Skip to main content

Heart

Kamala Das [From Wikipedia]


Lady, what did you gain by giving up Krishna

And embracing the Prophet’s amorphous Allah?

Did your heart throb better

With your head veiled with the hijab?

The heart works better without the head!

But yours didn’t.

Your head was as good as your heart.

 

You learnt the hard way

That you (nor I, nor anyone)

Can’t run away from yourself

By changing the god.

You betrayed your most beloved god,

The playful Krishna,

In favour of a “rigid husband.”

 

And you remained unhappy

Till the end of your life.

 

Happiness is not given by any god!

Let it be Krishna or Kristu or Allah,

Let it be any god from any culture –

Have you ever come across a happy god anywhere? –

Happiness cannot be given by gods.

Happiness is in your heart:

Or else you won’t ever have it.

 

PS. I’m going to teach a poem of Kamala Das tomorrow. These lines were a result of my reflection on the poet. Kamala Das became Kamala Suraiyya at the age of 65 by changing her religion. And she lost her smile after that. 

An earlier post on Kamala Das: Stains on Greatness 

Top post on Blogchatter

Comments

  1. Hari OM
    "Happiness is in your heart"... yes, this! YAM xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. The 'happiness is in your heart' message has come my way twice this morning. First, via an Insta share and now this post. Perhaps, the universe is nudging me to smile and accept the lethargic state of my writing these days:) Perhaps. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The universe has its own ways of telling us certain vital things. All tje best.

      Delete
  3. Your Stories/ poems are refreshing. Keep written. Lots of love 💟

    ReplyDelete
  4. Proud to be your student rrly!Love the way You teach

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sir, can I ask some question?
    According to physics energy can neither be created nor be destroyed so what happens to the human energy after death?,also where does our soul go?what are your views on the concept of souls?
    It's not related to what you have posted yet I'm curious to know all about this. F

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you study biology, the answer would be that all organic energy is bum with death. Which branch of science accepts soul? Soul is a good concept for poetry like
      When it rains
      Souls rise like seeds...

      Delete
    2. Everything knowable about the "soul" can be learned by studying the functioning of the brain. In their view, neuroscience is the only branch of scientific study relevant to understanding the soul.-Google.
      I had a teacher who said that after death we all are subjected to judgement and a lot of other things related to what might happen after death. He also said some stuff related to souls.which made me more curious about souls so i decided to read a book on it named destiny of souls. After 2 chapters i stopped reading it though. But still there is this one question which i haven't got a proper answer. What happens after death? Why living if it is to just decay in soil? There must be something more to it. After all humans are considered miracle. Do you think we evolved into this form?Why does humans exist,if existence of humans is dangerous to earth considering the current situations.

      Delete
    3. Glad you're seeking to know the deepest truths. I'm no guru. But i can tell you my convictions.

      Life has the meaning we give to it. I know that death will mark the end of all that I am. But it's my duty to live a 'good' life till death for the sake of promoting goodness on earth. Why? Good is better than bad! Not because I'll receive eternal rewards.

      Read Albert Camus, if you can. The Myth of Sisyphus.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Adventures of Toto as a comic strip

  'The Adventures of Toto' is an amusing story by Ruskin Bond. It is prescribed as a lesson in CBSE's English course for class 9. Maggie asked her students to do a project on some of the lessons and Femi George's work is what I would like to present here. Femi converted the story into a beautiful comic strip. Her work will speak for itself and let me present it below.  Femi George Student of Carmel Public School, Vazhakulam, Kerala Similar post: The Little Girl

In this Wonderland

I didn’t write anything in the last few days. Nor did I feel any urge to write. I don’t know if this lack of interest to write is what’s called writer’s block. Or is it simple disenchantment with whatever is happening around me? We’re living in a time that offers much, too much, to writers. The whole world looks like a complex plot for a gigantic epic. The line between truth and fiction has disappeared. Mass murders have become no-news. Animals get more compassion than fellow human beings. Even their excreta are venerated! Folk tales are presented as scientific truths while scientific truths are sacrificed on the altar of political expediency. When the young generation in Nepal set fire to their Parliament and Supreme Court buildings, they were making an unmistakable statement: that they are sick of their political leaders and their systems. Is there any country whose leaders don’t sicken their citizens? I’m just wondering. Maybe, there are good leaders still left in a few coun...

Death as a Sculptor

Book Discussion An Introductory Note : This is not a book review but a reflection on one of the many themes in The Infatuations , novel by Javier Marias. If you have any intention of reading the novel, please be forewarned that this post contains spoilers. For my review of the book, without spoilers, read an earlier post: The Infatuations (2013). D eath can reshape the reality for the survivors of the departed. For example, a man’s death can entirely alter the lives of his surviving family members: his wife and children, particularly. That sounds like a cliché. Javier Marias’ novel, The Infatuations , shows us that death can alter a lot more; it can reshape meanings, relationships, and even morality of the people affected by the death. Miguel Deverne is killed by an abnormal man right in the beginning of the novel. It seems like an accidental killing. But it isn’t. There are more people than the apparently insane killer involved in the crime and there are motives which are di...

Whose Rama?

Book Review Title: Whose Rama? [Malayalam] Author: T S Syamkumar Publisher: D C Books, Kerala Pages: 352 Rama may be an incarnation of God Vishnu, but is he as noble a man [ Maryada Purushottam ] as he is projected to be by certain sections of Hindus? This is the theme of Dr Syamkumar’s book, written in Malayalam. There is no English translation available yet. Rama is a creation of the Brahmins, asserts the author of this book. The Ramayana upholds the unjust caste system created by Brahmins for their own wellbeing. Everyone else exists for the sake of the Brahmin wellbeing. If the Kshatriyas are given the role of rulers, it is only because the Brahmins need such men to fight and die for them. Valmiki’s Rama too upheld that unjust system merely because that was his Kshatriya-dharma, allotted by the Brahmins. One of the many evils that Valmiki’s Rama perpetrates heartlessly is the killing of Shambuka, a boy who belonged to a low caste but chose to become an ascetic. The...

When Cricket Becomes War

Illustration by Copilot Designer Why did India agree to play Pakistan at all if the animosity runs so deep that Indian players could not even extend the customary handshake: a simple ritual that embodies the very essence of sportsmanship? Cricket is not war, in the first place. When a nation turns a game into a war, it does not defeat its rival; it only wages war on its own culture, poisoning its acclaimed greatness. India which claims to be Viswaguru , the world’s Guru, is degenerating itself day after day with mounting hatred against everyone who is not Hindu. How can we forget what India did to a young cricket player named Mohammed Siraj , especially in this context? In the recent test series against England, India achieved an unexpected draw because of Siraj. 1113 balls and 23 wickets. He was instrumental in India’s series-levelling victory in the final Test at the Oval and was declared the Player of the Match. But India did not celebrate him. Instead, it mocked him for his o...