My mistress.

''My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks,
And in some perfumes there is more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go:
My mistress when she walks treads on the ground.
And yet by heaven I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.''

                                                                                                                                - William Shakespeare (1564-1616).

*****

Kismat

Kismat walon ko milta hai pyar kay badlay pyar
hum ko pholoon ko badlay kantoon kay haar

kitnay jatan kiyay mainay paas rehkay
pyar mera phir mujh say door tha
itna bataday mujh ko zalim zamanay
is main mera kiya kusoor tha
jeete taqdeer hui aaj mairee haar
kismat walon ko milta hai pyar kay badlay pyar

sada khush rahay to yehi daiti hain duaein
tujh ko mairee bayzabaniyan
aaj majboor hokay chorh chala hoon
yadoo ki teri nishaniaan
laykay chala aankhoon main aansoon ki dhar
kismat walon ko milta hai pyar kay badlay pyar

                                                                          -Zafar Iqbal

The Dracula has risen from the grave

Full moon shedding on earth

The shining silvery shade,

Roaring sea waves

In their attempt to catch the moon

Rising in high tides,

Failing and flowing along the coast

On the crystalline sand all wide.

Nearby,

In the dark and dense mango grove,

Two big deadly cobras dancing,

Twisting and spinning,

With long loud hissing

Unmindful of the situation

Were in their love making,

Spit the venom on the prey

With no time even to pray.

Away, the city clock tower

Patiently striking loud twelve

Howling dogs, hooting owls

Dark clouds surrounding the moon.

Suddenly, from the grave

The Dracula has risen from the coffin

Blood thirsty, eyes fiery

Its blood-stained mouth,

With sharp protruding canine teeth

Half decayed smelly flesh

Hair spread, body skeleton, nails lengthy

Making strange scary noise

It was roaming in search

For fresh human blood.

Then, it saw her

Approaching the rough sea

Behind her it went

Held her by her shoulder

And pulled her near,

Saying,” young lady

I am very hungry and thirsty

I am going to suck your blood. “

Unmindful and with no fear,

She said, “I am going to the sea

To drown and die,

If my blood can quench

Your hunger and thirst,

Happy to give it to you. “

Then the Dracula laughed loudly,

Ha, ha, ha, ……ha, ha.

“Why the laugh?” she asked.

Dracula said, “Sitting there a man

With similar tweet

Why can’t you go and meet? “

She went there to see him,

Seeing her he came running,

Embraced her and said,

“You, my love, here ?

I was going to the sea

To drown and die.”

She said,

“Then let us die together,

Life has not united us

 Let the death unite us.”

Holding his hand, deep into the sea

Together they walked, walked…..

With tear in its eyes

Dracula was standing on the shore, saying

 “Bye, your wish of union being fulfilled,

Like me, you need not hang in this world. “

Souls of the lovers happily flying high in the sky

Huge wave brought together

 Their life-less bodies to the shore.

With hunger and thirst not quenched,

The Dracula returned  to its coffin and grave.

*****
                                                                     - As you like it.

Holy Palmers' Kiss

(Romeo & Juliet)

 ROMEO To JULIET:

 If I profane with my unworthiest hand
This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this:
My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand
To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.

JULIET :
Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much,
Which mannerly devotion shows in this;
For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch,
And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss.

ROMEO :
Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?

JULIET :
Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer.

ROMEO :
O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do;
They pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.

JULIET :
Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake.

ROMEO :
Then move not, while my prayer's effect I take.
Thus from my lips, by yours, my sin is purged.

JULIET
Then have my lips the sin that they have took.

ROMEO: 
Sin from thy lips? O trespass sweetly urged!
Give me my sin again.

JULIET :
You kiss by the book

                                                            - William Shakespeare

Love in Eden Garden

 Garden  of  Eden

With  shy, 

hiding  behind  the  dark  cloudy  hair;

With  sparkling  smile, 

her  full-moon  face  looking  very  fair.

Fragrant  beauty  of 

the  rose  below,
 with  deep  feelings 

showing  the  red  glow!

Pouring  showers  of 

ecstasy  as  she  drench, 

Whether  her  thirst 

will  it  quench?

 

As her overwhelming 

beauty is in adoration,

 Exalted emotion is 

in exhilaration!

 

I  do  remember 

the  night  of  that  day,
She  entered  the  room 

in  extreme  shy.

The  divine  lamp 

throwing  the  dim  light,
But  her  happy  face 

glowing  bright!

She  enhanced  the  beauty  of 

the  gold  and  silk,
With  shy  in  lowered  eyes, 

she  offered  the  sweet  milk.

Garden  of  Eden  with  full  of  fruits, 

oozing  nectar  and  honey,
Cooing  cuckoo  as  she  was, 

what  a  happy  start  of  life  journey!

The  glowing  lamp 

as  mute  witness
Standing  there, 

our  love  to  assess.

Love, the  union  of  our  souls 

as  oil, it  glow,
No  storm  will  be  able  to 

cause  the  lamp  off  blow!

*****

Silappadhikaram - XII

Literary Appreciation

12

Kannagi was a traditional family girl from a rich business community.

She was of the age of twelve years at the time of her marriage to Kovalan

She was a happy girl with traditional Tamilian qualities, as we 

narrated in our earlier chapter, viz.,achcham, madam, naanam

and payirpu - fear, innocence, shy and disgust respectively.
 

For a traditional chaste family girl, her chastity is her prime importance

For which she sacrifices her everything including her life.

A good husband, family, society and the rulers  honored

her chastity and helped her in protecting it.
 

Next priority for her is her husband - his longevity of life,

welfare and his happiness and satisfaction.

Kannagi never questioned Kovalan leaving her and

living with Madhavi. She might have thought, the happiness

that she was not able to provide, let him get from other woman,

a prostitute. This is high profile character of Kannagi, which we

can not expect from other women.

For this quality of Kannagi, Kovalan repented after returning

to her from Madhavi. In his absence, she remained in his house
and took care of his old parents performing all the responsibilities 
and charity. She never complained to anybody including her parents.


But, when the husband was in trouble , his honor or life 
was threatened, they shed all their basic qualities and without
any shy or fear, went to fight for justice. This was the case
with Kannagi. When Kovalan was slain on false charges
of thieving the Queens anklet, Kannagi went to establish
the innocence Kovalan and established the justice.

The third priority for the woman is her children.

For their welfare, well-being and future, she toils, takes 

and bears any hardship in life. We may not be able to discuss

this aspect, as Kannagi had no children.  In the making of a goddess,

it is usual practice to project the woman without any children.


All these qualities and character go to make Kannagi
a personality deserving honor and worship.
But Fate played its hard role as she never enjoyed enduring
happiness in her married life. With early marriage at the age
of twelve and short span of married life , she became
a teen age widow.

No doubt, even to-day we have seen such women personalities,
for whom God showers mercy and rain on earth,
also, creates huge calamities for the injustice to them.
*****

Silappadhikaram - XI

Silappadhikaram

11

Literary Appreciation

Silappadhikaram is an Epic.

It is the first Tamil Epic, Mudhanmai  Kappium, as it is called.

Though all the three Tamil Kings, Chera, Chola and Pandiyan, 

are involved, it is not the story of a king.

It is the story of a common woman, Kannagi.

We have seen how the author, Ilango Adigal has beautifully

narrated the story in poetic-prose style,

And dedicated at the feet of Tamil Language as the Anklet.

A dedicated and sincere effort by the god- gifted author

with command over the language, knowledge and the content.

Wonderful monolithic embodiment of the story

with beautiful and sharp portrayal of the characters.

For the common man though structurally hard with granite- like 
vocabulary, the composition is with temple-like divinity. 

When we name Silappadhikaram, the foremost thought that comes
to our mind is Kannagi, the heroine of the Epic and her fragrant
chastity.  If we compare a lady to a flower , the beauty of the flower
is her essential outer attractive look and the fragrance of the flower is
her character, primarily her chastity, which she safeguards
and dedicates to her husband at their meeting in their first night.

She then remains dedicated to him life-long, maintains
her fidelity and remains chaste by body, mind and thoughts.
People then honored chaste women and offered the status
of divinity, why divinity, the various gods carried out
the orders of chaste women.

The great Tamil saint-poet, Thiruvalluvar says,
Pennin  perunthakka  yaula  karpennum
Thinmai  undaga  perin.
meaning
There is nothing bigger in the world than the woman with
strong conviction to chastity 
And
Deivam  thozhaal  kozhunan  thozhuthu  ezhuvaal
Peiyena  peyyum  mazhai.
meaning
If a woman with godly devotion and dedication to her husband
calls for rain, it will readily shower.

People believe in other parts of South India also that the chastity of
a woman saves the life of her husband.  In Kerala the fishermen
believe that they are safe in any rough sea till their women 
remain chaste on the shore.  This was the idea in the famous 
Malayalam story, Chemmeen by Tagazhi Sivashankaran Pillai.
Belief is based on experience, may not have any scientific basis.
Why then chaste Kannagi lost her husband in young age ?
The author, Ilango Adigal, conveniently calls it as fate,
yes, everything beyond our logic or comprehension is fate.

If married to a person the chaste women remained faithful 
to him for ever, as the Tamil saying stands,
Kal  aanalum  purushan,  pul  aanalum  purushan
Stone or grass, he is my husband.
Chastity is the purity of the character by body, mind 
and thoughts - one man, one woman ideology.
Even in adversity this was the litmus test - fire test of Sita 
as in the case of Ramayan.

Even with prevailing practice of polygamy, polyandry and
prostitution in vogue then,  chastity and chaste women were
given utmost respect. People considered such  women were having
extraordinary powers even to control the nature and 
command over gods.  They worshiped such women as deities
constructing exclusive temples for them.
Kannagi was one among them.

Though her name was revered with honor, why people 
are not preferring to name their children as Kannagi ?
Is it because of her sustained sufferings in married life ?
Or that she had become a widow in young age ?

Instead why they prefer to name as Madhavi, 
a women from the traditional family of prostitutes, called 
parathiyar or devadasis ?
*****
                                                                                              ......  12