Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Back to you

I've been working and working
I've forgotten all about you
I've been busy with other issues
But I wished upon those stars
To take me to you
and now, my wish has been granted
I'm gonna come back to you
and that day is coming soon
I'm coming back to you

Last time around, I might have messed things
I might have let you down
But now, I am mature and confident
Please pardon me for those stupid
and foolish juvenile days
I'm coming back to you with all seriousness
Open your door and take me on your lap
Here I am, please take me back
and make my dreams come true
I'm coming back to you

I know coming back to you involves
forgetting costly eateries
forgetting long phone calls
forgetting frequent outstation visits
and a lot others
but you got to know
I dont care a damn for all these
coz I cant stop this thing that we started
All i want is you and nothing else but you
and so, please.. please take me back
I'm coming back to you

The last time we met
that was amongst the best times in my life
Those were indeed the best days of my life
and I long for those to come again
Though times do change
and situations change and
good times dont last forever
I still believe it is still possible
to recreate the magic
I'm gonna try and to do that
I'm coming back to you

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Beautiful Thirumandiram

Thirumandiram, which literally translates to 'The Sacred Mantra', is the magnum opus of Thirumoolar, a saint and mystic who lived in Tamil Nadu in India sometime between the 4th and 6th century A.D. Thirumandiram is a series of highly metaphorical quadruplet verses (3047 in all) which talk about life, philosophy, yoga, tantras etc.. I've been reading this for some time and I just cant seem to get enough of these. More info can be found here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirumoolar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirumandiram

Am giving a few extracts from Thirumandiram that I really love

Anbu sivam iranduenbar arivilaar
Anbe sivamavathu aarum arigilaar
Anbe sivamavathu aarum arinthapin
Anbe sivamai amarnthu irunthaare

To paraphrase the above, Love is God.

Marathai maraithathu maamatha yaanai
Marathin marainthathu mamatha yaanai
Parathai maraithathu paarmuthal bootham
Parathai marainthathu paarmuthal boothame

Advaita vedanta has been so beautifully elucidated here. A child will call it an elephant but you and I will call it a wooden toy. If you see the elephant, you will not see the wood. If you see the wood, you will not see the elephant. Similarly, if you see the maayai that is this world, you will not see god. If you see god, you will not see the maayai that is this world.

Ondre kulamum oruvane thevanum
Nandre ninaimin namanillai naaname
Sendre pugumgathi illainum siththathu
Nindre nilaipera neerninainthui mine
Says Thirumoolar, there is but one religion and there is but one god. Surrender to him.

Nadunin raarku andri gyaanamum illai
Nadunin raarku naragamum illai
Nadunin raarnalla thevarum aavar
Nadunin raarvazhi naanumnin rene
The glory of taking the middle path is being extolled here. He says, that only the person who sticks to the middle path is the one with the most wisdom.

Kalla arasanum kaalanum neroppar
Kalla arasanir kaalan miganallvan
Kalla arasan
aram oran kollenpaan
Nallaraik kaalan nanuganil lane
Here, Thirumoolar gives us a possible reason as to why the world is in a sad state today. He says, an uneducated ruler is worse than a bandit.

Adimudi kaanbar ayanmaal iruvar
Padikan dilarmeendum paarmisaik koodi
Adikan dilen endru achchuthan solla
Mudikanden endru ayan poimozhin thane
This excerpt is extremely metaphorical and I am yet to figure out the actual meaning. This is the base of a famous story that is often told to young kids in India (atleast in the part of India where I live). Most people would be aware of the story but not its roots. The story goes like this.
One day Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu had a fight to determine who is the better of the two. They couldnt decide who is the better and hence decided to get Lord Siva to judge. Lord Siva gave them a test and said whoever wins is the better. Lord Siva would increase his size into huge proportions and Lord Brahma has to find Lord Sivas head and Lord Vishnu has to find Lord Sivas feet. The first person to return after reaching their respective destinations is the winner. Once Lord Siva assumed the huge form, the two warring lords went in search of their respective destinations. After sometime, Lord Vishnu gave up after realizing the futility of ego and arrogance. But Lord Brahma continued to search. As he was searching he found a flower that had fallen from Lord Sivas head. So he decide to lie that he had found Lord Sivas head and decide to produce this flower as proof. When he showed this to Lord Siva, Lord Siva called his bluff, punished him for lying and explained to him the futility of ego and arrogance.

This is a good story if one wants to teach to children that arragance and ego or not good things to have. Or at the minimum, if we want to tell people that if you lie you need to cover your ass. Apparently Lord Siva told Lord Brahma that to take the flower from my head you have to cross my forehead whereupon I would have seen you. But then, as is the case with most mythology in India, the actual intended meaning is lost.

Paarpaan agathile paarpasu ainthundu
Meipaarum indri verithu thirivana
Meipaarum undai veriyum adanginaal
Paarpaan pasuainthum paalai soriyume
This is again a pretty metaphorical verse. Literally it translates to..
In the Brahmins house, there are five cows
They stray around without anyone to herd them
If they get a cowherd and if they are controlled
The cows will yield a lot of milk.

When we look into the metaphor, you can derive any meaning you want to. I believe that this verse has the following nice meaning...
Man has five senses
They stray around easily without control
If you try and control their activities
They will yield tremendous results

Thirumandiram is verily a treasure trove of knowledge. The more you dig into it the more you learn. You can download thirumandiram in Tamil from
http://www.tamilnation.org/sathyam/east/thirumurai/thirumanthiram/introduction.htm
Literal english Translation can be obtained from
http://www.himalayanacademy.com/resources/books/tirumantiram/TableOfContents.html

Monday, August 07, 2006

Come on Come on

Come on Israel come on, Come on Hizb come on,
Fill the earth with the stench of blood,
Who the fuck cares for the smell of roses,
Let the air vibrate with the wail of bereaved parents and orphaned children,
Who the hell cares for music and a childs babbles,
Let the fighting continue till the other person is wiped out from history,
For we are going to live forever, We are gonna outlive the sun
Come on Israel come on, Come on Hizb come on

Come on LTTE come on, Come on SriLanka come on,
Screw the bastards who talk about peace,
Its the language of cowards and impotents,
Display your heroism by drenching the land in blood,
Trees need them to grow, humans have to drink it to survive,
Kill the guy who says a child needs education,
Children need to learn to handle a rifle for salvation,
Come on LTTE come on, Come on SriLanka come on

Come on India come on, Come on Pakistan come on,
Ownership of a piece of land is a billion times more important,
than the lives of those who live there,
Capture thy opponent, gauge their eyes out, chop their limbs, castrate them,
for their gods are different and you need to proove your god is better,
Destruction of a dilapidated old building and construction of a new building there
are more important than the construction of the lives of people,
for Gods dont live in our hearts, they live in buildings,
Come on India come on, Come on Pakistan come on