<<The friend in mention is a Kashmiri Pandit and thus is of the Brahman caste. The second line is an albeit crude jibe over the caste hierarchy and I know that soon I'll be receiving an electronic mail to amend "Fated to reign over his fellow layman". Of course there is another reason I added this verse and relates to his notable pedigree! "Took in an ill sibling" refers to the time when took in my ill brother and "quibbling" is in reference to the pedantry between India & Pakistan over the minor resolvable issues that plague relations between the two nations.>>
Seared to the Spirit
A mighty bone of contention,
Hath been a sensation,
For past Eras,
And the sons of the Sierras.
The Cry of Bharat,
Echoed by the diamonds of Surat,
Roared from the hinterlands of the Vindhya Range
To the metropolises in the Coastal Fringe.
Not to be outdone,
For we in the morn,
Parade Our Crescent,
To weaken Regional Sentiment.
Lo amidst the Strife,
Comes the affirmation of Life.
A Noble Brahman,
Fated to reign over his fellow layman,
Took in an ill sibling,
Despite our quibbling.
Heeding the counsel of Sai Baba
He followed the footsteps of Lord Rama
And Remained true to his Dharma,
To Restore his Karma.
What an enigma!
For when we should be studying alpha, beta and sigma,
We rather learn qualities of one another,
Which take our nations ever further.
See Addendum for background and commentary
Zachary Latif 00:46
No Comment.
Addendum
This is my first serious attempt at writing any sort of poetry and I'm the first to admit it's been something of a disaster. Nevertheless considering this is my medium of expression I decided to communicate my feeble attempts to my exasperated readers. It all started when an Indian friend, from my Masters class, provided lodging, for a couple of hours, to my brother when he was ill. In order to express my gratitude I decided to write a poem and if the aforementioned friend, now in India for the winter vacation, is reading this website as religiously as he promised I hope he will accept my belated appreciation of his goodwill.
On to the poem!!! It was written in a Sub-continental context and thus I will excerpt the passages & the verses to elucidate their particular significance:
A mighty bone of contention,
Hath been a sensation,
For past Eras,
And the sons of the Sierras.
The "might bone of contention" naturally refers to the conflict between Pakistan and India over the Line of Control. This conflict hovered on the minds of past leaders, with wars being fought and the sub-continent edging ever nearer to the precipice of annihilation. As for the "sons of the Sierras", I'm particularly fond of that line since it has a hidden meaning. "Sierra" means mountain in Spanish and indeed in all Iberian languages (for instance Sierra Leone is Portuguese for Lion Mountains). Kashmir is a mountainous regions and thus the Indo-Pak conflict has added ramifications for those who reside in the hilly Vale of Kashmir.
The Cry of Bharat,
Echoed by the diamonds of Surat,
Roared from the hinterlands of the Vindhya Range
To the metropolises in the Coastal Fringe.
Bharat is the indigenous name of India, which I believe it is derived from a notable tribe mentioned in the Vedic Scriptures and has a deep historical significance in the Sanskrit epic, Mahabharata. Thus the nationalist cry of "Bharat" tends to imply highly radicalised and nationalised Indians. Surat is a famous diamond trading and refining centre in India, indeed it has recently become prominent for its usurpation of most of the diamond trade from Israel. The line "Roared from the hinterlands of the Vindhya Range" is a subtle reference to the plurality of independence movements in India. In Madhya Pradesh (which until recently was India's largest state) the Vindhya Hills is the historical divide between the Aryan-speaking north and the Dravidian south. Thus the line refers to the fact that the nationalist calls begin from the Vindhya Range, in essence amongst the northern rather than southern populations. The southern Indian states (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu) have had a long history of civil unrest and sedition tempered somewhat by the IT boom, which is localised to these regions. The last verse in the passage, "the metropolis in the Coastal Fringe", is fundamentally a reference to Bombay, located in the western coast of India.
Not to be outdone,
For we in the morn,
Parade Our Crescent,
To weaken Regional Sentiment.
This is a rather truistic passage since it is in direct reference to Pakistan. "Parading our Crescent" implies that the unique Pakistani quality of perennially and perpetually obsessing over Islam (the Pakistani mindset has ossified to such an extent that it is regarded as a universal national duty for all Pakistanis to carry forward the sword of Islam) has a detrimental effect on our relationship with the rest of the Subcontinent.
Lo amidst the Strife,
Comes the affirmation of Life.
In virtually every prayer in my religion (which was translated from Persian & Arabic into English by the Oxford educated great grandson of our Prophet) there is a particular penchant for the word "Lo" and the central canon, "The Tablet of Ahmad", begins with "Lo the nightingale of Paradise". For someone of my upbringing for a literary classic to qualify for its appellation it must have a singular usage of the word, "Lo".
A Noble Brahman,
Fated to reign over his fellow layman,
Took in an ill sibling,
Despite our quibbling.
The friend in mention is a Kashmiri Pandit and thus is of the Brahman caste. The second line is an albeit crude jibe over the caste hierarchy and I know that soon I'll be receiving an electronic mail to amend "Fated to reign over his fellow layman". Of course there is another reason I added this verse and relates to his notable pedigree! "Took in an ill sibling" refers to the time when took in my ill brother and "quibbling" is in reference to the pedantry between India & Pakistan over the minor resolvable issues that plague relations between the two nations.
Heeding the counsel of Sai Baba
He followed the footsteps of Lord Rama
And Remained true to his Dharma,
To Restore his Karma.
I would not have used the rather crude rendition of the word "mama" nevertheless the intransigence of the English language made it hard for me to discern suitable complements to "Rama", "Dharma" and "Karma". Lord Rama is the seventh incarnation of the Hindu god, Vishnu, and his deeds are immortalised in the Ramayana. Dharma is a Hindu term referring to one's duty & moral obligation in conducting oneself in a virtuous manner. Karma, a Hindu term grafted in colloquial English, refers to how one's actions affect the cosmic balance.
Update: I solved the awkwardness caused by the usage of the word mama and rather replaced it with Sai Baba, a noted spiritual leader in India.
What an enigma!
For when we should be studying alpha, beta and sigma,
We rather learn qualities of one another,
Which take our nations ever further.
In our Masters class we are studying econometrics and the Greek alphabets (the notations used frequently are Alpha [the usage is more commonly used in reference to the risk free rate], Beta and Sigma [the standard deviation from the mean]). Of course the underpinning of the verses is to imply that the Masters course provides a platform through which Indians and Pakistanis learn of one another's national characteristics, a vital & necessary step that portends to a future & a substantive peace.
I hope my readers forgive my momentary lapse and I hope, most probably in vain, that the culmination of my artistic pursuits is worthy of some merit. Zack
Zachary Latif 00:46 |
