another post after a long long time, the delay is attributed to my own laziness. i'm working on my masters and phd applications and an article on the financial crisis being a boon for india. don't really know if i want to do a phd but i guess anything which helps me help others and thus help myself... charity helps no one but the giver, for whom, winning becomes richer on losing a part of what he long struggles to win.

“the Light was lost, a gleam remains,
In every inch of his being, the sight remains.
Brain is lost, the Intellect remains,
The manifestation of an Intense life-force still remains.

With your soul unscathed by the agony of Truth,
It merely reminds you of the work to be done,
of the life-force to be exalted by fasting and thinking,
And thus the desire to live still remains.

But It still sees you, constantly reminds you,
Through its dark and glary penetrating eyes,
An attempt to change you through its power and beauty still remains."

Vaishnava Jan To...

I've heard this hymn since childhood but but never quite got its meaning. Hope you like the meaning as much as I do. Let me know if you'd want the mp3 version of this.
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Vaishanav: A follower of Vaishnav school of Hinduism. Strict vegetarianism, ahimsa and simplicity are the hallmarks of a true vaishnav. The Bhajan is in essence a "definition" of "vaishnav" :-

Vaishnav jan to tene kahiye je [One who is a vaishnav]
Peed paraayi jaane re [Knows the pain of others]
Par-dukhkhe upkaar kare toye [Does good to others, esp. to those ones who are in misery]
Man abhimaan na aaNe re [Does not let pride enter his mind]
Vaishnav...

SakaL lok maan sahune vande [A Vaishnav, Tolerates and praises the the entire world]
Nindaa na kare keni re [Does not say bad things about anyone]
Vaach kaachh man nishchaL raakhe [Keeps his/her words, actions and thoughts pure]
Dhan-dhan janani teni re [O Vaishnav, your mother is blessed (dhanya-dhanya)]
Vaishnav...

Sam-drishti ne trishna tyaagi [Sees everything equally, rejects greed and avarice]
Par-stree jene maat re [Considers some one else's wife/daughter as his mother]
Jivha thaki asatya na bole [The toungue may get tired, but will never speak lies]
Par-dhan nav jhaalee haath re [Does not even touch someone else's property]
Vaishnav...

Moh-maaya vyaape nahi jene [A Vaishnav does not succumb to worldly attachments]
Dridh vairaagya jena man maan re [Who has staunch detachment to worldly pleasures]
Ram naam shoon taali laagi [Who has been edicted to the elixir coming by the name of Ram]
Sakal tirath tena tan maan re [For whom all the religious sites are in the mind]
Vaishnav...

Van-lobhi ne kapat-rahit chhe [Who has no greed and deciet]
Kaam-krodh nivaarya re [Who has renounced lust of all types and anger]
Bhane Narsaiyyo tenun darshan karta [The poet Narsi will like to see such a person]
Kul ekoter taarya re [By who's virtue, the entire family gets salvation]
Vaishnav...

Nachiketa
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(All thanks to: http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/all94/0016.html)

Jannat-e-armaan

pyaar kar duniya ko bhulane ke khwaab liye,
nikla ttha main tanha raahon mein dil ke kucch fasaane liye,
magruur khuda ne tthokron se sawara,
phir bhi phir raha hun jannat-e-armaan liye.

Dedicated to William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

As moved by his thoughts in Grade 4 when I read "Lines written in Early spring," as I was in undergraduate studies when I read the "Preface to Lyrical Ballads," this post graces my blog as a remembrance to Wordsworth's thoughts and verses close to my mind and soul...
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LINES WRITTEN IN EARLY SPRING

          I HEARD a thousand blended notes,
        While in a grove I sate reclined,
        In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts
        Bring sad thoughts to the mind.

        To her fair works did Nature link
        The human soul that through me ran;
        And much it grieved my heart to think
        What man has made of man.

        Through primrose tufts, in that green bower,
        The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;                         10
        And 'tis my faith that every flower
        Enjoys the air it breathes.

        The birds around me hopped and played,
        Their thoughts I cannot measure:--
        But the least motion which they made
        It seemed a thrill of pleasure.

        The budding twigs spread out their fan,
        To catch the breezy air;
        And I must think, do all I can,
        That there was pleasure there.                              20

        If this belief from heaven be sent,
        If such be Nature's holy plan,
        Have I not reason to lament
        What man has made of man?
                                                            1798.
Taken from: http://www.bartleby.com/145/ww130.html
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EXCERPTS FROM THE PREFACE TO "LYRICAL BALLADS":

For the human mind is capable of being excited without the application 
of gross and violent stimulants; and he must have a very faint 
perception of its beauty and dignity who does not know this, and who 
does not further know, that one being is elevated above another, in 
proportion as he possesses this capability. It has therefore appeared to
 me, that to endeavour to produce or enlarge this capability is one of 
the best services in which, at any period, a Writer can be engaged; but 
this service, excellent at all times, is especially so at the present 
day. For a multitude of causes, unknown to former times, are now acting 
with a combined force to blunt the discriminating powers of the mind, 
and, unfitting it for all voluntary exertion, to reduce it to a state of
 almost savage torpor. The most effective of these causes are the great 
national events which are daily taking place, and the increasing 
accumulation of men in cities, where the uniformity of their occupations
 produces a craving for extraordinary incident, which the rapid 
communication of intelligence hourly gratifies. to this tendency of life
 and manners the literature and theatrical exhibitions of the country 
have conformed themselves.

• In spite of difference of soil and climate, of language and manners, of laws and customs—in spite of things silently gone out of mind, and things violently destroyed, the Poet binds together by passion and knowledge the vast empire of human society, as it is spread over the whole earth, and over all times.

• What is a Poet?...He is a man speaking to men: a man, it is true, endowed with more lively sensibility, more enthusiasm and tenderness, who has a greater knowledge of human nature, and a more comprehensive soul, than are supposed to be common among mankind; a man pleased with his own passions and volitions, and who rejoices more than other men in the spirit of life that is in him; delighting to contemplate similar volitions and passions as manifested in the goings-on of the Universe, and habitually impelled to create them where he does not find them.
  • Preface

• I have said that poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.
  • Preface

• — A simple child,
  That lightly draws its breath,
  And feels its life in every limb,
  What should it know of death?
  • We Are Seven, st. 1 (1798)

Source: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Wordsworth

My first poem in punjabi!

Aundi hai yaad udi, jadon saan vi main lainda haan,

yaad karke chotiyan chotiyan gallan,

jivein uda be matlab da khid khid hasna.

ja ve o dil pagleya,

kyun hai chakraanch ude painda,

baar baar tut ke vi kyun tu,

pyaar da khaida ni chad da?

eyio sochange hun ke sigi vi ni gall koi,

idaan hi main dil nu la leya

jhameleyan'ch ude pai gaya main vi,

te hun niklan da ji vi ni karda.

bas rabba, tera naa laike hi assan hun jeelange,

dard di ik hor ghut sai jedi appan has has peelange.

timepass..!

gareebon ka dard samajhne ke liye,
ghayal ko dava pilane ke liye,
Bsc Msc ki nahi, ik chhote se dil ki zarurat hai,
sabse haseen khushi ke liye,
paise rutbe ya daaru ki nahi,
ab bas ik hamsafar ki zarurat hai!
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dekhun us noor ko bas ek baar main,
chahe na baat kare na pyaar,
wo bhool jaye chahe naam bhi hamara,
bas ye deewangi, ye pagalpan yaad rakhe.

"I can think, I can wait, I can fast" - from "Siddhartha" by Herman Hesse

Some words form the book Siddhartha by Herman Hesse:

When you throw a rock into the water, it will speed on the fastest course to the bottom of the water. This is how it is when Siddhartha has a goal, a resolution. Siddhartha does nothing, he waits, he thinks, he fasts, but he passes through the things of the world like a rock through water, without doing anything, without stirring; he is drawn, he lets himself fall. His goal attracts him, because he doesn't let anything enter his soul which might oppose the goal. This is what Siddhartha has learned among the Samanas. This is what fools call magic and of which they think it would be effected by means of the daemons. Nothing is effected by daemons, there are no daemons. Everyone can perform magic, everyone can reach his goals, if he is able to think, if he is able to wait, if he is able to fast.
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Read it online at: http://www.online-literature.com/hesse/siddhartha/

some busy with arguments, some in money making;
some leasurely satisfying greed, others elated in pride.

some busy with sadness, others happy with a momentary smile.
everyone busy with everything, but none in touch with One behind all.

what shall i do? nothing to rely upon, nothing to live for, nothing to die for...
filling the universe is my thought and yet not a minsicule of knowledge valuable to this world.

no goal, no ambition, no love, no lover, partial to none, one to all,
no way, no logic, mere lovingness, mere simplcity, mere emptiness and in it completeness.

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Quotes...

Some quotes i've always loved...

“Those who drink get drunk;
Those who are drunk go off to sleep;
Those who are asleep do not sin;
Those who do not sin go to heaven;
Therefore those who drink go to heaven;
So let us all drink and go to heaven.” - Anonymous

"I have had an experience far greater than all the impulses i normally obeyed. i didn't water it and so it vanished. That was it. that was all anyone could want, need, desire, anytime, anywhere, at anyplace. It was where my purpose, my goal, my spirit lied. But slowly it vanished; in the depths of time, in the darkness of doing, in the complexities of being...." - Meetings with remarkable men.

- “The human mind is capable of excitement without the application of gross and violent stimulants; and he must have a very faint perception of its beauty and dignity who does not know this.” – William Wordsworth

-"When stark economic contrast between the slums and the rich is visible to naked eye; when the advancement in science shatters strongly held religious beliefs; when mental agony of questions about death scorches the mind; or when “success” is realized to be yet another dream; then the mind turns inwards. But when an inward search for the Truth results in utter confusion and fear of the physical world, the answer comes, “Stand as a rock; you are indestructible. You are the Self, the God of the universe.” Swami Vivekananda.

- "As we look deeply within, we understand our perfect balance. There is no fear of the cycle of birth, life and death. For when you stand in the present moment, you are timeless." Rodney Yee

“Today’s education researches the past to develop the future. It fails to rejoice in the Present, failing to uplift the Spirit and the Soul, making life a drudgery than an instance of Enlightenment.” - Myself!

Across the Universe...

Wrote this after being inspired by the Beatles' "Across the Universe"... maybe not half as good but watever.... :P..
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In galaxies of love and stars of peace,
I travel far away in thoughts and musings which come to life as i breathe...

On waves of beauty, in droplets of life,
I roam around in a sea of happiness, thriving in the waters of life and strife.

Accomplishments and failures, all make me one,
bringing me closer to myself, to the energy that engulfs me.

Pyar Zindagi Se...

un gulabi gaalon par jab lipti zulfein,
hava si udti, khilti hui mehakti wo zulfein.

un zulfon mein kabhi kho jaane do,
mauhtaaj unka meri zindagi ko hojane do.

mazhabi sarhadon ne kab jeene diya insaanon ko,
kyun zinda karti ho beete hue zamanon ko?

hai agar bharosa to mujhe paas aajane do,
ik dost ki tarah apne saath zindagi bitane do.

pyar surat se nahi, seerat se kiya hai maine,
tumhare mazhab se nahi, niyat se kiya hai maine.

un adayon mein jhalakta wo bholapan,
aankhon ka bachpana, baaton ka wo taazapan.

tumhe dekhkar sirf tumse hi nahi,
pyar ab zindagi se bhi kiya hai maine.

Dard bhari zulfein!

Un gulabi gaaalon par lipti zulfein, hava si udti, mehakti, bilakhti zulfein;
un zulfon ki kahani main bayan karta hun,
dard bhare ik pagal shayar ki ruhani biyaan karta hun.

Ik baar vo baitthe tthe aankhon mein udaasi bhare,
ud rahi tthi zulfein gaalon ko chooti hui.
kar rahe tthe intezaar shayd kisi ka,
dil kya, ruh tak mein tthi pareshani si dubi hui.
chaunk gayi phir vo hamari ahat se,
chupane lag gaye koi gam apni ghayal muskaraht se.

byan na hua raaze dil, utari na baat zuban par;
chippa si li apni tanhai, unhone hamari muskarahat ke liye.
hamko ttha malum ke alam hai khushi ka bikhra hua sa,
zulfein bikhri hui, duppata ansuon se bheega hua.
ajeeb ttha wo lamha, ttha kain sadiyon se jaise bhara hua.

phir ik dam se bilakh pade wo hamari baahon mein,
aur nikaali bhadas dil se,"Bhai samajhkar aaj tumhein sab batati hun,
apni tuti hue dil ka kisse tumhein sunati hun"!!

Sochte hain ham aaj bhi is pal bhi ke,
kyun dil ke armaan aansuo mein beh gaye,
kyun aashiq se bhaiya ham banke reh gaye?

When I was "superconscious"!?

This is something I wrote after a couple of drinks with some friends... A bit pessimistic but I hope there's an underlying humour to it as well...

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"Madhosh ho jane ke liye, duniya ko bhul jane ke liye, bas ik gilaas hi kaafi hai;
na pyaar na bhagvan, na daulat na shauhrat, jannat mein dub jane ke liye 6 pound ki sharab hi kaafi hai!"
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On development and all..

" Zaalim ye duniya kal bhi thi, zaalim aaj bhi hai;
“development” pe “development” fir bhi,
ignorance se bhari duniya kal bhi thi, ignorant aaj bhi hai.

Janwaron ke maafik bhatakte insaan, dusron ko raah dikhate kal bhi the aaj bhi hain.
To tera kya banega kaaliya, kab samjhega maut, khuda, ya sirf apne aap hi ko?
Roti, kapda, makaan aur ab car tak limited teri thinking kal bhi tthi aur aaj bhi hai!"

Har us cheez mein....

This would be my first post in poetic form..

"Har us cheez mein khuda nazar aata hai, jo paak hai, jo sacchi hai.
Jiski sirat khubsurat ho, jiski dhun ruhani ho.
Koi dil ko sacchi lagne wali ghazal ho, ya ibadat ki pukar ho.
Chahe to khuda ke rup mein us ek bande ka pyar hi ho,
meri nazar se dekho, har cheez mein khuda hi khuda nazar aata hai."

I am a Sincere Man...

From the movie "The Lost City," these are some more evergreen words by Jose Marti I've always loved and would like sharing with you... Hope you like it..

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"I am a sincere man from where the palm trees grow;
and before death takes me I want to let the poems soar from my soul.
I come from everywhere and everywhere I go;
Art I am among the arts, among the monutans, mountain I am.
All is beautiful and loyal, all is musical and right;
and all like the diamond, is charcoal before being light.

With the poor of the world I want to cast my fate;
A little brook in the mountain pleases me more than the sea.
I want whenever I die, stateless but with no master;
to have on my tombstone, a bouquet of flowers and my country's flag.

I cultivate a white rose in july as in january,
for the sincere friend who offer me his honest hand;
and for the cruel one who rips from me, my heart by which I live,
I cultivate neither thorns nor thistels, I cultivate a white rose.

My beautiful cuba I will always remember you,
I would like to see u now, as when I first saw you.
My beaituful cuba, I'll always rememeber you. "

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Dil yehi bola mera...

"Dil yahi bola mera, dil yahi bola yara,
raaz ye usne ne hai, mujhpar khola ke hai,
ishq muhabbat jiske dil mein, usko pasand karta hai maula mera!"
This being my first post after a long hiatus, I believe that these closing lines from the song "Maula mere" (Movie: Anwar) would suffice to be what I want to say, live, think and act..

The blog would end the moment and the day I am able to pen down such simple and calming words.