Keep at It
"It is not wanting to win that makes you a winner; it is refusing to fail."
- Unknown
- Unknown
Let there be trees around,
Mighty, Dense, Shady.
Don't you dare beg for shade,
Not even a leaf's worth of it,
No, Never.
And continue treading your path,
The path of honesty,
The path of truth,
The path of fire.
Thou shall not tire,
Thou shall not halt,
Thou shall not regress,
Swear on thyself, O Warrior!
Swear that you will tread your path,
The path of fire.
There is none so colossal a spectacle
As, of the man treading his path,
Soaked in a sublime rain,
Of tears, sweat and blood.
And yet trudging,
Treading his path,
of truth, of honesty,
The path, of fire.
This is the translation, or to put it more aptly, my interpretation of Agneepath by Harivansh Rai Bachchan.
The original, written in Hindi in the Devanagari script reads as follows:
अग्निपथ
हों घने, हों बड़े,
एक पत्र छाँह भी
मांग मत! मांग मत! मांग मत!
अग्निपथ! अग्निपथ! अग्निपथ!
तू न थकेगा कभी,
तू न थमेगा कभी,
तू न मुड़ेगा कभी,
कर शपथ! कर शपथ! कर शपथ!
अग्निपथ! अग्निपथ! अग्निपथ!
यह महान दृश्य है,
चल रहा मनुष्य है,
अश्रु, स्वेद, रक्त से
लथ-पथ, लथ-पथ, लथ-पथ,
अग्निपथ! अग्निपथ! अग्निपथ!
English transliteration:
Agneepath!
Hon ghane, hoh bade,
Ek patra chhah bhi
Maang mat! Maang mat! Maang mat!
Agneepath! Agneepath! Agneepath!
Tu na thakega kabhi,
Tu na thamega kabhi,
Tu na mudega kabhi,
Kar shapath! Kar shapath! Kar shapath!
Agneepath! Agneepath! Agneepath!
Yeh mahaan drishya hai,
Chal raha manushya hai
Ashru, swed, rakt se
Lath-path, lath-path, lath-path,
Agneepath! Agneepath! Agneepath!
Listening to: Don't Stop Believin', Glee Cast
Dedicated to: All wannabe poets, who ended up translating the greats.
Images Courtesy: This one is from my camera!
P.S.: This is my second class assignment for XENX041 Creative Writing in English. And the assignment is - Translate a poem from your mother tongue into English. Also write in English a summary of the poem and answer these questions: What message does the poem convey? What emotions does it engender? What mental images does it create (including sound, smell, taste, touch, sight)?
A momentary lapse INTO reason
All our reasoning ends in surrender to feeling.
- Blaise Pascal
As it slides across the frame each morning,
While I am still asleep, snoaring
It sure does get my thoughts bowling,
as I toss around in the bed moaning,
swearing at, what, of late, has become,
My window to the world.
Fowls have got food to gather
Yet another day for mutts to fight the weather
cabbies readying to tain their patrons
The teacher readying to play the matron
The milkman, the guard, even the garbage guy
are kings when balancing the lemon on their spoon.
Why me, just me, did you single out O stupid fireball,
to burn through on thy wheel of fortune?
Ain't there a code of misconduct you ought to say?
Ain't there a game to play afore your prey?
Is that how plain you get to decide my destiny?
Shouldn't your ways be the cause for my mutiny?
Questions fly around in disarray - questions absurd,
as I finaly sit up and look out to the horizon,
far and out, through my, window to the world...
Listening to: Let's Make a Night, Bryan Adams, The Best Of Me
Dedicated to: Sitting in my room today, I just realised this huge sliding french window is something I have never really noticed, although I've been rotting in here for like five months now. The post by the way, is dedicated to Jaadoo, someone who loved sliding windows... :P
_
The Mama's Boy...
To tell you the truth;
because when I'm confiding in you,
I can't really lie...
I've always loved you so much,
and yet, without acting coy,
I must say, I've never been a mama's boy.
You always had my tracks laid out,
and yet, the deviations were allowed.
So was it a fear of loosing faith?
Or a skeptical attitude to the bait?
The reason, I barely know,
But proudly and rarely did I venture off thy tracks.
The styler, the merchant, the chef;
or the counselor's queue,
Never really felt the need,
to look beyond you.
Crying together, sitting in your lap,
Yeah! it's been the best part...
of my thus far, life's map.
Some of the best moments that I think of,
bring you to my life's memory dorm...
Please tell me what else do I do,
to be a Mama's boy?
Please tell na! Oh dear Mom.
because when I'm confiding in you,
I can't really lie...
I've always loved you so much,
and yet, without acting coy,
I must say, I've never been a mama's boy.
You always had my tracks laid out,
and yet, the deviations were allowed.
So was it a fear of loosing faith?
Or a skeptical attitude to the bait?
The reason, I barely know,
But proudly and rarely did I venture off thy tracks.
The styler, the merchant, the chef;
or the counselor's queue,
Never really felt the need,
to look beyond you.
Crying together, sitting in your lap,
Yeah! it's been the best part...
of my thus far, life's map.
Some of the best moments that I think of,
bring you to my life's memory dorm...
Please tell me what else do I do,
to be a Mama's boy?
Please tell na! Oh dear Mom.
Mothers are the best gifts God gives us on our first birthday. Treasure them and their love while you can... To all your mothers and mine - A Very Happy Mother's Day! :)
Listening to: Mumma, Dasvidaniya, Kailash Kher...
Dedicated to: My Mom... (and desperately hoping that she reads this sooner than later.)
Dedicated to: My Mom... (and desperately hoping that she reads this sooner than later.)
_
My Locus... Redefined
On a foggy winter's morning,
as I sat down to ruminate.
I saw flashes of days gone by,
and the morrow they could procreate.
"Not a derelict,
that's not what I want to be."
And I prayed with folded hands;
To the heavens above, and forces that be,
and the Guardian of the lands.
Out of the vacuous eternity - sedate,
I espied a virgin streak illuminate.
My prayers, the divinity answered to;
and the scouting stars recombined.
Untrodden paths they made me follow;
and I had, My locus, redefined.
Listening to: Mama I'm Coming Home, Ozzy Osbourne
Dedicated to: All people who are busy finding their way around the ways of this world.
P.S. : I wrote this as submission for my college literary committee's contest seeking 'justifications' for this year's annual fest, the theme being - Locus Redefined. I haven't heard from them ever since... so thought I'd post it here and let my readers tell me how has it come out. I've written formal poetry after ages... For now, I'm off for a week long (or longer is it?) vacation. cya people around... Happy Holi! Have fun! tada...
as I sat down to ruminate.
I saw flashes of days gone by,
and the morrow they could procreate.
"Not a derelict,
that's not what I want to be."
And I prayed with folded hands;
To the heavens above, and forces that be,
and the Guardian of the lands.
Out of the vacuous eternity - sedate,
I espied a virgin streak illuminate.
My prayers, the divinity answered to;
and the scouting stars recombined.
Untrodden paths they made me follow;
and I had, My locus, redefined.
Listening to: Mama I'm Coming Home, Ozzy Osbourne
Dedicated to: All people who are busy finding their way around the ways of this world.
P.S. : I wrote this as submission for my college literary committee's contest seeking 'justifications' for this year's annual fest, the theme being - Locus Redefined. I haven't heard from them ever since... so thought I'd post it here and let my readers tell me how has it come out. I've written formal poetry after ages... For now, I'm off for a week long (or longer is it?) vacation. cya people around... Happy Holi! Have fun! tada...
and as you might be wondering, so am I... how in the world didi I forget to hit the publish button before leaving? anyways... I guess all of you won't mind belated holi greetings ;)
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