Lewis Carroll's Alice...in Wonderland?

One of my all-time favourite books remains Alice in Wonderland written by Lewis Carroll. I absolutely love the poems and words/quotes said... Few that were put up some time back in one my earlier posts.

One of the most cherished verses have been

'...but I cannot explain myself, I'm afraid...

because I'm not myself you see...

In Spring,when the leaves are turning green,

I'll try and tell you what I mean

In summer, when the days are long,

perhaps you'll understand the song...'

(please to note..this verse is a fragment from a memory of eon...if anyone finds the original piece, please let me know- god knows i've been searching real hard for it.)

Some info on LC:

With his father's death, Lewis Carroll became head of the family. All ten siblings were at this stage partly dependent on the father, and when the rectory was given up, nine of the brothers and sisters were left seeking another home. Mr. Dodgson had provided for his children financially, so they had enough to maintain a frugal lifestyle, but the responsibility on Lewis Carroll was still very great. It was a miserable period for him. All this time, he was writing Looking Glass.

Looking Glass is every bit as good as Wonderland and has the same feeling of hidden significance and emotion. It deals with growing up and parting and loss, and has a more sombre feel than Wonderland. Although Carroll's dream "Alice" character must have been in some ways himself, it does still seem that both books were genuinely told for the little child Alice Liddell, sitting listening in Carroll's imagination to the continuation of "her" story.

The Liddell girls were now in fact grown up, but still in his magical world they remained, listening, helping him once more to turn painful reality into just a dream. Indeed, when you read the poem he wrote at the end of Looking Glass(pasted below), this seems to be what he is saying. The children did listen long ago, he begins: but then memories of that faded. Yet, he is still haunted by his dream "Alice", and now the children have now moved to Wonderland. They are not real any more, but they're still listening, and always will, because they themselves have become part of his dream - which in turn seems to him as real as life itself.

Presenting one of my fave poems...Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll...so much said in so little- enjoi.

A boat, beneath a sunny sky
Lingering onward dreamily
In an evening of July --
Children three that nestle near,
Eager eye and willing ear
Pleased a simple tale to hear --
Long has paled that sunny sky:
Echoes fade and memories die:
Autumn frosts have slain July.
Still she haunts me, phantomwise
Alice moving under skies
Never seen by waking eyes.
Children yet, the tale to hear,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Lovingly shall nestle near.
In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:
Ever drifting down the stream --
Lingering in the golden gleam --
Life what is it but a dream?

Love..thy name is?

the above is urdu or arabic, not sure which, classifying love in 7 different shades...

happened to be searching for few words and saw this on an US_based singer Shalini Rehil's website... loved the words, so thought of sharing it.

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amour ou folie?

"You call it madness, but I call it love." (Don Byas)

Droplets of rain
On your tendrils
That curve around your eyes
To touch your lips
Like the fresh smell of grass
As it gets drenched in euphoria
Of the welcome monsoon...
You meet me
Passion burns
In your eyes. Is it just lust
Or something that was meant to be
Arms sinuously trace
the wondering soul wanton
The morning glow a reminder
of a shimmering moonlight
In each other,we, as life and death
meet and part – for that split second.

Written on April 26, 2003 by Moi (of course!) for a fantasy.

YAAD AA RAHA HAI.....TERA PYAAR....

Happened to watch two movies on consecutive days... both good films about love and passion...both beginning from the letter 'P'... and with great songs....one being the 'Phantom of the Opera' and the other Parineeta.

There were some similarities that I felt in some songs- expressed of course in different languages but conveying the same emotions in many ways...and stirred some old and torn heart strings within me...(sigh!). So here's a 'jhalak' on the same... songs from both movies... and the one I like....

Learn To Be Lonely
Child of the wilderness
Born into emptiness
Learn to be lonely
Learn to find your way in darkness
Who will be there for you
Comfort and care for you
Learn to be lonely
Learn to be your one companion
Never dreamed out in the world
There are arms to hold you
You’ve always known your heart was on its own
So laugh in your loneliness
Child of the wilderness
Learn to Be lonely
Learn how to love life that is lived alone
Learn to be lonely
Life can be lived life can be loved alone

Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again
You were once
my one companion . . .
you were all
that mattered . . .
You were once
a friend and father -
then my world was shattered . . .
Wishing you were
somehow here again . . .
wishing you were
somehow near . . .
Sometimes it seemed
if I just dreamed,
somehow you would
be here . . .
Wishing I could
hear your voice again . . .
knowing that I
never would . . .
Dreaming of you
won't help me to do
all that you dreamed
I could . . .
Passing bells
and sculpted angels,
cold and monumental,
seem, for you,
the wrong companions -
you were warm and gentle . . .
Too many years
fighting back tears . . .
Why can't the past
just die . . .?
Wishing you were
somehow here again . . .
knowing we must
say goodbye . . .
Try to forgive . . .
teach me to live . . .
give me the strength
to try . . .
No more memories,
no more silent tears . . .
No more gazing across
the wasted years . . .
Help me saygoodbye.

Soona Man ka Aangan
Soona.. Soona mann ka aangan, dhunde payal ki woh chann chann
sooni..sooni mann ki sargam, dhunde geet tere humdum
mann main shyam ho ya sawera, laga teri hi yaadon ka dera
tune bandhan kyon ye toda, tune kahe ko mu moda
kaho na kaho na kaho na
phool phool bhawara dole, mann main goonji teri yaad
baagh main papiha bole, pihu pihu piyu kaha
kaise kate sooni raatein, kaho na, kaho na
kaise bhoolein bite baatein, kaho na, kaho na
kaise thame phir tera daaman, kaise meheke mann ka ye aangan
kaise bhoole preet teri saajan, kaise baandhen toota ye bandhan
mann main shyam ho ya sawera, laga teri hi yaadon ka dera
tune bandhan kyon ye toda, tune kahe ko mu moda
kaho na kaho na kaho na
phool phool bhawara dole, mann main goonji teri yaad
baagh main papiha bole, pihu pihu piyu kaha (f)
phool phool bhawara dole, mann main goonji teri yaad
baagh main papiha bole, pihu pihu piyu kaha (m)
phool phool bhawara dole, mann main goonji teri yaad
baagh main papiha bole, pihu pihu piyu kaha (duet) kaho na...(f)

Music of the Night
Night-time sharpens,heightens each sensation . . .
Darkness stirs and wakes imagination . . .
Silently the senses abandon their defences . . .
Slowly, gently, night unfurls its splendour . . .
Grasp it, sense it -tremulous and tender . . .
Turn your face away from the garish light of day,
turn your thoughts away from cold, unfeeling light -
and listen to the music of the night . . .
Close your eyes and surrender to yourdarkest dreams!
Purge your thoughts of the lifeyou knew before!
Close your eyes,let your spiritstart to soar!
And you'll live as you've neverlived before . . .
Softly, deftly, music shall surround you . . .
Feel it, hear it,closing in around you . . .
Open up your mind,let your fantasies unwind,
in this darkness whichyou know you cannot fight -
the darkness ofthe music of the night . . .
Let your mind start a journey through a strange new world!
Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before!
Let your soul
Take you where you long to be !
Only then can you belong to me . . .
Floating, falling,sweet intoxication!
Touch me, trust me
savour each sensation!
Let the dream begin,
let your darker side give into
the power of the music that I write -
the power of the music of the night . . .

Raat Hamari To
ratiya kari kari ratiya, ratiya andhiyari ratiya
raat humari toh, chand ki saheli hain
kitne dino ke baad, aayi woh akeli hain
chuppi ki birah hain, jhingur ka baje saath
raat humari toh, chand ki saheli hain
kitne dino ke baad, aayi woh akeli hain
samjha ki baati bhi koi bujha de aaj
andhere se jee bhar ke karni hain baatein aaj
andhera rootha hain, andhera laitha hain
gumsum sa kone main baitha hain
raat humari toh, chand ki saheli hain
kitne dino ke baad, aayi woh akeli hain
samjha ki baati bhi koi bujha de aaj
andhere se jee bhar ke karni hain baatein aaj
andhera pagal hain, kitna ghanera hain
chubhta hain, dasta hain
phir bhi woh mera hain
uski hi godi main, sar rakhke sona hain
uski hi baahon main, chupke se rona hain
ankhon se kajal ban, behta andhera aaj
raat humari toh, chand ki saheli hain
kitne dino ke baad, aayi woh akeli hain
samjha ki baati bhi koi bujha de aaj
andhere se jee bhar ke karni hain baatein aaj
andhera rootha hain, andhera laitha hain
gumsum sa, kone main baitha hain

Think of Me
Think of me think of me fondly,
when we've said goodbye.
Remember me once in a while -
please promise me you'll try.
When you findthat,
once again,
you long to take your heart back
and be free -
if you ever find a moment,
spare a thought for me

hey mona!!! .... ooooh mona!!

Today is one of my favourite's birthday.... He, who had a keen eye and quick mind that led him to make important scientific discoveries... and yet, he never published his ideas. He...who was a gentle vegetarian and loved animals and despised war... and yet, he worked as a military engineer to invent advanced and deadly weapons. He, who was one of the greatest painters of the Italian Renaissance.....yet he left only a handful of completed paintings.

Guessed who???

Am talking of Leonardo Da Vinci - architect, musician, anatomist, inventor, sculptor, geometer and painter par excellence. His full birth name was "Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci", meaning "Leonardo, son of [Mes]ser Piero from Vinci". In his lifetime, Leonardo — he had no surname in the modern sense; "da Vinci" simply means "from Vinci"....Most famous for his even more famous paintings- the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper.

But then enough is talked about her and his art... Lets instead delve into the designer that was Leonardo. He conceived of ideas vastly ahead of his time, notably inventing the helicopter, a tank, use of concentrated solar power, the calculator, a rudimentary theory of plate tectonics, the double hull, and others too numerous to mention.

As a student of architecture, one of the most famous symbols of perfect geometry came to me through the Vitruvian Man. Leonardo's 'Vitruvian Man' was one of the most revered descriptions of a human composition in the Renaissance. Vitruvius was an ancient Roman architect who wrote a series of ten books on architecture - one of the few collections of books of its type that survived into the Renaissance. In the third volume, which is on the proportions of temples, he states that these buildings should be based on the proportions of man, because the human body is the model of perfection. He justifies this by stating that the human body with arms and legs extended fits into the perfect geometric forms, the circle, and the square. What he could not complete, Da Vinci did.

Leonardo was able to solve this problem by drawing a beautifully proportioned figure and then finding these truths within the figure. The unit of choice was the head. Leonardo's figure has a one 1:8 ratio with its own head. In other words, it is 8 heads tall.

"From the roots of his hair to the bottom of his chin is a tenth of a man's height; from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head is one eighth of his height; from the top of the breast to the roots of the hair will be the seventh part of the whole man. "
~ Notebooks of Leonardo

Notice how Leonardo conveniently shows us the man's left foot in profile. He even places the heel in front of the big toe of the right foot so that we can see the full length. The length of the foot is the same as the length of the forearm - demonstrating a golden relationship between the hand and the foot. The length of the hand can be related to the measurement of the face - from the chin to the hairline. The face in turn is divided into thirds, which coincide with the eyebrows and the tip of the nose - echoed in the length of the ears. The line at the eyebrows is the golden division of the entire head.

The golden relationship is the key to the proportions of the entire figure. For example, if we examine the length of the arm from the top of the shoulder to the tip of the fingers, we find that the elbow is the golden division. If we examine the length from the elbow to the fingers, we find the base of the hand at the wrist is the golden division. If we measure the hand, the fingers begin at the golden division, and fingers themselves are composed of segments with a golden relationship to each other. We can find the same pattern of proportion in the legs, feet, and torso.

However, the most dramatic illustration of the golden portion is the division of the body at the navel. The relation ship of the distance from the top of the head to the navel is to the distance from the navel to the feet the same as the navel to the feet is to the entire height of the figure.

It is this wonderful understanding of the human body and geometry/maths that made Leonardo such a keen observer- a fact most well proven in his paintings.

ps: The mathematical Fibonacci series and Golden Section (for those who don't know of it, more later) should not be confused with having been worked out by Leonardo Da Vinci. It was Leonardo Da Pisa, who lived 200 years before Da Vinci!

pps: The Fibonacci Series were based on the Indian numbering systems and arithmetics....!!!

a-bucking up govt...

I must say, even if I do like Salman Khan a lil bit, that I am very happy with the verdict of him being jailed for 5 years.. goes to show that nobody's above the law and no will be spared the rod, should any kind of murder (human or animal) be committed...
I am only wishing that along with him, the other filmstars and people who were with him, should be charged against too... And not to mention also the other few celebs, like the Nawab of Pataudi, who have killed rampantly and are still footloose...
The black buck and the chinkaras happen to be two of the rare species in India on the verge of extinction...as is the Tiger... yea, you heard right! I said 'Tiger'... our national animal! Kuch samjhe???
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Am reading a delightful book called "The Age of Kali: Indian Travels & Encounters" by William Dalrymple...a compilation of factual essays that is not only a record but also a personal keen insight to the dramatic and often violent changes that have taken place on the Indian subcontinent within the past decade that is leading the country into the Kalyug...
The book is very observant and neutral, if not bordering on a deep love and understanding for India...and ambles along the ancient and new cultures and mindsets with aplomb... W.D is certainly passionate about the nation, not withstanding his trysts with the black side of it...
A must-read for every literate Indian... and by Indian I mean those who have been born/ migrated/living/lived in India or who have ancestors from the country...

your official quota of self- redemption!

Start the monday morning afresh with some finer tips from me on the ‘art of living’- very needed in the stress-filled offices we work in.....heh!

• First of all, meditate! Breathe in deeply – ALL the gossip that you can ‘feel’ around you.
• Second step-by-step positively add thoughts. If you have heard about something/someone, think a bit more and add your ‘energy’ to heighten that knowledge.
• Do not question the law of ‘nature’. Be more accepting of whatever comes your ear.
• Give your contribution. Think more and talk much more. Do your bit to the society by giving people due importance.
• Reach Nirvana- A thousand lies is worth one truth so said Krishna. So make sure you finish your quota for attaining THE Truth.

Now you are a qualified Living Bitch!!!!!!! (I’m not talking about the sex of the canine types, but of the vocal indulgences of the mental kind). So go ahead, bite and Bite Hard! ;)

A few pondering questions:

• Here there everywhere, people running to go somewhere….but are we really moving?
• Do you get a kick out of life when you get kicked?
• Why is it that when we get older, we get younger too?
• Are we ever so right to say someone is wrong (or left)? (sic!)
• Is what you see really what you see?