Of Yul Brynner, a Siamese king and the Relics of the Buddha

Sometimes one thing reminds one of another, sometimes the linkages come together to forge a tale.Was listening to the musical, ‘The King and I’ Starring the magnificent Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr, and was reminded of several connections that tell quite a story.
The musical  is based on the 1944 novel 'Anna and the King of Siam' by Margaret Landon, which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, Governess to the children of King Mongkut ( Rama IVth ) of Siam in the early 1860s. (1861-67). The musical's plot relates the experiences of Anna, a British schoolteacher hired as part of the King's drive to modernize his country. The relationship between the King and Anna is marked by conflict through much of the piece, as well as by a love that neither can admit. The musical premiered on March 29, 1951, at Broadway's St. James Theatre. It is one of longest-running Broadway musical in history, and has had many tours and revivals.

The Thai  king featured here, Rama IVth responsible for the modernization of Thailand became ill with malaria in 1867 along with the then 15 year old future king Rama Vth. The ruling monarch passed away, the English teacher ( who falsely attributed the darkness of her complexion to her Irish ancestry, but was actually  Anglo-Indian, it was later discovered), then on a leave of absence for six months was visiting England where her daughter was, she intended to admit her son in a boarding school there and return with her daughter. Learning of the King's death, she never returned to Thailand, though she kept up correspondence with her former pupil Rama Vth, the new King.

This new king received in 1899, the relics discovered in the Piparhawa Stupa by William Pepe, amateur archaeologist and private British owner of Birdpore Estate.located about 60 miles north of the town of Gorakhpur, in north India.The discovery was marked by controversy on account of the fact that William Fuhrer, chief archaeologist of the then government of India, had access to the discoveries within four weeks of the unearthing. It was discovered soon thereafter that Fuhrer was responsible for several  forgeries and was a fraud. When the scandal broke he resigned in disgrace. The British were now faced with the problem of authenticating the relics discovered in Piparhawa about which both Fuhrer and Vincent Smith, the famous historian, and an official of the government of India  were of the opinion that they were of the Sakya Muni, Budha, the one-eighth share of the relics granted to his home clan the Sakas, buried there by them.the original burial would have been a simple one, the grand Stupa was built over the burial site, by Asoka Maurya ( the Mauryan king Asoka the Great), along with the precious offerings of gold and gems discovered there.

Faced with the controversy however, the British quickly sought to get the relics out of the country. William Pepe’s family retained a part of the jewels discovered, the relics were offered to Rama the Vth, Buddhist, King of Siam, in 1899, (Lord Curzon was Viceroy of India then)  who housed them in the Golden Stupa, in Bangkok, Thailand, where they remain. The large stone casket, Ashokan in all probability as well as the urn which originally contained the relics with the Sanskrit inscription in Brahmi script on it, are housed in the National Museum in Calcutta.

It would be a tremendous event if all this could be put together and precise authentication arrived at, all things are interconnected after all...

निज़ामुद्दीन रेल वे स्टेशन

निज़ामुद्दीन रेल वे स्टेशन

उम्र से पहले बूढ़े हो चले
घिसे पिटे से लोग
वक़्त ने रगड़ रगड़ काठी झुका दी है 
ग़ुरबत कन्धों पे ढो रहे लोग
नज़र नीची आवाज़ सुस्त
भीड़ बहुत है
और अकेलापन भी
सीढ़ियों से ऊपर नीचे जाते
कोई किसी का बोझ साँझा नहीं करता
कोई मुस्कुराता भी नहीं
सभी अपने अपने खाँचे में बंद हैं
ट्रेन के डब्बे हों जैसे
जुड़े जुड़े भी कटे कटे भी
जाना सभी को वहीं है
लगाम किसी और के हाथ है
बड़ी बेबसी की बात है ...
-विनी
१३/११/१६

ट्रैफ़िक

 ट्रैफ़िक 
आज फिर पुल पर बहुत ट्रैफ़िक था,
ग़र्म शोले सी हो चली थी गाड़ी,
यूँ लगा मुझे के हम सब बूढ़े हो चले हैं जैसे,
मेरा शहर, उसकी सड़कें, और मैं, 
यूँ हम सब जवान थे कभी,
चमचमाते, तेज़ रफ़्तार, कहीं जाना था, कोई मंज़िल थी ,
जाने ये कब हुआ, कैसे हुआ के,
वक़्त ने चमक छीन ली, रफ़्तार थाम ली,
मंज़िलें भुला दीं,
अब सड़कों के रंग उतर गए हैं, शहर सुस्त है और मैं थक गयी हूँ,
कुछ यूँ के अब कहीं पहुँचने की कोई जल्दी नहीं,
ट्रैफ़िक में फँसी ग़र्म शोले सी हो चली गाड़ी में
बैठे रहना भी,
कोई तिलमिलाहट नहीं पैदा करता,
बस एक इंसानी बेबसी सी है,
पुल के इस पार से उस पार तक के सफ़र की,
और इस पुल पर भी,
ट्रैफ़िक बहुत है...
-विनी ४/११/१६

धूप छांव

कुछ धूप है,
कुछ छांव सी,
कुछ ज़िंदगी की मानिंद,
कभी धूप सी खिली हूँ मैं,
कभी रात सी मुरझाई भी,
यूँ तो ख़ुद में मुकम्मल हूँ मैं,
और यूँ भी है के, तुझ बिन कुछ अधूरी हूँ मैं..
-व
 २१/१०/१६

AUTUMN

AUTUMN

I’ve shed all my summer leaves,
given up the familiar,
the burnt amber of those memories,
mulch, mildewed in the soft rain,
I’ve searched high and low,
Burrowed beneath every suface,
Looking for light warmth, hope, and you,
and then from somewhere upthere in the firmament,
from amongst the flickering hope like stars,
you reach out a long cold finger,
my skin flushes, pink,

 renued, my heart delights,
and I feel again,

the cool, still, breadth of winter...
-vinny

15/9/16

लोग कहते हैं

लोग कहते  हैं 
लोग कहते हैं,
चाँद में एक बूढी औरत रहती है,
और समुन्दर की गर्त में,
जलपरियों का महल है,
सूरज सात सफ़ेद घोड़ों के रथ पे सवार ,
रोज़ आसमानों के चक्कर लगता है,
और रात होने पर,
परियां बर्फ के सफ़ेद मैदानों में खेला करती हैं,
लोग क्या क्या कहते हैं,
कहते हैं,तलवार से कलम बलवान है,
और ये के अंत में,
सच की ही जीत होती है,
ये के समय का चाक घूमता रहता है, अविरत,
और देर से ही सही,
ईश्वर के दरबार में न्याय होता है,
लोग क्या क्या कहते हैं... 
~ विन्नी 
२८/८/१६  

बादल बरसे नहीं आज

बादल बरसे नहीं आज

और अब यूँ है के
बादल जब आते है मेरे आकाश
तो आते है किसी तूफ़ान से नहीं 
भीगी भी नहीं इन बारिशों में मैं
यूँ नहीं जैसे किसी शदीद अहसास की गिरफ़्त हो
बस कुछ रंग ज़रूर नज़र आते है फलक पर
कभी फीके, कभी चटक भी
लेकिन दूर , गिरफ़्त से दूर,
बस नज़र के पैमानों में रंग भरते
घड़ी भर के लिए
जाने क्या हुआ है
इस बरस मैं बदल गयी हूँ
या फिर ये बादल भी तुम से हैं
दूर , बस दूर, नज़र के पैमानों में रंग भरते
घड़ी भर के लिए ..
-विनी
२६/७/१६

Paperweight

Paperweight (पेपर वेट )

आज मेज़ पर कुछ काग़ज़ बिखरे थे,
पंखे की तेज़ हवा में उड़ते,
बेतरतीब,
कुछ ज़रूरी कुछ मामूली,
कुछ रंगीन,कुछ जर्द कोरे,
और कुछ ऐसे भी,
जिन के होने का सबब बाक़ी नहीं हो अब,
लेकिन फिर भी हों,
हों हवाओं में उड़ने को तैयार,
उन्हें देख यूँ लगा जैसे,
एक पेपर वेट काफ़ी है,
ऐसे सभी अरमानों की परवाज़ रोक लेने को,
कुछ उसी तरह जैसे,
जब दिल पर पत्थर रख लेते हैं लोग,
और ख़्वाहिशें दब कर दम तोड़ देती हैं,
उस बोझ तले ...
-विनी
१६/८/१६

The Light and the Dark

The light and the dark

The night steals in, quiet, 
Where were you all day? He asked?
I couldn't see beyond the shadows, 
They were everywhere, 
I had to look up a friend she said, 
A dream catcher,
Took some convincing but now he's here,
My dreams will have some colour now ,
They were getting a tad dreary you know ,
The day smiled, to each our own he said,
Personally I'd rather live in the hundred shades of grey you have,
Than the blinding lights,
It seems to me, she said,
You and I , we live ,
Neither in the harshness of the lights,
Nor in the dead of the dark ,
But in the spaces in between ....
`~Vinny 
21/7/16

इंतज़ार

इंतज़ार

तुम हो,
हो, उन काले बादलों की मानिंद,
हवा की इस महक भरी नमी की मानिंद,
हो, वो एहसास हो,
जो है नहीं , लेकिन फिर भी,
जिस के होने से,
दिल सब्ज़ है, इन दिनों,
तुम,
किसी दिन उस बादल से,
बरस जाओ अगर,
तो सूर्खरूह हो जाऊँ मैं भी,
कुछ, इस बरखा में खिले,
उस सुर्ख़ गुल की मानिंद ...
-विनी
६/७/१६

29/6/16

29/6/16

खामोश सी सेहर थी ,

कुछ भी गैर मामूली न था,

फिर यकबयक,

एक अज़ीब उथला पुतला सा दिन गुज़रा,

कुछ तनहा कुछ उदास सी शाम,

अब रात आ बैठी है देहलीज़ पर,

जाने किस सबब गुज़रे,

सेहर हो तो सांस आए ..

~ विन्नी 29/6/16

Of ‘Udta Punjab, the film..

The year was 2000, I was in a seminar at the India Habitat Centre, the discussions were about the problems that the Punjab was in need of confronting, the room was full of eminent Sardars and Punjabis’, the session’s Chair was M.S Gill, who was CEC, and Dr Manmohan Singh, not yet Prime Minister, had just walked in to sit unobtrusively in a chair at the back. I heard speaker after speaker get up to berate the Punjabi fondness for excess, for several of its failings, excessive irrigation with the Bhakra Channal waters had led to salinity of the lands, excessive fondness for material things had induced a culture that lived in the ‘glitter’, pride was excessive, which induced a vanity that was excessive, appetites were excessive, for food for drink for mind altering drugs. The ability to stand up and squarely call a spade a spade amongst the Punjabis was what impressed me that day, which is why I was a little taken aback when I heard protests from the ranks about the manner in which the film Udta Punjab depicts the drug abuse that ails the youth in the State today, it is a problem that is real and present, and no amount of hiding will wish it away.

The controversy over the idiom of the film, its language, the excessive use of expletives, and its show casing of the drug abuse amongst the youth of the Punjab, was like a preview, a foreword for the film itself, which in comparison with the drama of the debate, feels like an academic documentary, there’s a great deal of research, all that is fed to the audience, the detail denudes the narrative of lyricism, fills up the spaces where imagination would have had a play if left vacant. Several stories overlap and interplay and the film is well made nevertheless, it has its moments. The best moment for me was when Sartaj (Dosanjh) voices his fondness for Preet ( Kareena) in an endearing drug induced fuzzy state. Beautifully done. Kareena’s character could have been played by anyone, she plays a de-glammed doctor, who teams up with Dosanjh to clean up the drug racket, looks a little washed out and wasted.  Dosanjh is the revelation of the film, he shows us a Jat-Sikh, simple, a man with limited intellectual abilities, not idiotic nevertheless with a heart that sees and feels, great acting that. Shahid plays a Pop Star, named Tommy, after the Punjabi wont for such Anglicized names! high on drugs, who eventually realizes the folly of his ways and sets out to make amends by saving  Aliya Bhatt’s  Character  from the clutches of the drug mafia. They are both very good, she as the bihari migrant worker, who has tremendous spunk, he as the spaced out caricatured pop star, they hold the film together and keep the audience in their seats. Shahid plays the pop star like he was a cartoon, somewhat unreal, but then I suppose pop stars are such characters.
The film is a detailing of how drugs are accessed, supplied, and the affect they have on lives, destroying them quite literally in fatal ways. Nothing new there, except that the geographical location is the Punjab. Punjab is a border state, the young are easy to influence, icons play a part in this, all that is old hat too, which is why the film feels like a documentary. Would have much preferred a personalised drama with a similar message, would have made the point more intensely, but that is my preference.

The pop star who sings of drugs and their potent effect on the mind, sings Shiv Kumar Batalvi’s “Ek kudi jida naam mohabbat” when asked to sing in exchange for information about the girl he wishes to save. that authentically Punjabi nazm, makes a connect as it always does, with the character for whom it is sung and with the audience at large, it is beautiful , the immortal Batalvi live on in his work. The film looks real enough, the Punjab and its essential motifs are all there, the sights, the sounds, the characters, the music, the geography.

It’s a little long, two and a half hours a bit much, well made and worth a watch nevertheless.

Vinny Jain

बहार

बहार 
सुना है बहार बस आने को है 
सूखी शाखें सब्ज़ हुआ चाहती है 
गुल सुर्ख़ हुआ चाहते है 
हवाएँ नरम हुआ चाहती हैं 
हाँ दिन का आसमा नीला है 
और रात का चाँद रोशन 
एक अजब धड़कन सी सुनती है 
गुन गुन गुन गुन 
और दिल की सख़्त दीवारों पर 
एक नया हरा ख़्वाब उग आया है 
सुना है बहार बस आने को है ..

सुना है बहार बस आने को है 
नए एहसास मेहमान हुआ चाहते हैं 
नग़मा बन एक तबससुम लिपटा है लबों से 
मद होश कोई जाम ख़ुद ही छलक जाए जैसे 
और एक चाप सी कहती है 
सुन सुन सुन सुन 
हाँ आँख नम है और धड़कन तेज़ 
लहू की रवानी में नयी लय सी है 
और दिल को उसकी आमद का 
इंतज़ार है शायद 
सुना है बहार बस आने को है...
विनी 
सिमला 
२९/३/१६

निराकार

निराकार 
विचार से उपजता है सभी कुछ, 
मूर्त , अमूर्त ...
परन्तु आकार लेने की  कुछ मर्यादाएं हैं...
मट्टी को नमी चाहिए, दो हाथों का सहारा चाहिए,
एक चाक के रथ  पर सवार, दुनिया की सैर चाहिए,
एक सांचे की स्थिरता चाहिए ,
सैय्यम , शक्ति, हृदयस्थल  में स्वीकृति ...
तभी पूर्ण होता है सृजन चक्र,
 यूं तो अनगढ़ नहीं  हूँ मैं ,
बस मुझे पूर्ण  आकार ही न मिल सका ...
विन्नी जैन
२९/४/१३

एक तनहा से चाँद के ख़्वाब

एक तनहा से चाँद के ख़्वाब

जलती बुझती सी रोशनी के परे 
रहते हैं अब कितने ख़्वाब नए 
सुनहरी धूप के ख़्वाब 
और स्याह रातों के भी 

मुलायम ,खुशबुओं में लिपटी महकी सीं
बात करती हवाओं के और 
तुम्हारी छत पर बरसती बूँदों के 
उस आँगन में खड़े बोराए आम की ख़ुशबू 
सब्ज़ पत्तों के रंग 
और वो जो टूट कर बिखर गए थे कभी 
उन सूर्खरूह एहसासों के भी 
और है एक आस 
आज की कल की 
आने वाले सभी मौसमों की 
और हैं उन क़दमों के कुछ निशान 
वक़्त की परवाज़ से कुछ पीछे ही चलते रहे जो 
सितारों में सफ़र करते उस तनहा से चाँद के ख़्वाब 
उस जलती बुझती रोशनी के परे 
अपना एक जहाँ आबाद करते हैं...
-विनी 
१३/४/१६

The interregnum

The interregnum 


I sense a hush, 
it's as if the universe holds its breadth in,
It feels as if we were in an interregnum , she said,
In time and space,
Between the now and the hereafter,
Between the nowhere and the somewhere,
The destination fuzzy,
The paths meander,

Ah ! He said, destiny plays itself out in interesting ways,
The inevitable trajectory, a thing to behold,
in its many splendours!

You observe askance almost detached, she smiled,
Whist I walk the subjective tightrope,
Between the wanting and the waiting,
Those wished for tomorrows fill up my dreams,
Even as everything quietens, the silences speak,
I hear them murmur,

He smiled, there's no tweaking time you know,
What will be will be,
The moving finger writes at its own bidding,
We'd best let the moment be.

-Vinny
19/4/16

of the movie Junglebook

Much is lost in translation, they say, that language carries with it the essential markers of the culture it breathes in and that merely changing the language  therefore robs the piece of its quintessence. That each word has its own subtle flavour, a nuance never quite exactly duplicated by another, even less so in another language. It was with a great deal of trepidation therefore, that one walked into a screening of the movie Jungle-Book. It was a late night show with a group of friends, hellbent on some fun, no matter what! That spirit perhaps provided the bravado, we watched the Hindi version! 

They do say that sometimes the copies are better than the original!! I cannot testify if that is so in this case, not having watched the original English version, I can say nevertheless that the Hindi version holds one spell bound!!

From the opening chase, it’s clear that we’re not going to be short-changed in terms of running, jumping, swinging, and falling action, but more impressive is the balance between threat and pathos, comedy and peril, which Favreau, the Director, manages with aplomb.
We all know the story of course, a boy lost in the jungle, raised by a pack of wolves, strange but largely accepted by the animals that inhabit the jungle, friends all, except Shere Khan who is hell bent on revenge, having permanently lost an eye in human encounter...chase, escape, revenge, a fight, and eventual victory, a return of harmony post elimination of evil, a story as old as the woods! What breathes new life in it is the animated format and the life like montage, the sights and sounds truly awesome.

 Bollywood actors Nana Patekar as Shere Khan, Om Puri as Bageera, Irfaan Khan as Bhallu and Priyanka Chopra as Kaa, seem to be having a lot of fun, and that comes through as an audible input in the film's soundtrack. Nana has the cocksure self assured egotistical Shere Khan down to a T ! Drunk on power determined to protect his turf! Irfaan plays Bhallu with a Punjabi flavour, it's mild Delhi Punjabi though!Not quite rustic enough, entertaining nevertheless, the Punjabi simplicity and bonhomie comes through beautifully!I wondered as I watched if Ben Kingsley and Bill Murray did any better, must watch that version too I suppose!

Priyanka plays kaa the serpent seductress adequately enough,(Scarlett Johansson plays the part in the English original) as does Puri, playing  Bageera who is also the narrator. 

Disney movies have come to be layered narratives, the fairy tale settings allegorical, metaphors for life lessons. Thus the good and the evil is now nuanced with shades of grey in between, as with sleeping beauty, 'Maleficent' the evil witch played by Angelina Jolie, walks away with sympathy as the tale unfolds, Rapunzel is also about finding one's own niche, the Beauty and the Beast as much about the real as the fairy tale, as much about acceptance of one's flaws, as it is about the power of passion and love. The Jungle-Book too is about growing up and self discovery , about making choices and about having the courage of one's own convictions, the will and the intent to make the world see things from one's perspective . Therein perhaps lies the appeal that these films have had for the adult audience in recent times. 

Each act of reading, they say again, is an act of writing, each act of translation, transcription , therefore adds an additional flavour to the narrative. I wondered how Kipling wrote the characters as I watched, and if a film makes me want to go back to the book , then at least in my reckoning the film  is a success. I thought the same years ago when the television serial was being screened and yes Gulzar's Mowgli song still brings a smile to my face. Neel Sethi is terrific as Mowgli, whose frame and stance eerily echo those of his animated predecessor.

Disney movies are beautiful montages, the animated format providing just enough leeway for the essential poetic fuzziness that renders the magical, real! The detailing is exquisite, I thought the jungle was straight out of the Lord of the Rings movie, the sounds real, the animals and their movement authentic. The tree that Kaa inhabits is a sight to behold, that entire space truly magically unreal! The director very significantly uses size as an indicator of the extraordinary, the true evil, the supernatural...the elephants considered divine are humongous, kaa, truly evil is larger than life, the monkey king Louie, an Orangutan is disproportionately large. perhaps the only thing lost in translation is the self appointed gigantic king's musical abilities, the rap format falling somewhat flat in the Hindi version of " I wanna be like you"

In many ways this is a movie that could not have been made before now, as much of what one sees on screen is unreal, like Cinderella and the Life of Pie, the movie owes its success to technology, the jungle looks jaw droppingly real, the animals life like, some more than others of course, but all good nevertheless! despite the fact that the film keeps to well established troupes and is somewhat limited by that, (one waits a little to see something new other than the walking talking animals) this is a movie well worth a watch, and may be the best Jungle Book movie yet.

Oh and one last thought! Kipling did write this in India, it's an Indian Jungle, North Indian at that! makes sense that the characters speak Hindi! is that  coming a full circle? You betcha, it is  !!!

Vinny

23/4/16

Regrets

Regrets 
This, here is the place where I don't feel alone, she said, 
I can close my eyes and can hear time whisper, 
It tells of how I weathered the storms and walked through the fires, 
Of nadirs and crests, 
And regrets ? He asked,
Regret?
Those tales of could've been and may have been, she said,
that's wasted emotion surely,
For time tells, each battle is in itself a quest,
A test, from which one returns, doubly blessed.
-Vinny
21/12/15

गढ़ायी

गढ़ायी
मैं,
लिखती हूँ के तुम तो,
या फिर तुम हो के मैं लिखती हूँ ?
या मैं हूँ के तुम हो? 
या फिर तुम हो के मैं हूँ?
या फिर एक तुम हो,
और एक मैं हूँ,
या फिर ना तुम हो, ना मैं हूँ,
बस मैं लिखती हूँ,
कभी तुम्हें,
कभी ख़ुद को...
-विनी
२२/१२/१५

राह

राह 
इस बेमहरम से मौसम में,
मुझ पर ये ख़ौफ़ भारी है,
वो जो मिला था आज राह में,
वो कल भी मेरी राह से गुज़रेगा के नहीं,
वो फिर पुकारेगा के नहीं,
वो फिर दिल में उतरेगा के नहीं,
हर्फ़ हर्फ़ लफ़्ज़ लफ़्ज़,
फिर यूँ लगता है मुझे,
वो आज तो आया था,
वक़्त मुस्कुराया था,
कुछ दूर साथ भी चले थे हम,
कल की किसको ख़बर,
वो हो के ना हो हमसफ़र,
या फिर मैं रहूँ ना रहूँ,
इसी सफ़र की,
उसी राह की ...
विनी
२४/३/१६

Cross Purposes

Cross Purposes 
You once heard the murmur of a lonely soul, she said,
Unheard, inaudible, melancholy to the core,
And then there were smiles and there was light, 
For a while, But it was not to be,
Our tale now dwells on the mundane, we laugh no more,
the world embraces us both vice like, too tight,
Our tale breathes no more,
And yet we persist, feeding on the cadaver, carrion like,
Does this serve a purpose still?
Why persist with a fallacy?
Ah my dear don't you see,
So clear the etchings be,
You and I can no longer be,
For, We operate at cross purposes....
-Vinny
23/12/15