Dream Weaver

मुझको भी तरकीब सिखा कोई यार जुलाहे

अक्सर तुझको देखा है कि ताना बुनते

जब कोई तागा टूट गया या ख़तम हुआ

फिर से बांधके और सिरा कोई जोड़ के उसमें

आगे बुनने लगते हो

तेरे इस ताने में लेकिन, इक भी गाँठ गिरह बुन्तर की

देख नहीं सकता है कोई

मैंने तो एक बार बुना था एक ही रिश्ता

लेकिन उसकी सारी गिरहें साफ़ नज़र आती हैं मेरे यार जुलाहे

Here is the translation of the original poem by Poet and lyricist Gulzar done by Pawan. K. Varma , writer and diplomat.

Teach me too trick or two, my weaver friend!

I have often seen you work the wrap

when a thread snaps or ends

you tie it

to some other

and begin to weave again

but in your weave

no one can see the knot

I had woven a relationship only once

But all its knots are clearly visible, my weaver friend !

Translated by Pawan. K. Varma

Gulzar Saheb has been my favorite poet since long. He is one of the very few who can bring out human relationships and emotions.

There is something about all his poems which connects with the inner instantly.

My eyes were filled and yet there was a smile on my lips when I first read this poem by Gulzar Saheb. This is such an evocative poem that for days the words kept coming back to me making me restless from within. The poet addresses a ‘julaha’ (weaver) admiring the way he spins a yarn with not a knot surfacing on the beautiful cloth and compares it with his own failed attempt to weave the fabric of a relationship which was replete with knots.

I asked the same question many a times to myself.. why can’t we weave the fabric of our relationships like the weaver. why is it that when a heart string breaks the knot is so starkly visible that it mars the beauty of an entire relationship built with love and care?

The answer which I get from within is very simple. We do not weave with unconditional love. The whole fabric of our life is filled with expectations we do not let our soul flow into it like the weaver. Be it the master weaver herself who had so beautifully woven the nights and days laced them with brilliant sunsets and enchanting sunrises.The fabric of life in the universe , in nature is so marvelously woven together with hardly a knot seen anywhere. I know She is a woman.

Selflessness is the key I guess.

We go into the intricacies, logic, explanations, we are never delicate, calm and loving in our approach when faced with a problem. We struggle, we fight with our inner and with the others and in that process tend to break the thread that binds us. Once broken we never give it the tenderness and attention it needs and make a shoddy affair of it.

May be that is the reason I selected my blog’s name as Spinning a yarn of life .. where I spin the words in to threads and weave my dreams, my hopes to make a fabric of life where the loose end merge in such a way that no knots are visible. It brings me closer to the master weaver and connects me with her.

I set my mind, heart and soul free to create yarns which color my world and may some others too. It is joy away from reality to bring the beauty of hurt, pain ,love, joy and every other emotion. To be one with the universe, with nature, with my own inner, to let the child in me meet the woman in me and merge beautifully.

I wanted to write a poem inspired by this one and here is my attempt. With due respect to my much admired and loved poet I have tried to weave the two poems together. Hope my attempt will be seen in the light of creativity and I shall be forgiven to use the poem without permission.

DREAM WEAVER

I am a tale weaver

I spin the words to make

colorful yarns

merging loose and broken ends

dissolving the knots

to create the cloth of dreams

and I owe it all to you

my weaver friend

who taught me the knack of

how to weave the rhythm of life

into tales of the soul

to write songs and verses

with the smoothness

of my silken thoughts

to bring color texture and feel

to my work just as hers

to infuse the joy and sorrow

laughter and tears

known and unknown

mysteries of life

to merge the nostalgia of youth

with the grace of old age

to combine , compare and define

what’s old and new

to blend haunting memories, broken dreams,

love’s promises, passions and desires

To see what no other eye can see

to create

lyrical images

magical yet meaningful patterns

and weave an exquisite garment called life

Because I am a Woman

“Being a woman is a terribly difficult task, since it consists principally in dealing with men.” Joseph Conrad

It s a gloomy day as far as the woman in me is concerned. Sometimes I feel how double faced and hypocrite we human can be. To think that the country which prides itself for women power and worships her in all its forms , has to witness cruelty , murder, and all sorts of atrocities on its women. The very being of womanhood is at stake and no one absolutely no one cares about it.

we have rallies, bills, law, woman’s lib activists, smartly dressed women shouting slogans and attending conferences, writing books and articles on woman’s rights and stealing the lime light for their outstanding contribution to the upliftment of women in India but the reality is far from it.

At the root of our society women are being killed, burned, raped, beaten and treated like dregs, with hardly anyone to listen to their cries.

I feel ashamed that while I sit and write about yet another “story” of such a woman, she , a 21year old , is battling for life. Her child dead in her womb. Another embryo which was taking shape of a girl child.

The girl I am talking about is my house help’s sister in law. A woman in her early 20z and a mother of a baby girl of 11 months.

Poverty and lack of resources and also the hassles of our twisted legal system leave no choice for the old helpless parents than to watch their daughter die slowly.

Since her marriage it is the second time the girl was subjected to attempt to murder by pouring kerosene on her. The first time too she was pregnant with a baby girl. At that time she managed to escape but due to social pressures, non supportive siblings and poverty of her parents, she returned to her husband and in laws.

Though the law does not allow gender determination and it is supposed to be a crime yet a large number of doctors make profits especially in rural India through this practice.

No one said anything and the matter was pushed under the carpet for various obvious reasons.

This time she could not escape the ” stove death “.
With 95% burns and a dead fetus inside her, the survival chances are nil and it is just a matter of time. Maybe as I write she may be breathing her last. The old dejected parents have no proof against her inhuman in laws as the girl is unconscious and may not be able to make a statement.

The little infant wails uncontrollably in the arms of some relative who tries in vain to console her.

Now everything depends on proof and if there is no proof, no evidence , no death statement by the victim, the murderers will go Scot Free.

There are no reliable numbers for similar cases in the rest of the country, but according to reports three women a day die as a result of stove death. In most cases the reports say that the victims attempted suicide or died as the result of an exploding stove.

The women are predominantly between the ages of 18 and 35 and around 30% are pregnant at the time of their deaths.

‘Either our country is home to “possessed stoves” which burn only young women, and are particularly fond of genitalia, or if we notice the frequency of these cases, there is a grim pattern that these women are victims of deliberate murder.

The “nari shakti” or woman as the incarnation of Goddess “shakti” which include the various incarnation of Durga including “BhadraKali” truly seems something out of mythology with nothing to do with the grim reality.

Unfortunately sometimes , as in this case except for the girl’s parents and some relatives no other family member has come forward to stand for her. They do not have ample money for the treatment and fight for justice for their only daughter.

Once again the case will be closed due to lack of proper evidence and life will go on as usual. Many more young brides will be set ablaze and the society will watch mutely the murderous proceedings. Shutting its eyes to the degradation of human values and life itself.

Ours is a cultured society, where women are killed even in womb just because their hearts dared to beat. Where laws formulated to safeguard woman’s interest seem insufficient to handle the situation.

It is a shame that in many cases women of the house are the ones who initiate the crime.. mainly the mother in law, and the husband who took seven rounds around the holy fire to protect the woman in life acts like a puppet in his mother’s hand.A mute spectator.

Sometime back I did a post on female infanticide and prayed that it will touch a chord somewhere in the hearts of people who are educated and have ample resources to take some action against these crimes against humanity and today again I hope that some blinkers will be removed and someone will rise and say,

I will be the change I want to see.

That’s Incredible India Shining for you.

Cast Away : a Memoir
Train journeys sometimes put across some basic questions in front of you. Questions about your worth as a human and the life you are leading. It gives you an insight into the layers and layers of society. Read one such experience I had.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1934954/cast_away_a_memoir.html

Poetry : Drama in the Sky
This is one of my two poems published in an anthology Called “posy of poesy”. A National Poetry Fest 2009 was organized by JKC College in Guntur, AP, India. More than 50 poets from all over the country participated in it.
Drama in the Sky

http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1911270/poetry_drama_in_the_sky_.html

Detritus: My Poem Selected 4Poetry Fest Anthology

Guntur in Andra Pradesh saw more than 100 poets on 2nd July at the “2nd National Poetry Festival”. The Hindu covered the fest extensively.

A combined effort of P. Gopichand and Nagasusheela the fest was a huge success.

Two of my poems along with two of my friend and fellow blogger Nabina Das featured in the anthology called “posy of poesy”. We will get the cpoy of the book soon.

It is a great moment for me to be part of such a fest. We were invited to recite at the fest but due to some reasons We could not make it..

Here is One of my poems .. my favorite.

Detritus

I watched her as she slept

Dejected isolated and dying

Her frail body barely covered by dirty rags

Devoid of dark mascara, fiery red mouth

Painted cheeks and kohl lined eyes

Her face resembled the pale wintry moon

The room was bare but for

Old cigarette butts & broken beer bottles

The air was laden with stilled hope

And stagnant stories of human lust

Pleasing hundreds of nocturnal panderers

Her nights were aflame with

Loud music, liquor, smoke & men

As a ten year old it had seemed

Like an unending circus

Now Twenty summers later

The circus has moved on

Leaving stumps of memories

& the ghost of my mother

-TIKULI

Here is the link to Nabina’s contribution , a beautiful poem called

‘Finding Formother’

Finding Formothers by Nabina Das

Image from the internet PAINTING BY CLOUDE MONET of his dying wife.

Link to my other poem for the Fest anthology Drama in the Sky

Down with Section377(IPC):Equality For ALL

A painting in oil by Pankaj Gupta .. A depiction of gay rights.. an emotional bond between two human beings. some day the black night will end and a dawn will break for them

Today, Thursday July 2nd, is a big day in the history of human rights in India. The much awaited verdict on the eight year old public interest litigation seeking discrimination of homosexuality would finally be delivered.

Will we finally have equal rights for all Indians irrespective of everything including their sexuality? Will the section 377 quit India finally?

Are we ready to accept that it is not just sexual needs but emotional bonding, love and caring which is a big part of any relationship between two individuals and that all these people also have a right for such bonding. There is a great need to understand that homosexuality is not just sex it is a bond between two souls. There is lot of pain, turmoil, sadness, confusion for all LGBT people due to lack of emotional understanding by the masses. A relationship is build, nurtured and then due to social unacceptability and pressure, it shatters. Their dreams, hopes, desires are of very much importance and sex is just a little part of the whole relationship. Not the only thing.

I hope India finally rises to accept the LGBT community, giving them their due.

It seems at times that govt. is doing a favor to them and it is amazing that a PIL had to be put for basic human rights. But so long as there is equality it does not matter how we get it.

Someone asked me a few days back,” you so openly support LGBT rights, what if one of your children was a gay or a lesbian?”

I said, “Well! It won’t make them less of a human, will it?

I had been reading blogs and articles on this issue and people seem to be OK with the acceptance and equal rights issues as long as it remains out of their personal life and family. What hypocrites!

I always say that it is high time we rose above caste, creed, gender and sexuality. A society which discriminates humans for their sexuality is not only sick and abnormal but also double faced for I know many who go to youtube, read magazines, visit chat rooms just to satisfy their curiosity and liking for all these things which they term, “Abnormal” and “Criminal” “ Immoral” and “unacceptable”.

It is appalling to see the attitudes of Indian people towards homosexuals/bisexuals. They’re not only subjected to really insensitive jokes/comments and open derision but also looked upon as aliens. They are ridiculed and laughed at and treated with indignity in most of the places. It is unfortunate that the moral police and the saffron brigade uses our religion for their own personal high believing that they are the sole judges of who has the right to do what.

From a young age children are stuffed with the notion that these people are to be avoided in all respects. And we call ourselves an educated modern Indian society.

What is immoral, abnormal and who are we to judge someone?

Is it not immoral to persecute people for whom they love and want to live with, just because the social prejudices?

Is homosexuality unnatural? ABSOLUTELY NOT.

Ancient India had always been very tolerant to all sexualities which is apparent in the same sex ( between women)sculptures of Khajuraho and some other temples. Ancient Indian texts like Rig-Veda, which dates back around 1500 BC, and sculptures depict sexual acts between women as revelations of a feminine world. The description of homosexual acts in the Kamasutra, the Harems of young boys kept by Muslim Nawabs and Hindu Aristocrats, male homosexuality in the Medieval Muslim history are some historical evidences of same-sex relationships.

The terms like lesbianism never existed in our ancient texts and it is the result of interpretations of the ancient ideologies by “European scholars” and western prudishness.

We always had lesbian relations in our society where woman spent a lifetime secluded from men and became closer. It is a underlines reality of the social structure where women were not allowed to mingle freely with men and considered inferior.

It saddens me that even with this glorious revival of sexual rights in many fields, the right to dignity, the right to education, profession or financial freedom, women still can not ask for their most fundamental right – the right to be sexual beings.

If they prefer to love another woman … well then they are doomed further. Lesbian rights are still a hushed affair and there are very few women activists who stand up and voice their thoughts, demand equality.

Lesbians are paralyzed with fear due to this male-dominated society where they face a double discrimination – first because of their sex and then because of their sexuality and hardly come out in open to fight for discrimination on the basis of sexual preference, which is a violation of basic human rights.

‘Women are not only prevented from expressing their sexuality, they are forced to go in the complete opposite direction in living and having sex with someone they really don’t want to,’ says Rex Watts, co-coordinator of the Bangalore-based support group Sangama.
Here too we see that gays have more open acceptance than the lesbians.

What kind of world are we living in?

Now something about our legal system,

Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) is India’s 150 year old notorious law criminalizing homosexuality. It was introduced by the British in the 19th century, and has since then been a hangover of our colonial past. India needs to shrug off its colonial mentality and come out of its all-prevalent homophobia.

This section declares, “Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.” breach of the rights to privacy, human dignity and the right to life.”

Now the questions which come to mind are

What would you call a law that

Equates consensual sex with pedophilia-rape?
Equates consensual sex with bestiality?
Prohibits consensual oral sex or anal sex?
Interferes with organizations working with preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS?
Is used to threaten members of our community?
Has been done away with in most of the western world?
Was introduced only in 1860 with no correlation in the Indian societal past?
Refers to sexual orientation?

(Questions quoted from another supporter during my research online)
It is sad that Indian LGTB community has become segregated from the main stream and has to fight for what is their birthright – Freedom to live.

Last Sunday as Delhi witnessed its second Gay parade, I wondered about how abnormal our mentality has become that we judge and condemn human on the grounds of their sexual preferences. The parade started from Barakhamba Road at 6.00pm and turned into a public meeting-cum-vigil at Jantar Mantar after an-hour-and-a-half. More than 2,000 people walked the streets with hundreds of others participated to show their solidarity for them.

It is high time our society woke up to recognize each individual on this earth as Human with equal rights to live.

Latest

The law has finally been scrapped but consensual sex between gays is right now legal in Delhi and now it is for us to make it work ..The change is not just needed in Legal system but also in our own mentality our mindset and behavior. I hope it soon spreads to whole country.

It is a long way ahead as far as tolerance of the society is concerned but really a brave first step.

BlogAdda spicy Saturday pick

Diffrent Strokes : An Artist’s World in Ink & Colors

Krishna and Radha in Ink

To become truly immortal, a work of art must escape all human limits: logic and common sense will only interfere. But once these barriers are broken, it will enter the realms of childhood visions and dreams.
Geogio de cherico

Micheal Angelo once said that the true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection. Some day back I came across a gifted artist from the city of Nawabs – Lucknow, India.

I want to introduce to my readers this magnificent artist and an excellent human being.. also a great friend.

Pankaj Gupta : the Artist par excellence

Pankaj Gupta is an acclaimed self learned freelance artist whose drawings and paintings won my heart the moment I saw them.He was born on 12th July. His father is a Doctor & was a Govt, Officer…Retired as Director General Of Medical & Health,Uttar Pradesh. He chose to paint his dreams in ink and colors and gave to us some of the most brilliant work of art.

It is rarely one sees such a gifted artist who can make figures on paper come alive by sheer genius of his talent. This is not just a promotional blog but an appreciation of all the love and feelings which has gone into his work of art.

We as writers, artists try to bring out the beauty of life through words, colors, music, dance and any such form and I as a creative person wanted to support and encourage this awesome artist.

Pankaj had his first show in the year Oct2004 in Lalit Kala
Academy,Lucknow,since than he has had almost 13 solo shows all over
India.

All his shows have been associated with a social cause, be it for Tsunami victims, Autistic kids, Girl Child, HIV, OR Global peace…

.City of Holy Sins”…is a series in which he tries to portray the pain & pathetic conditions of widows in Banaras. There are many other ink drawings and oil paintings which will win the heart of any art lover.

In Support of Social Cause

This makes his work stand out even more. For “Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.” ~ Henry Ward Beecher

He says, ” I feel that whatever we can see by our 3rd artistic eye, a non artistic person can not see or feel that..so it is our moral duty that we should try to paint or project those feelings in our work..& make this world a more beautiful place to live.”

Pankaj has had solo shows at State Lalit Kala Academy, Lucknow, Central Drug & Research Institute, State Lalit Kala Academy,Lucknow, Kashi Vidhyapeet , Varanasi, Birla Academy of Arts & Culture, Kolkotta, Baroda,Gujrat, and Lalit Kala Kendra (Regional Center),Lucknow.

and Group show at

Akhil Bhartiya Kala Mela” Allahabad.

He got rave reviews from the press at various times

Indian Express Lucknow 31st Jan 2005

A wave of sympathy………

Hindustan Times Lucknow 20th April 2006

Businessman and painter …………

The Pioneer Lucknow 14th October 2006

Pankaj paints girl child’s sorrow…………

Times of India Lucknow 20th October 2006

Strokes in support of the girl child………..

In support of girl child

The Statement Kolkotta 28th June 2007

a painting exhibition by Pankaj…………

Times Of India Lucknow 3rd Nov 2007

‘ Cause it was all about art………

All those who want to meet Pankaj or buy his labor of love can contact him at

Email Add: pankajnicky@gmail.com

Cell: 09935048045. Ph: 0522-2768196.

Those who are in Delhi can attend his solo exhibition

You are cordially invited for a painting exhibition of his works”epitome of love”@ press club of India,1 Raisina Marg,New Delhi..from 10th July to 20th July.

I wish him good luck for his future projects and hope that many of you who are interested in encouraging creative talent will appreciate this young man.

“Art is made of love, heart, creation and feelings; you go deep inside to find an artist of beautiful creation. A creation from an artist isn’t just a drawing, or a painting but a feeling or a thing that lives inside. Art is creation from people’s hearts. Art brings out personality and love. Art is the feeling of Joy.” ~ A.B. sixth grade student of Mr. Cipalla

Go realize your dreams and color the canvas of millions of hearts across the universe Pankaj ..we are with you .

Pranic Healing : an Introduction
Pranic Healing is an effective way of cleansing the body of dis-eases and I have immensely benefited from distant pranic healing. Here I share some secrets with all of you. Read and enjoy good health.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1891584/pranic_healing_an_introduction.html

Fashion and Nude Study
Some more sketches by my son…
http://www.associatedcontent.comslideshow/21528/fashion_and_nude_study_.html

Cartoon Sketches
Some of my favorites among many of the cartoon sketches made by my son.
http://www.associatedcontent.comslideshow/21480/cartoon_sketches_.html