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A Return Gift From The Birthday Baby

Discussion in 'Wednesdays with Varalotti' started by varalotti, Apr 30, 2008.

  1. varalotti

    varalotti IL Hall of Fame

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    dear sowpar,
    don't worry about the delay. It's okay. In all Osho communes whenever there is death they celebrate it as a festival. I had the good fortune of translating two of Oshos books into Tamil. In one of the books he describes about the death of one of the disciples afflicted with cancer. A very touching narrative. At the same time there is nothing sad about it.

    That is not a digression, Sowpar. Many people are quite confused in this. I have a clear policy.
    If the person had died at the ripe old age I go to the nearest of kin and talk a lot. I repeatedly ask them to narrate how the person died. But if the death had been untimely I keep quiet. I hold the persons hands and be with him for a minute. When it's time to leave I squeeze his hands and then slowly walk out of the scene.

    regards,
     
  2. varalotti

    varalotti IL Hall of Fame

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    dear brindha,
    The translation idea came all of a sudden. On saturday night words were trying to get out of me and I could finish the first part in no time. But I tried several times on Sunday and Monday to complete the second part, but could not do it.
    Suddenly this morning I had the words coming to me from all directions.
    One thing, Brindha, all said and done, one's mother tongue is at least a thousand times more powerful than the other languages. I have been writing both in English and Tamil. But when I do it in Tamil even I could not control my tears.
    I was moved when I knew that you also carry similar sentiments. Reading your nice fb, I now feel that all the trouble spent on translating the poem was worth the while.

    that was a poetic expression, brindha.
    love,
     
  3. varalotti

    varalotti IL Hall of Fame

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    dear lalitha,
    let me repeat what I said yesterday. I know how much trouble you took to read this Tamil version. When you requested for an English Transliteration I was about to start work on that. But as I am travelling out of Madurai tomorrow office work was quite hectic. But before I could even start the work, in comes your fb.
    I bow down to the trouble taken by you. May be if you read a dozen posts like this you will not find reading Tamil difficult at all. You know what I am going to do! When I meet you I am going to gift one of my big Tamil books (dadiyana pusthakam) and insist that you should read it. Once you finish reading it you will be a fluent reader in Tamil.

    thanks, Lalitha. I almost used the same expression in English. But the same when used in Tamil has touched you deeply, in spite of the fact, that you found it very difficult to read. That is the power of one's mother tongue. That's the reason you should start reading Tamil soon.

    love.
    sridhar

     
  4. Sowparnika

    Sowparnika Silver IL'ite

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    dear sridhar sir,
    the osho philosophy is quite right...death becomes a cause for celebration, as it is a liberation from earthly bondage....when the soul breaks free from its mortal fetters...
    nice to see that you have translated Osho into tamil...have'nt read his books myself, but know a little bit from discussions with a family friend....
    i read both parts of the Tamil version today....as beautiful as the English one....maybe even more...Tamil seems to be more power packed...
    தமிழுக்கு என்று ஒரு தனி அழுத்தம் உள்ளது....ஒரே விஷயம் தமிழில் இன்னும் ஒரு ஆழமான தாக்கத்தை ஏற்படுத்துகிறது....
     
  5. Malathijagan

    Malathijagan Silver IL'ite

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    Dear Sridhar,
    I wouldn't say that both your English version and the Tamil one are identical. In both the poems there are beautiful lines and profound truth.In the English one, the following lines were very beautiful (pardon me, for not being able to use the right adjective, may be I have to coin a new one since all adjectives would have been exhausted by us Ilites!)-

    I ask her in a trembling voice, “Is it not a journey long?
    She smiles and says, “You’ve got it all wrong

    “It’s not a journey but the journey’s end.
    Nor is it labour; but the final rest from all your labours.”

    “Where we go, it’s not a place

    Nor is there the idea of ‘space’
    Time and space are mental props
    To make you grasp this mortal world
    The props are only for the forms
    Not for the substance; not for the One!
    Not for God and not for Love”


    The Tamil poem is beautiful too.If I put them on a weighing scale, they seem to balance each other!

    Sridhar, some how I have the feeling that death can never be painful. It is the fear of death amongst us that causes the pain. If we mentally prepare ourselves for the last journey of our life I think it would be more enjoyable than life itself. An example to prove that pain is only a creation of our mind-
    When all of a sudden a ball or any object comes and hits us, the pain is severe but suppose we see the object coming and we are sure that it IS going to hit us for sure, the pain is comparitively less. The same way, when we go to the doctor for an injection and we are waiting for the needle to poke in, fully aware of it and also knowing it is going to pain, then we do not experience as much pain as we would if it was administered all of a sudden. As you yourself have beautifully said,-

    அறிவும் இல்லை அகந்தையும் இல்லை
    எனில் எங்கிருந்து வரும் வலி
    எதில் இருந்து வரும் வேதனை
    சுகமும் இல்லை துக்கமும் இல்லை

    When the Lord of Death approaches then we are in that state as in the above lines.
    There may be not many takers for my belief about pain but again Our thoughts and beliefs is what we are made up of.
    Love and regards,
    Malathi
     
  6. BhargaviChakravarthy

    BhargaviChakravarthy Bronze IL'ite

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    Dear varalotti sir,
    Thanks for the special gift.The routine of giving and receiving gifts :gift in Birthday parties is indeed a good practice.The highlight is the emphasis by you on being impartial while giving return gifts.In schools the dress code is practiced to ensure that all students are equal.:bowdown Your return gift is simple but a dignified one.Thanks to you once again sir.




    Coming to the subject matter of discussion ,you have given a Lucelent description of a matured subject,death.



    Definitely sir, the poem cannot be a reflection of the ones you listed.As I already mentioned that it was a matured subject ,the same cannot come from a pessimist,a preson suffering from depression because he may not be in a position :cry: :confused: to take the next step.


    Generally people avoid speaking about death and attach to the sentiment behind it.A strict “No” tsk to it during important moments in life like marriage,starting a career,stepping out for a function,while praying,while traveling and the list goes on and on and on.


    A stunning explanation.:clap
     
    Last edited: May 8, 2008
  7. BhargaviChakravarthy

    BhargaviChakravarthy Bronze IL'ite

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    Dear sir,
    I was emotionally moved on reading the poem.Your poem speaks on how you have analysed the known but hidden:hide:aspects of life.



    “What is there to feel the pain
    How can you ever feel the pleasure?
    When your body and your nerves
    When your brain and your mind
    And your ego are left behind!”


    The above lines remember me of the old song “Aadi adangum vaazhkayada indha aaradi nilam….”



    “Can I ever see my wife or my child?
    Or my parents who gave me life
    Or my teachers who helped me live?
    Will I ever meet my friends?
    All those people whom I loved
    My brothers and sisters, of this world?”



    Really sir! You have conveyed the truth and reality in a simple manner.Great Lines.Not only his mind,body are left behind but his dear ones too.:cry:



    “No you won’t, in their present form
    But they, when their time doth come
    Will join us up over there!


    When our loved ones join up in the future,we have already joined with our ancestors.


    “This is not your real home
    Just a carriage of a train
    And these are but your travel-mates


    These lines confirm the truth that life is a journey.Time to depart and finish the journey.

    My heartfelt thanks for sharing the poem...
     
    Last edited: May 8, 2008
  8. varalotti

    varalotti IL Hall of Fame

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    My Dear GFs,

    What the hell is the connection, or the similarity between Varalotti and the Super Star, Rajnikanth?

    Curious to know? Well, read, 'In a Way I'm Like The Super Star.'

    And do let me know what do you think.

    love,

     
  9. varalotti

    varalotti IL Hall of Fame

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    dear sowpar,
    Osho not only propounds that as a philosophy but makes it as natural an attitude towards death as our healthy attitudes towards ingestion and digestion of food. You should hear him describe the death of a few of his disciples. In Tao The Golden gate he talks of death of a cancer-afflicted disciple for a whole chapter.

    Your words comparing English and Tamil versions have made me think deeper in to the nature of a language. At a superficial level we can say that our mother tongue is far richer and deeper than English. We can even ridicule English as a shallow language.

    But that's not at all true, Sowpar. Every language has its own beauty. The Tamil version appeals to us simply because my command over English is not as good as it is over Tamil. I have not read enough English expressions to give a rich expression to my thoughts on death.

    I say this because I have read Tagore's Gitanjali in English. Richard Bachs Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Maughm's stories. I had fallen in love not only with the authors but also with the language which faithfully carried to me what those great minds wanted to convey.

    Maybe I should practise writing in English a little more so that my English version becomes as good as the Tamil one.

    regards,
     
  10. varalotti

    varalotti IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Malathi,

    thanks a lot, my dear friend. To get words like these from a person like you I will go on writing a hundred poems like this.


    thanks.


    What you say is true. But there are some who hold the exactly opposite view too. These people say, that when you know that an injection is going to be administered, you keep on thinking about that and that increases the pain. On the other hand if an injection is suddenly inserted you dont feel the pain. Similarly when you see a ball or an object coming towards you at a great speed, you panic and the pain increases. On the other hand if the object hits you all of a sudden you may not feel much pain.
    I'll give one more example. We all know a number of examples where a child falling from a great height survives the fall just like that with minimal injuries. Recently a pregnant woman travelling by a train from Chennai went to the toilet and there suddenly the child was born, and before she could realise the baby fell through the toilet hole. She screamed. The train came to a stop some five kilometres from the place of fall. They all rushed to the place to find the baby alive and kicking. The child had not felt the pain and had survived the fall because his mind had not developed enough to panic. Mind creates the pain. Radhakrishnan has said in a book that pain and pleasure are just results of habit.

    thanks for the nice, profound fb, Malathi
    love,
     

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