"Hari Tum Haro" is one of the greatest songs written by Mirabhai. Lets see what Wikipedia says about this song:
"Hari Tuma Haro is an Indian bhajan or devotional song by Mirabai, the poet saint. Mahatma Gandhi reported this song to be his favorite. Gandhi once expressed the wish to hear M S Subbulakshmi sing the song. Subbulakshmi answered that she had not practiced the song. Gandhi replied that he would rather hear her speak the Hari Tuma Haro than hear someone else sing it. Feeling obliged, Subbulakshmi recorded the song and had the record delivered to Gandhi on his 78th birthday. After Gandhi's assassination, radio stations played Subbulakshmi's recording of Hari Tuma Haro repeatedly after announcing the death of Gandhi." [ Taken from Wikipedia ]
It is a very nice and pleasant song. It is available in Youtube and also in the Lan (for IITM students). One should surely try listening to it if one likes slow songs. Here are the lyrics and their translation:
*hari tum haro jana ki pīr
(O Hari(Krishna), end the human suffering)
draupadī kī lāj rākhī tum badhāyo cīr
(By lengthening Draupadi's garment,
thou hast saved her from disrobement)
bhakta kārana rūpa narahari dharyo āp śarīr
(Thou wearest the human cloak (through avatarhood) to protect your devotees)
hiranyakaśyapa mār līnho dharyo nāhina dhīr
Thou hast slayed (asura) Hiranyakasipu in thy fiercest form (Narashimha or Man-Lion)
būdate gaja rāja rākhyo kiyo bāhar nīr
(Thou hast recused Gajaraj (cf. Gajendra Moksha), by taking him out of the water.)
dāsi mīrā lāl giradhar
(O Lord Giridhara, sings thy servitor, Mira)
Another meera song, which is very good is enadhu uLLame.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Fun with kids
I woke up just now and I still remember the fun I had yesterday. Last weekend, many of my friends also had fun. Shiny went to her relatives' house. Gay and his gumble(akila, ramya, etc.) had fun at his house. Vinu went home. As far as other friends like TS are concerned, they are non-religious and hence this weekend is like any other weekend for them.
Back to the point, I had good fun. It was my cousin's birthday yesterday. I went to their house in the morning, at around 10:30. And my favorite movie, "LavaKusa", was being played in the TV. It is really good movie and I can't stop watching it. How many times I see it, it always looks new. The love between Sita and Ram is quite appealing and is shown excellently in that movie. Its story is based on "Uttara ramayan", which is the Ramayan after Rama kills Ravana and goes back to the kingdom.
After the movie is over, we had lunch and we started decorating. As usual, I slept late the previous night and felt very sleepy. Though decorating is a tedious job, it brings the part mood to all. The "happy birthday" balloons hanging all over, some stuck to the walls, cheer me all the time. I felt like my own birthday. I don't remember celebrating such a party for myself, may be I had one when I was too small. After the decoration, my uncle and I went to get the 2 KG cake which was ordered the previous day and some chips and drinks. All this time, when we were working on arrangements, my aunt was cooking so many good stuffs - bajji, bonda, etc.
While all these were happening, the evening sun rang the party bell and we quickly winded our work and dressed ourselves for the merry time ahead. The birthday boy, Kaushik, wore his new dress and started playing the piano. As he pressed the keys, a sweet tone started welcoming the guests. "Kids!", I thought, "so many of them are coming. I will surely have fun". I like kids very much for their innocence.
The kids came in lots, holding their parents. And when they left their parents for their usual gossip, they started grouping together. I prefer kids compared to elders. So I went to them and started talking to them. Suddenly I found that they talk different languages and most of them are multilingual. There were many telugu and tamil speaking ones, few hindi speaking kids and two kannada speaking brothers. They all talk well in their own language and know little bit english and tamil. It was sufficient for them to have fun. I liked them very much, for they understand each other very well, in spite of the fact that they can't communicate well. That's why they are great!
It was tough for me to talk. I know telugu and english, but only little hindi and zero kannada. And I found one little hindi speaking kid who was very enthusiastic. His name was something like kushal or kushoni. I couldn't understand him well. He talks hindi better than me and the embarassing part to me is that he is in PRE_KG! A pre-kg fellow talks hindi better than me!!! I can't accept such a thing. So I started talking to him. He is a chatterbox like me and more open than me. He beats me in all my qualities, except for my little knowledge in sciences, which he couldn't understand. So here is a small conversation:
He:"tera naam kya hi?"
I:"mera to naam nahi hi"
He:"naam nahi tere ko? tho ghar me kya bulate hi?"
I:"ghar me tho kashyap bulate hi", "Tum kya kar the ho?"
He:"main school me padta hu. Tum school jate ho kya?"
I:"nahi. Tum ko balloon chahiye kya? voh bada red vala"
He:"Voh red nahi. maroon!"
I:"Acha, yes. maroon wala. tum chote ho na. main lekar ata hun"
He:"main bade ho ne se tum ko balloon de doongE"
...
Like that we chatted and ate sweets, chips, bonda, bajji, everything. I took photos of all those kids. I don't know any of them and I am not sure if I will meet them again. They don't have email ids or phone numbers to keep in contact. I don't think they will worry about such things. All they want is fun and they don't mind playing with anybody who likes to play with them. I like the way they live. When we grow old, we start clinging to things and also people. People develop tastes and have huge list of preferences. I still like to play like a kid and have fun with anybody who likes to play with me. But unfortunately many people act like they are grown ups and never play with me. Hey Rama Chandra! why don't you make everybody a kid? Then, I can play with everybody!
Back to the point, I had good fun. It was my cousin's birthday yesterday. I went to their house in the morning, at around 10:30. And my favorite movie, "LavaKusa", was being played in the TV. It is really good movie and I can't stop watching it. How many times I see it, it always looks new. The love between Sita and Ram is quite appealing and is shown excellently in that movie. Its story is based on "Uttara ramayan", which is the Ramayan after Rama kills Ravana and goes back to the kingdom.
After the movie is over, we had lunch and we started decorating. As usual, I slept late the previous night and felt very sleepy. Though decorating is a tedious job, it brings the part mood to all. The "happy birthday" balloons hanging all over, some stuck to the walls, cheer me all the time. I felt like my own birthday. I don't remember celebrating such a party for myself, may be I had one when I was too small. After the decoration, my uncle and I went to get the 2 KG cake which was ordered the previous day and some chips and drinks. All this time, when we were working on arrangements, my aunt was cooking so many good stuffs - bajji, bonda, etc.
While all these were happening, the evening sun rang the party bell and we quickly winded our work and dressed ourselves for the merry time ahead. The birthday boy, Kaushik, wore his new dress and started playing the piano. As he pressed the keys, a sweet tone started welcoming the guests. "Kids!", I thought, "so many of them are coming. I will surely have fun". I like kids very much for their innocence.
The kids came in lots, holding their parents. And when they left their parents for their usual gossip, they started grouping together. I prefer kids compared to elders. So I went to them and started talking to them. Suddenly I found that they talk different languages and most of them are multilingual. There were many telugu and tamil speaking ones, few hindi speaking kids and two kannada speaking brothers. They all talk well in their own language and know little bit english and tamil. It was sufficient for them to have fun. I liked them very much, for they understand each other very well, in spite of the fact that they can't communicate well. That's why they are great!
It was tough for me to talk. I know telugu and english, but only little hindi and zero kannada. And I found one little hindi speaking kid who was very enthusiastic. His name was something like kushal or kushoni. I couldn't understand him well. He talks hindi better than me and the embarassing part to me is that he is in PRE_KG! A pre-kg fellow talks hindi better than me!!! I can't accept such a thing. So I started talking to him. He is a chatterbox like me and more open than me. He beats me in all my qualities, except for my little knowledge in sciences, which he couldn't understand. So here is a small conversation:
He:"tera naam kya hi?"
I:"mera to naam nahi hi"
He:"naam nahi tere ko? tho ghar me kya bulate hi?"
I:"ghar me tho kashyap bulate hi", "Tum kya kar the ho?"
He:"main school me padta hu. Tum school jate ho kya?"
I:"nahi. Tum ko balloon chahiye kya? voh bada red vala"
He:"Voh red nahi. maroon!"
I:"Acha, yes. maroon wala. tum chote ho na. main lekar ata hun"
He:"main bade ho ne se tum ko balloon de doongE"
...
Like that we chatted and ate sweets, chips, bonda, bajji, everything. I took photos of all those kids. I don't know any of them and I am not sure if I will meet them again. They don't have email ids or phone numbers to keep in contact. I don't think they will worry about such things. All they want is fun and they don't mind playing with anybody who likes to play with them. I like the way they live. When we grow old, we start clinging to things and also people. People develop tastes and have huge list of preferences. I still like to play like a kid and have fun with anybody who likes to play with me. But unfortunately many people act like they are grown ups and never play with me. Hey Rama Chandra! why don't you make everybody a kid? Then, I can play with everybody!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Love-II
Time has come to write another article on Love :). Suffixing the previous entry's title was really good idea, otherwise I have to come up with a new title for this entry.
I like to live the life of ideal characters, 'Ramaha', 'Shivaha', 'Anjaneya', 'Sita', etc. I am a old style person, and hence I like those characters. I also like carnatic and hindustani music. That's why many people don't like me :). Many don't like the music translations in my blog. There are many people who don't like many of my things and ways.
But the music translations which I write are for my favorite songs. I listen to them day and night and sing them all the time. I like to write about them. Similary Ram ji, Sita devi, Parvathiparameshwarau, etc., are my gods and friends from a long time. I can't take anybody else as ideal. But many people don't like it. They are not like me, or in other words, I am not like them. My granny once said "You are all like me. That's why I made friendship". But after some time, she said "You are not like me. I don't want to make friendship. Good bye". I felt very bad. After thinking for a long time, I decided not to make friends. And I stopped being friendly for a long time. During last summer, I didn't make any new friends at Google(except my mentors). I was scared that people will not like me because I am not like them. I was very sad. I don't want to reminisce those old sad, gloomy days. After coming out of that sadness, I understood many important things in life. Here they go:
I conclude this post by pointing out to two AWESOME songs:
song1 song2
----
Notes:
1. The brahmin story is taken from Vivekananda's "Secret of work".
2. If you want to know the meaning of the first song, check:
http://www.ruclip.com/video/klsLXm_r01U/lord-krishna-muddugare-yashoda-annamayya-kirtana-devotional-song.html
I like to live the life of ideal characters, 'Ramaha', 'Shivaha', 'Anjaneya', 'Sita', etc. I am a old style person, and hence I like those characters. I also like carnatic and hindustani music. That's why many people don't like me :). Many don't like the music translations in my blog. There are many people who don't like many of my things and ways.
But the music translations which I write are for my favorite songs. I listen to them day and night and sing them all the time. I like to write about them. Similary Ram ji, Sita devi, Parvathiparameshwarau, etc., are my gods and friends from a long time. I can't take anybody else as ideal. But many people don't like it. They are not like me, or in other words, I am not like them. My granny once said "You are all like me. That's why I made friendship". But after some time, she said "You are not like me. I don't want to make friendship. Good bye". I felt very bad. After thinking for a long time, I decided not to make friends. And I stopped being friendly for a long time. During last summer, I didn't make any new friends at Google(except my mentors). I was scared that people will not like me because I am not like them. I was very sad. I don't want to reminisce those old sad, gloomy days. After coming out of that sadness, I understood many important things in life. Here they go:
- I don't need to be like others. I don't need to listen to latest music because lot of people do so. It is good to live like Rama, Krishna, etc.
- But now, people may not like you and don't make friendship. These days people have completely messed up definitions of friendship. If you show pity and try to help, they may not like it. But if another does, they accept it very happily. Sometimes showing pity itself is a crime. You will be hated and cursed.
- So how do you deal with so many weird people. They want you to act like them, or otherwise they won't like you. They want you to act nicely till the work is done and then leave. How to deal with such people?
- The solution is "Love". Ah! finally to the crux of the story. I just need to love all. Never hate. See through love and everything will fall straight. Once Slinky said "You should not see the world through these these black and white shades". He was right. We should not even have two labels like good, bad; love, hate; etc. We should just see through only one color, i.e. love. And everything will be clear.
- Love all your friends and make sure that you do it by not causing pain to them. Love will never cause pain to the lover or the beloved. Therefore love them and do things which will be good for your friends, but it should not be wrong doing. If your friend does wrongs, warn him/her and still he doesn't stop doing bad to the world, act against him if you are the right person to do so. And surely leave him, without hating.
- Love those who don't like your habits. Understand that they are innocent beings who are unable to accept you, as you are.
- "A friend in need is a friend in deed". You don't really need namesake friends, who don't need you unless there is work with you. You don't need such friends who can't love you back. A friend is one who can love you back like you love him/her. He may not help you sometimes, but that is because he/she might have felt that it is not right to help or he/she is busy.
- Love turns into care when you have to freedom to do so. Care doesn't mean pestering. It is very simple to understand. If you find that your friend is not well, you will ask him/her how he/she is and buy them a fruit or a biscuit packet if you can. This is care and you can do it for all your friends. Those who love you back will never hate you when you care about them.
- Love is one of the best ways to deal with people. Love is not work done to others. You don't love somebody because he/she works very well for you. You should never love for the work they have done. You should love all for they are all beings like you.
- Help is different from love. You may have preference in helping. In general, you like to help your mother more than your friend. This is because of the love they show. Your credits belong to all those who love you. It is because of them that you have come this far. Without them you are nothing. Therefore giving preference in helping is nothing wrong. And love decides the preference. In India we have a great tradition of taking guest as god. Here is a nice story which highlights that tradition: "There was once a little village, and in it there dwelt a poor Brahmin with his wife, his son, and his son's wife. They were very poor and lived on small gifts made to them for preaching and teaching. There came in that land a three years' famine, and the poor Brahmin suffered more than ever. At last when the family had starved for days, the father brought home one morning a little barley flour, which he had been fortunate enough to obtain, and he divided it into four parts, one for each member of the family. They prepared it for their meal, and just as they were about to eat, there was a knock at the door. The father opened it, and there stood a guest. Now in India a guest is a sacred person; he is as a god for the time being, and must be treated as such. So the poor Brahmin said, 'Come in, sir; you are welcome,' He set before the guest his own portion of the food, which the guest quickly ate and said, 'Oh, sir, you have killed me; I have been starving for ten days, and this little bit has but increased my hunger.' Then the wife said to her husband, 'Give him my share,' but the husband said, 'Not so.' The wife however insisted, saying, 'Here is a poor man, and it is our duty as householders to see that he is fed, and it is my duty as a wife to give him my portion, seeing that you have no more to offer him.' Then she gave her share to the guest, which he ate, and said he was still burning with hunger. So the son said, 'Take my portion also; it is the duty of a son to help his father to fullfil his obligations.' The guest ate that, but remained still unsatisfied; so the son's wife gave him her portion also. That was sufficient, and the guest departed, blessing them. That night those four people died of starvation". You can see that the poor brahmin gave preference to wife and children first and then to the guest. He gave his share to the guest. His wife and children also gave preference to the guest and gave their share to him. They gave preference to the guest more than themselves because the guest is in need and has pleaded them. Showing love/mercy is the greatest quality. Here, there is no question of "should I give to my son or the guest". But the question is "should I eat or my guest". And since helping is great, he chose it compared to his self need. That's the path less taken and hence it became the greatest sacrifice in history.
I conclude this post by pointing out to two AWESOME songs:
song1 song2
----
Notes:
1. The brahmin story is taken from Vivekananda's "Secret of work".
2. If you want to know the meaning of the first song, check:
http://www.ruclip.com/video/klsLXm_r01U/lord-krishna-muddugare-yashoda-annamayya-kirtana-devotional-song.html
Monday, October 4, 2010
Maakelaraa Vichaaramu - Raga Ravi Chandrika
This is one of the most beautiful songs written by Tyagaraja ji. Beauty lies not only in the raaga, but also in the lyrics. I love his songs mostly for their inner meaning. None of these modern day songs can come near to them.
This song, "Maakelera vicharamu", explains why we should not worry at all. Tyagaraja follows the principle of "bhakti". If you are good "bhakta", lord will always help you. Being a "bhakta" means to love the god and indirectly everything he creates and bestows to us.
Here goes the translation, copied from a good blog:
pallavi:
mAku-ElarA vicAramu
maruku-anna SrI rAma candra
mAku-to us; ElarA - why should we; vichAramu - worry; marukanna-gave birth to maruku(Cupid); SrI rAma chandra - O rama chandra;
O Lord SrI rAma candra, Father (anna) of Cupid (maruku) (marukanna)! Why (ElarA) should we (mAku) (literally for us) (mAkElarA) worry (vicAramu)?
anupallavi
sAkEta rAja kumAra
sad-bhakta mandAra SrI kara (mAkEla)
sAkEta - ayOdya; rAja kumAra - son of Dasaratha; sath+bhakta - true devotees; mandAra - the great mandAra tree which gives wishes; SrI - Lakhmi; kara - bestower;
O Prince (rAja kumAra) of ayOdhya (sAketa)! O Wish Tree (mandAra) of true (sad) devotees (bhakta)! O bestower (kara) prosperity (SrI)!
O Lord SrI rAma candra, Father of Cupid! Why should we worry?
caraNam
jata kUrci nATaka sUtramunu
jagamu-ella meccaga karamunanu-iDi
gati tappaka ADincedavu sumI
nata tyAgarAja giri-ISa vinuta (mAkEla)
jata kUrchi - group together; nAtaka - related to drama; sUtramunu - strings (like mangala sutram(u) :P); jagamella mecchaga - praised by everybody in the world; karamunanu iDi - hold with your hands; gati - order; tappaka - without missing; ADincedavu - play; sumI - isn't it true?; nata tyagaraja - saluted by tyagaraja(not sure :)); giri+isha - Lord Shiva; vinuta - praised;
Having harmonised (jata kUrci) (various elements of the drama) and holding (iDi) the strings (sUtramunu) (of the puppets) of the drama (nATaka) (of Universe) in your hands (karamunanu) (karamunaniDi),
to the appreciation (meccaga) of the whole (ella) Universe (jagamu) (jagamella),
You make us (Or the Universe) dance (ADincedavu) without missing (tappaka) even a single beat (gati), isn't it (sumI)!
O Lord saluted (nata) by this tyAgarAja and praised (vinuta) by Siva – Lord (ISa) of Mountains (giri) (girISa)!
O Lord SrI rAma candra, Father of Cupid! Why should we worry?
The song really gives you strength and power to do anything. You don't need to worry about anything if you follow dharma and pray him. I don't care writing this entry even if my eyes are not well... Why should I worry? He is there! [ That doesn't means I stop taking medicines and just pray. We should also follow our dharma ]
References:
http://thyagaraja-vaibhavam.blogspot.com/2008/02/thyagaraja-kriti-maakelaraa-vichaaramu.html
This song, "Maakelera vicharamu", explains why we should not worry at all. Tyagaraja follows the principle of "bhakti". If you are good "bhakta", lord will always help you. Being a "bhakta" means to love the god and indirectly everything he creates and bestows to us.
Here goes the translation, copied from a good blog:
pallavi:
mAku-ElarA vicAramu
maruku-anna SrI rAma candra
mAku-to us; ElarA - why should we; vichAramu - worry; marukanna-gave birth to maruku(Cupid); SrI rAma chandra - O rama chandra;
O Lord SrI rAma candra, Father (anna) of Cupid (maruku) (marukanna)! Why (ElarA) should we (mAku) (literally for us) (mAkElarA) worry (vicAramu)?
anupallavi
sAkEta rAja kumAra
sad-bhakta mandAra SrI kara (mAkEla)
sAkEta - ayOdya; rAja kumAra - son of Dasaratha; sath+bhakta - true devotees; mandAra - the great mandAra tree which gives wishes; SrI - Lakhmi; kara - bestower;
O Prince (rAja kumAra) of ayOdhya (sAketa)! O Wish Tree (mandAra) of true (sad) devotees (bhakta)! O bestower (kara) prosperity (SrI)!
O Lord SrI rAma candra, Father of Cupid! Why should we worry?
caraNam
jata kUrci nATaka sUtramunu
jagamu-ella meccaga karamunanu-iDi
gati tappaka ADincedavu sumI
nata tyAgarAja giri-ISa vinuta (mAkEla)
jata kUrchi - group together; nAtaka - related to drama; sUtramunu - strings (like mangala sutram(u) :P); jagamella mecchaga - praised by everybody in the world; karamunanu iDi - hold with your hands; gati - order; tappaka - without missing; ADincedavu - play; sumI - isn't it true?; nata tyagaraja - saluted by tyagaraja(not sure :)); giri+isha - Lord Shiva; vinuta - praised;
Having harmonised (jata kUrci) (various elements of the drama) and holding (iDi) the strings (sUtramunu) (of the puppets) of the drama (nATaka) (of Universe) in your hands (karamunanu) (karamunaniDi),
to the appreciation (meccaga) of the whole (ella) Universe (jagamu) (jagamella),
You make us (Or the Universe) dance (ADincedavu) without missing (tappaka) even a single beat (gati), isn't it (sumI)!
O Lord saluted (nata) by this tyAgarAja and praised (vinuta) by Siva – Lord (ISa) of Mountains (giri) (girISa)!
O Lord SrI rAma candra, Father of Cupid! Why should we worry?
The song really gives you strength and power to do anything. You don't need to worry about anything if you follow dharma and pray him. I don't care writing this entry even if my eyes are not well... Why should I worry? He is there! [ That doesn't means I stop taking medicines and just pray. We should also follow our dharma ]
References:
http://thyagaraja-vaibhavam.blogspot.com/2008/02/thyagaraja-kriti-maakelaraa-vichaaramu.html
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