Cuckoo’s Song by Bharati

This poignant piece appeared in the Hindus’ Sunday newsletter on 8^th September 2013. Thanking Indira Parthasarathy for bringing it to the masses. Cuckoo’s Song is the translation of Bharati’s Kuyil Pattu. It is an intriguing piece of story within a story and in a way shows us the ‘personal’ Bharati not known through our text books and as commonly taught in classrooms. These lines as provided in the article.

The cuckoo sings its love for the monkey

Oh! My divine Monkey-Lover!

Can any woman resist your love?

Man thinks he is the Lord Of the Earth!

Maybe he is for such mundane matters

As institutionalizing things!

But look! Your incomparable hairy chest

And gentle speech 

And your bewitching hunch

That adds a gait to your walk and stature

Of no less charm

Can man be equal to you?

True, he competes with you

Covers his body with umpteen clothes

To match your silken charm from head to foot

Apes his face and chin with hairy growth

In poor imitation calling it beard and moustache!

Leaps and jumps as you do

But he does in a drunken state,

But, yet, tell me

Where will he go for a God-given tail?

If the learned scholars are able to find a philosophical meaning for this poem let them tell me – So said Bharati. Thanking Indira Parthasarathy and The Hindu Sunday Magazine edition.   

Seamus Heaney's Pen

Found these lines by Seamus Heaney - a literary figure and poet in his obituary in TIME, September 16th 2013 edition

Between my finger and my thumb

The squat pen rests

Snug as a gun

Love story

Came across these words from Mark Kurlansky's book titled 'Salt: A world history'. Profound and hence wanted to share.

.....But while a love story is timeless, the story for a quest for wealth, given enough time, will always seem like a vain pursuit of a mirage.....

Content or Package

It would be a case for arguments and debates. And in case of trials wherein the goal or destination is the same, often debates arise due to which is important - Is it the Packaging or is it the Content? Safe to say it's both. But I may like to ask, why so?

Content perhaps is the 'Raison d'etre' of our existence. It defines who we are and in a way defines our thinking. And Package perhaps is equatable to the icing on the cake or the welcome mat at our doorstep or if I may extrapolate this to a lighthouse amidst high seas.

We have beneath the deepest mines or dirty waters of forgotten coasts the rarest of the rare diamonds. We can extend this analogy to the ocean pearls. All hidden from the view. The diggers and the divers continue to look beneath with a hope of getting that which is the Content. But then the question arises, are these examples of poor packaging? Can we state that the packaging in this analogy is useless? Park the thoughts now for a moment....

In my wanting to argue on behalf of Packaging, let us take another analogy of using the same examples as above. A raw, diamond, uncut and unpolished wouldn't have attracted our attention. The throngs who flock the stores. The lighthouse of the harbor with years of ocean salt fogs the light, eventually fails to serve the purpose. Wish it is cleaned. Cleanliness herein is Packaging. The diamond shop well lit with equally attractive sales personnel are inviting. My friends in Sales say shoes must shine. They say an unkempt shoe reflects unkempt merchandise. Attraction is Packaging.

On attending a conference on a technical subject, I was rather disappointed with the session. Because the speaker did not reflect the knowledge which the Content demanded. And then topics did not cover the subjects to provide due respect to the vastness of the content. So in a way depth of knowledge is Content. The vast library of references is Content. And true Content adapts. It inspires the listener. It anticipates the doubts, the stumbling blocks and in a way lets us overcome limitations.

In conclusion, the heart resides within the skeletal bones. Material appearance attracts us to the spirit confined within. Yet no amount of vanity can attract the bees if there is nothing in the flowers to give. The wandering pilgrims did not stop at the monastery for long. It could not quench their thirst within. Package and Content are inseparable in this space and time.  

Love