I've tried to translate a very beautiful Gujarati ghazal into Hindi. You can find the original ghazal sung by Manhar Udhas in a YouTube video here. The original poem was written by Saif Palanpuri.
Shant chilman pe
Shant chilman pe raah dekhti
Roop ki rani dekhi thi
Maine ek shaahzadi dekhi thi
Uske hath ki mehandi hansti thi
Uski aankhon ka kaajal hansta tha
Ek chhota sa upvan jaise
Mausam dekhke khilta tha
Uski muskaan me sau sau geet the
Uska choop rehna jaise sangeet tha
Use parchhai ki thi lagan
Use pagrav ke sath preet thi
Woh maujosi uchhalti thi
Aur pawan ki tarah lehraati thi
Koi muskurake saamne aaye to
Bahut pyarbhara sharmati thi
Use yauvan ki duayein thi
Uski sab musibatein door thi
Uska pyar paane ke liye
Khud kudrat bhi aatur thi
Saalon baad aaj firse wahi chilman dekhta hoon
Wahan geet nahi, sangeet nahi hain
Wahan pagrav ke sath preet nahi hai
Wahan sapno ka mahal nahi
Aur bhaavnaon ka khel nahi hai
Bahut suna suna lagta hai
Bahut dard bhara lagta hai
Woh na thi meri premika aur
na hi thi meri mangetar
Maine to sirf shant chilman pe
raah dekhte dekha tha
Kaun thi woh naam tha kya
Wo bhi main kaha janta hoon
Firbhi dil ko aaj
Dard jaisa lagta hai
Bahut soona soona lagta hai
Note #1: Shivani and Neerav have helped me in choosing appropriate words in this poem. I'm thankful to both of them for the help.
Note #2: Pagrav = the sound of a walk; Chilman = balcony;
November 28, 2009
November 15, 2009
My favourite movie quotes
I have consolidated the list of my favourite quotes from different Hindi and English movies. Some of them are not-so-famous but are my favourite. The list is not comprehensive. I'll make another list and post it when I come across good quotes in future.
'Khubsoorat kuch nahi rehta. Sab kuch khokhla ho jaata hai.' (Translation: Nothing remains beautiful. Everything goes hollow.) - Guru
['Did she leave you or did you leave her?'] 'Love left us.' - Life in a Metro
'... I'm also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.' - Notting Hill
'... Haan mujhe lajja aati hai...' (Translation: Yes I feel ashamed...) - Lajja
'I'm not a smart man... but I know what love is.' - Forrest Gump
'When it comes to love, we are all in the dark.' - Kinsey
'Would you stop thinking about what everyone wants? Stop thinking about what I want, what he wants, what your parents want. What do you want? What do you want?' - The Notebook
'Babumoshai, humari mushkil maloom hai kya hai... hum aanewale gum ko kheech-taankar aajki khushipe la dete hai aur us khushime zahar ghol dete hai' (Translation: Do you know what our problem is... we drag tomorrow's worries into today's happiness and poison that happiness.) - Anand
['I am trying to find out why people hate this book so' - 'You told them their grandmothers and their daughters are masturbating, having premarital sex, sex with each other. What did you expect?'] 'Some respect.' - Kinsey
'You make me want to be a better man.' - As Good as it Gets
'I don't want to be 60 years old some day and seemingly happily married to some man that I know is my second choice.' - Dream for an Insomniac
'Get busy living, or get busy dying.' - The Shawshank Redemption
'Haan, paagal ho gai hoon main. Paagal bana diya hai mujhe aapke khokhle aadarshone, aapki jhoothi shan ne, aapki zidd ne' (Translation: Yes, I've gone mad. It's your hollow ideals, your fake reputation, your stubbornness that drives me crazy.) - Hero No. 1
'Everybody's sin is nobody's sin, and everybody's crime is no crime at all.' (sarcastically) - Kinsey
PS: Here are the links to sequels to this post: Part 2, Part 3
'Khubsoorat kuch nahi rehta. Sab kuch khokhla ho jaata hai.' (Translation: Nothing remains beautiful. Everything goes hollow.) - Guru
['Did she leave you or did you leave her?'] 'Love left us.' - Life in a Metro
'... I'm also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.' - Notting Hill
'... Haan mujhe lajja aati hai...' (Translation: Yes I feel ashamed...) - Lajja
'I'm not a smart man... but I know what love is.' - Forrest Gump
'When it comes to love, we are all in the dark.' - Kinsey
'Would you stop thinking about what everyone wants? Stop thinking about what I want, what he wants, what your parents want. What do you want? What do you want?' - The Notebook
'Babumoshai, humari mushkil maloom hai kya hai... hum aanewale gum ko kheech-taankar aajki khushipe la dete hai aur us khushime zahar ghol dete hai' (Translation: Do you know what our problem is... we drag tomorrow's worries into today's happiness and poison that happiness.) - Anand
['I am trying to find out why people hate this book so' - 'You told them their grandmothers and their daughters are masturbating, having premarital sex, sex with each other. What did you expect?'] 'Some respect.' - Kinsey
'You make me want to be a better man.' - As Good as it Gets
'I don't want to be 60 years old some day and seemingly happily married to some man that I know is my second choice.' - Dream for an Insomniac
'Get busy living, or get busy dying.' - The Shawshank Redemption
'Haan, paagal ho gai hoon main. Paagal bana diya hai mujhe aapke khokhle aadarshone, aapki jhoothi shan ne, aapki zidd ne' (Translation: Yes, I've gone mad. It's your hollow ideals, your fake reputation, your stubbornness that drives me crazy.) - Hero No. 1
'Everybody's sin is nobody's sin, and everybody's crime is no crime at all.' (sarcastically) - Kinsey
PS: Here are the links to sequels to this post: Part 2, Part 3
November 08, 2009
Social etiquette, or the lack of
There are times when certain kind of behavior in public from other people really pisses me off. I've observed them here in India (I've not been out of India till now anyway ;) ). Still, it's quite possible that some of the below mentioned gestures are true for some country or even universally. And, some of these are mainly 'practised' by people who are not very educated than by those who are rather sophisticated.
(1) Many people still haven't learnt to use words like 'excuse me' or 'sorry', or even 'thank you' for that matter. They won't even say 'sorry' when it's highly expected. Just smiling or even trying to show that you ignore it at the time when you've put your foot on another person's in a bus or train simply isn't enough. I've seen instances where people even don't feel the need of thanking a person who stands up from his seat and offers it to some lady or an older person. These are very fundamental things. You've got to be courteous at least when you're in a public place. Period.
(2) Most of us need to learn basic cellphone etiquette. This is one of the most prevalent and equally irritating gestures from people. I don't think I need to go into much detail here.
One equally irritating and highly unwelcome practice followed by quite a few people (mostly those who're not very 'sophisticated', again sometimes though, I've seen so-called 'sophisticated' people doing this) is playing songs aloud while traveling by a public transport vehicle. I believe I'm quite tolerant and easy-going. But, constant bombarding of music to my ears without my expressed will really pisses me off.
(3) This one is common among people of all class. You won't often see someone throwing wrappers of piper-mint or a pack of biscuits in a dustbin. Okay, accepted that in India, dustbins aren't seen at all the places. But, in such case, you can always carry those wrappers with you and throw in dustbin later. It's not that difficult. I do that.
(4) People are probably at their worst when it comes to using public transport like State Transport buses and the general unreserved coaches of trains. In the race of getting a seat (or sometimes, getting a better seat i.e. near window et al), people simply forget, or rather don't care that it's the people who want to get down should have the first turn. People quite often just rush in and that creates a mess.
I'd like to mention here that people in the local trains in Mumbai almost always follow the rule of allowing the commuters to alight first as far as traveling by local trains is concerned (unless you're slower than expected in getting down at the right time).
(5) I don't understand why some people unnecessarily blow horns even when they are in a serious traffic jam and/or when they know that it is not going to give them a chance to reach their destination earlier. Often the same people complain about rising level of noise pollution.
(6) I've seen this in Mumbai and I guess it mainly applies here only (or to a certain extent in other metros and smaller cities). Pedestrians don't use footpath even when they've an option to. Okay, sometimes the footpath is partially (or even fully) occupied by vendors and shop owners (which is again a big-time nuisance). But, often there is enough space on footpath that they can walk more comfortably than on the road. Why do they add to the traffic on the road?
(1) Many people still haven't learnt to use words like 'excuse me' or 'sorry', or even 'thank you' for that matter. They won't even say 'sorry' when it's highly expected. Just smiling or even trying to show that you ignore it at the time when you've put your foot on another person's in a bus or train simply isn't enough. I've seen instances where people even don't feel the need of thanking a person who stands up from his seat and offers it to some lady or an older person. These are very fundamental things. You've got to be courteous at least when you're in a public place. Period.
(2) Most of us need to learn basic cellphone etiquette. This is one of the most prevalent and equally irritating gestures from people. I don't think I need to go into much detail here.
One equally irritating and highly unwelcome practice followed by quite a few people (mostly those who're not very 'sophisticated', again sometimes though, I've seen so-called 'sophisticated' people doing this) is playing songs aloud while traveling by a public transport vehicle. I believe I'm quite tolerant and easy-going. But, constant bombarding of music to my ears without my expressed will really pisses me off.
(3) This one is common among people of all class. You won't often see someone throwing wrappers of piper-mint or a pack of biscuits in a dustbin. Okay, accepted that in India, dustbins aren't seen at all the places. But, in such case, you can always carry those wrappers with you and throw in dustbin later. It's not that difficult. I do that.
(4) People are probably at their worst when it comes to using public transport like State Transport buses and the general unreserved coaches of trains. In the race of getting a seat (or sometimes, getting a better seat i.e. near window et al), people simply forget, or rather don't care that it's the people who want to get down should have the first turn. People quite often just rush in and that creates a mess.
I'd like to mention here that people in the local trains in Mumbai almost always follow the rule of allowing the commuters to alight first as far as traveling by local trains is concerned (unless you're slower than expected in getting down at the right time).
(5) I don't understand why some people unnecessarily blow horns even when they are in a serious traffic jam and/or when they know that it is not going to give them a chance to reach their destination earlier. Often the same people complain about rising level of noise pollution.
(6) I've seen this in Mumbai and I guess it mainly applies here only (or to a certain extent in other metros and smaller cities). Pedestrians don't use footpath even when they've an option to. Okay, sometimes the footpath is partially (or even fully) occupied by vendors and shop owners (which is again a big-time nuisance). But, often there is enough space on footpath that they can walk more comfortably than on the road. Why do they add to the traffic on the road?
November 07, 2009
Walking down memory lanes
The following is an improved version of a post which I'd written around two years back in a forum under a topic related to walking down memory lanes and recalling those good old days when we were very young.
Oh... those old golden days...
...when I used to go to school in shorts... with a 25 paise coin to spend during the break time... from which I normally used to buy my favourite honey-flavoured peppermints... 3 peppermints for 25 paise... Sometimes during the break, coming back to home, having some food and then going back to school... entering the room with fear that the teacher would scold for being late... Cleaning the ground and rooms in the school every month or two... Singing prayer in the big hall everyday... Feeling ecstatic on the day when the teacher congratulated me... or when I'd scored well in the exams...
in first standard when I hated going to school, Papa used to take me to school holding my hand... going to school with slate in hand with homework written all over it... (We were not supposed to use pen and notebook till we entered class 5)
after the school finishes, often waiting for some friends till they finish their mid-day meals... I liked it a lot seeing so many of my classmates eating together sitting on the ground... in fact, I used to feel really bad that I was not one of them eating food together in the school since all of them looked so happy having food while talking with one another sitting in a large group...
in my way to school or to my way back home, when a tangewala carrying kids to Aanganwadi (Kindergarten) passed by me, I used to run along with it and beat it in racing in the streets of my village :P In fact, we friends also used to have race among ourselves in our way back home and we used to run along the streets...
going to watch TV in neighbour's house... only two channels : DD-1 and Zee TV... Used to feel very happy watching 'Chitrahaar'... and at the time of watching a 'feature film' on TV, I just used to feel like anything... I was a hardcore TV fan at that time...
playing marbles... playing gilli-danda... playing with top... playing cards was not allowed till we were young yet sometimes playing cards without parents' knowledge... time just used to fly by.
I'm feeling much nostalgic about all those days!
Oh... those old golden days...
...when I used to go to school in shorts... with a 25 paise coin to spend during the break time... from which I normally used to buy my favourite honey-flavoured peppermints... 3 peppermints for 25 paise... Sometimes during the break, coming back to home, having some food and then going back to school... entering the room with fear that the teacher would scold for being late... Cleaning the ground and rooms in the school every month or two... Singing prayer in the big hall everyday... Feeling ecstatic on the day when the teacher congratulated me... or when I'd scored well in the exams...
in first standard when I hated going to school, Papa used to take me to school holding my hand... going to school with slate in hand with homework written all over it... (We were not supposed to use pen and notebook till we entered class 5)
after the school finishes, often waiting for some friends till they finish their mid-day meals... I liked it a lot seeing so many of my classmates eating together sitting on the ground... in fact, I used to feel really bad that I was not one of them eating food together in the school since all of them looked so happy having food while talking with one another sitting in a large group...
in my way to school or to my way back home, when a tangewala carrying kids to Aanganwadi (Kindergarten) passed by me, I used to run along with it and beat it in racing in the streets of my village :P In fact, we friends also used to have race among ourselves in our way back home and we used to run along the streets...
going to watch TV in neighbour's house... only two channels : DD-1 and Zee TV... Used to feel very happy watching 'Chitrahaar'... and at the time of watching a 'feature film' on TV, I just used to feel like anything... I was a hardcore TV fan at that time...
playing marbles... playing gilli-danda... playing with top... playing cards was not allowed till we were young yet sometimes playing cards without parents' knowledge... time just used to fly by.
I'm feeling much nostalgic about all those days!
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