The space between us so vast.
Vast like an ocean.
I feel waves underneath my feet.
Do they touch your feet too?I like to think you are closer.
But, I see you all blurred.
There is an ever growing coldness
Do you see me freezing from that distance?This darkness between us so deep.
I have lost my way.
The road which leads to you and beyond.
Did not you love walking with me?
Feed me your love,
I have been hungry for too long.
Sing me your love,
I have forgotten the dance to the tunes of your song.
Shower me with your love,
Let me bathe and rinse my wandering soul.
Cuddle me with your love,
Hug me tight and let all my pains disappear.
Stay, don’t go! ’cause I want more of you.
I want to….
Hear you laugh as I whisper in your ear.
Feel you breathe as you get very near.
Touch your hair and get lost in those curls.
Look deep in your eyes – oh! those beautiful glittering pearls.Please stay and it will show, how my love for you grows.
How my world stops and it’s just you and only you.
I want to hold your hands and never let you go.
Stay for a while, ’cause I will miss you so.
The noise of heartbreak was felt through miles,
An echo came back saying – relax, just smile!
For it’s just a tough phase of your life, my lover.
Give it some time, it will soon be over.
Behind the high mighty mountains just a while ago,
The sun went down with its last golden glow.
Only with a promise that it will rise again,
And make us forget all our pain.
साथ चल रहे थे एक राह पर,
तुम चले गए यूँ मूँह मोड़ कर,
सोचा नहीं, क्या बीतेगी मुझ पर,
निकल लिए यूँ अकेला छोड़ कर ।
माना जाने की ज़िद थी बहुत,
थोड़ी दूर और सही, साथ चले आते,
कुछ मैं कहता, कुछ तुम कहते,
चलते चलते दूर कहीं निकल जाते ।
बातों बातों में शायद पता चलता,
हँस के भी, क्यूँ तुम इतने उदास थे,
समझ ना सके तुम्हारी व्यथा,
शायद हम इतने ना पास थे ।
देखो, जो तुम चले गए, सब कुछ कितना वीरान पड़ा,
भीड़ है, मेले हैं, पर लगता सब सुनसान बड़ा ।
शून्य सा है जीवन, सब कुछ कितना ठहरा सा है
न जाने कब भरेगा, ये घाव इतना गहरा सा है ।
यह कैसा आ गया है मंजर
भय का माहौल है सीने के अंदर
घर में विचित्र सन्नाटा है
अगर निकलो बाहर तो बाधा है
धरती ख़ामोश पथराई है
घनघोर उदासी छायी है
जीव जंतु पक्षी पेड़ सब पुछ रहे
मानव क्यूँ हमें तुम भूल गए
कब मनुष्य जिया ऐसा अकेला था
चारों तरफ़ उसके तो मेला था
भाई से भाई दूर हुए
नियति के आगे मजबूर हुए
गलियाँ सूनी, सड़कें सुनी
क़स्बे शहर वीरान पड़े
है जीवन गति ठहरा हारा
मानव मानव से दूर खड़े
लेकिन है ये अंत नहीं
थोड़ी सी विवशता ही सही
यह रात लम्बी है काली है
मत भूलो आगे सूरज की लाली है
माना भीषण यह रण होगा
लेकिन सोचो वह क्या क्षण होगा
शंख नाद धरा पर गूँजेगा
मृत्यु पर जीवन का जय होगा
This time is nothing like one could ever imagine. When you will be sharing the stories to the next generation about how a virus created havoc around the world and people were lockdown in their houses, I am sure they will not relate to it much. This situation is really depressing but the life has to go one, so whatever keeps you happy, motivated and engaged you must try. More than ever, and many would agree, this pandemic has reminded us how powerful music can be and how much solace can some good songs provide. And when we are talking about music, which is the most talked about band in the history – The Beatles. I am listening to them more than ever and can’t get enough of them.
I was not an avid Beatles fan earlier and never had heard the albums in entirety. Thanks to the movie Yesterday (2019), I was introduced to a lot of Beatles songs. The movie is so beautiful that I watched it multiple time and that was when the Beatles grew all over me. I started exploring the band properly, reading a lot about how it was formed and what was it like to produce such great music and how they grew over the years. The more I explore, the more I listen, the more interested I get into the band and it’s Beatles all over my mind these days. Their catalogue is so wide, diverse and so relatable that there is something for every mood, every situation. The lyrics is easy and simple to remember, the music is melodic and very rhythmic and not to forget very experimental. They have in a way influenced most of the band on the planet, influenced bands which influenced other band and so on.
There is no best Beatles song
The other day I was browsing the internet and found few websites which rank Beatles songs, for ex – RollingStone, Vulture etc. As per RollingStone, the song Hello, Goodbye, which appears on the album Magical Mystery Tour(1967), is the last song in the list. Can you even digest that? I love this song a lot. It’s on my every Beatles playlist and RollingStone says it is the 100th best song according to them. There is a way to look at it – the Beatles have such a super sexy catalog that there are 99 songs better than this great song. Similarly, the Vulture ranks When I’m Sixty Four from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) at 103, which is again pointless. So, one thing is clear that it is really pointless to rank the Beatles songs. To me, there are no best Beatles songs, all of the Beatles catalog is amazing and one should try to listen to all of the songs.
There is no best Beatles
The band was perfect in many sense. You can love Lennon for his voice and the kind of music he wrote, you can love Paul for his discipline, for his great sense of melody, but when you look at the Beatles as a band, you do not identify them from these individual people, rather everyone is as great as others. The songs which Harrison wrote were no less great than any of the Paul’s and Lennon’s songs. Frank Sinatra was particularly impressed with Something, from the album, Abbey Road (1969), calling it “the greatest love song of the past 50 years”. Then there are other songs from George as While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Here Comes the Sun which are no less great than any other Beatles song. Ringo’s drumming, no doubt, was way ahead of its time. He was incredible behind the drums, a totally fulfilling fourth member of the band.
The Beatles are still so relevant
One thing about Beatles which make them great is that they experimented a lot. In a small span of 8 years, they did so much. They took time to rethink the methods which were failing for them. They stopped their live performances and started focusing on creating amazing music and thankfully it resulted in more awesome Beatles songs and as a result we have the greatest albums of all times. Their lyrics are so relatable as they touch upon different aspects of life – love and romance, hardships of life, politics, spiritual and many more. They are loved by different generations alike, the old folks love them, the young folks love them, everyone loves them. It’s no wonder why they are the most influential band of all time and why they are still so so relevant even after 60 years. When you listen to the song Lovely Rita, from the album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) you will notice that Tame Impala, one of the modern successful psychedelic pop bands, is inspired from the Beatles a lot. I am not sure they have ever mentioned it or not, but we know a little bit of Beatles is everywhere.
Enjoy this one!
A good movie helps you break the monotony. Movies can be one of the good weapons to fight this depressing time. With so much time with myself during the lockdown, I have been watching a lot of movies. Here are some of the good movies that I watched.
Green Book (2018)
This is a story about a black musician in the days when the blacks had a hard time in the USA. He has to travel across the country for various concerts for which he hires a white Italian guy. The movie is about the chemistry between these two and how they become friends over the whole journey. Vey simple and humble movie.
The Gentlemen (2019)
This is a typical Guy Ritchie movie – fast paced, stylish, fascinating characters. The movie has a perfect combination of crime and comedy and with such a good caste you will be guaranteed a lot of entertainment. More than everything else, the movie has been written in a unique style – it’s more of a storytelling, which you will surely love. And it is really really funny.
Marriage Story (2019)
Man, this is such a difficult watch. This one is story about a couple with a kid going through the horrible pains of divorce. They had a very great relationship but there were some differences which leads to a disintegration. The movie is difficult to watch because you see both the sides, you see how great their relationship used to be and how miserable the divorce process is. Adam Driver is one hell of an actor, very underrated, but I do not think he is anymore underrated. He has some other great movies in his name – Paterson, BlacKkKlansman etc. Well, I did not mention Star Wars because I think they grossly undermined the gem of an actor he is.
Richard Jewell (2019)
Clint Eastwood’s movies are generally great watch, so is this one. This one is a story of a security guard Richard Jewell who discovers a suspicious backpack under a bench in Centennial Park in the USA. He is hailed as a hero who saved many lives, but later the FBI names him the prime suspect in the bombing. It is really scary to such thing happening to a great saviour and how media and the authorities devastated his life. The lead actor is fabulous in the movie and so is Sam Rockwell.
In India, the lockdown has been extended by 3 weeks more. It had to be, it was not a surprise to most of the people. Hopefully, it will help the country contain the number of infections and let us buy more time to strengthen the medical facilities. Extended lockdown means we need to be more careful of our well-being. We have to be more careful of what we eat, how healthy the lifestyle we are following and how much mentally prepared we are. If we are mentally healthy and calm, we can easily cope up with the difficulties we may face during the lockdown.
Towards the last days of lockdown phase-I, I was getting a lot anxious and very irritated. The daily household activities – preparing meals, cleaning the dishes, cleaning the floors etc., was slowly getting on my nerves. I had settled my routine but one thing which was missing was regular Yoga and meditation. I am used to of going to a studio and attending Yoga sessions. I find myself more comfortable doing it that way. I find it difficult to do it myself watching some video online etc. The studios are closed for now and it’s been nearly 2 months I am away from yoga and meditation. Last weekend, I talked to one of the trainers to do a live session for me and thankfully she agreed. The sessions started this Monday, morning 7-8 am, and it’s the fourth day today. We are using Zoom app for it. The initial couple of days were kind of difficult as I was out of yoga and the flexibility was nearly gone but I think it’s getting back. Today’s session was really relaxing.
Yoga has helped me a lot through my bad times. It really is a powerful tool which if done regularly, can really do wonders. I have witnessed it myself. I will try to discuss this whole thing in some other post. But for now, I will tell you that the best thing it does is settle your lifestyle. It gives a person very disciplined approach to life. For example – since I started the online classes, I have been sleeping on time, getting up early in the morning, doing yoga, having breakfast on time. There is less distraction now and I am more relaxed – both mentally and physically. I am having my meals on time, I am taking care of my body and my mind. Overall, it also adds up to your productivity. This is what yoga does to you – in very simple words. It helps you lead a very balanced life which if you carry for a long time has to benefit you no matter what. I certainly recommend everyone to try out yoga and see the changes yourself. Yoga will really help you sail easily through these bad times and some tough times ahead.
hymns from the weekend 