir

naisaiku / translation / z.g.©

                    ~~ .. ~~
                     in the gloaming hues
                tracing a sad melody
             FIND A HAPPY SONG
 then rearranging the notes
return to the blues ..



/ naisaiku / original /z.g.©

naisaiku week 21

[ echoes of indian poetry -14]


aami tomaye joto shooniye cheelem gaan
taar bodole aami chaye nee kono daan .. tagore r n

i wanted nothing
for the song i sang to you
NOTHING IN RETURN
for the song i sang to you
i wanted nothing .. tagore

naisaiku / translation / z.g.©


again rings the phone
and the hellos are exchanged
IT'S THE WRONG NUMBER
but the hellos are exchanged
again the dialtone ..

/ naisaiku / original /z.g.©

naisaiku week 20

[ echoes of indian poetry - 13 ]


tumi je shoorer aagoon lagiye dile mor prane
she aagoon chodiye galo shob khane .. tagore r n

sets my life ablaze
the fire of your melody
IT'S EVERYWHERE NOW
the fire of your melody
sets my life ablaze .. tagore

[ could also mean ]


you kindled a fire
of melody in my life
NOW IT'S EVERYWHERE
the fire of that melody
it is everywhere .. tagore


naisaiku / translation / z.g.©

assembled beings
replaceable body parts
STEM CELLS AND CLONING
body parts replaceable
and so will be you ..

/ naisaiku / original /z.g.©

naisaiku week 19

[ echoes of indian poetry - 12]


badal kar fakiroN kaa ham bhes ghalib

tamaashaa-e-ahl-e-karam dekhte haiN.. ~ ghalib


[ Line 2 needs verification / another citation reads - 'tamaashaa-e-ahl-e-jahaaN dekhte haiN ' ]

watch the spectacles
of the graces of the world
GUISED AS A MINSTREL
of the world of the graces
watch the spectacles' ~ ghalib (~ urdu poetry - )


naisaiku / translation / z.g.©

you consume products
shadowed by advertisements
BECOME A SHADOW
haunted by advertisements
products consume you ..


/ naisaiku / original /z.g.©