Disconnected thoughts.....

Originally written, by me, on 3/9/2009

I wonder how many of you have a liking for English Poetry... many years ago I fell in love with English poetry, one of the reasons being my school teacher. Joycelin James imbued in me a lasting love for English... if I could meet him today, I would pay my deep respects to him. I read - a lot. Pulp fiction, novels, non - fiction etc... and, sometimes, when life looks too grey, classical or renaissance poetry. Words and works of Keats, Byron, Coleridge (he gives me goose pimples!), Shelley, Tennyson.. modern poets, Yeats, Eliot etc..

 

This is nonsense that I write, a large mug of beer in hand, simply because I've just spent a most memorable evening with myself.... I started off (as usual) on a tangent and am now connecting the stuff....

 

Among the most beautiful poems I've read is a John Keats' work "On First Reading Chapman's Homer"... where Keats describes his joy on getting to know a new experience.... I've had such a moment today, an epiphany!! Someone (Chandra, may I publicly thank you?) sent me a link to YouTube and a collection of old Hindi songs... my evening started at 7:20 with Manna Dey's glorious voice "Ae Mere Pyaare Watan" from "Kabuliwala"... the song, by itself, has always stirred my heart... what made the evening memorable was my "DISCOVERY" that YouTube offers a mammoth collection of music.... no more radio jockey nonsense, I had 90 minutes of listening to the music that moves my soul.......................

 

KJ Yesudas' Carnatic Classical, Pandit Jasraj, old Tamil songs from the 60's & 70's, Malayalam songs from the same era, Suresh Wadkar singing a NEPALI song (Wadkar is as melodious as always!).... what can I say? Lights switched off, a dark room lit just by the glow of my monitor, beer in hand, Balamuralikrishna rendering "Endaro Mahanubavulu"... no cell phone, no conversation.... I've just discovered heaven. And, so, like Keats on discovering Chapman's Homer,

 

 ............... like some watcher of the skies
 When a new planet swims into his ken;
 Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes
 He star'd at the Pacific — and all his men
 Look'd at each other with a wild surmise —
 Silent, upon a peak in Darien.................

 

I have discovered a new heaven and, like a delighted child, am keen to share this joy with you........

 

On a disconnected note, a thought that's been in my mind for a couple of days... the comfort of "familiarity". Ever wondered how we feel slightly uncomfortable in an unfamiliar surrounding? How certain things are "all right" simply because "that's the way it's always been"?

 

I pride myself on being gender "liberal" (whatever THAT means!) - women are, in fact, better than men in handling most situations. I've "overcome" my initial "outrage" (opps!!!) of women that smoke... have still been hung up on women who do not wear a "bindi". Somehow, an Indian lady (yes, LADY!) looks much better when she wears a bindi - yeah, that's a very personal statement, I know (welcome all the brickbats!)... perhaps, (I'm yet to analyse this fully) the feeling stems from seeing my mom grow "OLD" in January 1989... Suseela, ever beautiful, simply aged overnight when she stopped wearing the bindi after my Dad passed away.. I stil look at those photos of my mother, the strength and arrogance that simply vanished.....

 

Here's Wikipedia on "Bindi":  The area between the eyebrows (where the bindi is placed) is said to be the sixth chakra, ajna, the seat of "concealed wisdom". According to followers of Hinduism, this chakra is the exit point for kundalini energy. The bindi is said to retain energy and strengthen concentration. ^[4] It is also said to protect against demons or bad luck.

 

A small dot, a big smile on my face.

 

Sats