Baul, A Hidden Gem

So, I saw a friend share a link to a folk song (click to see)

Listening to it, I sure was inspired and it has been a long time a piece of music has touched me at so many different levels. I explored the comments section for some translation of the song because I do not understand Bengali and it seemed to be sung in that language.

After a good try in googling for the same while in my head I was going--- how come nobody thought of translating this amazing piece--- I shared it with a Bengali speaking friend requesting her to help and waited patiently for her to see and reply.

And reply she did! With an enthusiasm that sparked further curiosity and love for the piece :) So I’m sharing her words for you to also have a context to the beauty of the Baul, as she especially highlighted!

Omg! That’s a baul song. Where did you find this?
They are wandering mystics of Bengal and their songs have very deep meanings. From body anatomy to physics and spirituality they talk about many things. I will try to decipher the song but I am afraid I don’t have that kind of knowledge. (SO VERY HUMBLE!)

These are ancient songs...earlier they would go from home to home...and used to sing these songs...using Ektaras (the musical instrument like the guitar)
Very soulful and deep songs. Bauls are basically tantrics.
They don’t believe in deities much.
Nirgun Brahma concept is what they go with more

It’s very advanced, their songs
I have heard them live as a kid
Now very rarely, they do come
They are a part of our culture in Bengal and Assam, Bangladesh and possibly Bihar as well.
I read about them in the book Nine Lives, by William Darymple
There I got to know they are Tantrics.
It’s a very good book.

There is a Baul song which describes different parts of the human body. And this song was composed before Western medicine came along, and the descriptions are very accurate.
So it’s kinda amazing, the Indian religious traditions.
The West loves them but in their own hotch potch pop version. Most like to perform like artistes and that melody of the past is gone.
We have forgotten our own traditions
You can read this book Nine Lives. I read it way back in 2005 I think. It talks about 9 religious traditions of India. Jainism, Tantrism, Baul, Buddhism. The author goes to the practitioners and asks them about their lives. It’s pretty amazing.

Next day, I received the meaning to the lyrics from her and here they are for you as well:

Prophet Mohammad came in Arab, and Krishna came in Mathura.
One plays the game of "imaan", the other plays the game of "leela".
One reads Quran, the other reads Ved Purana
One says Allah, the other says Bhagwaan
But both are sons of the same mother, of the same caste
And drink the milk of the same mother.

AWED.

     



   

Life is Eternal, I am falling short

'Life is short'
I tried to cheer myself up
Repeating this oft said phrase
And suddenly I see
How conniving of us to think so

Being a lover of Life
And a self declared keeper of Life
A voice in me rebelled- Life isn't short
It is eternal
It always continues
It is just me who is falling short of it

And thus pause the incessant murmurings
Gnawing at me in my "free" untethered state
As if illuminated and almost scorched
By the simple truth of this revelation
Life is eternal indeed
And I'm simply falling short of it
With each passing moment

An antidote to the burden of assumption
An assumption one easily slips into
With a few tasks undertaken
Thinking oneself to be the carrier
Of this life and the world

How relieving thus
To be reminded otherwise

Sometimes, all the time!

Sometimes you feel you're on your own and you see evidence of being surreptitiously watched out for in ways inconspicuous only for the newly initiated into the ways of the Universe or those ignorant of it, you are ever reminded of the friendly presence quietly smilin by your side~

Sept 4th
Between 5.45 am to 6.30 am
Getting ready to leave for class after a week long gap,
Not wanting to get late but wondering if I am..
Packing my tiffin,
Found a handy bag to hold the leaky vessel as if twas kept there to save the time finding one!

Next,
Walking to the bus stop, and seeing the bus glide by from a distance..
Early hour, wondering if a share auto will be up and ready but nope.
And surprise surprise!
Another bus glides in unbelievably in that early an hour!

Relaxedly, I'm well on my time
And ever thankful to the ever present magic and solidarity of the Universe ✨💖⚡

Logical Marriage

At the airport
Delayed flight
Everyone in a disarray
And some just hanging around
One amongst them is me

A middle aged woman seeks my help to help her open a packet of sweetened supari

I abide

Then I take the liberty of asking her to watch my bag as I go to get my hands on some books to gorge while I have the free time

I return blessed by two

She then takes the liberty of leaving her bags in my care as she goes to get a cup of coffee

And this nameless friendship continues back and forth until the flight gets on track and we are on our way home

Amidst it all out of curiosity on whether she can trust me I guess

She tries to get to know me- What brought me here and where I come from

Amongst all things I mention I was here to see my future in-laws

And she drops a question many usually ask- love or arranged?

I say kinda both.

This has troubled me because I don't seem to have a readymade narrative I can pick out from human culture or history to fall back on or something people can readily relate to when it comes to this choice we have made.

Love?

Not that we are head over heels for each other.

Not that it was the starting point anyway of this pact.

Not that we are not into it either

And not that we don't think it won't happen.

Arranged?

Not that we were introduced to each other by family or friends.

Not that we found each other through some matrimonial website.

Not that it was the starting point of this pact either.

Not that it isn't some kind of arrangement too.

Logical?

The only word I seem satisfied with, which comes closest as of now.

He says you and I would anyway get married to someone so why not each other- I think indeed that makes sense.

He says we can help each other- I think heck yeah!

He says with time things will develop- I think yes, with some due reservation but enough confidence on proximity that makes all things well.

A logical marriage yes,

Without all the frills, and with all the conscious care to make it work

A logical marriage yes,

Without much drama, but with enough communication and listening to make it sail

A logical marriage yes,

Without the pain of much of external opposition, yet with a constant awareness of any internal discomfort

Logical marriage

I wish I had thought this up sooner so I could've told Kala so..

But I guess every prompt is a push in the direction of creating new narratives

If not for others,

Then just for widening the horizon of possibilities for oneself~

शून्य

शून्य है शक्ति
शून्य है मस्ति
शून्य में है जीवन का प्रारम्भ
शून्य में है द्वेष और अहंकार का अंत

शून्य से है शुरुआत
शून्य है उजाले से पहले की रात
शून्य में डुबकी जो लगाए, बने रोग रहित
शून्य को प्रणाम कर, आगे बढ़े प्रेम सहित

शून्य है अनिवार्य
शून्य से बने हर कार्य
शून्य से जो भिड़ोगे एक बार
शून्य से हो जायेगा प्यार

शून्य है आज़ादी का ऐलान
शून्य में है छिपा हर इंसान का पैगाम
शून्य के प्रति मत रखो भय
शून्य के बल पर पा लोगे विजय

तो कर लो शून्य से दोस्ती मेरे यार
शून्य के हैं यारों के लिए सदैव खुले द्वार

The Empowered Woman

Saw this poem put up in a School, was instantly in love with the spirit held by the words and had to have it on record.

Penned by Sonny Carroll, enjoy!

The Empowered Woman, she moves through the world
with a sense of confidence and grace. 
Her once reckless spirit now tempered by wisdom. 
Quietly, yet firmly, she speaks her truth without doubt or hesitation 
and the life she leads is of her own creation. 
She now understands what it means to live and let live. 
How much to ask for herself and how much to give. 
She has a strong, yet generous heart 
and the inner beauty she emanates truly sets her apart. 
Like the mythical Phoenix, 
she has risen from the ashes and soared to a new plane of existence, 
unfettered by the things that once posed such resistance. 
Her senses now heightened, she sees everything so clearly. 
She hears the wind rustling through the trees; 
beckoning her to live the dreams she holds so dearly. 
She feels the softness of her hands 
and muses at the strength that they possess. 
Her needs and desires she has learned to express. 
She has tasted the bitter and savored the sweet fruits of life, 
overcome adversity and pushed past heartache and strife. 
And the one thing she never understood, 
she now knows to be true, 
it all begins and ends with you.

Let's Tidy this Neat Mess

Why are we in such a mess today?

There was a time when we had larger hearts and shared freely.
That was the time when natural resources were not yet appropriated by Civilisation,
When they were nurtured by indigenous communities that freely shared from surplus or even from limited access to resources
Versus Civilisation, that would rather let surplus rot than care for dying brethren if there were no profit of it.

We are taught that Civilisation and Development are the measures of growth, but really for how long can we keep believing our self-created kinda old idea? There is only as high or wide even a tree can grow, lest it begins to disrupt the ecosystem.
The very same measures we are taught to see as a scale of achievement are today turning into evil tools of disruption.
The very same outdated and far outgrown formulas for success are now choking us to death even as we continue to dream or celebrate its ephemeral victories.

It is as if Man once dreamt of conquering Nature
And has already won over control of it but remains unsatisfied until it is completely crushed in some outdated vengeance
Not realising that the best and healthiest of "conquerors" are deemed to be those that restrain their force once the "enemy" has succumbed while the vilest of them have always been hated for their indiscriminate surge of complete destruction.

Yet, we are taught lies about false bravery and false acts of compassion while the truth within our hearts continues to die a slow death.
How far until we can listen to the ringing bells of doom and steer away from the impending path of destruction?
How far before we can begin to trust our innate conscience and think and work on new ideas and ways of co-existing?
How far do we need to still go before we realise the futile waste of our precious energy, time and resources?
How far are we from reclaiming our humanity from the clutches of our own misinformed stale ventures?
How far until we yearn and learn to breathe freely again?

To Belong Somewhere

She stood waiting for a bus to take her home-
Having failed to get to office with the incessant rains and the delayed trains.

As she waited and saw empty buses parking themselves unintending to move
Her thoughts crawled to her family, especially her mother--Who manages the house with all the chores and moments of quiet anxiety without having any respite--
And suddenly she bursts out crying with remorse- I DON'T BELONG ANYWHERE!

The realisation dawned on her, and her exasperation gathered speed as welling tears in her eyes.
For a moment, she became quiet, without any thought, and closed her eyes-
And she distinctly heard the birds chirping, the wind playing gently on her skin and noticed the light of the sun made mellow by the drizzling clouds as she opened her eyes..
She saw then- I BELONG HERE.
And all her unease and tense emotions made an instant disappearance as her heart rested again in that deep knowing of her true home.

Heart

The way shown by the heart is scaled by the aptitude of the mind.

A mind not anchored by the compass of the heart tends towards actions that may cause waste and harm.

A lot of our remorse arises from the thought of "the way things should be" and we have left no stone unturned for propagating the ideal ways of family, friends, society, self and so on.
But No.
The only way that things can be,
Is through the heart.
Everything else is assumption.

Where there is heart, there is liberation Where there is heart, there is compassion Where there is heart, there is understanding Where there is heart, there is fearlessness Heart is where we connect
Because Heart is where our common core resides.

Weakness

Timeline and scheduling

Delegation

Closing and completion

In essence, Leadership.

Reborn

The last I heard was, someone calling my name.
Though it wasn't addressed to me, and I swiftly slipped into a state of unconsciousness-
Into a light and dizzy dream,
Relieved of all burden of thought.

As I came about--consciousness gently tugging at me--rousing me from a deep sleep of a few moments which felt more like a rebirth after a long sojourn,
The first thing I sensed,
Was the warm touch of your soft palm on my forehead,
Comforting me into a slow slumber.

I struggled to open my eyes and make sense of my surroundings and to know how I got there and what time of day it was-
And I heard your voice--familiar and sweet--cajoling me into a relaxed stupor to rest trustfully in abandon.

Yes, it was okay to not worry about where I was or to make sense of everything at once--as long as you were beside me keeping a close watch-- and I calmly drifted into a warm slumber,
Awash in a swell of gratitude.

I awaken fully later--revitalised and reborn--as if with a gift of a new life, a new perspective, and with a renewed vitality and vigour that I had missed for so very long.
So, thank you--Thank you for being with me through this trying period of unease and for making it look so easy by distracting me from its pain by your mere presence, thank you so much (*)

Kalki

Why do I forget?
So that you can remember...
How can I get rid of all these candies flashing in my mind?
Just like this! *snap*
And all the candies gather in a river and flow through a long and deep dark tunnel, as if carving it in a way....

A woman is in labour and something is pulling at her, upward, strongly. There are orange currents pulling at her and she is resisting with all her might and the tension splits her womb and reveals the child, who is lifted off by another woman whose glint of an eye with a smirk is caught by the dying mother and with mixed emotions of having seen her child, but watching that 'evil' woman take it away, she wails out in loud, unending shrieks until her blood and water mix and seep deep into the ground.

So very deep do they seep, pushed by her pulsating reverberations that it seemed as if all the creatures in the underground wished to take her call straight into the belly of the earth. Bloodsuckers sucked at it with determination and drilled further deep into the ground until they were air borne in the cavern of the deepest and hottest core of the earth bubbling with angry red lava.

The moment the first bloodsucker dived into it as if to relay the message, the entire molten lava recoiled as if in horror and shock, and shook violently to explode in a rage that caused a terrible tremor up on the surface.

The force of the blast at the core was so magnificent, that all in its radius above, were blown off into the air by its shockwave and with it flew off also the glint-eyed woman, from whose arm the stolen child flew off to softly land into a pile of hay.

A benevolently loving woman recovering from the shock, heard the lone child's cry and in pleasant surprise picked it up and showered it with all the pent up love she had held within herself for so long. She looked up in gratitude as if in answer to her fervent prayers, the heavens had at last answered her call.

And in the burning chaos of a never before witnessed quake, a newborn child quaked in gurgled laughter at the foolish pride of evil, mixed also with tears and cries for its mother left behind unattended, to bleed to death.



Change

'What do I change, K?'

You don't need to change anything. It happens on its own.

'Then what do I do?'

Just allow it to happen.

Universe

He spoke the magic word
And broke the spell-
Of inconspicuous isolated existence

The Only Best Way To Go

I can never choose for another.
And I see,
That I never want to nudge another,
In any particular direction.

No matter how much I may see or know, No matter how much one may trust me.
What I can do at most, is prompt-
So one may recognise the nudge of their inner self~

After all,
We all have our paths to walk
And who am I?
To decide
Or push another to do a particular thing
Which may not be in their best interest?

After all,
How am I to ever know?
That,
Which each can best recognise only themselves-
No matter how "advanced" or "holy" or "authorised" or "knowledgeable" another may be?

And who am I,
To claim ownership-
On any damn moment of another's life?And take away their joy,
Of owning their life,
And every moment that forms it?

Unless ofcourse,
We choose to give each their due,
In helping shape our lives,
In gratitude.

Yet,
I will never be one
To ever,
Take away that joy from another-
The Joy of Owning One's Own Life :)






SEGOA 18 April 2019

Truest deepest most heartfelt dream:
Autonomy.

Most valued:
Being held in regard, thus holding all other in regard.

Most feared:
Being trampled over, thus ensuring no trampling over anyone.

Most loved:
Being real.

Film connect

A Little Princess on Ram Navami and it has Ramayana elements in it... 14-04-2019

The Hunchback of Notre Dame a few hours before the Cathedral is in news for a fire and the film shows it surrounded by fire... 15-04-2019

Stand by You

I will not patronise you
Nor will I ever feel sorry for you
There really is no need

If there is anything I shall do
It is to stand quietly by your side
When the world steps aside

And when the world steps back in, cheering you on
Expect me not to stay put
Because there will always be others it leaves behind

In this flux of attention and ignorance
I will stay on holding this space
For you to grow beyond all fallacies

Meet me there if you will
For there is where
I shall ever remain

Just Stop

Why do you tear yourself apart,
To hold others together?!

Don't you see?

That when you are torn,
The world is torn;
And when the world is torn,
You are further torn?!

Stop this foolishness, I say
Stop this foolishness...

Reclaim your right to be whole,
Your right to call out every asshole;
And your right to say what is,
Without the burden of carrying its blame.

Wake up, I say
Wake up...

Lest you may find yourself left wondering,
Why the world never heals-
Why it remains torn in shreds.

While you fail to ever see,
How you bleed-
When you tear yourself to shreds.

Just stop, I say
Just stop...

Shifts of Learning



Dear One,

I am back again at square zero.

After having completed a cycle of four years,
And having come across to the other side,
An understanding has arisen:

That hey!
I have ended up mastering a weakness from my previous cycle after all!

This realisation came about thanks to the finale yesterday,
Which had many expressing in affirmation what I am only beginning to accept.

I am saving the following words of testimony received this morning here,
For looking back upon,
When perhaps,
I may have completed a next cycle :)


"Hi Reema

Good morning

SD here

A's mother

I really appreciate your hard work! :)

I'm very impressed by your communication skills

I could see (sic) as a leader somewhere someday

:)

More power to you!"
 

These words stand crucial for more reasons than one.
As if inspired by the Universe.

Let me also tell you,
That my communication with parents of my lovely students,
Has always been limited to the professional sphere.
And here,
She has gone out of her way to write these precious words on a personal note.
Thank you (*)

Universe all the way~

To give you a better insight into what I am arriving at,
Communication is precisely the skill that I had found myself lacking in thoroughly, in my previous cycle of work
And when I read these words as they came upon completion of my current cycle;
Alongwith the next set of words that follow,
I cannot help but wonder:
Didn't I think of leadership as my weakness in this cycle?   
Wasn't this also the reason that had me decide to close this cycle?
Because I didn't find myself up for taking on the new role of leadership that I was naturally expected to play?

I wonder...

So yes,
I look forward in curiosity,
To discover what's in store for me ahead~
Clues are being shared in plenty,
From different directions-
And they are working to prepare me for the next adventure :D

All I want to say is,

Thank you (*)

And

BRING IT ON!!!








The Unseen

'What's been making you so angry
My army of trees and I will come and beat them up'

Could it have been anyone other than le trusty friend, who could've instantly made ze feel better with such magical words as these? NO. Abso-remote-ly not!

I realise also,
How much I have truly missed her and the absolutely fantastical world she has the natural ability to weave into daily moments of living..

And I realise also,
How I have ended up being surrounded by beings that lack imagination (or the mere expression of it) although they may have sharp minds and maybe a little heart.

I don't mean to judge,
But I never thought it would impact me as much;
Until I realise,
How I have been feeling shitty most of the time
Because if I am about anything at all,
It is the unseen.


In essence

What do you see when you greet an individual?

Is it their appearance?
Is it their profession?
Is it their money?
Is it their hard earned labels?
Is it their circle of people?

Or.

Is it their heart?
Is it their work?
Is it their effort?
Is it their hard earned integrity?
Is it their passion?

A tiny bit different on either sides of the Or.
A tiny difference of a matter of measure.
On one hand, something tangible and largely defined, manufactured, heavily impressed upon our minds through rampant publicising and thus after all assumed and accepted;
On the other hand, something intangible and difficult to define or manufacture or even publicise because what could you make out of it in its diversity and unseen presence and thus after all overlooked and avoided?

Yet.
Deep down we know.
And we yearn.
With a little bit of courage each time,
We may overcome the deluge of should-bes and effortlessly see what naturally is,
And what matters
In essence.