Thursday, July 9, 2026

Ferris Wheel

You never know how great a kiss can feel, when you're stopped at the top of a Ferris Wheel.....

- Freddy Cannon

Some random notes
Scene from film Bright Star by Jane Champion
I recently witnessed the enactment of the sanskrit play, Kumarasambhavam, enacted by a couple. While I certainly enjoyed the delivery of dialogues, the diction and the subtle way the play was enacted. At the end of the play, I introspected, on how I processed this experience.
Without getting into details, I perhaps, felt, the director, in this case, the male protagonist who plays, Shiva, had perhaps made this, entirely about himself and his equation with his better half (not so about the character), rather than, a divine experience. Perhaps, as an aesthete, I might be subjective in my judgement, yet, I would stick to this assertion as I implore a few thoughts on the ethics of romantic poetry.
I’m reminded of a line from the book, ‘It Does not Die’ by Maithreyi Devi, that the role of poetry is to convert personal to impersonal…..

While romantic novelists, draw a lot from personal experiences, when this experience translates to the written word, personal sincerity and authenticity stand on one end of the spectrum and aesthetic responsibility stands on the other.
I wondered if there could be some thoughts, which could probably serve as a guiding point. Exploring a few dicta, in this vein…
William Wordsworth in his Preface to Lyrical Ballads (1802) argued that poetry is “emotion recollected in tranquility,” meaning that personal experiences must be transformed thoughtfully rather than presented as raw confession. This concept emphasizes the importance of both emotion and intellect in the creative process, suggesting that poetry is not merely a spontaneous outpouring but a thoughtful and deliberate art form.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge emphasized the balance between the subjective and the universal, arguing that imagination refines personal emotions into something higher.
John Keats advocated for “negative capability,” meaning a poet should dissolve personal identity into the work, avoiding direct egoistic expression.
Percy Bysshe Shelley in A Defence of Poetry (1821) suggested that poets serve a moral function by universalizing individual experiences into higher truths.
Reflecting on the Kumarasambhavam episode, I find myself returning to the idea that poetry, at its best, is not an indulgence of personal identity but a distillation of experience into something larger than the self. Poetry, then, is that which transforms personal passion into something universally meaningful.

9 July 2026 - The loveliness of the heart in the simplest pleasures

"Love is a gift,

a teacher of beauty &

grace that changes our lives forever."

Let me introduce you to Janani.

A beautiful woman dressed in orange, layered cut, and white hanging earrings.

A smile every now and then.

She was happy to see me, as I was to see her.

Janani is the beautician who offerred my tired aching feet a pedicure. Healing hands are indeed a gift of god.

I asked her, what does she actually like in stones, does she like ruby or pearls or emerald. As i guessed right she liked pearls.

What's intersting was she was very curious about what I intend to write.

Interestingly, since she probably was very receptive, i shared my idea of a novel on the theme of 'Wait and Hope'.

As i shared some thoughts on what i intend to write and the plot line of one of my novels.

The plot like is on the lines, of a woman, who is awaiting her boy friend, only to be told, he has been sentenced to imprisonment.

She works her way through the investigation, only to uncover a plot line .......

Interestingly as i was speaking to her, I was remembered in Ramayana, Ravana plays a heinous trick on Sita Devi claiming he has, defeated Rama and Rama is no longer alive. He asks her to alight the pushpaka vimana to see for herself. Ravana capable of conjuring up acts of maya, unfolds this scene in front of the eyes of Sita. Sita falls in shock, only to be reconciled later, possibly by Trijatai (Vibhishana's daughter) .

Vibhishana's daughter, consoles and reassures Sita saying, that only a sumangali (the one who's husband is alive) can alight the pushpaka vimana and indeed Devi Sita is a sumangali.

So Ravana is playing a trick and it cannot be true....

While I have heard of this story in many upanyasams, recounting this to her, was beautiful.

She was deeply touched, so was I.....

I also recounted the quote, "Janani Janmabhoomi Swargadapi Gariyasi''.....

जननी जन्मभूमिश्च स्वर्गादपि गरीयसी

The phrase is also the the national motto of the Government of Nepal.

The phrase traces back to the Hindu epic Ramayana, where Lord Rama speaks it to his brother Lakshmana after conquering Lanka, indicating that even a magnificent, gold-made kingdom cannot outshine the love for one's own motherland..

With that being said, I totally resonate with the modern view on moving outside your homeland to make it.....However I leave that to yet another post, i will soon reflect on....

Janani recounted how she was orphaned at a young age and she grew up in a boarding school. Her marriage was a love marriage. As curious as always i am, i asked , what was the name of her husband, she said 'Ramesh' ...Ah nice, Ram + Janani.... ok nice

I said that someday, I shall buy for her a pair of pearl bangles. Depply touched though exorbitantly priced, i left the saloon.....

sometimes, every mundane chapter is filled with love in all its charm, if only we are receptive and our heart can listen......

Jai Sita Ram!

Appendix 1 - Sloka

In another version, it is spoken by Rama to Lakshmana:
अपि स्वर्णमयी लङ्का न मे लक्ष्मण रोचते |
जननी जन्मभूमिश्च स्वर्गादपि गरीयसी ||
Translation: "Lakshmana, even this golden Lanka does not appeal to me. Mother and motherland are superior even to heaven."