Monday, November 24, 2008

Maiden over...






















Photo by - Endevourme
Every morning somewhere at around 9 o clock the doorbell rings. When I open the door I find her standing outside. 'She' is our maid.
I call out loud 'bai has come', and suddenly the house is on alert. All roomies are woken up. Beds are rolled up, newspapers are picked up and it feels like the day has really started. She washes clothes, wipes the floor and does some miscellaneous things (for which she charges 'extra'). Maids are necessary and here good maids are rare. So sometimes I wonder wheather she is for us or its the other way round.
When the first time she tried to talk to us she gave options,'kannada...? telugu...? tamil...?'and we kept nodding "no...no...no...", when we asked "hindi...?", it was her turn to say "no"! So we talk very less. She knows few words like 'paisa', which she happens to utter every month. Whenever soap is finished, she tells us with gestures that she is out of soap and then one of us has to run to gocery shop. We normally give sturdy clothes to her for washing cause she is a bit rough. Delicate clothes go to laundry. She also wipes the floor, then she puts ON the fan and the floor becomes clean and cool.
Being bachelors, all of us are tuned to universal vibes of confusion. So on some days there are no clothes to wash and some days there are too many. So she too has to adjust to this disordered nature of ours, which she does uncomplainingly. There are times when our maid becomes too sincere. We understand that it is time for increment.
She is the only feminine element in our house. Instinctively, this element brings tidiness and order. When outside, we see her many times, a small girl, her daughter walking along by her side. As per the protocol, we never smile. Her daughter looks more like a reduced xerox copy of hers. Now, when everyone is talking of young India, I am not sure what will happen to the little girl. Or she too will become what her mother is. Another maid and another maiden over for India.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

...and you feel an intruder

















Photo by - Endevourme


Egypt, the country of pyramids and sphinx. 4th November 1922, was the day which saw the most magnificent find in the history of Egyptian archaeology: discovery of mummy of Tutankhamun by Howard Carter.
Carter arrived in Egypt in the year 1891 and he and Mr Carnorvon, the financer, spent some 16 years in search of Tutankhamun's tomb, finally with success. But there is a legend that the tomb was cursed and Carnorvon died within few days of discovery. Eventually, there were many disputes, legal and political, putting the people involved in excavation in not so good position.
Legends apart, the discovery itself carries tremendous value because most of the other tombs were already looted by tomb-robbers and Tutankhamun's tomb was the only one surviving more than three thousand years, untouched.
So much happened in the world during three thousand years and yet the place of the dead was undisturbed, as it was intended to be. An archeologist's job is to excavate and it tells us about ancient history of mankind, but still, do we have a right to break open grave of someone? I wonder. These are feelings of Howard Carter from his own diary about the day when the tomb was opened-
"...Three thousand, four thousand years maybe, have passed and gone since human feet last trod the floor on which you stand, and yet, as you note the signs of recent life around you - the half-filled bowl of mortar for the door, the blackened lamp, the finger mark upon the freshly painted surface, the farewell garland dropped upon the threshold - you feel it might have been yesterday...Time is anhilated by little intimate details such as these, and you feel an intruder..."

Monday, November 10, 2008

Harmony...













Photo by - Endevourme
Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
-Leo Tolstoy

Monday, November 03, 2008

Baawraa Mann...



Photo by - Endevourme

Baawra mann dekhne chala ek sapna...
Baawre se mann ki dekho
Baawri hain baatein
Baawri si dhadkanein hain
Baawri hain saansein
Baawri si karvaton se nindiya tu bhaage
Baawre se nain chaahein
Baawre jharokhon se
Baawre nazaaron ko takna

Baawre se is jahaan mein
Baawra ek saath ho
Is sayaani bheed mein
Bas haathon mein tera haath ho
Baawri si dhun ho koi
Baawra ek raag ho
Ho baawri si dhun ho koi
Baawra ek raag ho
Baawre se pair chaahein
Baawre taraanon ke
Baawre se bol pe thirakna

Baawra sa ho andhera
Baawri khaamoshiyaan
Thartharaati lau ho maddham
Baawri madhoshiyaan
Baawra ek ghungta chaahe
Haule haule bin bataaye
Baawre se mukhde se sarakna

Baawra mann dekhne chala ek sapna...
Lyrics - Baawra mann from Hazaron Khwahishein Aisi