IQ check...

Questions to check IQ, with Anup Jalota

I was just listening to some bhajans by Anup Jalota.. What a brilliant voice he has. The way he carries the rhythm to high pitch is one formidable task...
To prowess in this genre, I wonder what amount of time, energy, dedication and GOD knows what else, one needs to put in.

Anyways, the question-answer round that happened in one of his bhajans, goes like this:

Jal se patla kaun hai ?
Kaun bhumi se bhaari ?
Kya agan se tez hai ?
Kaun kaajal se kaari ?

( What is thinner than water ?
What is heavy than earth ?
What is furious than fire ?
and what is blacker than kohl ? )

The answer is provided by Anup ji in the next stanza:

Jal se patla gyan hai
Paap bhumi se bhari
krodh agan se tez hai
kalank kaajal se kaari

( Knowledge is thinner than water
Sin is heavier than earth
Anger is furious than fire
One sullied is blacker than kohl )

I analysed and found that most of his bhajans were devoted to radha-krishna and meera...

The pain and anguish that meera suffered has been beautifully written in one his bhajans (Main shyam deewani.. Mera dard na jaane koi) . With love, no doubt, comes suffering. But I heard a very beautiful line somwhere, which goes like this : " Love like you would never get hurt "

Its a song by Guy Clark:

You got to sing like you don't need the money
Love like you'll never get hurt
You got to dance like nobody is watching
Its gotta come from the heart
If you want it to work

Faith...

Faith.. WOW.. What a word.. This small word could be your best companion in both, good and bad times...

Somethings are very difficult to explain.. For everything else, there is some or the other language... ( Its not a veritable line.. I took it from Master Card's ad ) Faith is that feeling inside ones heart that "Things gonna be fine" no matter how bad the current conditions might be...

I think its important to have faith in oneself and the almighty... I read very beautiful lines of Allama Iqbal...for those who have faith in GOD:

Nishan-e-mard-e-momin ba too goyam?

Choon marg aayad tabassum bar lab-e-ost.

( You ask me the sign of a man of faith?
When death comes to him, he faces it with a smile)

One more line, which I think already resides somewhere in my previous blogs, goes like this:

Duniya mein aehl-e-imaan maanind-e-khursheed jeete hain

Idhar dubey... udhar nikley... udhar dubey... Idhar nikley

( In this world, men of faith ( in themselves ) are like sun

They sink at one end, to rise from the other )

Faith, I think, comes with time and one has to mould oneself to have that belief inside the heart, cuz you do not get any gaurantee with it. My understanding is, if you believe, it works, if you don't, it doesn't.

One brilliant line that I read goes like this:

Faith means belief in something concerning which doubt is theoretically possible

Optimism..

A view of optimism...

Optimism is a small word, but it has a bunch of positive vibes in it, if one actually takes this zeal up... Being an optimist, i think, depends upon the daily life experiences. There are higher chances of you being an optimist if you have been achieving the stuff you wanted. This makes you feel positive about the things that come ahead.. and feeling good about what you do is very importante...

One of the tracks from Nusrat Saab's songs goes like this:

Ab kya soche... kya hona hai
Jo hoga achcha hoga...
Pehle socha hota pagal
ab rone se kya hoga...

What an optimistic view mixed with the anguish of past....

Yaar se gam keh kar to khush ho...
lekin tum ye kya jaano...
Tum dil ka rona rote the..
vo dil mein hasta hoga...

Aaj kisi ne dil toda to...
humko jaise dhyaan aaya...
Jiska dil humne toda tha...
vo jaane kaisa hoga....

Mere kuch pal mujhko dedo...
Baaki saare din logon...
tum jaisa jaisa kehte ho...
sab vaisa vaisa hoga...

Just give few moments of my time to me.. Rest would happen as you say...

Deewan-e-Ghalib...

Deewan-e-Ghalib...

What a shayar he was.. His work is commendable... Most people must have heard "Dil-e-naadaan tujhe hua kya hai"... But I am sure that the full shayari was not in the song.. I got a small book "Deewan-e-Ghalib" that had the full shayari..and what it was.. Have a look..

Dil-e-naadaan tujhe hua kya hai..
aakhir is dard ki davaa kya hai..

Humko unse vafaa ki hai ummeed
jo nahi jaante vafaa kya hai ...

The way grief and anguish have been shown in the above set of lines is amazing...The helplessness one can go through is inexplicable... What is the medicine of this ? .... What is the way out ?

Hum hai mushtaaq.. aur vo bezaar
Ya ilaahi ye maajra kya hai

We are interested and they are dis-interested
O GOD ! What is all this ?

Main bhi muh mein zubaan rakhta hun..
Kaash !!! Pucho ki hua kya hai

Jabki tum bin nahi koi maujood
Phir ye hungama .. Ae khuda kya hai

This is one stanza that I like the most.. The voice of silence and lonliness can be very LOUD.. It could be chaotic...He says: "When there is no one besides you , then why this pandemonium.."

Ye paricheher log kaise hain
gamz-o-ishq-o-adaa kya hai

Who are these people with angel-like faces ( pari- angel.. cheher-faces )
What is this pain.. this love .. this attitude ???

Shikan-e-zulf-e-ambari kya hai
nigaah-e-chashm-e-surma kya hai

Sabz-o-gul kahaan se aye hain
Abr kya chees hai.. havaa kya hai

From where came this greenery and flowers ( sabz-o-gul )
What are clouds (abr).. What is air (havaa)..???

Haan bhalaa kar.. tera bhalaa hoga
Aur darvesh ki sadaa kya hai

Do good to others,,, Good would hapen to you
What else Darvesh ( ascetic ) tells ...

Jaan tumpar nisaar karta hun
main nahi jaanta dua kya hai

The generosity of a lover is explained here..

I am not familiar with the word "Prayer"... But in case you need anything,, just let me know.. Even my life is there for you...

Maine maana kuch nahi "Ghalib"
Muft haath aaye to bura kya hai

The modesty of Ghalib is clear in this stanza..

I know.. I am nothing.. But if I am for free.. Whats the problem in owning me...

I read somewhere that when the third wife of one of his friends died, he wrote......

"Allah allah ik woh log hain jo teen teen dafah is qaid say chchoot chuke hain...
aur ik hum hain ke ik aglay pachas baras say jo phansi ka phanda galay mein pa Rakha hai ... to na phanda hi Tut-ta hai na dum hi nikalta hai"

Allah Allah, there are some among us who have been freed from the prison three times and I have for the past 50 years this rope around my neck... neither this rope breaks nor it takes my life]

One more set of lines from his poetry, which I read on the site, where I read the above TRUE lines :) :

"sau kos se ba-zabaan-e-qalam baatein kiya karo ...
aur hijr mein visaal kay maze liya karo"

From hundred of miles talk with the tongue of the pen and enjoy the joy of meeting even when you are separated

One more:
jis mein laakho baras ki hoorein hon
aisi jannat ka kya kare koi

When the women are million years old
What would one do of a heaven like that ???

Now baby... Now.........

Living the "Now"

A set of lines from Shakespeare goes like this:

Thou hast nor youth nor age,
But, as it were, an after-dinner's sleep,
Dreaming on both

Wow... What magical lines these are !!!
The point that has been explained in these lines is that most human beings do not live in the present... Its just like dialogue from "Rang De Basanti" that Amir says about present.. If you remember,, one foot in past... the other in future.. thats why pissing on present...

Anyways, these lines from shakespeare, as interpreted:

These are intensly thought upon lines. "Thou hast nor youth nor age" ... In this line,, he says we neither have our youth.. nor old age... Coz.. when we are young, most of our time is spent thinking about what we have to do in the future.. Building a great bunglow.. owning a benz.. or audi.. or in case you have these two, then owning a Maybach... getting ourselves a good career... marrying to a great human who has the qualities of hundred people embedded in him/her... and the list goes on.. So, the point is that a good amount of time in spent in thinking about.. doing for... the "FUTURE"...

Then comes the old age... We loose the strenght n inherit a lot of illnesses related to old age and then we look back at what all we did in our past.. n try to relish from that... So, when we reach the old age.. mostly we "DREAM" about what all accomplishments have been done by us in our past....

Then comes.. "But, as it were, an after-dinner's sleep, Dreaming on both"

So, when we are young, we dream about future and what we gonna do in the future .. n when we reach old age we dream about the past.. Where the hell did "PRESENT" vanish.. It has been compared to an after dinner sleep..
where "events of morning are mixed with the design of evening"...

Path to realization.. n learning...

Emptiness.. Who could fill the void ???


Yun to guzar raha hai har pal khushi ke saath ..

Phir bhi koi kami si hai .. kyun zindagi ke saath....


Rishte.. vafaayein.. dosti .. sab kuch to paas hai..

kya baat hai.. pata nahi.. dil kyun udas hai..

har lamha hai haseen . nyi dilkashi ke saaath..

phir bhi koi kami si hai kyun zindagi ke saath..


This void could be killing.. What is "Missing".. Though I am not at a stage of life, where I could say "Aah.. I have everything I wanted.. its great", so I can't actually say how it feels... But I have read at some places, where people get everything,, but still . they feel something is missing.. What is that..

socha tha jaisa.. vaisa hi jeevan to hai magar..

Ab aur kis talaash mein .. bechain hai nazar..

kudrat bhi meherbaan hai dariyadili ke saath

phir bhi koi kami si hai kyun zindagi ke saath..

Is that the liberation they look for? What enlightenment are they searching for ? I read about the "ten" worlds of a human life, which are as follows (from lowest to highest) theyare:

1. Hell: state when we suffer through some bad phase of life.. It is said that we feel like destroying ourselves and everything around us..

2. Hunger: Our insatiable desire for money, power, status,, or anything materialistic that is actually perishable...

3. Animality: Whatever we do. does not have any moral or specific reason behind it. It is the animal within us that makes us do all the things... We take advantage of weaker and fawn on those stronger...

4. Anger: A kind of EGO generates within us and we see all other things as possible threat to us.. We cannot see anyone being much stronger than us... Even if we see, we refuse to admit..

5. Humanity: We behave as humans.. But generally it is for a lesser time.. We are prone to switch over to the lower four states mentioned..

6. Heaven: Intense joy is experienced here. Could be because of anything.. Our physical well being.. Something we got that we desired for a long time. etc..

It is said that we switch over from one state to another amongst the above 6 states.. I think that is true...

Then comes :

7. Learning: desire to understand the reality of life.. We try to learn.. WTF is it actually all about.. With help of some teacher or mentor..

8. Realization: This is also learning, but this is something that we do ourself.. Introspecting our past.. Analysing with exquisite senses... Realising something that no one can actually make us realise.. So its a "Do it yourself" project...

9.Bodhisattva: It is a condition where we aspire to achieve enlightenment and also enable others to do so.

10. Budhahood: Difficult to explain.. Myself trying to understand... Something that actually requires a consistent effort.. You know.

So,, is the emptiness to do something with the enlighted state? Where we actually know, what are we doing, why are we doing and feel good about it.. You know. . . :)

Ashk.. A tear...

Ye kiska tasavvar hai

Ye kiska fasaana hai

Jo ashq hai aankhon mein

Tasbih ka daana hai


Ya woh the khafa humse

Ya hum hain khaafa unse

Kal unka zamaana tha

Aaj apna zamaana hai


Ye ishq nhi aasaan

Itna to samjh le tu

Ik aag ka dariya hai

Aur doob ke jaana hai

Wow.. Who the hell wrote these lines.. I dont know, but heard them in one of my ghazal collections.. The beauty with which the pain and rebel are explained here is excellent. At first, it is explained that the pain we go through... the tears that we shed are nothing, but beads ( Tasbih). These beads were thrown upon us at the time the "Script Writer" was writing the story of our lives.


Apart from pain, there is also a feeling of hatred and rebel, which is likely to be caused if a betrayal is slapped upon ones face. The line " kal unka zamaana tha.. aaj apna zamaana hai " shows the outcome of the hatred, which acts as catharsis for us. So, it is something like: " your time is up.. my time is now... " ha ha ..

Then, after pain, anguish, hurt, hatred and frustration comes the reality of love.. It can be as hard as swimming through ocean of fire...and that is something true...

One song that I can remember of Rod Stewart goes like this:

It's a heartache... nothing but a heart ache...
Hits you when its too late... hits you when you are down..

Its a fool's game.. nothing but a fools game
standing in the cold rain... feeling like a clown...


It is not just about knowing a language.. Coz when you read all this stuff, you do know what the lines mean, but its like moulding raw clay to a pot. That is a formidable task to do. At first it could be daunting, as it is fearful to write, actually what you feel.. A human can feel a lot of things, but sometimes the thoughts are sooo messed up that it takes the shape of something ununderstandably wierd. It is an art to shape the "Pot" up that way you are actually feeling inside you.

You know... :)

Begum Akhtar...

Begum Akhtar...

Ae mohabbat tere anjaam pe rona aaya
Jaane kyun aaj tere naam pe rona aaya

Yun to har shaam ummeedon mein guzar jaati thi
Aaj kuch baat hai, jo shaam pe rona aaya

Kabhi takdeer ka maatam, kabhi duniya ka gilaa
manzil-e-ishq mein har gaam pe rona aaya

Jab hua Zikr zamaane mein mohabbat ka shaqil
Mujhko apne dil-e-naadaan pe rona aaya

This is one famous ghazal from Begum's archive. She used to make the song come alive, made the shaayars famous overnight, by singing their work.

These are the songs which are worth to hear on gramophones. The way she sang the line " Aaj kuch baat hai jo shaam pe rona aaya " was brilliant. It could actually bring tears to your eyes. There is not much I could say here... May be this could be a SILENT blog. :)

Ye duniya agar mil bhi jaaye to kya hai ...

Duniya jise kehte hain jaadoo ka khilona hai... mil jaaye to mitti hai .. kho jaaye to sona hai..

These are famous words from the ghazal.. duniya jise kehte hain... sung by Jagjit Singh.. The ghazal maestro...

Well, a lot of depth resides in this ghazal.. Till the time our material desires are not fulfilled, we remain anxious and keep on thinking about them.. . However, once they are fulfilled, it seems stupid of us to run behind those things... I think thats the way it works...

One more song related to this theme goes like this:

Ye mahalon, ye takthon, ye taajon ki duniyaa
Ye inasaan ke dushman samaajon ki duniyaa
Ye daulat ke bhuukhe rivaazon ki duniyaa
Ye duniyaa agar mil bhii jaaye to kyaa hai

Har ek jism ghaayal, har ek ruh pyaasi
Nigaahon mein uljhan, dilon mein udaasi
Yeh duniyaa hai yaa aalam-e-badhavaasi
Ye duniyaa agar mil bhii jaaye to kyaa hai

Jahaan ek khilonaa hai inasaan ki hasti
Ye basti hai murdaa-paraston ki basti
Jahaan aur jivan se hai maut sasti
Ye duniyaa agar mil bhii jaaye to kyaa hai

Javaani bhatakti hai bezaar bankar
Javaan jism sajate hai baazaar bankar
Jahaan pyaar hotaa hai vyaapaar bankar
Ye duniyaa agar mil bhii jaaye to kyaa hai

Yeh duniyaa jahaan aadami kuchh nahin hai
Vafaa kuchh nahin, dosti kuchh nahin hai
Jahaan pyaar ki kadr hi kuchh nahin hai
Ye duniyaa agar mil bhii jaaye to kyaa hai

Jalaa do, jalaa do ise phoonk daalo ye duniyaa
Mere saamne se hataa lo ye duniyaa
Tumhaari hai tumhi sambhalo ye duniya,
Ye duniyaa agar mil bhii jaaye to kyaa hai

This was sung by Mohd. Rafi back few decades ago. This shows the bitter truth of this world, where people are treated as commodities and all run after power and money... It is fine to desire a lifestyle according to ones choice, but attaining it at the cost of someone else is something that pinches.

The value of love and friendship is decreasing day by day. It is sad to see and things hurt as if acid has been poured on an open wound... Sometimes, it is very disturbing to see the misery all around... The meanness which has been inculcated through various demonstrations, generates pain. Loyality is something not cared about .

However, I do feel one thing. There is some "place" in this world, where things are still justifiable. A place where people care about each other and genuinely love each other. A place where you would always find a helping hand, which would not ask for anything in return. A place where selfless love still exists and betrayal has no existence.

Let us shop...

My sHoPpinG SpRee...

Well,.. today I went out for shopping.. What a big headache could this shopping be...!!!!!!!!!!!

I decided not to take along anyone, but go alone. I let myself have a test of my patience and intelligence.. Oooo yea... this shopping involves a lot of intelligence and understanding of the human psychology.. As in of ouselves.. Firstly, there are a hell lot of shops to shop from. They all have a lot of variety to choose from.. So, "first" select the shop, "then" select the clothes.. Now, you should be intelligent enough to select what clothes would actually suit you and would also make you comfortable when you wear them... How many things can be done simultaneously.. ??? Selection of clothes, comfort, style.. I hope I do not sound dumb , but that's the way I felt today... In Rajouri market, with 3 millions shops... Each shop with a lot of stuff to select from.. Its just like a workout.. You need to put in a lot of hard work, before you could actually see the results..

Anyways, I parked my car in a space, where even a cat could not sleep properly. The parking people are amazing, they could make you realise how good you can drive ;-) .

Took the "parchi" and kept it in my back pocket ( This is something I always loose and end up paying some extra bucks there )... Now, since you would never get an opportunity of parking the car, where the market starts, you generally end up parking it somewhere in the middle. I did the same and then took a deep breath as I started my shopping spree... OOOhhh.. Where to go .. what shop to start with.. What brand to select . . . I took the name of

GOD and entered a shop.. bought two T's and came out... When I came out, I realised, there could be more good Ts in the market. May be I should have waited.. So, this taught me that patience, while you shop is very important.. Now I understand, why all the "aunties" in the market, exercise the practice of hovering around, until they become sure of something.. But that is something men can't do... So could not I.. Anyways.. then again, I went to another shop,, got track pants and came out.. It was already 7, so I decided to drive back and look at what I bought...

One more thing,.. I do not know if I m correct here.. but it seems the thing that you bought there in the shop.. turns out to be something else when you gaze it at your home... I dont know,, if its lighting to do with.. But yes.. I am sure it happens..

Bye Bye ... :)