tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-280364922024-02-28T11:05:30.987+05:30From Beyond the CosmosManoranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067496028915031634noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28036492.post-11090728230008938592013-06-28T21:10:00.001+05:302013-06-28T21:10:29.214+05:30Only fruit that has its seeds on the outside<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>Question:</b> Which is the only fruit that has its seeds on the outside?</div>
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<b>Answer:</b> None. There are no fruits in the world that grow their seeds outside of them.</div>
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I recently encountered this question in a contest. The answer given was <b>strawberry</b>. I explained them that the question itself is enormously erroneous. Thankfully, in a personal message, they acknowledged the error stating that the question is “somehow ambiguous” and they would have framed the question differently.</div>
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In layman's conception of “fruit” and “seed”, we often consider <b>strawberry</b> and <b>cashew apple/nut</b> as two popular examples of “seed” outside of “fruit”. There are also other not so popular examples exist like <b>sunflower seeds</b>, <b>pineapple</b>, <b>pine nuts</b> and so on. But the problem is what we consider as “fruits” in these cases are not “true fruits” at all. Let me explain.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGwqpNZ-vo474M6F0ahc1H6ALSJuHzt5uallBw2D_dlb_0veu82gsJXT8x6HZntZjsRXEwmsRFNFD57hROt0MgF29eX1yznzRhqB-ev9kcMGQ7hPEhlr47_4yDjd61ihgOpjjnbw/s670/Mango+and+Peach+Anatomy+01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGwqpNZ-vo474M6F0ahc1H6ALSJuHzt5uallBw2D_dlb_0veu82gsJXT8x6HZntZjsRXEwmsRFNFD57hROt0MgF29eX1yznzRhqB-ev9kcMGQ7hPEhlr47_4yDjd61ihgOpjjnbw/s320/Mango+and+Peach+Anatomy+01.jpg" title="" width="275" /></a></div>
A <b>“true fruit”</b> matures from the <b>Ovary</b> of a flower consisting <b>(A) Pericarp</b> or <b>Ovary Wall</b> comprised of <b>1) Epicarp/Exocarp</b>, <b>2) Mesocarp</b> and <b>3) Endocarp</b> (E.g.: In Mango or Peach, skin, flesh and thick shell containing the kernel) and <b>(B) Seed</b> comprised of <b>1) Seed Coat</b>, <b>2) Embryo</b> and <b>3) Endosperm</b> (E.g.: seed skin, germinating embryo and seed). This structure is placed on a <b>Receptacle</b> (E.g.: the bottom of the dark hard pimple), which is then attached to the main plant by a stem called <b>Pedicel</b>. Other flower organs like <b>Stamens</b>, <b>Calix/Calyces</b> (collection of <b>Sepals</b>) and <b>Corolla(s)</b> (collection of <b>Petals</b>) are attached at the bottom (<b>hypogynous</b> – superior ovary) or in the middle (<b>perigynous</b> – half-inferior ovary) or at the end (<b>epigynous</b> – inferior ovary) of the Ovary.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQsRqvwic1ZjX6j9o6MZpVBNl9D467Da6cfRzl87BNW2SuKytCxlIB9NGnUHS2JV1UjfemiY-pGOqQmP9iACLP2hIiQGOsw3C8FtHTi_nyWgwK6odZpx_4BXmcsDY3fVybbqxn4Q/s800/Ovary+Anatomy+01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQsRqvwic1ZjX6j9o6MZpVBNl9D467Da6cfRzl87BNW2SuKytCxlIB9NGnUHS2JV1UjfemiY-pGOqQmP9iACLP2hIiQGOsw3C8FtHTi_nyWgwK6odZpx_4BXmcsDY3fVybbqxn4Q/s320/Ovary+Anatomy+01.jpg" title="" width="320" /></a></div>
In <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strawberry" target="_blank"><b>Strawberry</b></a>, the <b>receptacle</b> becomes “fruit”. In the so called “seed”, which is the “true fruit”, all parts of (B) Seed are present but the (A) Pericarp is nearly filled by (B) Seed and thus it looks like another “seed skin”. But at microscopic level all layers are still present. Same as <b>Groundnut/Peanut</b>, when the “true fruits” are young the Mesocarp will be fleshy and the “real seed” will be tiny. When the “real seed” grows, it occupies the entire (A) Pericarp and turns it into a hard shell encompassing the seed.<br />
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In <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cashew" target="_blank"><b>Cashew Apple/Nut</b></a>, the <b>pedicel</b> becomes “fruit”. In the “nut”, which is the “true fruit”, (B) Seed parts are present. (A) Pericarp becomes a double shell containing an allergenic gooey irritant.<br />
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In <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pineapple" target="_blank"><b>Pineapple</b></a>, the <b>inflorescence</b> (which holds a flower cluster or flower group) and <b>stem</b> become “fruit”. Cultivators won't allow the “real fruits” to mature. If they mature they will become “seed like”, just like Strawberry, and will be placed in pits out side of the “fruit's surface”.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibL61v-6saQK78oZYDMnqplbM7uDm1rUZxBAcQq0S5s2tChONgK53GkMLahmw48XOO-X7r0z-8bMx8K05iatfKHjTK2GQzCAOIOJB-kR-x0BW6oW35I5J1bPI1_3kkc7HHRoCNBw/s1400/Roselle+05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibL61v-6saQK78oZYDMnqplbM7uDm1rUZxBAcQq0S5s2tChONgK53GkMLahmw48XOO-X7r0z-8bMx8K05iatfKHjTK2GQzCAOIOJB-kR-x0BW6oW35I5J1bPI1_3kkc7HHRoCNBw/s320/Roselle+05.jpg" title="" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roselle</td></tr>
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In <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibiscus_sabdariffa" target="_blank"><b>Roselle</b></a>, the <b>calyx</b> becomes “fruit”. (A) Pericarp becomes the seed capsule containing (B) Seed. Roselle is not an example of “seed” outside of “fruit”, but is an example of <b>petals</b> becoming “fruit”.<br />
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In fact, there are humongous number of species out there in the wild with “seeds” found outside of “fruits”. These are <u>false fruits</u> and are called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessory_fruit" target="_blank"><b>Accessory Fruits</b></a> or <b>Pseudocarp</b>. The strange properties of these accessory fruits are, in some cases, unlike Mango or Peach, once cut off from the main plant they won't be getting ripe anymore or the taste won't improve.<br />
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Also technically, when we talk about fruits and seeds, it's about flowering plant species, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angiosperms" target="_blank"><b>angiosperms</b></a>, meaning plants that produce seeds within an enclosure (this enclosure is called fruit) as opposed to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gymnosperms" target="_blank"><b>gymnosperms</b></a>, meaning “naked” seeds.<br />
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So, when the seeds are found outside, they simply become gymnosperms, non-flowering, fruitless, ovary-less species. E.g.: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conifers" target="_blank">conifers</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycads" target="_blank">cycads</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginkgo" target="_blank">ginkgo</a>.</div>
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Manoranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067496028915031634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28036492.post-84378286413160992812011-04-13T12:55:00.098+05:302011-04-15T12:38:17.971+05:30W Szczebrzeszynie chrząszcz - A Polish tongue twister<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although my last encounter with a "different" culture went so hay-wire due mainly to the other end's decaying society, which refuses to learn anything new, updating their knowledge to adapt the changing world and stopped producing a healthy and sane new generation, it's always my great pleasure to try mastering a new language and indulge myself in a different culture. Oh, I love it!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is so much of learning and, regenerating and rewiring neurons, which is a fulfilling and complete rejuvenating experience.</span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A year ago, while I was browsing through the racks of an old bookshop, I found this "<b><i>Polish Phrasebook</i></b>".</span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Backside it was written, "Follow the traveling sun god <i><b>Dażbóg</b></i> as he rides across the sky on a diamond studded beer keg (???). Follow his lead; he starts the day as a newborn, touring architecturally rich <i><b>miasta</b></i> (town), rolling woodlands and mountain peaks eager to experience the possibilities of a new culture and language. He ends the day older and wiser, with the insights that come with learning a new language".</span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It immediately clicked. I was like, aha, someone copied my very own thoughts. Curse the plagiarizer!</span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And I ended up buying the book. Initially, I tried to master the alphabets and the sounds. But then, there was no motivation and my enthusiasm began to dry up despite the sweet souvenir of a <b><i>żubrówka</i></b> on a christmas réveillon in Livry-Gargan, Paris. The book was abandoned.</span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then came Ola and a "Polish dream" (Which is altogether a different story anyway). Now the book started to smile a ghastly smile at me, viciously.</span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pissed-off me, I picked a tongue twister from the book and started to repeat it in it's ears. The result is:</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><embed flashvars="audioUrl=http://www.fileden.com/files/2011/4/14/3115605/Audio/PolishTongueTwister/Polish%20Tongue%20Twister%20-%20Short.mp3" height="27" quality="best" src="http://www.google.com/reader/ui/3523697345-audio-player.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400"></embed></div></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's an infamous Polish tongue twister about the town <b><i>Szczebrzeszyn</i></b> and a beetle, the cockchafer (<b><i>chrząszcz</i></b>). It goes like:</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>"W Szczebrzeszynie chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie"</i></b> means,</span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>In the town of Szczebrzeszyn, the cockchafer buzzes in the reeds</i></b>.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is in fact the first line of a poem "<b><i>Chrząszcz</i></b>" (cockchafer) by <b><i>Jan Brzechwa</i></b>, which goes like:</span></div></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>W Szczebrzeszynie chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie</i></b></span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>I Szczebrzeszyn z tego słynie.</i></b></span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Wół go pyta: "Panie chrząszczu,</i></b></span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Po cóż pan tak brzęczy w gąszczu?"</i></b></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><embed flashvars="audioUrl=http://www.fileden.com/files/2011/4/14/3115605/Audio/PolishTongueTwister/Polish Tongue Twister.mp3" height="27" quality="best" src="http://www.google.com/reader/ui/3523697345-audio-player.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400"></embed></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Meaning:</span></div></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>In the town of Szczebrzeszyn a beetle buzzes in the reeds</i></b></span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>And Szczebrzeszyn is famous for it.</i></b></span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>An ox asks him: "Mister beetle,</i></b></span></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>What are you buzzing for in the bushes?"</i></b></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A slower version:</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><embed flashvars="audioUrl=http://www.fileden.com/files/2011/4/14/3115605/Audio/PolishTongueTwister/Polish%20Tongue%20Twister%20-%20Slow.mp3" height="27" quality="best" src="http://www.google.com/reader/ui/3523697345-audio-player.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400"></embed></div></div></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And the crazier version:</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><embed flashvars="audioUrl=http://www.fileden.com/files/2011/4/14/3115605/Audio/PolishTongueTwister/Polish%20Tongue%20Twister%20-%205.mp3" height="27" quality="best" src="http://www.google.com/reader/ui/3523697345-audio-player.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400"></embed></div></div></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now the book is bleeding and pleading for mercy.</span></div></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PS: Pardon my heavy impolite Polish accent. Please comment. Proszę... i dziękuję bardzo!</span></div></div></div></div>Manoranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067496028915031634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28036492.post-31057994229644832392009-06-24T17:34:00.019+05:302009-07-16T14:55:12.019+05:30Monsoon magic<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">A poem written in admiration and celebration of the spirit of Mother Nature, especially the beauty of rain forests of Western Ghats mountain ranges of southern India, which occupies a great place in Sangam Tamil literature and is popularly called as the "Kurinji landscape".</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; "><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Monsoon magic</span></span></span></i></b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 15px; "><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 5px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Where'd it be, where'd it descend first?</span></span></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 15px;font-size:11px;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">On the milky white of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Coffee_Flowers_Show.jpg">coffee flower</a>?</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">On my nose, scanning, sniffing seventh heaven?</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Maybe on a rufous fruit of swarming <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandalwood">sandalwood</a>?</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Or, on the angry blooms of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flame_of_the_Forest">flame of the forest</a>?</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Oh! Await too, the young leaves of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almond">sweet almond</a>.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Would it be on *<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphyllum">Nishâkânthi</a> expecting its midnight?</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Where’d it be, the first drop of this monsoon?</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Would it be on the amorous <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose-ringed_Parakeet">rose-ringed parakeets</a>?</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Where’d it be, the elixir churned out of high heavens?</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 5px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">*Miân Ki Malhâr on *<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarangi">Sârangi</a>. Or is it on *<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esraj">Dilrubha</a>?</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">A menacing cloudscape hangs overhead</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Dheem, dheem, dheena, dheem, plays the *<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabla">Tabla</a>.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">A <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peacock">peafowl</a>, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:White_peacock.jpg">albino</a>, struts through ostentatiously.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Against hooting gale, holds proudly its erected pride.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemon_grass">lemon grass</a> struggles to hold its ground.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">A warty croaky <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullfrog">bullfrog</a>’s melody booms through reeds.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">A wading <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pond_Heron">pond heron</a> awaits its catch.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">A juvenile barbel chinned <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catfish">catfish</a> hits surface.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Within a whisker of pick, between ‘em falls the debut drop.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 5px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Two, three, few, more, millions, zillions.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Pricks the pristine waterface, the raindrops bullion.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo">Bamboo</a> groves sway, the rainstorm rattles.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Threaten to snap off, mountain-bee hives, rain slaps.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Their waxy wax tongues drool over.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Heaven earth lock lips, the love showers down.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Flash of *<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malabar">Malabar</a> lightning, crash of *<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka">Lankan</a> thunder.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Rhythmic drum of raindrops on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_banana">red plantain</a> leaves.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Clamor of paradisal music bears nude sense of Nirvana.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">A *<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nilgiri_Langur">Nilgiri Langur</a> drenches with kinsfolks, baby in lap.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 5px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Fills my nostrils, a gingerly aroma of ginger coffee.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">*<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unni_Krishnan">Unni</a> sings *Nâdhalôludai, a *Kalyâna Vasantham.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">The scent of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moss">mossy</a> carpets on my beloved <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangosteen">mangosteen</a>,</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Weds with the whiff of pale yellow-green <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clove">clove</a> tree <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichen">lichens</a>.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">An urge kindled in, browse I through memory racks,</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Evoking every hidden cherished childhood odors.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">As lover’s tender hearts, downpour mates with noble soil.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Ploughing rainsperms chant mystic mythical sacred syllable.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Invoking an ancient charm, opening out the beauty trail.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Melts my soul, the soaked *<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shola">sholascape</a>’s essence in air.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 5px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Rapids of torrential floods, puberty to little singing brooks.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Nearby cascade roars anew, screams of height.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Falls heavy sculpting rocky pachyderms down.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Faraway cries of elephant herds. Rain bard tries tribal fusion.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">On high wild *<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jambul">jumbos</a>, nonsensical webs of wild great-vines.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">On wild great-vines, parasitical orchids, honey-spurs on lips.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">A twosome of two-tongued <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Vine_Snake">green vine-snakes</a> hide under.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">An amber <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_frog">tree frog</a> crawls up, slips through rain fingers.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Male atop, hunting tree-hollow-pool for frogspawn kids.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Page after page, precipitation plume pens monsoon magic.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 5px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Spirited lightning remnant punctures cloud rucksacks.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Emptying heavenly treasure of watery diamonds.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Touch-me-not, touch-me-not, explode <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewelweed">jewelweed balsams</a>.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Touch-me, touch-me, persuade under-leaf shield-jewel bugs.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Cloudbanks trickle drop after another, bankruptcy filed.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Skies stand still. Clouds fade away. Trees rain still.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Water beads cow into <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_fern">tree fern’s</a> spiral strangler fronds.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Drip, drip, drip! Sleepy coiled snails uncoil. Drip, drip, drip!</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">For every drop, playful trees free a mango squashing down.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mynah">Mynahs</a> ruffle feathers, shake off rain game mischief.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 5px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Pleasing fragrance stray into mindscape.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">A wayward squirrel nibbles at *<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ylang-ylang">Manoranjana</a>.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">The last drop of the day falls on its snout.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">A crackajack <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackfruit">jackfruit</a> cracks wide open.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">An ambrosial perfume seeps through <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardamom">cardamom</a> plants.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Finer maidens’ bosoms alike, mountain summits.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">*<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neelakurinji">Kurinji</a> littered emerald landscapes, grassland wonderland!</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Waiting to bask in after-shower sunshine primer.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">Where’d it be, where’d it descend first?</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">The first stream of honey colored gentle rays.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 5px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#99FF99;">- M. Manoranjan, ©2009</span></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Nishâkânthi: Epiphyllum (Epiphyllum oxypetalum), a cactus variety of South American origin, which bears strong fragrant white flower, that blossoms at midnight and lives only for a night.</span></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Miân Ki Malhâr: A monsoon Râga in Hindustâni music (Indian classical music of North) tradition.</span></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Sârangi, Dilrubha: Stringed musical instruments of northern India, played with a bow. Both instruments look a bit similar, but Dilrubha is subtler and more expressive than Sârangi.</span></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Tabla: A pair of small Indian hand drums, a percussion instrument of North India.</span></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Malabar: A region of southern India, lying between the Western Ghats mountain ranges and the Arabian Sea.</span></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Lankan: Of the island nation Sri Lanka, then Ceylon, Sri Lankan.</span></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Nilgiri: Blue mountain, gets its name thanks to the blue *Neelakurinji flowers, which dominate other flowering plants in the entire region at the time of blossom.</span></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Langur: A long-tailed arboreal Asiatic monkey, distinguishable by its loud call.</span></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Unni: Unni Krishnan, a singer in Carnatic music (Indian classical music of South) tradition.</span></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Nâdhalôludai: A masterpiece composition in Carnatic music by Saint Thyagaraja (ca. 1750), which speaks about the beauty of Nâdha, the resonating sacred sound which is the core character of this cosmos encompassing from small infinity to large infinity.</span></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Kalyâna Vasantham: A blissful Râga in Carnatic music.</span></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Shola: A type of high-altitude stunted evergreen forest found only in the southern part of the Western Ghats mountain ranges of southern India. Patches of shola forest are usually separated from one another by undulating grasslands. Together the shola and grassland form the shola-grassland complex or shola-grassland mosaic.</span></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Jumbo: Jambul, jamun or jambolan (Syzygium cumini), an evergreen tropical tree, native to Indian subcontinent, which bears a berry like thin dark black-purple skinned fleshy edible fruit. Wild jambolan (Syzygium fruiticosum), a wild variety, which grows tall and spotting huge monstrous trunk.</span></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Manoranjana: Ylang-ylang (Cananga odorata), a tropical tree, which bears sweet-scented pale yellow-green flowers.</span></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Kurinji: Neelakurinji shrub, Strobilanthes Kunthiana, which flowers once in twelve years and is the most popular one; Strobilanthes Sessilis, which flowers once in seven years. Both blossomed together in 2006, which occurs once in 84 years!</span></span></li></ul><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwD2fZAmT_wU3Eec0-WYUHQ4B1NqOP6ctiqq-HhjzB5BxFWsKn6Q7-aFyg8xmxI9n5a4IzYIPcJOMk' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>Manoranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067496028915031634noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28036492.post-85319954378663075032008-12-06T21:53:00.011+05:302009-06-26T09:07:48.324+05:30Autumn landscape<p style="text-align: justify;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; ">A poem inspired by this year's autumn fall. I wanted to publish this poem on 20th Nov, but couldn't make it. It was such a pain to carry the poem in head without penning it down. It feels like floating in air when I managed to publish it finally. You can also hear this poem read by me in my YouTube channel <a href="http://www.youtube.com/mmanoba">mmanoba</a>. The video is also found below the poem.</p><p style="text-align: justify;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Autumn Landscape</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);"><br /></span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">My mind on mutiny of melodious muteness</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Pathetic painful moronic oxymoron</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Whistles she along with radio singer</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Cheerful chauffeuse, drives me to her chateau</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Backseat Oskar meditates on scenes pass by</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Trains and station fade behind him</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Serpentine roads and leaves strewn landscapes</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Brumous fog or heavenly drizzle, hard to gauge</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">A gentleman on curly horse salutes us warmly</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Passing him, changes she the gear</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Stands there a golden couple of good old chateau</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Kisses of welcome and knuckle crushing handshake</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">A decor of taste, surprise, awe and charm</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Inches of them speak of her, her fondness, intellect</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Every time I visit them, stand I with my eyes widened</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Shameless pride in her proud father’s eyes</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">She the treasure not his chateau</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Breakfast ready, drags she me to her terrace garden</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Oskar leads us to the greenhouse, tail dancing</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Her treasured orchidarium and my beloved orchids</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Varieties of them and a little pond of wonder</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Lotus and lily, pinks, yellows and whites</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">My blue lotus too, no Victoria, ask I, smiles she killingly</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Bees, honey and bumble, ply between nectaries and hives</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Hives assembled half in rest out, her prudent pick</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Blows she on glass and wipes the vapor film</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Scenic beauty rushes in yanking my breath away</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Rising cliffs, rolling slopes, thick woods, green blanket under</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Merry pair of cooing doves dives down and then jives up</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">My silent prayer, a heinous hope for a queerish pair</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Falling crimson leaves attempt to imitate them</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Her saddened heavy sigh mends the mist curtain</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Her love for tea and her garden trees of autumn fall</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Pin oak, golden maple, liquidambar, lists she crazily</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Japanese persimmon, maple, Chinese pistache, tallow</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Claret, golden ash, scarlet oak and then maidenhair</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">The color of your hair, my Xavi’s too, slips my tongue</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Freezes her smile, gloomy stains across her face</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Asks she my pardon rectifying her mien</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Feeling remorse take I her supple hand</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Longs she the touch lasts longer, for unknown eternity</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">What is on today’s menu, change I the subject</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Alice in wonderland and little fishing, replies she gleamingly</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Oskar jerks hearing the very word, shrills, tail goes crazy</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Mushroom hunt, trout fishing, no bad menu for German Hund</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Oskar the great, grand champion of black truffle hunt</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Bamboo pannier, tools inside, angler’s angle, turf creel</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Hardened slushy wild wood windy trails</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Glued to it, red leaves, deep yellow, rotting brown</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Myriad shapes, size, nature’s hand at mosaic art</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Tranquil clear lakes, leaves littered ponds</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Fallen fresh leaves decay drown down, rejuvenate surface</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Broth like hot steam on surface, water fowls paddle, V behind</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Riot of colors of autumn landscape, slothful sun above as well</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Serenity bleeds, a distant remote shot injures stillness</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Terrified flutterings of assorted wings, twice and again a gunfire</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">A Bean-shidh croons, darling bird’s plume in her hands</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Frightened eyes, pounding soul, female of merry pair returns solo</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Tragic numbness clogs up throats, tireless Oskar flirts with hares</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Nature’s bounty basket full, ample catch of singing brooks</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">String of caterpillars, one behind other, journey to pupal homes</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Autumn’s treasures in timber boats, gold leaves, dew diamonds</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Scarlet leaves, rubies, mossy branches, worthy emeralds</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Standing guard, coots and ducks, renounce posts now and then</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Distant swan pair at love making, Oskar guides promenade back</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Against her head, wishes she my shoulder, fogy veil falls heavy</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">The chateau manifests mightily, drifting amidst paradise mist</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">The chateau of delicious souvenirs, where I met Xavi first</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Her grand aunt’s uncle’s only great-grandchild</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">The day I gifted them the love of Oskar, then pup</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">The chateau, it’s every bricks, I love, yes, every bricks</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Every bricks but her adored violin and a photo by it</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">An image of mine trapped frozen in, shreds my heart, zillion cuts</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Every time, her violin ends solo cries, theaters stand applauding</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Few with bleary eyes, most with runny nose</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">No just music, she adept at, kitchen too her orchestral ground</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Regal diné lies ahead, vin jaune, Beaujolais and dirty jokes</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">A week or so more to go</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Far from Xavi, in bosom of a family, my friend of childhood</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">A splendid fair lady, researching net on Victoria lilies</span></span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><br /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyPrC5CUzxIFtj6671W56r2z2FQJGCwyRHBNEP2daHJMjD2frdI8mD84RzoV1N09mYQs_lLWpsPkAQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /></div>Manoranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067496028915031634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28036492.post-38288406770501539092008-02-04T06:57:00.000+05:302008-02-05T12:55:45.817+05:30Khongorzul - Mongolian traditional music - The Long Song tradition<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">[Before starting, this was a strange journey. Of course, music is a strange journey.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Every thing started with the song number “Kora Kagaz Tha Yeh Man Mera” in the Hindi film Aradhana (1969). The song starts with a flute like music, which I mistook for the strong nasal sounding flute, which has a very important place in North-East Indian states, famously called the seven sisters of the North-East. The flute could be a derivative of chinese Dizi, sometimes called Di or Hengdi or its other variants.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">It was the time when DoorDarshan (public television broadcaster of India) was bringing amazing sights and sounds from all over India and </span><a href="http://www.saarc-sec.org/main.php"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">SAARC</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> countries and sometimes occasional Iranian and Chinese movies. This particular strong nasal sounding flute made me to love North-East India, China and their respective musical traditions. This is the same flute variety introduced me </span><a href="http://nawangkhechog.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Nawang Khechog</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">, the great Tibetan flautist, who came to Dharmashala, India along with Dalai Lama, and it is he who made me to love Tibet and Ladakh and their traditional musics.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">So, what is the story all about? Well, when I first heard Khongorzul singing, her voice immediately brought the pictures of vast never-ending deep plains, a typical geographical wonders of Mongolia and the Himalayan sacred kingdoms, cold deserts. Her voice, like the Ladakhis’ and Tibetans’, belongs to great plains. It is unique! And found nowhere in the world.]</span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><a href="http://www.silkroadproject.org/music/artists/khongorzul.html">Khongorzul Ganbaatar</a> is a singer from Mongolia. Her tradition is long song (Mongolian: Уртын дуу, Urtyn duu, sounds like OOr tin DOO) traditional songs. Since, Mongolia has deep vast plains and people shepherding on the back of horses needed a very good way of communication as well as entertainment, they developed this long song tradition.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 14px;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">They are called long songs not because the songs are long, but mainly because each syllable of the text is extended and stretched for longer duration. But in some cases they are indeed long. It is developed and evolved in this way for entertainment along long journeys on vast plains. A four minute song may only consist merely ten words. The long song tradition is declared by UNESCO as one of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masterpieces_of_the_Oral_and_Intangible_Heritage_of_Humanity">Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity</a>.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 14px;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></p> <p face="Helvetica" size="12px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">But the beauty is the majestic voice of Mongolian people, like Khongorzul. To penetrate the deep plains or simply because one can sing at one’s own will since the mighty plains absorb any sound no matter how loud it is, the voice turns into something unique, unique in a sense it does reach not only the other end of the plain but perhaps even the heavens.</span></p><p face="Helvetica" size="12px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I first heard her singing in the album <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">When Strangers Meet</span></span> by <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Silk Road Ensemble</span></span> founded by <a href="http://www.yo-yoma.com/">Yo-Yo Ma</a>. My goodness, it not only cuts deep through the vast plains, but also pierces one’s soul bringing tears of joy. Yes Khongorzul, on hearing your country's music I started to love Mongolia.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 14px;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Thanks <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yo-Yo_Ma">Yo-Yo Ma</a> for introducing this majestic voice and for the initiative of <a href="http://www.silkroadproject.org/">Silk Road Project</a>. Let the Strangers Meet and exchange knowledge and culture.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15kVupa7vVk">Mongolian Traditional Music - The Long Song (Yo-Yo Ma and Khongorzul)</a></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/15kVupa7vVk&rel=1"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/15kVupa7vVk&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></embed></object></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><br /></p><p></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwRAglgFc5E">Urtin Duu (Khongorzul)</a></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/vwRAglgFc5E&rel=1"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/vwRAglgFc5E&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></embed></object></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><br /></p><p></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IYFrnmEXYQ">Khongorzul - Song for a Mother</a> (A masterpiece of it's own kind! Don't miss it.)</p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_IYFrnmEXYQ&rel=1"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_IYFrnmEXYQ&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></embed></object></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p></div>Manoranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067496028915031634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28036492.post-33335889956073291122007-11-29T08:21:00.001+05:302008-04-25T14:53:21.219+05:30My favorite quotes<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Why intellectuals toss their quotes? Dictionary says repeating or copying the exact words spoken or written by someone is called quotes. What they really have in their mind while tossing such quotes? Do they consult and drill through many pages of a dictionary, a thesaurus, trying to put right words in right place, wasting stack of papers, filling the dustbin, emptying the ink-bottles, scratching their heads while pile of hairs comes off between their fingers and nails so that the particular phrase could stand out in their books or article and have a chance to become a quote. Or as in some cases or often in speeches, it is like in-a-jiffy, “Ha! Here you go! Catch a quote!”. It is funny to think that why intellectuals toss their quotes or why we turn their humble phrases into famous quotes.<br /><br />Any way, much burden to some intellectuals’ cardiac tissues and facial muscles to express deep sadness for not picking their quotes, I have my own way of selecting my “quotes”. They are:<br /><ol><li><a href="http://www.tamilnation.org/oneworld/index.htm"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,102)">Yâdhum Ooré Yâvarung Kélir</span></a> <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,102)">(Tamil: யாதும் ஊரே யாவருங் கேளிர்)</span> means <span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: italic">“<span style="COLOR: rgb(204,204,255)">To us all towns are one, All men our kin</span>”</span>. It is the first stanza of a Purananuru (புறநானூறு) poem written by one Kaniyan Poongundran (கணியன் பூங்குன்றன்) who belongs to the laic Sangam literature community, ca. ~4th century BCE.</li><li>The non-secular <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,102)">Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (Sanskrit)</span> means <span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: italic">“<span style="COLOR: rgb(204,204,255)">We all belong to one single cosmic family</span>, from gods, demi-gods, other ‘exobiological’ entities, planets, galaxies, ‘humble’ human beings to neutrinos, neurons, dust and mist.”</span> We all belong to one single cosmic family. It is from Hindu philosophy. Time unknown.</li></ol>Though the above two are my favorites quotes, the following quote, which is also from Hindu philosophy (Rg Védâ, ca 1500 BCE), on creation amazes me all time.<br /><br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,102)">“Who knows and who can say whence it all came and how creation happened? The gods themselves are later than creation. So who knows truly whence it has all reasoned? Only he, who surveys it all from the highest heavens, only he knows. Or perhaps even he does not know.”</span><br /><br />What made this particular philosopher to wonder that the god himself may not be aware of creation or he himself is a creation of creation. He does not start his humble phrases with “God knows everything”, but instead he starts with “Who knows and who can say”. How bold it is? It seems he is not aware of hell, I suppose. And he continues with “The gods themselves are later than creation”. And the final phrase is such an audacious one. “Or perhaps even he, who surveys it all from the highest heavens, even he does not know it. The creation. The origin of creation”. What kind of freedom he enjoyed from his faith to think like this? That too few thousand years ago!<br /><br />So god, who are you? Where are you? I am left with <a href="http://manoba.blogspot.com/2006/05/who-is-god.html">questions</a>, but no answers. Why do you fascinate us, divide us, or creating an <a href="http://manoba.blogspot.com/2007/10/dance-of-my.html">illusion</a> that seems you are dividing us? Why not stand shoulder to shoulder with man and beast? Why do you haunt us? Why don’t you just leave us making us immortal fearless spirits? Just questions, nothing more. Or perhaps even he does not know the answers for the above questions.<br /><br />Anyway, it is too funny to think about quotes and the intellectuals behind them.</div>Manoranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067496028915031634noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28036492.post-44038035503437990912007-11-28T07:05:00.000+05:302007-11-28T23:00:11.763+05:30Cultural eunuchism in India<div style="text-align: justify;">Recently someone added a comment to one of my videos on YouTube. The video is about lyrics, translation and explanation of a music/dance number of one Indian regional language film. The person whose mother tongue is that regional language itself, expressed his inability to understand the lyrics and the literature of that language. And interestingly, this person lives in that region and not in other country where he is obliged to learn things in that country’s language.<br /><br />The language in question is one among the eight classical languages of the world. Among this eight elite group, it is one of the few living classical languages and holds a unique position that, among hundreds of thousands of world languages, this is the one and only language which held conferences, intellectual and academic gatherings to beautify it and ameliorate it in the fields of literature, music, dance and theater. This language is often discussed among linguist - for a possible motherhood - to create a link from this language to other languages like Japanese, Finno-Ugric, and even isolated languages like Korean and Basque, but not the other way around. This language has an unbroken literary tradition spanning over more than 3-4 millennia till current date, as few film songs employ some 4th century BCE poems as if they were written just the day before.<br /><br />Same kind of elaborate discussion on the above language can be attributed to the two great music tradition of India, folkloric music traditions, the eight classical dance forms and other folkloric dances, Indian gastronomy, other Indian arts like painting or martial arts, Indian lifestyle and dress codes, the Indian sacred texts like the four Vedas, more than hundred Upanishads, the two great epics, numerous Puranas, Mimamsas, Smrithis, Siddhantas, Samhitas, Sruthis, Shastras, Sutras, Stotras, Tantras, Vedhantas, Aranyakas, Brahmanas, their sub categories, sub-sub categories, the secular and non-laic literature available in classical languages and other more than thousand languages. And the dimensions of the very soul of everything, the Indian civilization, themselves are something truly mind-boggling.<br /><br />For every Indian, no matter of religion, caste, creed, or language, the proud moment of joy must be to understand that this vast, time-tested, incredibly subtle and genius, error corrected, refined, re-refined knowledge has survived all the odds since the civilizational foundations were laid and passed on to us. It is a great privilege bestowed on Indians, and not on any other parts on the earth, to have access to this ancient knowledge, store it in our brain and process it. Imagine how capable would be Indian brains to process such a huge amount of knowledge, say since some five thousand years, if Indians go by their own tradition and culture. Additionally there is still enough room in brains for the Indians to be lawyers, doctors, poets, mathematicians, pilots, IT geeks, tourist guides, humble drivers, be faithful to other religions, to learn other languages or to appreciate other cultures whatever the form they may take. In plain words turning our attention to our own culture is a great invaluable exercise for the gray muscles, which is available only to Indians. Imagine what kind of new generations the Indians can produce?<br /><br />But what the Indians (I don’t prefer the words “majority of Indians”) do is, they simply abandon everything Indian and go for “look west” policy since their childhood and having difficulties understanding their own culture and mother tongue, like the person who posted comments on my video (I guess he would have probably been sold to “English medium” and have taken a “western path” to acquire knowledge). The Indian tradition is absorbing everything and turning it into uniquely Indian anchored deeply in Indian tradition. This was the case till the colonization, the worst episode of the Indian culture, before which we didn’t lose the economic might.<br /><br />It’s justifiable to admire economically superior nations and upto some extent imitate their culture, when a nation has an inferior economy. The Mesopotamians did so when the Harappans were placed at the peak of their civilizational comforts. The Romans, Greeks and mainly the Arabs did the same, heavily borrowed and propagated Indian riches and knowledge, of course adding their own contributions. The Europeans followed the course, borrowed heavily from the Arabs and got a renaissance. Even the redoubtable Japanese did the same after the World War II and got more or little americanized. But no one abandoned their culture or the languages of their own mothers.<br /><br />If we just have a glance at the Indian film culture, music industries, media, it is stuffed with western influence, from language, music, stealing Hollywood bikini culture, to McDonald’s, Pizza Huts and Coffee Shops. I really don’t understand what NY caps and T-Shirts got to do with Mangalore or Shilong or Tawang. Since the media is city dwellers puppets, it corrupts even the remotest villages in Tripura and Ladakh. I hate the media most when I happened to see advertisements like these (shame on people who endorse such ads):<br /><br /><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-3C9hkCuZv0&rel=1"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-3C9hkCuZv0&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br /><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/KXVXqPvNGYg&rel=1"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/KXVXqPvNGYg&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />It is pure and simple cultural eunuchism. No matter what you try, skin level or effin’ li’l English, you are not going to be an American or European. Neither an Indian, with a thick skull of no cultural values. Foreign languages and cultures are supposed to complement someone’s knowledge and his cultural background, but definitely not to replace them.<br /><br />India, such a great civilization, mother to great thoughts, philosophies and sciences, while still very much ready to be alive with her traditions, why her younger generations more and more abandoning their cultural values? Why not proud of Indianess? Why not proud of belonging to a great civilization?<br /><br />It is because of this cultural values, the processing ability of tonnes and tonnes of information by our brains passed on to us by our fathers and fore-fathers, India shattered her quasi-socialist protectionism, plugged herself into the global economy, faced all the consequences and now in result getting respect from every corner of the world. Is it permissible to turn the fertile minds, the new generation who are going to represent the new India, into barren consumerism-drugged monotonic wasteland resembling some vague occicentric pathetic egos?</div>Manoranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067496028915031634noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28036492.post-52326567672121410362007-10-22T18:14:00.000+05:302007-11-28T07:04:46.510+05:30Dance of Mâyâ<div style="text-align: justify;">In Indian mythology, Mâyâ, the illusion, is considered as the sister of Lord Vishnu, the protector among the divine trinity: Brahmâ – the creator, Vishnu – the preserver and Shîva – the destroyer. They are the three important manifestations of the Nâdha Brahman, the ultimate reality, the origin of creation, which wears the form of sound. They occupy certain sort of ‘posts’ than being gods. Or, in other words, they represent three important phases of the life cycle of any objects: birth, existence, and death. A star born out of gaseous stellar clouds by acquiring gravity, starts to fuse hydrogen to fuel it’s existence, and finally dies either as supernova burst or neutron star, or black hole (one fine day even the neutron star or black hole dies out). This divine trinity applies from humans, five elements, protons to even the large scale cosmos.<br /><br />Vishnu sometimes does the job of creation and destruction to maintain harmony (dharma), but it is more or less like a human body creates and destroys cells between ultimate beginning and ultimate annihilation, that is during its existence. He employs the power of his sister, Mâyâ, the illusion to fine tune his job to hide the secrets of birth, death and existence. And makes the humans a bunch of morons for thinking that they possess the dominating intellectual superiority among other beings.<br /><br />Mâyâ creates an illusionary world, where a 4D space looks ultimately real for a being who is gifted to sense just only the 4Ds and this applies to 2D, 3D up to nD. In other words, whatever the capacity of a given species to sense things, it is unable to look beyond it’s capacity and the world within it’s range of ability looks supreme real to that species. Par example, for humans, what we see, sense, invent, our maths seem real, but for the species who can sense 6Ds, all our observations seem ridiculous and primitive.<br /><br />The dance of Mâyâ is everywhere. Observe, how just the distance reduce our ability to see things differently. A sun or moon close to our earth, at the same time distanced by few astronomical units looks no more like a sphere, but a round two dimensional disk. The stars further away, look point like single dimensional objects. If I am a scorpion, from earth perspective the constellation may look like a scorpion. But if we bring the entire constellation in 3D or nD to our table, from X axis perspective it may look like a peacock and Y axis it may look like a tiger.<br /><br />Strange even, how the same distance distorts the time and makes us believe the past as present when we observe the stars. A star viewed from earth dieing today is actually died out millions of years ago and the light simply took such a long time to reach earth due to the mind boggling intergalactic distance. But we see it as an event of that night!<br /><br />The color of my red sweater looks red to you and me. But for an ox, which is color blind or for a butterfly, which can see even beyond the VIBGYOR spectrum, my attire looks differently. For a being which is equipped with sophisticated organs to see and sense 4Ds and much more see my red pull differently. So, the red garment looks red to only the human beings. But not forcibly for all the beings on earth, let alone other species of this entire cosmos.<br /><br />It is just because of the dance of Mâyâ, Newton’s theory became false when Einstein revealed his models of relativity. One great day Einstein’s theory will definitely become absurd when someone starts to see things differently. It is just because of the dance of Mâyâ, so many technologies became obsolete. What we have devised so far, our modern mathematics, our modern science and research, all are just hopeless tools, which help us to lead just a comfortable life for humans (just only for humans) on this planet earth, but not to find the truth behind our life on this mighty cosmos.<br /><br />Is it possible to find the elementary particle of this illusion? Just like the graviton for gravity? It seems that Mâyâ continues to dance her dance of illusion in this consumption driven stale modern mad world, which contributes a large number of devolution factors affecting our genes. That is why the wise Hindu philosophers said in one Upanishad:<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center; color: rgb(102, 102, 204);">Om, asato ma sad gamaya<br />Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya<br />Mrtyor ma mrtam gamaya<br /><br />Om, Shanthi, Shanthi, Shanthi<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Oh! Om, the ultimate reality, From delusion lead me to truth, From darkness lead me to light, From death lead me to immortality. Oh! Om, you who wear the formal form of music, the sacred sound of this mighty cosmos, Shanthi, peace, to the interior world, Shanthi to the exterior world, Shanthi to the world which I have no ability to sense.</div><iframe id="AnswersBalloonIframe" src="javascript:false" style="border: medium none ; z-index: 99998; position: absolute; width: 490px; height: 306px; visibility: hidden; background-color: transparent; top: 1170px; left: 89px; margin-left: 10px; margin-top: 10px;"></iframe><div style="width: 490px; position: absolute; visibility: hidden; z-index: 99999; text-align: left; top: 1146px; left: 89px;" id="AnswersBalloon"><div id="AnswerTipHook" style="background-image: url(http://www.answers.com/main/images/hook-topL.gif); width: 67px; height: 24px; margin-left: 25px; position: relative; top: 10px;"></div><div class="AnswersHeader"><div class="AnswersHeaderInner" id="AnswersHandle0" style="cursor: move;" handlefor="AnswersBalloon"><div class="AnswersHeader1"><a style="float: right;" onclick="var ac = document.getElementById('answertipClose'); if (ac) ac.innerHTML='close'; else window.status='close'; return true;"><img id="AnswersCloseImage" style="margin-right: 10px; position: relative; cursor: pointer;" alt="Close" src="http://www.answers.com/main/images/close.gif" align="top" border="0" /></a><a id="AnswertipMore" target="AnswersQueryWindow" onclick="var ac = document.getElementById('answertipClose'); if (ac) ac.innerHTML='close'; else window.status='close';return true;" style="float: right; text-decoration: none; visibility: hidden; padding-right: 10px; margin-top: 9px;"><span class="AnswersHeader3"> Read more >> </span></a><a id="AnswertipOptions" onclick="var ac = document.getElementById('answertipClose'); if (ac) ac.innerHTML='options'; else window.status='options';return true;" style="float: right; text-decoration: none; padding-right: 10px; margin-top: 9px; cursor: pointer;"><span class="AnswersHeader3"> Options >> </span></a></div><div><a style="float: left;" href="http://www.answers.com/"><img id="AnswersLogoImage" style="" alt="Visit Answers.com" src="http://www.answers.com/main/images/answers-logo.gif" align="top" border="0" /></a></div></div><div id="Answers_frame" class="AnswersContentFrame"><table id="Balloontable2" class="donotmoveme" style="width: 480px; float: left;"><tbody><tr><td> <div id="Answertip" style="overflow: hidden; height: 235px; width: 473px;"></div> <div id="answertipClose" style="display: none;"></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="AnswersFooter" id="Answers_footer"><div style="width: 470px; height: 22px; float: left;"><iframe id="AnswersAds" allowtransparency="true" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; width: 100%; height: 22px;" src="http://www.answers.com/main/tip2.jsp?s=which%20contributes%20devolution%20factors%20to%20%20&wt=1&nafid=&cobrand=" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></div> </div></div></div>Manoranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067496028915031634noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28036492.post-12871966163947205492007-07-22T00:21:00.000+05:302007-10-21T23:28:33.716+05:30When love engulfs me...<div style="text-align: justify;">It was one of my friends who asked me to write more as she wants to hear from me more. Since I have no time to write something afresh, I dusted down this poem written in early 2002, which I tried in French as I wanted to augment my vocabulary (which never worked anyway). I was in third level and it was after 160 hours of class in French (around 4 months) I wrote this poem entitled “Quand l’amour m’engouffre...” meaning “When love engulfs me...”.<br /><br />I really have no clue at all about what will happen when love engulfs someone since it never ever happened to me. The Indian cupid, Manmatha, got bored of and turned his back to me very long ago, after trying with all his pretty interesting equipments: sugarcane as bow, line of honeybees as bowstring, five fragrant flowers as arrows, cuckoo and parrot as his companions and attended by nymphs, spring as his preferred season, breeze as his chariot displaying fish banner, rainbow as his horse or whatever and so on.<br /><br />The poem pasted a smile on my face as I went through it. It was full of mistakes, naive and stupid words as any French can observe it from the very title, strong vocabulary in inappropriate place, etc. So, here you go. I didn’t change much while translating from the original. If it set a tiny smiley on your face, I would be more than happy.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center; color: rgb(153, 153, 255);"><span style="color: rgb(204, 102, 204);font-size:180%;" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);"><span style="color: rgb(204, 102, 204);">When love engulfs me...</span></span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center; color: rgb(255, 153, 255);"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">M</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">elting are my heart and soul. Lakes turned tender long ago.</span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">Arrogant are cherries of blossom. Care a damn bees.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">To the humming, butterflies dance. Oh! Danseurs nobles!</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">I am hopping here and there. It is flower strewn trail.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">Excuse me, calls someone. I scan trees for cuckoo.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">I turn to see this girl approaching. Descending fresh from paradise.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">Pretty shame, I lost my language. Beautiful! Just sighs my mind.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">My heart does thousand leaps as she hops avoiding flowers down.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">Are you lover of flowers, plays she harp. Carnivore eyes feed my heart.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">Yes, never seen such huge flower say I searching her eyes.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">She smiled, making flowers drop dead of shame.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">We did the path together. Eyes crossed swords. Mind swung me to her.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">Sun menaced to fall westward. Worried I of his envy.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">It is time to go, said she making void inside me.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">S</span>un showers gold on splendid landscapes, spreading warmth till heart.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">We meet in park, speak a lot, discover days are short.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">I strip my senses as her thoughts replace them, like serpent.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">I occupy little space in this mighty world, but I traverse everywhere.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">Day was drizzling. Sun set himself amber. There a rainbow in east.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">That day, I told her I started counting all stars in sky.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">I started counting all bubbles in my bread, she replied.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">I live in cocoon, I revealed. Am I in your heart asked she.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">Our troubled eyes met. She kissed me. I hugged her to my soul.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">That moment we exchanged the parole of life. The language of heart.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">Paths in heaven, clouds, moon, stars, all started to know me well.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">Hillside, rocks, lakes, trees, feathery friends, started to know us well.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">Fairies speak in my ears, nowadays. Always telephones speak to us.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">Don’t ask me where I live. It is warmth of her heart.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">H</span>ill-scape turns sad as maples already caught fire.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">Sombre clouds promenade together. Wind tries to hunt them down.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">Vague desire grows like waves. Serenity disobeys.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">Air is chill. Misty fogs embrace hill. But the pines seem negligent.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">When rains we prefer go out under a single umbrella.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">When is brumous we prefer chase-snailing inside one single jacket.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">Fallen leaves ride wind-horse. Not forgetting their destiny, earth.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">Some hides-and-seeks with breeze. Some plays with me. I await her.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">There she is at distance. She replies me to my waving.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">No, wait! She is not my girl. But she approaches me even so.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">Who is she, a Venus? No doubt! Where goes the path, asks she.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">I guide her. Thanking me she sends a kiss in air from distance.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">I reply same. True beauty say I turning. There stands she, my other part.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">Speaking null, menacing tears heavy in eyes, she left me ahead I utter word.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">S</span>ail-powered snow flakes combat storm. Pines bear whitey white caps.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">Deafening silence all around. I am all alone. Worthless my explanations.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">Far from her, bleeds my heart. I am no more in her heart, but head.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">Frigidly frosty cruel love engulfs me. Take a pen I commence writing.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">“Lakes get-go freezing. Glaciers turn emerald feeding on worthy algae.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">The swan awaits his female. But, more glacial is she than icy poles.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">Nevertheless he waits. Dying is he of biting cold. Bit by bit his soul faints.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">Heart-mind distance pains his soul. No dreams. Painful wings. No flight.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">Determined is he, will wait her forever. His life worth void without her.”</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">I cried aloud calling God! Fine sunshine warmth inside! Replied she finally.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">“Nemesis at game. Swan turns dream, ethereal, thinning, thinks of you.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">Fragile she dying chanting you. Send her breath, a word of mercy.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">Present your presence, warmth of kiss. Lives she, hugging tight your soul.”</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">Glorious is sky. Wind opens window. Dripping are ice icicle.</span></div>Manoranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067496028915031634noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28036492.post-65007690669936232732007-07-06T22:05:00.000+05:302007-07-14T21:52:08.189+05:30Indian martial arts and Kalarippayattu<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="display: inline;" id="vidDescRemain">Kalari is a very tiny and surviving fragment of ancient Indian martial art called 'Varma Kalai'. Varma is the mother of all martial arts which spread across Asia through Hinduism and Buddhism.</span><br /><span style="display: inline;" id="vidDescRemain"></span><br /><span style="display: inline;" id="vidDescRemain">Proof:</span><br /><ol><li><span style="display: inline;" id="vidDescRemain">Similarities could be found in Chinese, Tibetan, Sri Lankan, etc. dance, music, martial arts with Indian arts. E.g. Therukootthu, Kathakali (flamboyant facial make-ups), Kerala Chenda drums, the rhythm all are adopted in China, Tibet, Japan and other south-eastern countries in the form of Lion, Dragon dances' flamboyant decorations, drums, rhythm, etc.</span></li><li><span style="display: inline;" id="vidDescRemain">Similarities could be found between martial arts and Mudras (symbolic gestures) of yoga & Indian classical dances, and their movements. Probably dance, martial arts and yoga all might have evolved at the same time along with music, meditation, etc. They share the common property of being melodic.</span></li></ol><span style="display: inline;" id="vidDescRemain">There are several categories in Varma: NOkku (vision) Varmam, Thattu Varmam (deals with treatments and defense based on vital points), Chandra (moon) Varmam, Surya (sun) Varmam, usage of weapons on vital points, Varma treatments for animals, etc. In local tongue often Varma is called as "Marma", which may not be correct. The word "Varma" doesn't have a Sanskrit origin as in "Varn(m)a - color". Varumam in Tamil means vital points (there are other meanings too).</span><br /><span style="display: inline;" id="vidDescRemain"></span><br /><span style="display: inline;" id="vidDescRemain">These techniques are extensively developed by Siddhas (well known for their Ayurvedic and alchemy works), who dwelt in mountains of South India, especially Tamil Nadu. Even today, there are legends around Courtralam, Suruli, Pazhani and Nilgiri hills, which speak about surviving Siddhas till date, who have eventually achieved longevity through their knowledge in Ayurveda, alchemy, meditation, etc.<br /><br />Sadly, many of these techniques are lost due to the Guru's fear of misuse on co- species (as we humans are notorious for turning any scientific works, bar none, into weapons of destruction), and thus they refused to transfer the knowledge to others, including to their own descendants. This happened particularly, when Buddhism turned into political movement and the Buddhists started to learn these arts for their political gains.</span><br /><span style="display: inline;" id="vidDescRemain"></span><br /><span style="display: inline;" id="vidDescRemain">However tiny fragments of Varma survived in the form of literature, mainly Tamil & Malayalam, and got the attention of Gurus in Kerala, a small state in south India, arround ~15-17th centuries, and became Kalarippayattu. This famous traditional training of Kalari of Kerala, is always done inside the Kalari (literally, threshing floor or battlefield), which is a specially constructed practice area. Payattu means 'exercise in arms or practice'.</span><br /><span style="display: inline;" id="vidDescRemain"></span><br /><span style="display: inline;" id="vidDescRemain">A few centuries back in Kerala, quarrels between local kings were resolved by fixing an Ankam (war), a duel to the death, between two Ankachekavars (Kalari fighters), each ruler being represented by one Ankachekavar. The ruler represented by the surviving Ankachekavar was considered the winner.</span></div><br />For more details: <a href="http://www.sangam.org/taraki/articles/2006/02-10_Thamizhar_Martial_Arts.php?uid=1510">Thamizhar Martial Arts</a><br /><br />A glimpse of Kalari Payattu.<br /><br /><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4YmA46x7Xok"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4YmA46x7Xok" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="350" width="425"></embed></object>Manoranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067496028915031634noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28036492.post-43142426105912351212007-07-06T21:33:00.000+05:302007-07-11T22:29:15.101+05:30Song of a clapper from a distant evening church<div style="text-align: justify;">Below is a poem I wrote late monsoon 2004 and got published in my former employer's magazine. It was after a trip to Koorg (State of Karnataka, India), where I got drenched till my heart content in the slapping, acupuncturing monsoon rain at Thala Kaveri, a serene place where the mighty Kaveri river takes birth and where the misty clouds give her a motherly hug. Always!<br /><br />After the return, I sensed the emptiness and the deafening silence in the cities and in office, stacked with traffic, competition, politics, mud slinging, leg pulling, ignorance and the irritating long list of words which are the essential part of cities. So that goes here.<br /></div><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 204);">Clouds drizzle the rainy scent. Golden rays illumine the ornamental world.</span><br /><div style="text-align: right; color: rgb(102, 102, 204);"> There shines a rainbow.<br /></div><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 204);">With one single whip, greatest heights of the mighty city fall hastily</span><br /><div style="text-align: right; color: rgb(102, 102, 204);"> behind the noble horses.<br /></div><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 204);">Criers of war cry a war cry. Battle is taken as the gust of dust takes</span><br /><div style="text-align: right; color: rgb(102, 102, 204);"> the sand dunes.<br /></div><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 204);">It passes through the deaf carrion birds, the sour melody of sore death hymn.</span><br /><div style="text-align: right; color: rgb(102, 102, 204);"> Along goes the gentle breeze.<br /></div><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 204);">Not the whetted swords, the adept wrists wearing shinning bracelets</span><br /><div style="text-align: right; color: rgb(102, 102, 204);"> exhibit a dexterous brutality.<br /></div><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 204);">Flocks of migratory birds migrate. Painful wings let fall their feathers,</span><br /><div style="text-align: right; color: rgb(102, 102, 204);"> all the way down the windy town.<br /></div><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 204);">Leaving them dance a paper dance. Fingers spend lifetimes. Stanzas are re-refined.</span><br /><div style="text-align: right; color: rgb(102, 102, 204);"> Criticism engulfs the world.<br /></div><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 204);">Lungs gulp down blackened air. Gills breath heavy water. Plastics gnaw the gorgeous</span><br /><div style="text-align: right; color: rgb(102, 102, 204);"> lush green meadows.<br /></div><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 204);">Extinction is the finalized destiny for fragile species. Purpose of industry and its</span><br /><div style="text-align: right; color: rgb(102, 102, 204);"> revolution meet the standards.<br /></div><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 204);">Two vigorous arms of time slap back and forth, ensuring the everlasting</span><br /><div style="text-align: right; color: rgb(102, 102, 204);"> slavery of human kind.<br /></div><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 204);">In the name of progress and chic, under their cruel regards, traditions and cultures,</span><br /><div style="text-align: right; color: rgb(102, 102, 204);"> once coloured a beautiful world, vanish.<br /></div><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 204);">Ashes of native communities, their gods, their fairy-tale believes and even their death</span><br /><div style="text-align: right; color: rgb(102, 102, 204);"> beds of existence-struggle mound.<br /></div><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 204);">Key to beauty path is ever lost. Shattered and battered, the splendour of tireless</span><br /><div style="text-align: right; color: rgb(102, 102, 204);"> and timeless ancestral foundations.<br /></div><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 204);">Grandchildren’s dreams are devoured, letting them having nightmares of a</span><br /><div style="text-align: right; color: rgb(102, 102, 204);"> mesmerizing blue planet turns into red.<br /></div><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 204);">No innovations and inventions left untransformed into weapons. No exclusion. The</span><br /><div style="text-align: right; color: rgb(102, 102, 204);"> religions and even Ahimsa.<br /></div><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 204);">There smiles a ghastly smile, the sixth sense. And weeps the humanity.</span><br /><div style="text-align: right; color: rgb(102, 102, 204);"> Where hides the harmony?<br /></div><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 204);">Bees buzz. Trees stand in perennial blossom. Springs pass through the golden wheat.</span><br /><div style="text-align: right; color: rgb(102, 102, 204);"> Where goes the road to future?</div>Manoranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067496028915031634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28036492.post-1148374930039795062006-05-23T14:25:00.002+05:302007-11-29T08:55:07.375+05:30Beauty Path<p align="justify">The world is breathtakingly colorful when we see it through different cultures, languages and believes. Even if the entire world is transformed into some sort of hippie or rainbow culture, at a certain point we will start feeling ho-hum and try to turn back the time wheel and reinvent our made-extinct cultures. No one likes to watch a BW TV once they have watched the color ones.</p><p align="justify">We lost so many cultures, its followers and their believes in the name of progress and our quest to dominate our own human race. Many of the remaining cultures and their hopes of survival are hanging by the edge of a worn thread. Even if we have the sense of rebuilding them, we prefer sorry-no-time excuse since we are all well set to chase hard every single step of technology and bourses’ ups and lows. And so it goes!</p><p align="justify">Following words are taken from the album “<span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">Ahimsa</span>” by K.J. Yesudas and others. The song “<span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">Beauty All Around</span>” in the album is based on the <span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">American Indian </span> poetry edited by late George Cronyn.<br /><br />Adapted from traditional poetry of the <span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">Dineh people</span> (<span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">Navajo</span>), this composition is dedicated to all the native communities that have vanished in the name of progress, and to all those descendants that are now rebuilding their cultures on the timeless foundations of their ancestors. The Native American’s “Beauty Path” is peace, stewardship, and a reverent awe for life.</p><p align="center"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 204);">Beauty behind me<br />As I turn,<br />Beauty before me<br />Now I learn.<br />The timeless dance,<br />The song of wonder,<br />Oh...<br />Beauty All Around.<br />Ageless creation<br />Below,<br />Endless horizons<br />Above,<br />A shining star,<br />With it I wander,<br />Beauty<br />Above me,<br />Beauty<br />Below me,<br />Oh...<br />Beauty All Around</span></p>Manoranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067496028915031634noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28036492.post-1148072109588790052006-05-20T01:55:00.000+05:302007-07-11T21:25:37.098+05:30Who is god?<div align="justify">You and me are now encapsulated in a very convenient cosmic bubble floating through an imaginary (or really exists?) space called <span style="font-style: italic;">‘<span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 102);">Undom</span>’</span> which houses numerous cosmoses. Every single cosmos is a home for <span style="font-style: italic;">multiverses</span>, not single <span style="font-style: italic;">'uni'verse</span> but many universes. Trillions of billions of galaxies float amidst a strange dark matter which fills each universes.<br /><br />Now our bubble starts moving towards a <span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 153, 102);">cosmos</span> and then enters into one of its <span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 153, 102);">universes</span>. It seems that it is under the command of some unnatural power which guides it towards a zillions of star studded <em><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 102);">galaxy</span></em> called <span style="font-style: italic;">Milky Way</span>. The bubble is attracted towards the <span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 153, 102);">habitable zone</span> of a middle aged <em><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 102);">star</span></em> called <span style="font-style: italic;">Sun</span>. If <em><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 102);">planets</span></em> exist within this zone then they can home evolved <em><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 102);">life forms</span></em>. Planets falling under such zone are rare in other stars. But we are fortunate enough. Two planets falling under sun’s habitable zone, a <span style="font-style: italic;">red Mars</span> and a <span style="font-style: italic;">blue Earth</span>, come into our view. We finally realize that the supernatural power is the spell of the blue beauty. Our other friends are directed towards some other planets of unknown cosmoses.<br /><br />Now where did we see god during our journey? Where he lives actually? Beyond cosmos? Beyond ‘Undom’? Does he have a farm house where he cultivates these cosmoses, or a sort of experimental laboratory, or an aquarium? Who lives with him? His spouse, a gay companion with all his lovely children? How many cohabitants live with him? What is that place called? Under whose command he works? Where his master lives? Question are infinite as our imagination is infinite.<br /><br />If he lives beyond ‘Undom’ how did we come to know about his very existence. We are not even sure about our own world. In some part of the world some believed that the world was flat. There could be intellectual beings living beneath the unfathomable depths of mighty oceans. Did god show up in the world and gave us some commandments to convert all people to some religion by giving them soups, rice and medicines? Or gave us Veda and ordered us to practice caste and creed. Or created man first and then from his ribs woman next? Or handed over some sacred texts to master slavery to build Pyramids?<br /><br />Or does he live everywhere? Inside neutrinos, neurons, dust and mist? If yes, that means he is energy. If that is the case, he has to share his power with demons. In other words, god and devil are one and the same since force is made up of energy and anti-energy. Or energy is made up force and anti-force. Like matter and anti-mater or day and night or masculine and feminine. So there is no room for god alone. Who is plus and who is minus is again a question. Why not devil possesses plus and god tries to eliminate him since he got minus? If god rules the world then there should not be male chauvinism (It is terribly pity to know how crooked human minds are, since they dominate their own female counterparts), slavery, color of skin, religion, political borders, and so on. Under demon's reign we cannot even witness a bit of order everywhere in the chaotically complex world. Or god is goddess and demon is god!? And both are man and wife!!!<br /><br />Does he reside somewhere inside the cosmos? Then he is a mere space traveler from some other planet, an alien, just landed on earth accidentally and tried to reproduce (or experimented) with the species of this planets. So there came people with elephant head and human body (Indian Ganesha), human head with lion body (Egyptian sphinx), eagle or hummingbird head and human body (Aztec’s belief)? One such reproduction turned monkey into apes and then into humans?<br /><br />This could be more than a mere possibility. While leaving earth they erased all concrete clues of their visit. Or, in the course of time, humans quest to dominate their own race and other species, they destroyed numerous evidences (To prove they are superior. Not you and me). Ask historians, they will lament how just one single religion made vanished so many evidences and how that hurdles their researches.<br /><br />Or, are we mere chemical process, evolved from membrane protected simple organism to viruses to fishes to mammals to apes from the result of complex random evolution process, and finally achieving higher level consciousness thanks to superior neural evolution? And then, human beings, like other species, are consumed by fear. Fear of nature, of fire, of sun, of lightning, of sea, of earth quake and so on. Our intelligence fueled this fear up to extreme extend. And our power of imagination added heads, hands, legs, bodies and soul to this fear. Our ability to represent imagination in pictorial form finally created god and demon. Another possibility! But, sure something unnatural happened in the remote past. And our fear fueled remaining.<br /><br />In India, one of oldest worship form is goddess worship (As in most of the ancient world. Later replaced by god worship). Goddess Kâli or Shakti (The very word <span style="font-style: italic;">Shakti</span> literally means <span style="font-style: italic;">energy</span>) is depicted with ten hands holding various weapons, sitting on a lion and the overall setup gives a fierce look. But yet her face and her eyes gives a motherly look. A possible fusion of force and anti-force? Most of the ancient world believed in such figures. Egyptian god with cat head and human body (since cat helped farmers of Nile delta by killing rats) and snake god worship (snakes did similar job as their Nile counterparts) and so on.<br /><br />So, seeing good in bad or bad in good is up to the individual’s choice. And we know good (no matter it has plus sign or minus sign) means not hurting others, including other species of moving or immobile in nature and contributing to the cosmic harmony. And believe it for sure, every wrongdoing has its own punishment, just like every force has its counterpart anti-force. Sooner or later it is sure imminent.</div>Manoranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067496028915031634noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28036492.post-1147544920599639572006-05-13T23:58:00.000+05:302007-07-11T21:37:12.687+05:30Slippery steps of science<div align="justify">We don’t know when this turn happened. Or why it happened. We started believing in things if only approved by modern science. We try hard to find equations everywhere to reason things. Why not just trust the good old ancient world? Why the ageless cultures are getting thin and fading? Recently, I happened to hear a hot discussion on astrology by some young college kids who were lavishly commenting on the imbecility of Chinese, Greeks and others.<br /><br />So, why ancients believed that stars control life? I firmly believe that our forefathers are no stupid as we folks think. We know astrology is pure math. Moreover, in biological point of view, all beings are made up of cells, DNA, etc (primarily proteins, bases and acids). The bonds between proteins, bases and acids are vulnerable to changes due to heat, chemical reactions and chiefly radiation. Any changes in these bonds during cell division are called mutations. Good mutations, say germline, somatic and neural mutations, lead to evolution, from simple being to complex being. Bad mutations cause diseases like cancers. Stars are the main sources of radiation and planets absorb, sometimes modify and then reflect these radiation. So, every day, every nanosecond stars and planets affect each celled organism and thus their behavior. Astrology (True ancient astrology. Whether it exist today is a question) could be considered as a tool to calculate these very changes.<br /><br />Now, who told our ancestors such things? As an Indian, I always wonder about Indian mythology. Ten incarnations of Vishnu (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar">see Avatar</a>) actually speak about evolution. For us, Kaalachakra (circle of time) is the seed of the cosmos. In modern science time stretches from minus infinity (infinite past) to zero (present) to plus infinity (infinite future). Whereas, in Kaalachakra, time is not regarded as a straight line but a circle and any points can be considered as past, present or future. This is why anything related to time is regarded cyclic in nature: incarnation, musical notes, etc. Also they believed in the existence of many worlds (not a flat earth) and time in these worlds differs accordingly. Some man days is equal to one day in Indra’s (king of gods or angelic people) world, some Indra days is equal to one day in Brahma’s (the creator) world, etc. Today we know massive bodies like planets and stars make shrink not only space but the time as well and thus time varies in these heavenly bodies.<br /><br />Likewise, other great ideas exist in other venerable cultures like Egyptian, Mayan, Chinese, Inuit (the right word for Eskimo, since Eskimo is considered pejorative and even racist) and so on. We cannot simply reject these believes as lunatic thoughts since we cannot explain each and every thing using mathematic formulas with our so very limited knowledge. The main problem is, modern science originated in a place where the good old traditions and cultures are completely made extinct due to war between tribal people, then by invading Romans and then by religions. Even in this scientifically well advanced world we have hard time to understand these notions and other people’s culture (or even our own). This we call as Maya, the illusion, the illusionary world!</div>Manoranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067496028915031634noreply@blogger.com0