Long time, I know. Apologies to my loyal readers but things have been keeping me very busy. I have been criss-crossing the country from Delhi to Lucknow to Guwahati and Hyderabad and I have learned one thing very clearly. Flying is safer than driving on India's roads, I did hear of the statistic but like some one say...there are lies, damned lies and statistics...so.
While my criss-crossing the nation and contaminating the atmosphere with Uric Acid hasn't made an iota of difference to 'rural development', some bizzare dreams of mine have entertained some guys who think they have been working for the upliftment of the ones who need upliftment...btw...I didn't know till very recently that in Punjabi 'chak' means 'lift'..so Chak De India means..Lift it up,India!
Sadly, words like 'Mahi Ve','Laung da Lashkara' make lesser sense,now that they have been de-mystified.Languages have hilarious words-Punjabi's most hilarious word is Janaani(LOL)..meaning 'woman'!Look at how the Sankrit Janani has been murdered as Janaani!
In Assamese, one is respectfully addressed as 'Dangoriya'!So if anybody called me Anirudh Dangoriya, I should learnt to not laugh on their faces.
Coming back to my 'dream':
Scene: Farewell to Class 10 students in Johnson Grammar School.
All Students in unison: 'Madam we will sing the 'national anthem'
Teachers: OK (condescendingly)
Students: We start singing with great gusto, and hold our hands and run mad...almost running out of breath we still sing 'Dravida Utkala banga..uchhala jaladhi taranga..'
Like in most dreams(note 'most') I am holding a females' hand, while I am running and singing I try to look at her face. I realize it is indeed one of my classmates and note her name in my observation book!!!Then as the 'Running Race and National Anthem' end with a rather dull Jaya Hai, Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya hai', I begin to wonder if Rehman's 'jai Ho' sounds better. So we change gear midway and start run-dance-singing Jai Ho!Before changing musical-gear I felt sad to leave her hand,almost like the sadness of sacrificing the last 'Peanut Butter Cup' to your 6-yr old niece/nephew.
Oopsies, did I just invent a new unit for measuring Sadness? 'Peabucs'??
1 Peabuc= The sad feeling of not being able to lick the cup after eating because 'people are watching.
6 Peabucs= The sad feeling of sharing your Peanut Butter Cup with a friend.
10 peabucs= The sad feeling of cutting down on P.B.Cs because of weighty issue.
100 Peabucs= The sadness of dropping your PBC on the floor.
Remember the Blahness Unit invented long long ago?It was called MB.Mallu Bite.
That is probably where the dream ended. I have tried understanding the complex sub-conscious mind that has such a wicked sense of humor. Any clue?
I guess I never liked the National Anthem much, words like 'uchhala' never connect with the original Sanskrit meaning but to the rather cheap Telugu meaning. yew! Whil Ucchala jaladhi Taranga mean the rising sea waves, I thought of uric acid and bilirubin.
Btw, I watched 'Dhobi ghat' in Guwahati and it was a great experience. The background score alone was enough for me, the sound of Rain and Gustavo Santaolalla's piano. For the first time in years a movie felt like a Novel. That feeling of being in that movie, of feeling for Munna and his love, Yasmin and her amateur video and Mumbai in its myriad moods. Absorbing. Go and watch the movie, preferably alone. Just be there.
Meanwhile I visited the Bada Imam Bargah in Lucknow and I was awestruck. I have been impressed by its architecture. The orange sandstone, the onion-like Bengal Domes, the exquisite Arabic calligraphy. It felt like Istanbul.
So that is where things stand.I leave you with Sunset on the banks of the Brahmaputra.
2 comments:
Your muse with Punjabi continues. And this time the national anthem has taken the beating. It had to be someone :P.
Totally agree with Imambada and Dhobi Ghat views. Both were delightful.
all i have to say is that 'dangoria' sounds like bovine food poisoning.
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