Sunday, June 22, 2014

Kabhi Kabhi Ittefaak Se

Not always but sometimes i just feel like taking off...off on to the beautiful roads...no fixed destination, no purpose but just aimlessly go...

Yeah i want to be The Vagabond that R L Stevenson talks about...
Give to me the life I love,
Let the lave go by me,
Give the jolly heaven above
And the byway nigh me.
Bed in the bush with stars to see,
Bread I dip in the river -
There's the life for a man like me,
There's the life for ever.

Let the blow fall soon or late,
Let what will be o'er me;
Give the face of earth around
And the road before me.
Wealth I seek not, hope nor love,
Nor a friend to know me;
All I seek, the heaven above
And the road below me.

Or let autumn fall on me
Where afield I linger,
Silencing the bird on tree,
Biting the blue finger.
White as meal the frosty field -
Warm the fireside haven -
Not to autumn will I yield,
Not to winter even!

Let the blow fall soon or late,
Let what will be o'er me;
Give the face of earth around,
And the road before me.
Wealth I ask not, hope nor love,
Nor a friend to know me;
All I ask, the heaven above
And the road below me. 
As for that title, well i have borrowed it from a Bollywood song from a film and it means, ' Sometimes just by chance'.
The song opens like this...
''aate jaate khoobsoorat aawaaraa sadkon pe
kabhee kabhee ittefaak se, kitanay anjaan log mil jaatey hain 
un mein se kuchh log bhool jaatey hain, kuchh yaad reh jaatey hain... 
Travelling in the train once i had met rather seen a sophisticated lady once. She did not speak much and i had just watched her dainty moves the entire journey. Later did a blog. i still remember her face...although my blog turned out to be more about not her but what i did after i saw her and watched her...here's the link just in case one needs to know how it went after i had had my chance meeting and the aftermath of that...
http://shivanidiwani64.blogspot.in/2010/09/thank-you-sister-bhojeya.html

And although translating a song or poetry is quite difficult i am trying what can be best dubbed not a translation but transliteration so here it goes...the song and the meaning in English...
Aatey Jatey Khoobsoorat Aawaara Sadkon pe
Like a vagabond as i come and go on the beautiful road
Kabhee Kabhee Ittefaak Se
Sometimes it's just by chance
Kitanay Anjaan Log Mil Jaatay Hain
So many strangers we come to meet
Un mein Se Kuch Log Bhool Jaatey Hain
Some of these people we forget
Kuch Yaad Reh Jaatey Hain
But some linger around as memories

Okay in my transliteration i have chosen for the time being to call the road beautiful because sometimes roaming around on empty roads feels beautiful. That grey unending bordered by greens if there are any looks pretty and offers respite from much stress that can be attributed to the hassles of living in a congested concrete jungle and one sometimes feels like taking off to somewhere, even if it means a long walk on an empty road. But then you never know when something on that walk of yours might catch your fancy and it might stay with you forever...could be a rock, a dried up tree, some clouds in the vicinity or even some people...

i roamed like a vagabond on the beautiful roads one day and had a few chance meetings too. Some that i remember are here...i see them as i had seen them that day and this is one good thing about roaming alone with a camera in your hand.
And the best part of it all is that memories is that unlike the song i have to make no extra effort to sent any plea of some sort to those i remember. The song from which the title of my blog is taken continues till it ends and midway there is a plea to someone who is remembered.

It was also  ittefaak se ( by chance) that i came upon this video. Because it was very relevant to what i had to say and before i said it i decided to bring it from it's home page and embed it here. The home page says, 
Plants of Life ( plants are people & people are plants)


https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/748694792/plants-of-life-plants-are-people-and-people-are-pl

So when i took off on the road all by myself one day i had a ittefaak se meeting with these people. And of course i believe that Plants are People too

i remember them fondly and who knows they might remember me too. After all there were Homo sapiens coming and going and surely these who have stayed in my memory will remember one among the entire that came and went. One sapien who kept fussing over them. Giving them the well deserved time and attention. Noticing their limbs, foliage, texture and their entire being. Surely they would remember ... for i believe plants have feelings too, and my years of tending to them and talking to them reaffirms that faith that they respond toward not only light, air and water but feelings too.
Long ago when that story of Dushyant and Shakuntala was told as a story by Ma to me i remember her telling me how the vines and creepers in that vana (forest) would respond to her touch and reach out for her to offer her their fragrant laden blossoms which she came to pick for sage Kanva Rishi her foster father's worship. Then as an infant i believed in awe like i believed in magic and fairies but today i believe more because of my daily practice in what i see and what my logical reasoning mind tells me. It just takes me a couple of days to be away from my green loved ones and their desolate forlorn appearance gives it all. My logical reasoning mind tells me that they were having their photosynthesis alright but they sure did miss me and all my daily yapping and fussing even if it were for just two days.
i know elephants of all the species have a sharp memory and i haven't come across any programme on TVchannels or readings of any sort that can prove my theory about plants having memories but then it's a nice thought and i would like to keep it that way.  

Saritaea magnifica or Arrabidaea magnifica - Glow Vine, Purple Funnel Vine

Iris domestica earlier known as Belamcanda chinensis- Blackberry lily, Leopard lily

Unknown...looked like flowering ASPARAGUS to me but i wouldn't be sure

The next beautiful bewitched me because there was a decent fragrance of something like food also around her. And at first i hadn't noticed her because she was closest to the road and from the other side to where i was first standing to be with others i hadn't noticed her at first. It was only when i got ready to go when my eyes Ittefaak sey fell upon her. Had to postpone my going for a bit as i went all around her. Crawled on my knees so that i could see her eye to eye and then right into her gullet. It was then i sensed the origin of the food fragrance...faint and good...like coconut...

OMG...what colours...and those radiating lines...and where the lines seemed to meet the emergence of the  curled tender stamen holding the anthers...OMG !! she looked delectable too...like whipped butter spread carelessly her petals overflowing the top of a round vessel...and the shape of her body very seductive...no wonder then the common name CHALICE...Haaah!!
Solandra grandiflora- Chalice vine
When i stood up i looked at the beautiful flower and the bud and ittefaak sey it being there by the lilac pole perhaps had not only enhanced it's beauty but also made it stand out as quite a stunner. She is remaining thus as the most beautiful liana ( climbing vine) that i have ever seen by the lilac pole.
 Her cousin i keep seeing regularly ie Datura metel aka Devil's trumpet or Indian Thorn Apple... Lord Shiva's favorite. But she who looks like a Chalice Cup continues to remain a sweet, smelling like coconut, a beautiful Memory. Needless to say then that i hope and wish for an accidental meeting with her again someday. 

In the beginning of my blog i called the road...the empty road beautiful because that could be one interpretation of the song and my feeling of aawargi meaning vagrancy felt refreshing and much more beautiful than any scenic place could provide me. Although when i took off i was on a very scenic spot. But that needn't be the case. An empty road might just as well do.

 Thus what i'm trying to say is that being a vagabond could be beautiful too and one could reach that reckless freedom from inhibition and worry of mind, lacking restraint or control in which one feels that supreme kind of leisure. So in the song the road could be beautiful or being a vagabond could feel wonderfully refreshing and beautiful too. It could be interpreted as one chooses it to be. This feeling of wantoness has been best penned in the words by the famous poet Mohsin Naqvi and later rendered beautifully as the most popular ghazal by Mr Ghulam Ali 
                                      ''  Ye dil ye paagal dil mera, kyun bujh gayaa awaargi
                                          is dasht mein ek sheher tha, woh kya hua aawaargi..''

'' Mohsin Sa'ab realizes the Carefree State of Mind in these opening lines. He says, "I do not understand what is wrong with my heart, with what I am feeling. Its totally crazy and out of this world! Until recently there was so much chaos within me( "is dasht mein ek sheher tha", meaning, the chaos within the heart compared to the hustle bustle of a City), but where is that today? Today what I feel is only "Aawargi" ! ''


The title of the blog from a Bollywood movie song of the 1970's film ' Anurodh' meaning ' Request' in which the hero of the movie, a popular singer is reminiscing the chance meeting he has with people and is emphasizing the fact that although some of these people get erased from memory some seem to stay forever. He is particular about one. In the movie clip he is seen singing, " Aaatey Jaatey Khoobsoorat Aawara Sadkon Pe, Kabhee Kabhee Ittefaque Sey...", on the radio and is lyrically lamenting his chance meeting with someone he can't seem to forget. Need i divulge then that the someone happens to be a lady...and he goes on to recollect how he found a kerchief, her kerchief which now is in his possession as a token of that meeting...
Apart from lamenting he is also making a plea to the kerchief owner, the beautiful lady he saw when he roamed like a vagabond on the beautiful road or perhaps was roaming in his beautiful wantoness  to come and take the silk kerchief from him which he is cocksure was left by the lady for him. As the song progresses in the movie there are scenes from his recollections of a wet monsoon night and a beautiful girl all drenched and the two look into two happening. She then leaving in a hurry not without dropping her kerchief behind and he drenched yes but enchanted more is seen picking up a silk kerchief with one hand and holding his umbrella with the other.
Also now when he is singing on the radio in the studio his mystery lady who he is sort of serenading is sure listening to it all grasping every bit of all that love transmitting through the radio, resting in the comfort of her plush bedroom first and then as she moves with the transistor in her hand to the living room later.
Okay since i has used the lines of a song as the title of my blog i felt the need to give this explanation for those who would not be able to fathom why or how i got my title from.

Apart from that blissful giving sleepless nights romance there are other important lines in the song that can be applied to a whole gamut of experiences that we have by chance including just dreams and romance. The concluding para of the song talks about dreams too. There are certain long nights when sleep eludes us and then if by chance ittefaak sey  we do fall asleep we get certain dreams but isn't it strange that there are some dreams we always remember but some feels like we never had them at all.
The song has ittefaak sey used as a refrain for the romance and is thus linked to romantic relationship that was brewing there and i could not use that...i had the walking on the road and meeting the beauties just by chance in mind so the words that immediately hit me were the words from that particular song. Nothing else seemed to fit the title of my blog so decided to use it. Take the romance aspect out of the song and apply the rest of the song to other facts of life and it fits to the T to everything else as well and not just the title of my blog.

i am a great talker...and plants, trees, birds, insects, creatures that have caught my fancy even those that have bitten me, well, i can talk forever about them but after having written and my writing having layers as is usual like this one in which first i have spoken about my a) wanting to be a vagabond sometimes and why, then,
                                                                           b) plants being people and having feelings too ,
choosing an appropriate title becomes one onerous task for me. Each time and every time and then finally i do what had come to my mind first and post my blog. Although words in my blogs create a riot/ ruckus of sorts and i am puzzled if this title was appropriate or the other one...the one which almost sounded like a refrain in the blog...ufff...it is mind boggling and sometimes a finished blog just sits as a draft waiting to be published like this one has been sitting in the draft box for three days now because i was not too sure or too happy with the title. Its not that i'm too pleased with my post either but the title is the one that keeps me in the loop the most. i keep going round and round all and about...and finally sheer frustration leads me to sigh and press Publish.
i wonder if this happens with other bloggers too...would help to know if only they could stop by and let me know... 


18 comments:

  1. Oh yes I remember that 1977 movie.... and the songs .... the deadly combination of Kishore Kumar and LP. Somehow I feel, Vinod Mehra did better than Rajesh Khanna.

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  2. @ Haddock thank you so much for stopping by and in Tintin's Haddock language that was one
    ''Flamin' Jack-in-the-Box!'' response. So u kindo made my day by being so very prompt on my call.
    Now i have forgotten all about the movie barring those two songs for which the movie is more famous. i guess so far as histrionic talents are concerned Vinod Mehra did impress me in most of his movies that i have seen but far as making out who was better in Anurodh i guess i'll have to see it again to ditto what u just said. Maybe i must revisit the movie once again and not just the song. Thanks for pointing that out though. :)

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  3. oh.. that is a lot of info on all various things.. journey-flowers-bollywood :) oh boy this place always has so much to share everytime.

    I dont recall the movie at all but the song was lovely for sure .. and Itefaaq is very often used word and I do beleive that everything works Itefaaq se.. just like i found this blog ..

    but if we look and think hard then is it really itefaaq or was it meant to be .. we do say that what has to happen will happen always .. so nothing is itefaaq then is it ..

    Bikram

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    1. Dear Bikram you are so right when you say, " ...it was meant to be" actually you've no frigging idea that you have just blurted out one whole big philosophy of life here. If you just have the patience and the time pls pls pls read this..."It is not important whether you believe in spirituality or not, the four principles of spirituality apply to all from the moment one is born and will remain there till the end! Four principles of spirituality The First Principle states: "Whomsoever you encounter is the right one" This means that no one comes into our life by chance. Everyone who is around us, anyone with whom we interact, represents something, whether to teach us something or to help us improve a current situation. The Second Principle states: "Whatever happened is the only thing that could have happened" Nothing, absolutely nothing of that which we experienced could have been any other way. Not even in the least important detail. There is no "If only I had done that differently, then it would have been different". No. What happened is the only thing that could have taken place and must have taken place for us to learn our lesson in order to move forward. Every single situation in life which we encounter is absolutely perfect, even when it defies our understanding and our ego. The Third Principle states: "Each moment in which something begins is the right moment" Everything begins at exactly the right moment, neither earlier nor later. When we are ready for it, for that something new in our life, it is there, ready to begin. The Fourth Principle states: "What is over, is over" It is that simple. When something in our life ends, it helps our evolution. That is why, enriched by the recent experience, it is better to let go and move on. Think it is no coincidence that you're here reading this. If these words strike a chord, it's because you meet the requirements and understand that not one single snowflake falls accidentally in the wrong place! Be good to yourself. Love with your whole being. Always be happy'..."
      Thank you so much because i know u coming to my blog was meant to be...to make me happy...to give me the genuine companionship i sooo longed and desired. Thank you so much Bikram...for uptill now and for more yet to come. :)

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    2. TOtally agree with the four pronciples but .. I know always a BUTT :) .. but if we could agree and follow them wont life be lovely .. the whole idea of life is not to agree and Try to Agree ... If you know what I mean :)

      and yeah coming to your blog also did one extra great things you saying all these good things about me .. have given my esteem and ego and BIG BIG kick on the butt toooooooooo so yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

      coming here always makes me feel elated after reading the response you give :)

      Bikram

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    3. lol..but seriously and honestly even ur presence here on my page make me feel fun...makes me feel happy too. Bless you. :) :) :)

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  4. what an amazing post! It has everything- pictures, quotes, poems etc etc! loved it :)

    This flower Solandra grandiflora is amazingly unique in shape I think! and thanks a lot for sharing the poem by R.L. Stevenson!

    :)

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    1. Dear Ankita we learnt the poem in school by heart when it was a prescribed poem in our text. Little did we know that time then that one day it will become a song of craving of the heart one day. Something that will come out automatically maybe because i can't compose poetry . Thank you so much for appreciating R l Stevenson and all that i had to share. Loved to see you here. Hope to seeing more of you.
      Yeah Solandra grandiflora is amazing but i wish you could check out it's another fragrant variety too on Google. Solandra grandiflora i was lucky to see and maybe i might be fortunate to see Solandra maxima too one day. Can u believe it i was told it is Gold in color...later checked it out on Google...and boy GOLD it was. Solandra maxima...keep ur eyes open for that. Now that u know Solandra grandiflora...maxima would be easy just the color is gold and i believe the fragrance too is divine. Cheers !!!

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    2. Dear Shivani

      that's great..some poems learned early are never forgotten and they become a part of our memory for ever! I just checked out the maxima variety and it is really awesome! it is so big and looks different as well! nature is full of beautiful wonders..thanks for telling me more about this flower :)

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    3. @ Ankita u know what i feel sooo thrilled and happy yhat u have seen maxima. :) unable to hold myself any longer i just went to ur Bits & Pieces 1 and have left that note apart from my yapping about Solandra cause i wasn't sure if u would return here. But now that u have i really feel as excited as that child who has just swapped her new fav comics with her bum chum. Cheers to that too. :) :) :)

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    4. yessss! cheers! i loved your comments Shivani :D

      btw I have added you on Google plus, please add me back :)

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  5. where do you find all these flowers? ;)

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    1. @ joshi daniel dear sir they were there by the side of a road, but of course like i have mentioned in my blog i could've missed them but it was just co-incidence perhaps or as Bikram has aptly said maybe it was meant to be, that i saw them. Pls keep visiting me for you shall soon be seeing more of what i find during my walks or just like that. Yeah i am taking pictures now and would want you of all people to see my pictures and tell something about them.
      Thanks for ur visit...i feel privileged to see u here. :)

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  6. Thanks Shivani for your heart-touching comment and message from the Gita on my Blog. Thanks to you that Superpower post is blessed :)

    Even I love this song from Anurodh movie. I thought (courtesy my imagination!) it is inspired by the golden-Mohd Rafi song from the B&W movie- Barsaat Ki Ek Raat-
    "Zindagi bhar nahi bhoolegi wo barsaat ki raat,
    Ek anjaan haseena se mulaakaat ki raat."

    There are many zindagi & safar songs that spring to my mind!
    Yes, you are right that everything happens for a reason.
    I feel blessed in such great company :)
    Followed you on G+ & also followed your Blog :)

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    1. Dear Anita apologies on the delay, but i have really been dying to tell u this. The feeling is mutual. i admire u much too much. Through ur work and ur comments i know u r sincere and true. Great to have met you and this feels real even though our meeting is but a virtual one.
      Yeah the Zindagi songs...how about that, " Zindagi ek safar hai suhana, yahan kal kya ho kisnay jana." i also like the latest by that cute Ali Zafar Zindagi Gulzaar Hai...have u heard that one? http://youtu.be/FXhECjSqhD8 listen and let me know if u liked it or not. i love his looks and his voice. :)
      Thanks a lot for these lovely words. Will will you too to be in touch henceforth. Just to surround myself with all that positive energies you bring each time...when u come. :)

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    2. Dear Shivani, Thanks for such nice words.
      In this complex world, virtues like honesty, humility and simplicity are pretty rare. Feels wonderful to find these, albeit virtually :)
      Words connect on such a level that we feel we know the writer for ages. Has happened to me when I first read Richard Bach...
      Now when I read the works of co-Bloggers like you, I find an emotional connect and feel blessed to belong to this extended family, where we are encouraged & supported :)
      The feeling is mutual. Love your visits to my Blog :)
      Ali Zafar is a great singer and multi-talented personality. I admire all creative people. I love music.
      Your post has inspired me to write a post on Zindagi songs as there are many nice ones! Hope to write some day :)

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    3. :)) hey, I was just thinking about you dear Anita and like a fairy there you r. So nice to hear from you. Tell u what those virtues...I smell them in ur posts too. I am smelling them in a few others too. I call them REAL and they know it...I hope they do. I hope that I am not dismissed as one very emotional blogger who is miles away from the reality. But Anita since when did honesty become unreal in the real world I wonder...while I was busy attending to my family...then...was world turning then Anita...
      Thanx for being here...I just had one estrangement today...and I actually needed a friend...even if it was a virtual one.
      Love and hugzzzzz

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    4. Yes, Shivani, words give away a lot... Always nice to get our dose of honesty.
      Thank you so much for such nice words & warmth! Makes my day :)
      May you have no estrangement. Keep smiling :)

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