कभी किसी सफर में दो मुसाफिर मिले
कुछ दूर साथ चले तो
बात भी हुई
वो कहते हैं ना
जो खुश हैं, सभी एक से हैं
ये जो गम हैं, वही हैं अनेक
हर दिल को सालने वाली चुभन
अपने आप में अनोखी है ,
शायद इसी लिए जब तक बात ख़ुशी की थी
दोनों की एक सी थी
फिर जब बांटा वो जो दिल को सालता है भीतर ही भीतर
लगा नहीं ये मैं नहीं
ये तुम हो, कोई और हो, कहीं और से आये हो,
कोई और ही सफर है तुम्हारा
वो जो नहीं है मेरा, नहीं हो सकता मेरा
उसी पल में बदल गया मन का मौसम
एक बेरुखी आ बैठी बीच
और वे जो एक हो सकते थे
फिर से अपने अपने कोनों में सिमट गए
रेल गाड़ी स्टेशन पर रुकी
और अपना अपना बोझा लिए
अपने अपने घर को लौट आये
दो मुसाफिर। ..
- vinny
१४/१२/१७
The story of Madhavi is found in the Puranas as also in the Mahabharat. She was the extremely beautiful and devoted daughter of the Puranic King Yayati, who gave her to the Rishi Galava, so that he may use her to generate wealth enough to buy eight hundred horses, exceptional in that they had to be all white with one black ear each.This was the 'gurudakshina' demanded of him by Vishvamitra, his teacher. There was no one king in all of Aryawarta who alone could pay that price and therefore Madhavi was concubine-d to three kings and the Sage Vishvamitra himself, who all together gave Galava the wealth he required. She bore each one a son and when granted her freedom at last chose the life of a hermit rather than the patriarchal world of the powerful men she knew.
Her story is an extremely accurate comment on patriarchy and what it can do to those the system marginalises. This is a poem i wrote a few years ago about her, but this could be any woman really...
माधवी • क्या परिचय है मेरा … राजकन्या, यायातिपुत्री …? नहीं , नहीं अब नहीं … यायातिकुल में जन्मी मैं दान दी गयी वस्तु समान, गुरुदक्षिणा अर्जित कर, ऋषि ऋण मुक्त हुए, पिता महादानी ,महाप्रतापी कहलाये, और मैं इनकी महत्ता हेतु, भोगी गयी, क्या परिचय है मेरा ? अद्रित्य सुंदरी , दिव्य रूपवान आर्यकन्या ? नहीं नहीं और नहीं … देह के रूप कारण विक्रय योग्य वास्तु हुई, मूल्य हुआ आठ सौ श्वेत अश्व ,एक कर्ण कृष्णा, चार पुरुष, चार पुत्र, हयार्शावा , दिवोदासा , उशिनारा , विश्वामित्र, और आठ सौ धवल अश्व, एक कर्ण कृष्णा क्या परिचय है मेरा … राजकन्या ,राजरानी ,जननी? नहीं नहीं अब नहीं … मैं माधवी , मुक्त स्त्री , निष्कलंकित, स्वतंत्र , स्वावलम्भी , विरक्त , व्यक्ति …. ~ विन्नी २०१२
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...
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 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
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
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,
