The Bliss of Being...

Isoceles...

2011-09-12T00:14:00.002+04:00

'Narrated Anas:
A Jew crushed the head of a girl between two stones. The girl was asked who had crushed her head, and some names were mentioned before her, and when the name of the Jew was mentioned, she nodded agreeing. The Jew was captured and when he confessed, the Prophet ordered that his head be crushed between two stones.'

- Sahih Bukhari 3:596

* * *

'Narrated Subaia bint Al−Harith: That she was married to Sa`d bin Khaula who was from the tribe of Bani
`Amr bin Luai, and was one of those who fought the Badr battle. He died while she was pregnant during Hajjat−ul−Wada`.' Soon after his death, she gave birth to a child. When she completed the term of deliver (i.e. became clean), she prepared herself for suitors. Abu As−Sanabil bin Bu'kak, a man from the tribe of Bani `Abd−ud−Dal called on her and said to her, "What! I see you dressed up for the people to ask you in marriage. Do you want to marry By Allah, you are not allowed to marry unless four months and ten days have elapsed (after your husband's death)." Subai'a in her narration said, "When he (i.e. Abu As−Sanabil) said this to me. I put on my dress in the evening and went to Allah's Apostle and asked him about this problem. He gave the verdict that I was free to marry as I had already given birth to my child and ordered me to marry if I wished." '

- Sahih Bukhari 5:326

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liar...

2011-08-22T21:40:00.001+04:00

Narrated `Uqba bin Al−Harith: "When An−Nuaman or his son was brought in a state of drunkenness, Allah's Apostle ordered all those who were present in the house to beat him. I was one of those who beat him. We beat him with shoes and palm−leaf stalks."

- (Sahih Bukhari Vol.3, hadith 509)

Narrated Um Kulthum bint `Uqba: That she heard Allah's Apostle saying, "He who makes peace between the people by inventing good information or saying good things, is not a liar."

- (Sahih Bukhari Vol.3, hadith 857)

Wives...

2011-08-21T21:43:00.000+04:00

Narrated `Urwa from `Aisha: The wives of Allah's Apostle were in two groups. One group consisted of `Aisha, Hafsa, Safiyya and Sauda; and the other group consisted of Um Salama and the other wives of Allah's Apostle. The Muslims knew that Allah's Apostle loved `Aisha, so if any of them had a gift and wished to give to Allah's Apostle, he would delay it, till Allah's Apostle had come to `Aisha's home and then he would send his gift to Allah's Apostle in her home. The group of Um Salama discussed the matter together and decided that Um Salama should request Allah's Apostle to tell the people to send their gifts to him in whatever wife's house he was. Um Salama told Allah's Apostle of what they had said, but he did not reply. Then they (those wives) asked Um Salama about it. She said, "He did not say anything to me." They asked her to talk to him again. She talked to him again when she met him on her day, but he gave no reply. When they asked her, she replied that he had given no reply. They said to her, "Talk to him till he gives you a reply." When it was her turn, she talked to him again. He then said to her, "Do not hurt me regarding Aisha, as the Divine Inspirations do not come to me on any of the beds except that of Aisha." On that Um Salama said, "I repent to Allah for hurting you." Then the group of Um Salama called Fatima, the daughter of Allah's Apostle and sent her to Allah's Apostle to say to him, "Your wives request to treat them and the daughter of Abu Bakr on equal terms." Then Fatima conveyed the message to him. The Prophet said, "O my daughter! Don't you love whom I love?" She replied in the affirmative and returned and told them of the situation. They requested her to go to him again but she refused. They then sent Zainab bint Jahsh who went to him and used harsh words saying, "Your wives request you to treat them and the daughter of Ibn Abu Quhafa on equal terms." On that she raised her voice and abused `Aisha to her face so much so that Allah's Apostle looked at `Aisha to see whether she would retort. `Aisha started replying to Zainab till she silenced her. The Prophet then looked at `Aisha and said, "She is really the daughter of Abu Bakr."

- Sahih Bukhari Vol:3, hadith:755

Ihram...

2011-08-16T19:10:00.001+04:00

' Narrated `Abdullah bin Abu Qatada Al−Aslami: That his father said, "One day I was sitting with some of the Prophet's companions on the way to Mecca. Allah's Apostle was ahead of us. All of my companions were in the state of Ihram while I was a non−Muhrim. They saw an onager while I was busy repairing my shoes, so they did not tell me about it but they wished I had seen it. By chance I looked up and saw it. So, I turned to the horse, saddled it and rode on it, forgetting to take the spear and the whip. I asked them if they could hand over to me the whip and the spear but they said, 'No, by Allah, we shall not help you in that in any way.' I became angry and got down from the horse, picked up both the things and rode the horse again. I attacked the onager and slaughtered it, and brought it (after it had been dead). They took it (cooked some of it) and started eating it, but they doubted whether it was allowed for them to eat it or not, as they were in the state of Ihram. So, we proceeded and I hid with me one of its fore−legs. When we met Allah's Apostle and asked him about the case, he asked, 'Do you have a portion of it with you?' I replied in the affirmative and gave him that fleshy foreleg which he ate completely while he was in the state of Ihram .'

- Sahih Bukhari: Vol.3, Hadith 744

'Narrated As−Sa'b bin Jath−thama: An onager was presented to Allah's Apostle at the place called Al−Abwa' or Waddan, but Allah's Apostle rejected it. When the Prophet noticed the signs of sorrow on the giver's face he said, "We have not rejected your gift, but we are in the state of Ihram." (i.e. if we were not in a state of Ihram we would have accepted your gift)'

- Sahih Bukhari: Vol.3, Hadith 747

In and Out..

2011-08-15T20:59:00.000+04:00

'The Prophet ordered: "Turn out all the pagans from the Arabian Peninsula, show respect to all foreign delegates by giving them gifts as I used to do." '

- Sahih Bukhari, Vol:4, hadith:393

Judgement...

2011-08-10T17:52:00.000+04:00

Narrated Zaid bin Khalid and Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, "O Unais! Go to the wife of this (man) and if she confesses (that she has committed illegal sexual intercourse), then stone her to death."

- Sahih Bukhari: Vol.3, hadith 508

Narrated Um Salama: (the wife of the Prophet) Allah's Apostle heard some people quarreling at the door of his dwelling. He came out and said, "I am only a human being, and opponents come to me (to settle their problems); maybe someone amongst you can present his case more eloquently than the other, whereby I may consider him true and give a verdict in his favor. So, If I give the right of a Muslim to another by mistake, then it is really a portion of (Hell) Fire, he has the option to take or give up (before the Day of Resurrection).

- Sahih Bukhari: Vol.3, hadith 638

`Abdullah bin `Umar..

2011-08-09T21:38:00.000+04:00

Narrated Mujahid:

Ursa bin Az−Zubair and I entered the Mosque (of the Prophet) and saw `Abdullah bin `Umar sitting near the dwelling place of Aisha and some people were offering the Duha prayer. We asked him about their prayer and he replied that it was a heresy. He (Ursa) then asked him how many times the Prophet had performed `Umra. He replied, 'Four times; one of them was in the month of Rajab." We disliked to contradict him. Then we heard `Aisha, the Mother of faithful believers cleaning her teeth with Siwak in the dwelling place. 'Ursa said, "O Mother! O Mother of the believers! Don't you hear what Abu `Abdur Rahman is saying?" She said, "What does he say?" 'Ursa said, "He says that Allah's Apostle performed four `Umra and one of them was in the month of Rajab." `Aisha said, "May Allah be merciful to Abu `Abdur Rahman! The Prophet did not perform any `Umra except that he was with him, and he never performed any `Umra in Rajab."

- Sahih Bukhari, Vol-3, hadith-4

Narrated 'Ursa bin Az−Zubair: I asked `Aisha (whether the Prophet had performed `Umra in Rajab). She replied, "Allah's Apostle never performed any `Umra in Rajab."

- Sahih Bukhari, Vol-3, hadith-5

Narrated Qatada:
I asked Anas how many times the Prophet had performed `Umra. He replied, "Four times.
1. `Umra of Hudaibiya in Dhi−l−Qa'da when the pagans hindered him;
2. `Umra in the following year in Dhi−l−Qa'da after the peace treaty with them (the pagans);
3. `Umra from Al−Ja'rana where he distributed the war booty."
I think he meant the booty (of the battle) of Hunain. I asked, "How many times did he perform Hajj?" He (Anas) replied, "Once. "

- Sahih Bukhari, Vol-3, hadith-6

Caliphs..

2011-08-08T21:13:00.000+04:00

'Narrated Marwan bin Al−Hakam: I saw `Uthman and `Ali. `Uthman used to forbid people to perform Hajj−at−Tamattu` and Hajj−al−Qiran (Hajj and `Umra together), and when `Ali saw (this act of `Uthman), he assumed Ihram for Hajj and `Umra together saying, "Lubbaik for `Umra and Hajj," and said, "I will not leave the tradition of the Prophet on the saying of somebody." '

- Sahih Bukhari Vol.2, hadith 634

Conversion..

2011-07-16T01:05:00.000+04:00

Narrated 'Aisha:
"The day of Bu'ath was a day (i.e. battle) which Allah caused to take place just before the mission of His Apostle so that when Allah's Apostle came to Medina, they (the tribes) had divided (into hostile groups) and their nobles had been killed; and all that facilitated their conversion to Islam."

- Sahih Bukhari: Volume 5, Book 58, Hadith 267

Miqat

2011-02-04T21:41:00.001+04:00

"Narrated Ibn `Abbas : Allah's Apostle had fixed Dhul Hulaifa
as the Miqat for the people of Medina; Al−Juhfa for the people
of Sham; and Qarn Ul−Manazil for the people of Najd; and
Yalamlam for the people of Yemen. So, these (above mentioned)
are the Mawaqit for all those living at those places, and
besides them for those who come through those places with the
intention of performing Hajj and `Umra and whoever lives
within these places should assume Ihram from his dwelling
place, and similarly the people of Mecca can assume lhram from
Mecca."

- Sahih Bukhari vol:2, hadith:601, book:26

"Narrated Salim bin `Abdullah from his father: I heard Allah's
Apostle saying, "The Miqat for the people of Medina is
Dhul−Hulaifa; for the people of Sham is Mahita; (i.e.
Al−Juhfa); and for the people of Najd is Qarn. And said Ibn
`Umar, "They claim, but I did not hear personally, that the
Prophet said, "The Miqat for the people of Yemen is Yalamlam." "

- Sahih Bukhari vol:2, hadith:603, book:26

"Narrated Ibn `Umar: When these two towns (Basra and Kufa) were
captured, the people went to `Umar and said, "O the Chief of
the faithful believers! The Prophet fixed Qarn as the Miqat
for the people of Najd, it is beyond our way and it is
difficult for us to pass through it." He said, "Take as your
Miqat a place situated opposite to Qarn on your usual way. So,
he fixed Dhatu−Irq (as their Miqat)." "

- Sahih Bukhari vol:2, hadith:606, book:26

Proselytization..

2011-01-14T10:51:00.000+04:00

Narrated Anas:
A young Jewish boy used to serve the Prophet and he became sick. So the Prophet went to visit him. He sat near his head and asked him to embrace Islam. The boy looked at his father, who was sitting there; the latter told him to obey Abul-Qasim and the boy embraced Islam. The Prophet came out saying: "Praises be to Allah Who saved the boy from the Hell-fire."

- Sahih Bukhari (Vol:2, Hadith:438 (Book 23))

* * *

Narrated Sa`id bin Al-Musaiyab from his father: When the time of the death of Abu Talib approached, Allah's Apostle went to him and found Abu Jahl bin Hisham and `Abdullah bin Abi Umaiya bin Al-Mughira by his side. Allah's Apostle said to Abu Talib, "O uncle! Say: None has the right to be worshipped but Allah, a sentence with which I shall be a witness (i.e. argue) for you before Allah. Abu Jahl and `Abdullah bin Abi Umaiya said, "O Abu Talib! Are you going to denounce the religion of `Abdul Muttalib?" Allah's Apostle kept on inviting Abu Talib to say it (i.e. 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah') while they (Abu Jahl and `Abdullah) kept on repeating their statement till Abu Talib said as his last statement that he was on the religion of `Abdul Muttalib and refused to say, 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah.' (Then Allah's Apostle said, "I will keep on asking Allah's forgiveness for you unless I am forbidden (by Allah) to do so." So Allah revealed (the verse) concerning him (i.e. It is not fitting for the Prophet and those who believe that they should invoke (Allah) for forgiveness for pagans even though they be of kin, after it has become clear to them that they are companions of the fire (9.113).

- Sahih Bukhari (Vol:2, Hadith:442 (Book 23))

Non-belonging souls..

2011-01-06T11:53:00.002+04:00

“in every generation, there are a few souls, call them lucky or cursed, who are simply born not belonging, who come into the world semi-detached, if you like, without strong affiliation to family or location or nation or race; that there may even be millions, billions of such souls, as many non-belongers as belongers, perhaps; that, in sum, the phenomenon may be as “natural” a manifestation of human nature as its opposite, but one that has been mostly frustrated, throughout human history, by lack of opportunity. And not only by that: for those who value stability, who fear transience, uncertainty, change, have erected a powerful system of stigmas and taboos against rootlessness, that disruptive, anti-social force, so that we mostly conform, we pretend to be motivated by loyalties and solidarities we do not really feel, we hide our secret identities beneath the false skins of those identities which bear the belongers’ seal of approval. But the truth leaks out in our dreams; alone in our beds (because we are all alone at night, even if we do not sleep by ourselves), we soar, we fly, we flee. And in the waking dreams our societies permit, in our myths, our arts, our songs, we celebrate the non-belongers, the different ones, the outlaws, the freaks. What we forbid ourselves we pay good money to watch, in a play-house or movie theatre, or to read about between the secret covers of a book. Our libraries, our palaces of entertainment tell the truth. The tramp, the assassin, the rebel, the thief, the mutant, the outcast, the delinquent, the devil, the sinner, the traveller, the gangster, the runner, the mask: if we do not recognize in them our least-fulfilled needs, we would not invent them over and over again, in every place, in every language, in every time.”

- (The Ground Beneath her Feet)

love? hate?

2010-12-03T12:48:00.000+04:00

"Narrated `Aisha:
When the Prophet became ill, some of his wives talked about a church which they had seen in Ethiopia and it was called Mariya. Um Salma and Um Habiba had been to Ethiopia, and both of them narrated its (the Church's) beauty and the pictures it contained. The Prophet raised his head and said, "Those are the people who, whenever a pious man dies amongst them, make a place of worship at his grave and then they make those pictures in it. Those are the worst creatures in the sight of Allah." "

- (Sahih Bukhari: vol. 2 (book 23), hadith 425)

(pic courtesy: *_Abhi_*)

"Narrated Ibn `Abbas: While the Prophet was performing Tawaf of the Ka`ba, he passed by a person who had tied his hands to another person with a rope or string or something like that. The Prophet cut it with his own hands and said, "Lead him by the hand." "

- (Sahih Bukhari: vol. 2 (book 23), hadith 425)

വിഗ്രഹങ്ങൾ ..

2010-05-24T20:17:00.002+04:00

"നിർവൃതിയുടെ നിമിഷങ്ങളിൽ കിട്ടിയതെന്തോ അത്‌ പ്രവാചകന്മാർ മുറുകെപ്പിടിച്ചു, കിട്ടാത്തത്‌, അവശേഷിച്ചത്‌, അവിദ്യയുടെ പെരുവഴിയിൽ ചിതറിവീണു. പ്രവചനത്തിന്റെ ഒരു ഭിന്നിതം മാത്രം കിട്ടിയ ഓരോ പ്രവാചകനും പറഞ്ഞു, 'ഞാനാണ്‌ വഴി.' ഈശ്വരസ്പർശത്തിന്റെ തീവ്രതയിൽ, പരമാനന്ദത്തിൽ, ഭിന്നിതം സ്വയം പൂർണ്ണമായി, പിന്നെ അത്‌ ചരിത്രത്തിലേക്കിറങ്ങി വിഗ്രഹവും ക്ഷേത്രവുമായി. വിഗ്രഹത്തെ ഒഴിച്ചുനിർത്തിയ പ്രാർത്ഥനാമന്ദിരമായി, സാധനയായി, നിയമമായി, ശാഠ്യമായി; ശാഠ്യം ആക്രമണവും യുദ്ധവുമായി."

- (പ്രവാചകന്റെ വഴി)

[Laughing buddha pic cortesy: williamcho]

പ്രവാചകൻ ..

2010-05-21T23:41:00.002+04:00

"

"പ്രവചനം ഒന്നിൽനിന്നും തുടങ്ങിയതല്ല, ഒന്നിലും അത്‌ അവസാനിയ്ക്കുന്നുമില്ല. എന്നാൽ പ്രവാചകൻ മനുഷ്യനാണ്‌, മനുഷ്യാവതാരത്തിന്റെ എല്ലാ പരിമിതികളും അയാൾക്കുണ്ടാകും. പ്രവാചകനിലൂടെ വന്ന അറിവുകൾ കുറിച്ചുവെയ്ക്കുന്നതും മനുഷ്യൻ, പരിമിതികളുള്ളവൻ! താൻ ആവർത്തിയ്ക്കുന്നത്‌ അവന്റെ വാക്കുകളാണെന്നും, താൻ മാത്രമാണ്‌ വഴിയെന്നും ഒരു പ്രവാചകൻ പറയുമ്പോൾ അവൻ എണ്ണിയാലൊടുങ്ങാത്ത പ്രവാചക പരമ്പരകൾക്കുവേണ്ടി സംസാരിയ്ക്കുകയാണ്‌."

"പ്രവാചകന്മാരുടെ വ്യത്യാസങ്ങൾ--"

"മിനാരത്തിലെ വിളിയും ഓടക്കുഴലും തമ്മിലുള്ള വ്യത്യാസം, ഒട്ടകവും പശുവും തമ്മിലുള്ള വ്യത്യാസം, ഇതൊക്കെ പ്രവചനവാക്യങ്ങളുടെ പ്രതീകങ്ങളെ ഇത്തിരിയിത്തിരി ബാധിച്ചിരിയ്ക്കുന്നുവെന്നുമാത്രം. അപ്രകാരം തന്നെ, പ്രവാചകന്മാരുടെ പിന്മുറക്കാർ ഭരണാധിപന്മാരായി മാറുമ്പോൾ സ്വന്തം സ്ഥാപിതതാൽപര്യങ്ങളെ പ്രവചനത്തിന്റെ ചുട്ടികുത്തി മതഗ്രന്ഥങ്ങളിലേയ്ക്ക്‌ തിരുകിക്കയറ്റുകയും ചെയ്യുന്നു."

"അപ്പോൾ ഈ താടിയും മുടിയും," സുജാൻസിങ്ങിന്റെ സ്വരം ചരിത്രസന്ദേഹങ്ങൾകൊണ്ടു നിറഞ്ഞു, "ഉടമ്പടിയെന്ന് കോർപ്പറൽ വൈസ്മൻ വിളിച്ച ഈ അനുഷ്ഠാനം, അതിനുവേണ്ടി മരിയ്ക്കുന്നതിൽ അർത്ഥമില്ലെന്നാണോ അങ്ങ്‌ പറഞ്ഞുവരുന്നത്‌?"

"അങ്ങനെയെന്തെങ്കിലും തറപ്പിച്ചുപറയാൻ എനിയ്ക്കു വയ്യ സുജാൻസിംഗ്‌."

"പിന്നെ ഹിന്ദുവും ശിഖനും ഇങ്ങനെ പെരുമാറുന്നത്‌ എന്തുകൊണ്ട്‌?" കുരിശുയുദ്ധങ്ങൾ എങ്ങനെയുണ്ടായി?"

നാരായണൻ ഭയന്നും വേദനിച്ചും പറഞ്ഞു, "പ്രവാചകന്‌ ചിലപ്പോൾ തെറ്റുപറ്റുന്നു, മിക്കപ്പോഴും പ്രവചനത്തിന്റെ അവസാനവാക്യങ്ങൾ കേൾക്കാനാവാതെ ദൈവാനുഭവത്തിൽ പ്രവാചകൻ എരിയുന്നു."

"ഇത്‌ ഞാൻ എങ്ങനെ സഹിക്കും, സാബ്‌?"

"ഇത്തരം സഹനങ്ങളുടെ പ്രത്യക്ഷരേഖകളാണ്‌ ഭാരതത്തിന്റെ ആത്മീയത."
"

- (പ്രവാചകന്റെ വഴി) [Amazon link: Pravachakante vazhi]

[Preaching pic courtesy: Eric Skiff]

Red sand hill..

2010-05-18T21:33:00.003+04:00

Narrated Abu Huraira: The angel of death was sent to Moses and when he went to him, Moses slapped him severely, spoiling one of his eyes. The angel went back to his Lord, and said, "You sent me to a slave who does not want to die." Allah restored his eye and said, "Go back and tell him (i.e. Moses) to place his hand over the back of an ox, for he will be allowed to live for a number of years equal to the number of hairs coming under his hand." (So the angel came to him and told him the same). Then Moses asked, "O my Lord! What will be then?" He said, "Death will be then." He said, "(Let it be) now." He asked Allah that He bring him near the Sacred Land at a distance of a stone's throw. Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) said, "Were I there I would show you the grave of Moses by the way near the red sand hill."

- (Sahih Bukhari: Vol.2, book 23, hadith 423)

[red sand hill pic courtesy: NeilsPhotography]

The Alchemist

2010-04-25T22:30:00.006+04:00

Title: The Alchemist
Author: Paulo Coelho
ISBN: 978-81-7223-498-0
Publ: Harper Collins

This book has been there on my TBR shelf for over a year now, and I felt it too cruel to make it wait any longer. Almost everyone has read this book and it has been talked about so much to the point that people seem to have stopped discussing it anymore. It was high time. And as soon as I took my plunge, sudden realization occurred that I had returned once again to something that I have always treasured so much and yet remained forgotten or abandoned due to negligence.

In the prologue, the author presents an entirely different angle to the story of Narcissus, whose tale is known by everyone and has been told and retold so many times over. Just see this:

'.. when Narcissus died, the goddesses of the forest appeared and found the lake, which had been fresh water, transformed into a lake of salty tears.

“Why do you weep?” the goddesses asked.

“I weep for Narcissus,” the lake replied.

“Ah, it is no surprise that you weep for Narcissus,” they said, “for though we always pursued him in the forest, you alone could contemplate his beauty close at hand.”

“But… was Narcissus beautiful?” the lake asked.

“Who better than you to know that?” the goddesses said in wonder. “After all, it was by your banks that he knelt each day to contemplate himself!”

The lake was silent for some time. Finally, it said:

“I weep for Narcissus, but I never noticed that Narcissus was beautiful. I weep because, each time he knelt beside my banks, I could see, in the depths of his eyes, my own beauty reflected...” '

Paulo Coelho is a beautiful writer.

Page 9 reminded me about my father:

' “Well, I’d like to see their land, and see how they live,” said his son.

“The people who come here have a lot of money to spend, so they can afford to travel,” his father said. “Amongst us, the only ones who travel are the shepherds.”

“Well, then I’ll be a shepherd!”

His father said no more. The next day, he gave his son a pouch that held three ancient Spanish gold coins.

“I found these one day in the fields. I wanted them to be a part of your inheritance. But use them to buy your flock. Take to the fields, and someday you’ll learn that our countryside is the best, and our women the most beautiful.”

And he gave the boy his blessing. The boy could see in his father’s gaze a desire to be able, himself, to travel the world – a desire that was still alive, despite his father’s having had to bury it, over dozens of years, under the burden of struggling for water to drink, food to eat, and the same place to sleep every night of his life.'

Paulo Coelho must have had a father same as mine. Or.. is it the same story with all fathers and sons around the world?.. I don't know.

There have been numerous authors and numerous books so far in the world. And all sorts of stories have been told. All possibilities have been explored to such an extent that there seems hardly anything that is to be told in the space between a book and another, between an author and the next. Yet to our surprise, ideas sprout, stories never before told spring up from obscure spaces we thought not to be, though extremely rarely, and when someone makes it happen, we call him/her a genius. Coelho is one. He could see things that others fail to:

' “I have had the same dream twice,” he said. “I dreamed that I was in a field with my sheep, when a child appeared and began to play with the animals. I don’t like people to do that, because the sheep are afraid of strangers. But children always seem to be able to play with them without frightening them. I don’t know why. I don’t know how animals know the age of human beings.'

By the time I reached page 43, I was thinking of Kuruvi Gopi.. The boys travels in The Alchemist is similar to the ones of Kuruvi Gopi in the book which has his name for the title. It is perhaps the first novel I have ever read. I read it as a child. It's a novel for children, and I had loved it so intensely. I need a copy of it again. I miss it so much! But DC Books says it's out of stock..

At page 45, my thoughts were revolving around the question as to what kind of writer Paulo Coelho was. We call them by different names- writers, authors, men of letters, literateurs.. but more suitable for him is the word 'storyteller'. Like Rushdie, he is a teller of amazing tales, transcending fables. As Shashi Tharoor has told, Rushdie is perhaps the greatest prose-stylist of our times. He plays with words and ideas to create vivid and colourful pictures in our minds. And Coelho's solemn style touches your soul.

Pages 88-89 triggered a string of thoughts:
1. The word 'language' has been appearing throughout the book in many places, and finally when the book says that the one common language of the entire world was nothing but Love, we see what kind of literary magic the writer is capable of conjuring up, because in one of the earlier pages when The Englishman talks about the Bible and says that:

"There is a universal language, understood by everybody, but already forgotten. I am in search of that universal language, among other things. That's why I'm here. I have to find a man who knows that universal language."

we can't help but only think of the Tower of Babel and the one common tongue of the people which was split into uncountably many and perplexingly varied by it.

'At that moment, it seemed to him that time stood still, and the Soul of the World surged within him. When he looked into her dark eyes, and saw that her lips were poised between a laugh and silence, he learned the most important part of the language that all the world spoke— the language that everyone on earth was capable of understanding in their heart. It was love. Something older than humanity, more ancient than the desert. Something that exerted the same force whenever two pairs of eyes met, as had theirs here at the well. She smiled, and that was certainly an omen— the omen he had been awaiting, without even knowing he was, for all his life. The omen he had sought to find with his sheep and in his books, in the crystals and in the silence of the desert. It was the pure Language of the World. It required no explanation, just as the universe needs none as it travels through endless time. What the boy felt at that moment was that he was in the presence of the only woman in his life, and that, with no need for words, she recognized the same thing. He was more certain of it than of anything in the world.'

2. If Paulo Coelho's stories can be said to be of a similar quality of any earlier writer, it must be Kahlil Gibran's.

3. The book reminded me of the importance of believing in love at frst sight. I'm a very late believer of it. Until not very long back I used to believe that only after knowing enough of each other must two people be in love. But the world taught me otherwise through years. And I started believing in love at first sight. And it was only recently in a beautiful email with amazing pictures and inspiring words that the idea occurred in words as a theory to me for the first time after it. And the following quote from the book is my second reminder:

'He had been told by his parents and grandparents that he must fall in love and really know a person before becoming committed. But maybe people who felt that way had never learned the universal language. Because, when you know that language, it's easy to understand that someone in the world awaits you, whether it's in the middle of the desert or in some great city. And when two such people encounter each other, and their eyes meet, the past and the future become unimportant. There is only that moment..'

Anyway, after three quarters of the book, I felt the entire plot was turning less deeper and I feared if the ending was not taken good care of, the book was going to lose the impact it had been making so far at the time I close it. And unfortunately it turned out to be slightly true, if not entirely. Nevertheless, it fulfills in a wonderful way what is written on the back cover. That it's a book about following your dream. It has managed far better than most of the so-called spiritual self-help books that make similar claims and turn out to be totally useless, like The Monk who Sold his Ferrari . It says that it's about fulfilling your dreams. Duh! But then, perhaps there are people who like it that way.

Mercy 'n' wrath..

2010-04-19T22:56:00.001+04:00

Narrated Abu Qilaba:
Anas said, "Some people of `Ukl or `Uraina tribe came to Medina and its climate did not suit them. So the Prophet ordered them to go to the herd of (Milch) camels and to drink their milk and urine (as a medicine). So they went as directed and after they became healthy, they killed the shepherd of the Prophet and drove away all the camels. The news reached the Prophet early in the morning and he sent (men) in their pursuit and they were captured and brought at noon. He then ordered to cut their hands and feet (and it was done), and their eyes were branded with heated pieces of iron, They were put in 'Al−Harra' and when they asked for water, no water was given to them." Abu Qilaba said, "Those people committed theft and murder, became infidels after embracing Islam and fought against Allah and His Apostle ."

- (Sahih Bukhari: vol 1, book 4, hadith 234)

Narrated Abu Ma`bad (the slave of Ibn `Abbas):
Allah's Apostle said to Mu`adh, "be afraid of the curse of an oppressed person because there is no screen between his invocation and Allah."

- (Sahih Bukhari: vol 2, book 24, hadith 573)

[Snow pic courtesy: Tony the Misfit

Green pic courtesy: ƥɾαɳαʋ]

The Enchantress of Florence

2010-04-14T23:49:00.004+04:00

Title: The Enchantress of Florence
Author: Salman Rushdie
Publ: Jonathan Cape
ISBN: 978-0-224-06163-6

When I read Fury I felt it very un-Rushdie-like. More so, when you compare it with his books like Midnight's Children and The Satanic Verses which contain essentially nothing but an interesting and colourful jumble of words and ideas and don't seem to bother much about a proper structure or form for the plot itself. This book, The Enchantress of Florence is an amazing blend of the two styles of Rushdie. The story has a proper beginning and ending and has a very easy flow. It takes place between two geographies of the sixteenth century, namely the Mughal empire under Akbar and the Renaissance Florence. It is, as the author himself says and is also obvious from the book itself, Rushdie's book in the making of which he has done the most amount of research.

One fine morning, a yellow-haired Italian from Florence appears from the blue before Akbar's court and claims that he is a long-lost relative of the Mughal family, having descended from Qara Koz (the Enchantress). The story unfolds as you read on, and the suspense as to how could the two different people from two different corners of the globe, who are otherwise, i.e., in real history, far from being connected in any way, be possibly related (blood realtion at that! (sort of)) is tightly held until last unlike many of Rushdie's novels, which makes it all the more a gorgeous read. One thing I found very different from other works of Rushdie, apart from other factors, is that it's not just the playful Rushdie all the way; one can spot Rushdie the philosopher in at least a few passages in this book, if not spread all over the place, requesting your company in his serious thoughts about love, ego and issues such as incest and troubles with relationships.

I was expecting that the story would be almost equally divided between Florence and Fatehpur Sikri, but the Florence part was found to take up more pages than the fabulous Sikri of Akbar. But I enjoyed the Indian part more than the Western narrative, probably because I could relate more to the Eastern history being from India myself than the tales of Florence of which I hardly know anything. But nevertheless no doubt this is a book of substance, and perhaps the most matured and most polished work of Rushdie so far, scrupulously chiselled to perfection.

Valuable literature, indeed!

[Note: For a better understanding of the book, or the making of it, to be more precise, please read Rushdie's interview with James Mustich: Salman Rushdie Spins a Yarn in Barnes & Noble Review.]

glory and stones..

2010-04-09T15:11:00.000+04:00

Narrated Kharija bin Zaid bin Thabit:

"Um Al-'Ala', an Ansari woman who gave the pledge of allegiance to the Prophet said to me, "The emigrants were distributed amongst us by drawing lots and we got in our share 'Uthman bin Maz'un. We made him stay with us in our house. Then he suffered from a disease which proved fatal. When he died and was given a bath and was shrouded in his clothes, Allah's Apostle came. I said, 'May Allah be merciful to you, O Abu As-Sa'ib! I testify that Allah has honored you'. The Prophet said, 'How do you know that Allah has honored him?' I replied, 'O Allah's Apostle! Let my father be sacrificed for you! On whom else shall Allah bestow His honor?' The Prophet said, 'No doubt, death came to him. By Allah, I too wish him good, but by Allah, I do not know what Allah will do with me though I am Allah's Apostle.' "

- (Sahih Bukhari: Book 23, hadith 334)

Narrated `Abdullah bin `Umar :

"The Jew brought to the Prophet a man and a woman from amongst them who have committed (adultery) illegal sexual intercourse. He ordered both of them to be stoned (to death), near the place of offering the funeral prayers beside the mosque."

- (Sahih Bukhari: Book 23, hadith 413)

[stones pic courtesy: faith goble]

women..

2010-04-05T00:27:00.004+04:00

'Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet (p.b.u.h) said, "It is not permissible for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to travel for one day and night except with a Mahram." '

- (Sahih Bukhari: book-20, hadith-194)

'Narrated `Aisha: "A woman from the tribe of Bani Asad was sitting with me and Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) came to my house and said, "Who is this?" I said, "(She is) So and so. She does not sleep at night because she is engaged in prayer." The Prophet said disapprovingly: "Do (good) deeds which is within your capacity as Allah never gets tired of giving rewards till you get tired of doing good deeds." " '

- (Sahih Bukhari: book-21, hadith-251n)

(Image courtesy: siavash laghai)

dua, baddua... again...

2010-04-03T23:59:00.003+04:00

Narrated Anas bin Malik: 'Once the Prophet (p.b.u.h) entered the Mosque and saw a rope hanging in between its two pillars. He said, "What is this rope?" The people said, "This rope is for Zainab who, when she feels tired, holds it (to keep standing for the prayer.)" The Prophet said, "Don't use it. Remove the rope. You should pray as long as you feel active, and when you get tired, sit down." '

- (Sahih Bukhari: book-21, hadith-251r)

* * *

Narrated Masruq: 'We were with `Abdullah and he said, "When the Prophet saw the refusal of the people to accept Islam he said, "O Allah! Send (famine) years on them for (seven years) like the seven years (of famine during the time) of (Prophet) Joseph." So famine overtook them for one year and destroyed every kind of life to such an extent that the people started eating hides, carcasses and rotten dead animals. Whenever one of them looked towards the sky, he would (imagine himself to) see smoke because of hunger." '

- (Sahih Bukhari: book-17, hadith-121)

dua..baddua..

2010-04-01T19:38:00.003+04:00

Narrated `Abdullah: The Prophet prayed, and when he had finished the prayers he was asked, "O Allah's Apostle! Has there been any change in the prayers?" He said, "What is it?" The people said, "You have prayed so much and so much." So the Prophet bent his legs, faced the Qibla and performed two prostrations (of Sahu) and finished his prayers with Taslim. When he turned his face to us he said, "If there had been anything changed in the prayer, surely I would have informed you but I am a human being like you and liable to forget like you. So if I forget remind me."

- (Sahih Bukhari - book:8, hadith:394)

* * *

Narrated `Aisha and `Abdullah bin `Abbas: When the last moment of the life of Allah's Apostle came he started putting his 'Khamisa' on his face and when he felt hot and short of breath he took it off his face and said, "May Allah curse the Jews and Christians for they built the places of worship at the graves of their Prophets."

- (Sahih Bukhari - book:8, hadith:427)

prayers, women..

2010-03-30T23:36:00.006+04:00

Narrated Abu Mas`ud Al−Ansari: Once a man said to Allah's Apostle "O Allah's Apostle! I may not attend the (compulsory congregational) prayer because so and so (the Imam) prolongs the prayer when he leads us for it. The narrator added: "I never saw the Prophet more furious in giving advice than he was on that day. The Prophet said, "O people! Some of you make others dislike good deeds (the prayers). So whoever leads the people in prayer should shorten it because among them there are the sick, the weak and the needy (having some jobs to do).

- (Sahih Bukhari- book 3, hadith 90)

* * *

Narrated Abu Sa`id Al−Khudri: Once Allah's Apostle went out to the Musalla (to offer the prayer) of `Id−al−Adha or Al−Fitr prayer. Then he passed by the women and said, "O women! Give alms, as I have seen that the majority of the dwellers of Hell−fire were you (women)." They asked, "Why is it so, O Allah's Apostle ?" He replied, "You curse frequently and are ungrateful to your husbands. I have not seen anyone more deficient in intelligence and religion than you. A cautious sensible man could be led astray by some of you." The women asked, "O Allah's Apostle! What is deficient in our intelligence and religion?" He said, "Is not the evidence of two women equal to the witness of one man?" They replied in the affirmative. He said, "This is the deficiency in her intelligence. Isn't it true that a woman can neither pray nor fast during her menses?" The women replied in the affirmative. He said, "This is the deficiency in her religion."

- (Sahih Bukhari - book 6, hadith 301)

doors...

2010-03-24T18:10:00.003+04:00

"A warrior, a samurai, a great soldier, came to a Zen master and he asked "Is there any hell, is there any heaven? If there is hell and heaven, where are the gates? Where do I enter from? How can I avoid hell and choose heaven?"

He was a simple warrior. He had not come to learn any doctrine. He wanted to know where the gate was so he could avoid hell and enter heaven. And Hakuin replied in a way only a warrior could understand.

What did Hakuin do? He said, "Who are you?" And the warrior replied, "I am a samurai."

It is a thing of much pride to be a samurai in Japan. It means being a perfect warrior. He said, "I am a samurai, I am a leader of samurais. Even the emperor pays respect to me."

Hakuin laughed and said, " You, a samurai? You look like a beggar."

The samurai's pride was hurt, his ego hammered. He forgot what he had come for. He took out his sword and was just about to kill Hakuin. He forgot that he had come to this master to ask where is the gate of heaven, to ask where is the gate of hell.

Hakuin laughed and said, "This is the gate of hell. With this sword, this anger, this ego, here opens the gate." This is what a warrior can understand. Immediately he understood: This is the gate. He put his sword back in its sheath. And Hakuin said, "Here opens the gate of heaven."

Hell and heaven are within you, both gates are within you. When you are behaving unconsciously there is the gate of hell; when you become alert and conscious, there is the gate of heaven.

Silence is the door. Inner peace is the door. Nonviolence is the door. Love and compassion are the doors."

- (quoted by ZahretElNur)

love...

2010-03-23T19:06:00.004+04:00

"You and I can have a lot of theories about it, but actually, that is the thing that we call love? There is pleasure, sexual pleasure, in which there is jealousy, the possessive factor, the dominating factor, the desire to possess, to hold, to control, to interfere with what another thinks. Knowing all the complexity of this, we say that there must be love that is divine, that is beautiful, untouched, uncorrupted; we meditate about it and get into a devotional, sentimental, emotional attitude, and are lost. Because we can't fathom this human thing called love we run away into abstractions that have absolutely no validity at all."

- J. Krishnamurthi

(On Relationship)

more honest...

2010-03-21T21:32:00.004+04:00

'Barely had hey settled down, than he had looked at her, placed his fingers lightly over her hand and said, 'I want to make love to you.'
Recalling the moment, she said, 'I was so taken aback. I thought I hadn't heard it right. So I said, "I beg your pardon?"

Slowly and seriously he had repeated it again.

'You must be crazy. I don't even know you,' she'd said.

'I know. But I had to tell you. I think it is more honest that way.' '

- (Socialite Evenings)

Discounted prayers

2010-01-22T22:35:00.006+04:00

"Narrated Abu Dhar: Allah's Apostle said, "While I was at Mecca the roof of my house was opened and Gabriel descended, opened my chest, and washed it with Zamzam water. Then he brought a golden tray full of wisdom and faith and having poured its contents into my chest, he closed it. Then he took my hand and ascended with me to the nearest heaven, when I reached the nearest heaven, Gabriel said to the gatekeeper of the heaven, 'Open (the gate).' The gatekeeper asked, 'Who is it?' Gabriel answered: 'Gabriel.' He asked, 'Is there anyone with you?' Gabriel replied, 'Yes, Muhammad is with me.' He asked, 'Has he been called?' Gabriel said, 'Yes.' So the gate was opened and we went over the nearest heaven and there we saw a man sitting with some people on his right and some on his left. When he looked towards his right, he laughed and when he looked toward his left he wept. Then he said, 'Welcome! O pious Prophet and pious son.' I asked Gabriel, 'Who is he?' He replied, 'He is Adam and the people on his right and left are the souls of his offspring. Those on his right are the people of Paradise and those on his left are the people of Hell and when he looks towards his right he laughs and when he looks towards his left he weeps.' Then he ascended with me till he reached the second heaven and he (Gabriel) said to its gatekeeper, 'Open (the gate).' The gatekeeper said to him the same as the gatekeeper of the first heaven had said and he opened the gate.

Anas said: "Abu Dhar added that the Prophet met Adam, Idris, Moses, Jesus and Abraham. He (Abu Dhar) did not mention on which heaven they were but he mentioned that he (the Prophet ) met Adam on the nearest heaven and Abraham on the sixth heaven." Anas said, "When Gabriel along with the Prophet passed by Idris, the latter said, 'Welcome! O pious Prophet and pious brother.' The Prophet asked, 'Who is he?' Gabriel replied, 'He is Idris." The Prophet added, "I passed by Moses and he said, 'Welcome! O pious Prophet and pious brother.' I asked Gabriel, 'Who is he?' Gabriel replied, 'He is Moses.' Then I passed by Jesus and he said, 'Welcome! O pious brother and pious Prophet.' I asked, 'Who is he?' Gabriel replied, 'He is Jesus. Then I passed by Abraham and he said, 'Welcome! O pious Prophet and pious son.' I asked Gabriel, 'Who is he?' Gabriel replied, 'He is Abraham. The Prophet added, 'Then Gabriel ascended with me to a place where I heard the creaking of the pens.' "

Ibn Hazm and Anas bin Malik said: The Prophet said, "Then Allah enjoined fifty prayers on my followers. When I returned with this order of Allah, I passed by Moses who asked me, 'What has Allah enjoined on your followers?' I replied, 'He has enjoined fifty prayers on them.' Moses said, 'Go back to your Lord (and appeal for reduction) for your followers will not be able to bear it.' (So I went back to Allah and requested for reduction) and He reduced it to half. When I passed by Moses again and informed him about it, he said, 'Go back to your Lord as your followers will not be able to bear it.' So I returned to Allah and requested for further reduction and half of it was reduced. I again passed by Moses and he said to me: 'Return to your Lord, for your followers will not be able to bear it. So I returned to Allah and He said, 'These are five prayers and they are all (equal to) fifty (in reward) for My Word does not change.' I returned to Moses and he told me to go back once again. I replied, 'Now I feel shy of asking my Lord again.' Then Gabriel took me till we reached Sidrat−il−Muntaha (Lote tree of the utmost boundary of the seventh heaven) which was shrouded in colors, indescribable. Then I was admitted into Paradise where I found small walls of pearls and its earth was of musk." "

- (Sahih Bukhari: book 8, hadith 345)

The Definitive Book of Body Language

2010-01-16T21:27:00.007+04:00

Title: The Definitive Book of Body Language
Authors: Allan & Barbara Pease
ISBN: 978-0-7528-5878-4

Publ: Orion

Observation! That's the keyword. As far as I can recollect, there have been only four times in my entire life so far that I have been so strongly reminded about the importance of this word.

The first time was by Gerald Durrell in my primary school. There was this lesson in the English textbook about animals and birds. It was about their lifestyle, how they make their nests and houses etc. written based on pure observation. I was really very fascinated by the entire narration. I don't remember how many times I reread the chapter. And I was deeply ashamed too for I used to spend countless number of hours playing beneath the shade of those huge trees at the ashram-like backyard of my ancestral home filled with a wide range of animal and bird species and yet never bothered to spend even as little as five minutes to sit and observe and try to know something about those creatures that included squirrels and rodents (and once i spotted even a large yellow snake) and a wide range of birds from the common crow to the parrot, from the house sparrow to the eagle and many other species of which I don't know the names, including the bluish-black & white feathered bird which was so common around there, not to mention the numerous families of bugs and tiny creeping things. Had I been interested I could have observed these lively beings in my own little way, if not as elaborately as Gerald Durrell. But I never did it even once. Nevertheless I felt how enjoyable it would be to watch these creatures and make notes on them. Anyway the lesson got me thinking that all of a sudden, as if some revelation had descended upon me, I became aware of the bewitchingly fabulous world that surrounded us all every day, every moment, so prominent and conspicuous that we see it yet fail to really see anything at all.

The second instance was when I was in high school when I got really addicted to Sherlock Holmes stories, and started prowling in the yard scrupulously looking for microscopic details in everything like the guy in the Karamchand serial which used to be aired on Doordarshan back in that zamana. And I remember how thrilled I was when I could finally spot as a result of painstaking effort and perseverance a set of new, strange footsteps in the sand that were pretty indistinct and not from any of the footwears that belonged to our house. There are not many characters in litearture that earned more credits than their authors. Even the Pease couple has started the introduction of this book with a Holmes quote:

"By a man's fingernails, by his coat-sleeve, by his boots, by his
trouser-knees, by the calluses of his forefinger and thumb, by his expression,
by his shirt-cuffs, by his movements - by each of these things a man's calling
is plainly revealed. That all united should fail to enlighten the competent
enquirer in any case is almost inconceivable."
- Sherlock Holmes

The third instance was when in college I started reading the novels of the Malayalam writer Khalid. I noticed his peculiar style of narration. He follows an elaborately descriptive style. He starts by describing the minute details of a place, the persons in the place and the things around them. That is how he neatly creates the foundation of a scene. And from there flows out the story. It was interesting to read those stories paying attention to this special characteristic of watchfulness in the act of story-telling.

And now for the fourth time, I have been made to reflect once again, by a book, upon the power of observation and that how enjoyable the very act of observing things could be.

The third chapter of Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities starts thus:

"A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted
to be that profound secret and mystery to every other. A solemn consideration,
when I enter a great city by night, that every one of those darkly clustered
houses encloses its own secret; that every room in every one of them encloses
its own secret; that every beating heart in the hundreds of thousands of breasts
there, is, in some of its imaginings, a secret to the heart nearest it! Something
of the awfulness, even of Death itself, is referable to this. No more can I turn
the leaves of this dear book that I loved, and vainly hope in time to read it
all. No more can I look into the depths of this unfathomable water, wherein, as
momentary lights glanced into it, I have had glimpses of buried treasure and
other things submerged. It was appointed that the book should shut with a
spring, for ever and for ever, when I had read but a page. It was appointed that
the water should be locked in an eternal frost, when the light was playing on
its surface, and I stood in ignorance on the shore. My friend is dead, my
neighbour is dead, my love, the darling of my soul, is dead; it is the
inexorable consolidation and perpetuation of the secret that was always in that
individuality, and which I shall carry in mine to my life's end. In any of the
burial-places of this city through which I pass, is there a sleeper more
inscrutable than its busy inhabitants are, in their innermost personality, to
me, or than I am to them? As to this, his natural and not to be alienated
inheritance, the messenger on horseback had exactly the same possessions as the
King, the first Minister of State, or the richest merchant in London. So with the
three passengers shut up in the narrow compass of one lumbering old mail coach;
they were mysteries to one another, as complete as if each had been in his own
coach and six, or his own coach and sixty, with the breadth of a county between
him and the next."

- (A Tale of Two Cities)

But this book, The Definitive Book of Body Language, says otherwise. However closed a person appears to be, their countenance, gestures, movements of body parts, idiosyncrasies, attire, and many other factors which include a lot of subtle details disclose their innermost and most vigilantly guarded secrets and intentions and many things about their character to you even without they themsleves knowing of it, but only if you have an exceptionally watchful eye. This is an A to Z book on body language, with comprehensive yet in-depth analysis of each and every aspect of it and discussing many topics in relation to it. The facet that interested me most is the importance of taking cultural differences into account while trying to decipher a person's body language when he/she is from a totally different geographic region who grew up with a set of etiquette rules entirely different from yours, because that helped me get a better understanding of certain experiences I have had as an expatriate from different peoples.

The picture is vivid in my memory of my old Egyptian friend Mohammed's eyes turning red with anger and his shouting at me just because I had sat near him with one of my legs folded and placed on the thigh of the other near to the knee (which constituted something like a figure of four). It took me by extreme surprise as he was perhaps the only pious muslim I knew in Saudi Arabia then to whom I could openly talk about my disbelief in the religion and even make 'sacreligious' observations and yet get away without being harmed in anyway or reported to the Religious Police or betrayed. I didn't get what was it in my actions that drove him so intolerant and furious. A little later, still not fully out of his chagrin, he asked me:"Why do you show your shoe's sole to me?, Would you like it if someone does the same to you?" I was more surprised hearing this. Why would I feel bad if someone sits beside me with his one leg folded over the other? Was that such a big crime? I was only confused. It took me very long to learn that for an arab, being thrusted upon by a display of shoes worn on one's foot, especially their soles, is one of the greatest insults. Years later, I see that this book makes the same observation. Also, it's not so long ago that the media discussed this matter when the Iraqi journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi tried to offer George W. Bush what he believed to be what the then US President deserved - his shoes, that too a full pair. The greatest insult. (See the you-tube video).

Another tidbit of information from this book regarding the figure-four leg-cross: "During the Second World War, the Nazis kept a lookout for the Figure Four as anyone using it was clearly not German or had spent time in the USA." The figure-four leg-cross is mostly American or of a people who have been Americanised in some way. The British people and other Europeans and even Asians with their influences basically show a tendency for placing thigh on thigh, with closed crotch, and foot dangling down, which forms an entirely different posture from the figure-four.

Yet another experience in Saudi Arabia was when I was new there. My Arab boss was coming from the other end of the long corridor. I was at the opposite dimly lit end with my friend John Samuel. My boss's eyes were fixed on me, and apparently he saw something wrong in me. Somehow I understood that he was not happy with my not greeting him 'Good morning'. But how could I greet 'Good morning' in that situation? Should I shout out 'GOOD MORNING SIR!' so that my boos could hear it from the other end of the 100 metre long corridor? It is not good manners. The other option was to just move your lips as if you were uttering 'Good morning Sir' and at the same time bow a bit to show respect. But I was sure he would fail to notice the gesture emanating from a poorly lit far end of the corridor. I was perplexed. Then John my friend asked me to raise my hand to greet 'Salam'. I looked at him confused because that was a gesture used among friends, or by superiors to inferiors. How could I greet my boss that way? But John prodded me forcefully from behind, and my right hand rose up in a sudden refelx action with an open palm as if I was a Congress party leader standing in a slowly rolling open vehicle greeting his voters. I was waiting to see the result of this John-induced 'insult' to my boss. To my amazement his face beamed like anything and he too raised his hand in the Congress greeting to return the salutation. It was considered the most common and the most basic way of greeting among Arabs, irrespective of the age difference of the people involved. My salam was supposed to be a signal of respect towards my boss, whereas it was deemed very disrespectful by one of my uncle's freinds and some others when after my long stay in Saudi Arabia I returned home and continued extending the same greeting to elders around me out of inertia, because in my place, it was a way of greeting among friends and acquaintances of the same age group or from an elder person to a younger one!

Yet another interesting example as to how variations in bodily expressions from place to place can create misunderstanding and confusion was my encounter with a Filipina colleague who, though unintentionally, damaged a part of an equipment because of improper handling. I was trying to explain to her the correct steps to use the gadget and in certain places i was pointing my finger towards her to complement the word 'you'. Within no time she burst out like a volcano, warning me seriously, "Don't point your finger at me!". Perhaps she thought I was trying to blame her by pointing my finger to her for damaging the machine, even though I didn't have the least intention to. That's what I thought then. But the truth turned out to be graver. And it took so long. I had to read this book after so many years to know what the Filipina girl meant. In Filipino etiquette, the gesture of pointing your finger is only meant for animals!! At least that is what this book says! Perhaps that is also the reason why they, instead of using a finger, purse their lips as if to form the shape of a pointed finger and points with it to the direction of the way when you lose your way and ask them for directions? But a person who is not familiar with such Filipino nuances in communicating, for example, an Indian male, who happens to have such an experience from a Filipina girl might think her only to be signalling a kiss with her lips which might make him feel she is somehow interested in him and is giving a discreet invitation to her bed.

A serious thought that flashed across my mind while reading the book was about people who act in films. Like anyone else, they too, as individuals must invariably have their own characteristic gestures and body language strongly indicative of their personal character, about which neither they themselves nor the film director may be aware. Couldn't it be that these personal, outward physical traits are sometimes in clash with the character they play in the movie they act in? Couldn't it be that even when a layman like me and numerous others say that a film was superb in craft and cast and direction and all, there could be people who are very well versed in reading body language who could find countless flaws in the movie and thus find it imperfect, as far as the bodily movements of the characters are concerned in contrast to what they utter, especially in Malayalam movies where even the tiniest of movements and appearance of actors are very closely watched and scrutinised and each actor/actress is identified with his/her signature gestures, thanks to the widespread craze and success of the art of mimicry?

Well, so the book tells us, from cover to cover, of the importance of observing people to discern from their faces, appearance, attire, movements, and gestures, what is there in their minds. But I've come across a different kind of observation, or to be more correct, observation aiming at something else, which is not touched upon in the book. What I'm talking about is not observing the person's face in order to know what he/she is hiding in the heart, but observing for the sake of identifying the person herself in the first place, hiding behind a black burqah that covers her from head to toe, including the face. And it becomes a hard necessity when your job demands official interaction with a bunch of such people, who work in the same organisation as you, on a daily basis. My time in Saudi Arabia taught me how to do it efficiently, and I guess I'm a master in the art :) Otherwise, how was I to survive in the middle of people like Tahani, Yasmine, Jameela, Hind(not rhyming with 'mind', but with 'Sindh'), Zahra, Maryam, Hanan and Faiza? But honestly, I don't think it's a big deal. You would learn in no time to tell Yasmine from Hind even when you see her at the other end of a 100 metre long corridor, because it forms a part of your job, and you can't survive unless you learn your job. Eventhough initially you have to make a conscious effort to remember certain factors about each person that help you in identifying the person behind the cover, gradually you become so used to it that you feel that someone sitting inside you is telling you that the girl near the pillar talking hurriedly on her mobile is none other than Tahani and the one waiting near her impatiently(oh yeah, you would also learn to perceive that the person is impatient, even without seeing her facial expressions!) for the conversation to finish is her friend Zahra, and almost 100% of the times, the guess turns out to be incredibly right. It is like when you move to a new home and lose your way on the first day when you return from office, and thereafter you consciously try to remember that your house is the third one after the two similar looking buildings and just before that awkward looking tree near to the big rock and the turning leading to the open ground at the other end. But gradually your brain records all these details so indelibly that even if your mind is wandering in a dreamland, you car doesn't forget to turn at the right bends and finally stop in front of the right building. So, what are the factors that help you distinguish a woman from her fully-covered appearance? There are plenty, in fact. The height of the person, the kind of physique, the gait, the voice, accent, and characteristic expressions in speech (if she talks to you), the kind of glasses she wears(in the case of persons wearing glasses), the colour of the eye (as the niqab mostly have a slit for the eyes and thus the eyes are visible, though the rest of the face is covered), the visible portion around the eyes, the kind of fabric and border designs etc. of the burqah (eventhough all the black-clad girls look alike in the first look, if you observe keenly enough you'll find each shrouded form is amazingly different from any other), the style of hijab and naqab and the way they wear them (The abaya(burqah), naqab, hijab etc. have their countless variations in style and endless ranges of trends in fashion, though to an outsider all look alike!), their hands, fingers, and fingernails and any ornament worn thereon (unless a pair of black gloves is worn), the kind of wristwatch they use(when it is revealed by the slipping back of the edge of the sleeve at the wrist when they move their arms), the kind of handbags and gadgets they carry or handle regularly like the mobile phones, any characteristic gestures and body movements etc. And what's more, I've felt that the girls themselves make a conscious effort to maintain a fixed form of themselves, which constitutes a set of some or all of the factors mentioned above or more (of which some are natural and some are deliberately maintained), so as not to confuse others and thus save trouble for others and themselves. Such a 'fixed form' of someone appears as normal as any other person who never covers her face, and distinguishing the person is never a task. That's why the below picture, though appearing funny to many around the world who have never had any close interaction with such people and their culture, fails to elicit laughter in me. The women who are posing for the photograph (including the non-Arab maid whose face is uncovered) or the man who photographs them are in earnest, they don't think they are doing something funny. I'm sure the kinsfolk of the women would tell one woman from the other in the photograph the same way they do when their faces are uncovered.

(On a happy note, I've been lucky to see the uncovered faces of Yasmine, Zahra and Hind. I consider myself highly privileged as Saudi girls normally never show their faces to others :) )

And finally, some interesting tidbits from the book:
. Seven out of ten people cross their left arm over their right. Evidence suggests that this may well be a genetic gesture that cannot be changed.

. Most men put on a coat right arm first; most women put it on left arm first. This shows that men use their left brain hemisphere for this action while women use the right hemisphere.

. The head-shaking gesture signals 'no' and owes its origin to breastfeeding. When a baby has had enough milk, it turns its head from side to side to reject it's mother's breast.

. In most cultures the Head Nod is used to signify 'Yes' or agreement. In India, the head rocked from side to side, called the Head Wobble signals 'Yes', which is confusing for westerners as it means to them 'Maybe yes - maybe no'. In Japan head nodding doesn't necessarily mean 'Yes, I agree' - it usually means 'Yes, I hear you'.

. Hasta la vista (Spanish) means 'See you later'.

. Studies show that not only a man's nose is inflated by increased blood pressure when he tells a lie, but his penis swells too.

. Brain scans reveal that men can feel emotion as strongly as women, but avoid showing it publicly.

. Bottle-fed babies are three times more likely to become smokers than breast-fed babies.

. Men have 10 to 20 times more testosterone than women, which makes them see the world in terms of sex.

. Women have dramatically more nerve sensors for experiencing touch than men, making them more sensitive to touch sensations.

. Marilyn Monroe reputedly chopped three-quarters of an inch (2 cm) off the heal of her left shoe to emphasise her wiggle.

. Women are, on average, 2 inches (5 cm) shorter than men.

Book, courtesy of Maisa

Satan..

2009-12-30T00:58:00.005+04:00

Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle deputized me to keep Sadaqa (al−Fitr) of Ramadan. A comer came and started taking handfuls of the foodstuff (of the Sadaqa) (stealthily). I took hold of him and said, "By Allah, I will take you to Allah's Apostle ." He said, "I am needy and have many dependents, and I am in great need." I released him, and in the morning Allah's Apostle asked me, "What did your prisoner do yesterday?" I said, "O Allah's Apostle! The person complained of being needy and of having many dependents, so, I pitied him and let him go." Allah's Apostle said, "Indeed, he told you a lie and he will be coming again." I believed that he would show up again as Allah's Apostle had told me that he would return. So, I waited for him watchfully. When he (showed up and) started stealing handfuls of foodstuff, I caught hold of him again and said, "I will definitely take you to Allah's Apostle. He said, "Leave me, for I am very needy and have many dependents. I promise I will not come back again." I pitied him and let him go. In the morning Allah's Apostle asked me, "What did your prisoner do." I replied, "O Allah's Apostle! He complained of his great need and of too many dependents, so I took pity on him and set him free." Allah's Apostle said, "Verily, he told you a lie and he will return." I waited for him attentively for the third time, and when he (came and) started stealing handfuls of the foodstuff, I caught hold of him and said, "I will surely take you to Allah's Apostle as it is the third time you promise not to return, yet you break your promise and come." He said, "(Forgive me and) I will teach you some words with which Allah will benefit you." I asked, "What are they?" He replied, "Whenever you go to bed, recite "Ayat−al−Kursi"−− 'Allahu la ilaha illa huwa−l−Haiy−ul Qaiyum' till you finish the whole verse. (If you do so), Allah will appoint a guard for you who will stay with you and no satan will come near you till morning. " So, I released him. In the morning, Allah's Apostle asked, "What did your prisoner do yesterday?" I replied, "He claimed that he would teach me some words by which Allah will benefit me, so I let him go." Allah's Apostle asked, "What are they?" I replied, "He said to me, 'Whenever you go to bed, recite Ayat−al−Kursi from the beginning to the end −−−− Allahu la ilaha illa huwa−lHaiy−ul−Qaiyum−−−−.' He further said to me, '(If you do so), Allah will appoint a guard for you who will stay with you, and no satan will come near you till morning.' The Prophet said, "He really spoke the truth, although he is an absolute liar. Do you know whom you were talking to, these three nights, O Abu Huraira?" Abu Huraira said, "No." He said, "It was Satan."

- (Sahih Bukhari: Book 38, Hadith 505.2)

The book..

2009-12-28T01:36:00.004+04:00

A: "I used to have an old German Bible around the house for years, but it smelled so bad I finally gave it away to an aunt in Santa Barbara."
B: "Who printed it?"
A: "I don't know… 'Guten' something."
B dropped his fork. "Not Gutenberg?"
A: "I believe that's the name."
B jumping up from the table, "Let's go!". He screamed, "We'll hire a plane!"
A: "Go where?"
B: "To get the Bible, man! Don't you realize you have one of the first books ever printed? It's worth three hundred thousand dollars!"
A stood up excitedly. Then suddenly sat down again. "It can't be worth anything,"
B asked hysterically, "Why not?"
"Because," A replied, "somebody named Martin Luther scribbled all over it."

- (recounted by Osho)

രമണന്‍

2009-10-21T22:31:00.000+04:00

പുസ്തകം: രമണന്‍

‍കവി: ചങ്ങമ്പുഴ

പ്രസാ: ഡി സി ബുക്സ്

ISBN: 81-264-0592-9

വളരെ വൈകിയാണെങ്കിലും ഞാനും വായിച്ചു രമണന്‍. ഇത്രയും കാലം ഞാന്‍ കരുതിയിരുന്നത് മലയാളത്തിലെ Romeo and Juliet ആണ്‌ ഇത് എന്നായിരുന്നു. പക്ഷെ വളരെ വ്യത്യാസമുണ്ടെന്ന് വായിച്ചപ്പോള്‍ മനസ്സിലായി. വായിച്ചുരസിക്കാവുന്ന വെറും റൊമാന്റിക് മാത്രമായ ഒരു കൃതി എന്നേ ഇത്രയും നാള്‍ കരുതിയിരുന്നുള്ളൂ. അതായത് വെറും സ്വപ്നലോകത്തെ കാല്പനികതകള്‍. പക്ഷെ അങ്ങനെയല്ല. ജീവിതത്തിന്റെ കനത്ത ഒരു സ്പര്‍ശം ഇതിലുണ്ട്.

അവതാരികയില്‍ ജോസഫ് മുണ്ടശ്ശേരി ഇങ്ങനെ പറയുന്നു:

"ലോര്‍ഡ് ബയറന്റെ 'ചൈല്‍ഡി ഹാരോള്‍ഡ്' എന്ന കവിതയ്ക്ക് ആയിരക്കണക്കിനാവശ്യക്കാരുണ്ടായതിനെപ്പറ്റി പറയുന്ന കൂട്ടത്തില്‍ ഒരു നിരൂപകന്‍
അഭിപ്രായപ്പെടുകയാണ്‌:"ഏറ്റവും ചെലവുള്ള കൃതികള്‍ കലാസൗഭഗം കൊണ്ട്,
അനുത്തമങ്ങളാകട്ടെ, അല്ലാത്തതാകട്ടെ, പുറപ്പെടുന്ന കാലത്തിന്റെ ആശകളുമാവശ്യങ്ങളും അവയ്ക്കു പിന്‍പില്‍ക്കാണും. തക്ക സന്ദര്‍ഭങ്ങളിലായിരിക്കും അവയെത്തുന്നത്. അതേവരെ കെട്ടിനിന്നിട്ടുള്ള ചില വികാരങ്ങളെ അണമുറിച്ചുവിടുവാന്‍ അവ ഉതകുകയും ചെയ്യും." രമണനെക്കുറിച്ചായാലും ഈ അഭിപ്രായം അര്‍ഥവത്തല്ലയോ?"

രമണന്റെ വിജയത്തിന്റെ പകുതികാരണം മേല്പ്പറഞ്ഞതായിരിക്കാം. സ്കൂളില്‍ പഠിക്കുമ്പോള്‍ പാഠപുസ്തകത്തില്‍ മലയാളകവിതയെന്നും പറഞ്ഞ് കൊടുത്തിരുന്ന മഹാകവികളുടെ സംസ്കൃതം നിറഞ്ഞ കടിച്ചാല്‍ പൊട്ടാത്ത കവിതകള്‍ കാണാപ്പാഠം പഠിക്കേണ്ടിവന്നപ്പോള്‍ അതൊരു insult പോലെ തോന്നിയിരുന്നു. മലയാളകവിതയെന്ന ലേബലില്‍ മലയാളകവിത തന്നെ കാണാന്‍ കൊതിച്ചിരുന്ന എന്നെപ്പോലെയുള്ള അനേകം പേരുടെ കാത്തിരിപ്പിനു മറുപടിയായായിരിക്കണം രമണന്‍ വന്നത്. അതുകൊണ്ടായിരിക്കാം മേല്പ്പറഞ്ഞതുപോലെ അത് വളരെ സ്വീകരിക്കപ്പെട്ടതും. എങ്കിലും അതിന്റെ വിജയം പൂര്‍ണ്ണമായും അതുകൊണ്ടാണെന്ന് വിശ്വസിക്കാന്‍ വയ്യ. പച്ചമലയാളത്തില്‍ ആര്‍ക്കും മനസ്സിലാകുന്നരീതിയില്‍ വളരെ മനോഹരതയോടും എന്നാല്‍ ലാളിത്യത്തോടും കൂടി ഒരു ശൃംഗാരരസപ്രധാനമായ കാവ്യം അവതരിച്ചു എന്നതായിരിക്കണം ആ ഗുണങ്ങള്‍ക്കുവേണ്ടി ദാഹിച്ചിരുന്ന മനസ്സുകളുടെ 'കാലഘട്ടത്തിന്റെ ആവശ്യം'. പക്ഷെ കാലഘട്ടത്തിനപ്പുറത്തേക്കും അതിനെ വിജയിപ്പിക്കുന്നതിന്‌ മറ്റൊരു കാര്യം കൂടി നല്ലൊരു പങ്ക് വഹിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ടെന്നു തോന്നുന്നു.. Shakespeare-ന്റെ Romeo and Juliet-നെക്കാളും അതിനെ ഒരുപടി മുന്നിലേക്ക് നിര്‍ത്തുന്ന ഒരുകാര്യം. ജീവിതയാഥാര്‍ത്ഥ്യങ്ങള്‍ വരച്ചുകാട്ടുന്നതിലുള്ള സത്യസന്ധത. Romeo and Juliet പൂര്‍ണ്ണമായും കാല്പനികമായ ഒരു ലോകത്ത് നില്‍ക്കുന്നു. റോമിയോയും ജൂലിയറ്റും പ്രേമബദ്ധര്‍. അവരുടെ കുടുംബങ്ങള്‍ ബദ്ധവൈരികളായതുകൊണ്ട് അവരുടെ ബന്ധത്തിന്‌ അംഗീകാരം ലഭിക്കുന്നില്ല. അതുകൊണ്ട് ജീവിതത്തിലൊന്നിക്കാന്‍ കഴിയാത്ത അവര്‍ക്കിരുവര്‍ക്കും മരണത്തെ വരിക്കേണ്ടിവരുന്നു. ഇതില്‍ രണ്ടുകൂട്ടരുടെയും കുടുംബങ്ങള്‍ എതിരുനില്‍ക്കുമ്പോഴും നായികാനായകന്മാര്‍ കൊടിയ പ്രേമത്തില്‍ത്തന്നെയാണ്‌. രമണന്‍ വ്യത്യസ്തപ്പെട്ടുനില്‍ക്കുന്നതും ആ ഒരു കാര്യത്തിലുള്ള വ്യത്യസ്തതമൂലമാണ്‌. രമണനും ചന്ദ്രികയും തീവ്രപ്രണയത്തിലാണ്‌. രമണന്‍ ദരിദ്രനായ ഒരു ആട്ടിടയന്‍. ചന്ദ്രികയോ ധനികകുടുംബത്തിലെ പെണ്‍കുട്ടി. സാമൂഹ്യവ്യവസ്ഥിതിയില്‍ അധിഷ്ടിതമായ ഉച്ചനീചത്വങ്ങള്‍ മൂലം ഇരുവര്‍ക്കും ഒന്നിക്കാന്‍ കഴിയില്ല. പുസ്തകത്തിന്റെ പകുതിയിലധികം വരുന്ന ഈ ഭാഗം ലളിതവും മനോഹരവുമായ ഭാഷയില്‍, ശൃംഗാരഭാവത്തില്‍, ലഹരിപിടിപ്പിക്കുന്ന താളത്തില്‍ ഇളകിയിളകി മുന്നോട്ടുപോയി. അതൊക്കെ യാതൊരു seriousnessഉമില്ലാതെ, ഒരു മനോഹരപ്രേമകഥയായി വളരെ അലസമായി ആസ്വദിച്ച് വായിച്ചു ഞാന്‍ മുന്നോട്ട് പോയി. പെട്ടെന്നാണത് സംഭവിച്ചത്. ഒരു ചെറിയ ഷോക്ക്. കാല്പനികതയുടെ സ്വപ്നലോകത്തുനിന്ന് പൊടുന്നനെ ഞാന്‍ ഭൂമിയിലേക്ക് വീണുപോയി. തങ്ങളുടെ പ്രണയം സഫലമാകില്ല എന്നു ബോദ്ധ്യമായ ചന്ദ്രിക കഠാരയുമായി സ്വയം കുത്തിമരിക്കാനായി മുറിയില്‍ തനിച്ചുനിന്നപ്പോള്‍ മനസ്സിലൂടെ പാഞ്ഞുപോയ നൂറായിരം ചിന്തകളുടെയൊടുവില്‍ ആത്മഹത്യ വേണ്ട എന്ന തീരുമാനത്തിലെത്തുന്നു. ജീവിക്കാന്‍ തന്നെയുറപ്പിക്കുന്നു. ഓടക്കുഴലുമായി നടക്കുന്നൊരു ദരിദ്രനാമാട്ടിടയനുവേണ്ടി ജീവിതം പാഴാക്കുന്നത് മണ്ടത്തരമാണെന്ന വിശ്വാസത്തിലെത്തുന്നു. ജീവനോടെയിരുന്നാല്‍ എല്ലാം തികഞ്ഞ കുടുംബത്തില്‍ എല്ലാ സുഖങ്ങളോടും കൂടി രാജകുമാരിയായി കഴിയാമെന്ന വെളിപാടുണ്ടാകുന്നു. രമണനെ ത്യജിക്കാന്‍ തന്നെ ഉറപ്പിക്കുന്നു.

"ഇല്ല, ഞാനെന്നെനശിപ്പിക്കയില്ലൊരു
പുല്ലാങ്കുഴലിനുവേണ്ടിയൊരിക്കലും."
"എന്തുവന്നാലുമെനിക്കാസ്വദിക്കണം
മുന്തിരിച്ചാറുപോലുള്ളൊരിജ്ജീവിതം!"

എന്നു തന്നോടുതന്നെയുരുവിടുന്നു. തീരുമാനമറിഞ്ഞ രമണന്‍ ആത്മഹത്യയിലേക്ക് തിരിയുകയും ചെയ്യുന്നു.

എം. പി. പോള്‍ ബഷീറിന്റെ ബാല്യകാലസഖിയെക്കുറിച്ച് പറഞ്ഞതിങ്ങനെയാണല്ലോ: "ഇത് ജീവിതത്തില്‍നിന്ന് ചീന്തിയെടുത്ത ഒരേടാണ്‌. ഇതിന്റെ വക്കില്‍ രക്തം പൊടിഞ്ഞിരിക്കുന്നു." രമണനിലും ജീവിതം അവശേഷിപ്പിച്ച ചതവ് മായാതെ കിടക്കുന്നു. അതങ്ങനെ തന്നെ കിടക്കും.

Guns 'n' Roses

2009-09-25T00:00:00.005+04:00

Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Amr: 'A man asked the Prophet , "What sort of deeds of Islam are good?" The Prophet replied, "To feed the poor and greet those whom you know and those whom you do not Know" '

- (Sahih Bukhari, Vol-1 : hadith-11)

Narrated Ibn 'Umar: 'Allah's Apostle said: "I have been ordered to fight against the people until they testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that Muhammad is Allah's Apostle, and offer the prayers perfectly and give the obligatory charity, so if they perform that, then they save their lives and property from me except for Islamic laws and then their reckoning will be done by Allah." '

- (Sahih Bukhari, Vol-1 : hadith-24)

When Men and Women Shake Hands...

2009-08-24T21:18:00.004+04:00

"Even though women have had a strong presence in the work-force for several decades, many men and women still experience degrees of fumbling and embarrassment in male/female greetings. Most men report that they received some basic handshaking training from their fathers when they were boys, but few women report the same training. As adults, this can create uncomfortable situations when a man reaches first to shake a woman's hand but she may not see it - she's initially more intent on looking at his face. Feeling awkward with his hand suspended in mid-air, the man pulls it back hoping she didn't notice but as he does, she reaches for it and is also left with her hand dangling in a void. He reaches for her hand again and the result is a mish-mash of tangled fingers that look and feel like two eager squid in a love embrace.
If this ever happens to you, intentionally take the other person's right hand with your left, place it correctly into your right hand and say with a smile 'Let's try that again!' "

- (The Definitive Book of Body Language)

Al-Hallaj

2009-08-19T19:07:00.009+04:00

Title: Al-Hallaj

Author: Herbert W. Mason

ISBN: 0-7007-0311-X (Routledge)

[Copy-pasting a discussion on this book from Bookcrossing..]

"You and me..."

by deepdowne 7 days ago

"They led him then to the esplanade where before an enormous crowd they cut off his hands and feet after having flogged him with 500 lashes of the whip.

He "rubbed his bloody, amputated hands over his face, so that both his arms and his face were stained with blood."

"Why did you do that?" people enquired.

"Much blood has gone out of me," he replied. "I realize that my face will have grown pale. You suppose that my pallor is because I am afraid. I rubbed blood over my face so that I might appear rose-cheeked in your eyes. The cosmetics of heroes is their blood."

"Even if you bloodied your face, why did you stain your arms?"

"I was making ablution."

"What ablution?"

"When one prays two rak'as in love," Hallaj replied, "the ablution is not perfect unless performed in blood."

The executioners then plucked out his eyes; he was then stoned by the crowd, after which they cut off his ears and nose. He uttered his forgiveness of them as they were preparing to cut out his tongue.

An old woman shouted, "What right has this little wool carder (hallaj) to speak of God?"

Thereafter, he uttered "It is enough for the lover to diminish himself before the uniqueness of the One."

Then his tongue was cut out, and, finally, he was beheaded at the time of the evening prayer. Then his trunk was rolled up in a straw mat, doused with fuel, and burned.

Later, they carried his ashes to the minaret on the Ra's al-Manara promontory beside the Tigris to disperse them to the wind. "

- (Al-Hallaj)

Ugh

by solittletime 6 days ago

Such violence.

how

by dare2believe 6 days ago

did that guy manage to talk with all the pain he was in? I'd have thought that when under torture it would be alredy much if you managed to say "Aaaaargh!"

Re: how

by deepdowne 5 days ago

I too believe that the account must be a bit too exaggerated. By the way, it has passed through all the 1000 years to reach us. But it cannot be completely untrue. He was in a state of spiritual 'fits'. That's how he used to be most of the time. And dying painfully as a martyr for the love of God was his greatest passion and what he had been looking forward to all the time! I dare not talk anymore for the fear of giving you a totally wrong idea about this man Mansour al Hallaj. You have to read his story. Believeing or disbelieving the story is secondary: )

Re: how

by stinalyn 5 days ago

> You have to read his story.

No. No, I don't.

Which God did he martyr himself to?

by roadki11 5 days ago

Am I meant to assume it was Allah, based on his arabic name?

People are always martyring themselves to lots of different gods. You have to be more specific.

If it is Allah he's martyring himself to, this is in very poor taste.

Most people here seem to be in the U.S. or Europe. For personal reasons you may or may not be aware of, many of us find Muslim martyrdom despicable. See, contemporary Muslim martyrs have developed this habit of taking out other people when they die. Many of those people are European, and a good few thousand Americans were offed about 8 years ago by some martyrs.

I get that you are in some religious fervor and wanted to share it. I'm telling you this because I honestly don't think you see it, but this post is not cool.

How disgusting!

by Seajack 5 days ago

Re: How disgusting!

by madmadge 5 days ago

I second that! I think I need a stiff drink.

Re: Which God did he martyr himself to?

by AwesomeAud 4 days ago

> For personal reasons you may or may not be
> aware of, many of us find Muslim martyrdom
> despicable.

Please don't pick on the Muslims.

I find any martyrdom despicable. To my mind, any organised religion is too easily manipulated by the power-hungry and encourage extremism---and thus the type of martyrdom that takes lives.

Re: Which God did he martyr himself to?

by Extreme-Reader 4 days ago

> Please don't pick on the Muslims.
> I find any martyrdom despicable.
Hear hear Aud!

Re: Which God did he martyr himself to?

by deepdowne 4 days ago

roadki11, I feel sorry that I totally failed to make the quote reach you. As I told dare2believe, I dared not talk much for the fear of conveying something that wasn't meant to. But even the very little I told has done the damage. All I can say is that one has to read the story of which the subject of the quote is a part before arriving at any conclusion whatsoever.
Before going, let me make some point clear as you have gone beyond the quote and tried to evaluate me who quoted it:

>I get that you are in
> some religious fervor and wanted to share
> it.

Totally wrong! Fervour for which religion?

Book

by deepdowne 4 days ago

In case anyone is wondering which book I have quoted from, here is it:
Title: Al-Hallaj
Author: Herbert W. Mason
ISBN: 0-7007-0311-X

Re: Which God did he martyr himself to?

by deepdowne 4 days ago

Oh, forgot to answer your question:

> Which God did he martyr himself to?
Give it any name. It doesn't make any difference to the thing.

Wanted to clarify one more point. The word 'martyr' wasn't meant to have the same meaning as the muslim extremists/terrorists use it. And Al Hallaj would be the last person to take anyone's life in the process of becoming a 'martyr'.

How does the "You and me" quote correlate?

by Cee-Blue 3 days ago

Re: Which God did he martyr himself to?

by ahimsa 3 days ago

> > Which God did he martyr himself to?

> Give it any name. It doesn't make any difference to the thing.

I completely agree. It's one thing to say that we all have different beliefs. Some believe in God, others believe there is no god at all, and so on. But it doesn't mean that Hindus, Muslims, Jews, Christians, etc. all have a different God, does it? Why would people think that? They may use different names for God, and have different ways of praying to God or trying to experience oneness with God, but it does not mean they are all trying to reach a different God.

I'm reminded of an old Atlas, inherited from my father, which included some photographs of famous places in addition to all the maps. Under the photo of a famous mosque (forgot which one) the caption read something like, "Here the pilgrims are shown praying to their god." Not just "God" but "their god." There is some subtle arrogance in that phrasing.

Folks may not care for these kind of stories but they are not at all limited to the Muslim/Sufi tradition. There are many quite bloody stories in the Christian tradition and not just the saints- how about the central story of Jesus? (Death by crucifixion is a pretty nasty way to die, right?) Even Hindu stories include these kind of stories. I'm trying to remember a story from The Mahabharata- a teacher/guru who was pierced by so many arrows that he was pinned to the ground but still lived for six more months so that he could die at an auspicious time. I can't remember his name....

Aha! I just googled it, Bhishma is the name!

Just a few rambling thoughts. It is true that posting a quote from a story without context can be confusing. It probably makes more sense within the context of the full book.

Thanks ahimsa!

by deepdowne 3 days ago

As roadki11 told, "Most people here seem to be in the U.S. or Europe", and hence mostly non-muslims, and hence the confusion about the quote. And to top it, people lately generally have this way of jumping to stupid conslusions with incurable prejudice as soon as they hear something that's even very distantly related to Islam. And I was confused as to how to remove the misunderstanding the quote has created among the non-muslims. It's then the idea suddenly struck me- -- The story of Jesus. And as I was going to type it, I saw ahimsa has already mentioned it. Thanks so much!. Anyone who is confused, just substitute Jesus with Hallaj, and it's not going to make any enormous difference. Hallaj, basically was an advocate of love, not murder. Even the story of Socrates would help in a way in understanding Hallaj. Maybe some bookcrossers jumped to the conclusion that Hallaj was a terrorist just because he bore a Muslim name. Sorry, in fact, it was the muslims around him who killed him as they felt his ways of love of God amounted to sacrilege. This is the same thing that happened to Jesus.
And, I was amazed to know that there are so many people out there who didn't know what Sufism was. The post was all about Sufism, and I thought someone would come up with the word 'Sufi' or 'Sufism'. And it took too long; Anyway, thanks ahimsa for recognising it. You were the first person to use the word in this thread.
And ahimsa, it's true that a quote can be confusing and it cannot be a substitute for the entire book. But then, what I feel is that a quote is not meant for every human being on earth. Each quote has its takers. And, perhaps, that is the beauty of the quote. One who doesn't get a quote has to understand that it's not meant for them, they have to move on, there are numerous other posts on Bookcrossing.

Cee-Blue, the expression "you and me" is simply a symbol of Sufism. It represents what remains when everything disappears and only the lover and the beloved remains.. where the beloved is God or the Universal Spirit or the entire Cosmos or Allah or Jehovah or whatever you may want to call it. And according to Sufism, especially the Hallajic kind, a state comes when the 'Me' gets dissolved in the 'You' that neither the 'Me' nor 'You' could remain separate. 'Me' becomes 'You' and 'You' becomes 'Me'. And that's why in his love for 'Allah' (which is only the Arabic word for 'God' and not the pet name of a particular God, as some muslims want you to believe), Hallaj declared 'Anal Haqq!' which means 'I'm (the ultimate) truth!' or even 'I'm God!'. This is what appeared sacrilege to the muslims around him, who went ahead and murdered him brutally, but he was not ready to compromise in order to escape death. Jesus was killed because it was told that he was 'The Son of God'. Hallaj went a step further and told he was God himself. That's the only difference.

Note: Sufism is to Islam what Hassidism is to Judaism. Sufism doesn't know how to make bombs.

Nope. I don't.

by solittletime 2 days ago

> You have to read his story. Believeing or
> disbelieving the story is secondary: )

Re: Nope. I don't.

by deepdowne 2 days ago

> Nope. I don't.

No, solittletime, you don't have to read it. And I didn't ask you to. My suggestion was to dare2believe, as they had a question and the best way to find an answer would be to read the original thing, because I didn't want to force my ideas on them, and they could have their own interpretation and could arrive at their own conclusion, instead of listening to my views. Because every person sees things differently.

(Original discussion)

Book courtesy: National Library, Abu Dhabi.

"You and me.."

2009-08-12T23:22:00.006+04:00

"They led him then to the esplanade where before an enormous crowd they cut off his hands and feet after having flogged him with 500 lashes of the whip.

He rubbed his bloody, amputated hands over his face, so that both his arms and his face were stained with blood.

"Why did you do that?" people enquired.

"Much blood has gone out of me," he replied. "I realize that my face will have grown pale. You suppose that my pallor is because I am afraid. I rubbed blood over my face so that I might appear rose-cheeked in your eyes. The cosmetics of heroes is their blood."

"Even if you bloodied your face, why did you stain your arms?"

"I was making ablution."

"What ablution?"

"When one prays two rak'as in love," Hallaj replied, "the ablution is not perfect unless performed in blood."

The executioners then plucked out his eyes; he was then stoned by the crowd, after which they cut off his ears and nose. He uttered his forgiveness of them as they were preparing to cut out his tongue.

An old woman shouted, "What right has this little wool carder (hallaj) to speak of God?"

Thereafter, he uttered "It is enough for the lover to diminish himself before the uniqueness of the One."

Then his tongue was cut out, and, finally, he was beheaded at the time of the evening prayer. Then his trunk was rolled up in a straw mat, doused with fuel, and burned.

Later, they carried his ashes to the minaret on the Ra's al-Manara promontory beside the Tigris to disperse them to the wind. "

- ( Al-Hallaj )

നരകവാതില്‍ക്കലെ രക്ഷകന്‍

2009-08-11T23:24:00.004+04:00

നോവല്‍: നരകവാതില്‍ക്കലെ രക്ഷകന്‍
നോവലിസ്റ്റ്: ഹസ്സന്‍ നാസിര്‍
പ്രസാ: ഒലിവ് (൨൦൦൬)

അനുഭവങ്ങള്‍ എല്ലാവര്‍ക്കുമുണ്ട്. പക്ഷെ കൂടുതലും അനുഭവങ്ങളും മനോഹരമായ ഓര്‍മ്മകളായി മനസ്സില്‍ കുടികൊള്ളുകയോ മറവിയിലാണ്ടുപോകുകയോ ചെയ്യും. പക്ഷെ അനുഭവങ്ങളെ, വലുതും ചെറുതുമായവയെ, നിസ്സാരവും ഗംഭീരവുമായവയെ, ഏറ്റവും creative ആയ രൂപത്തില്‍ ഉപയോഗപ്പെടുത്തുന്ന ഒരാളാണ്‌ ഹസ്സന്‍ നാസിര്‍. ഒരു അനുഭവത്തെയും പാഴായിപ്പോകാനനുവദിക്കാന്‍ ഇഷ്ടമില്ലാത്ത ഒരു മനസ്സിന്റെ പ്രതിഫലനമാണ്‌ അദ്ദേഹത്തിന്റെ രചനകള്‍. അദ്ദേഹത്തിന്റെ Tragedy of the Mannequins ആണ്‌ ഇതിനുമുന്‍പ് വായിച്ച പുസ്തകം. രണ്ട് നോവലുകളും മേല്‍‌പ്പറഞ്ഞ കാര്യം ശക്തമായി സൂചിപ്പിക്കുന്നു.

വായിച്ചുതുടങ്ങിയാല്‍പ്പിന്നെ ഇടക്ക് പുസ്തകം അരികിലേക്ക് മാറ്റിവെച്ച് മറ്റെന്തെങ്കിലും കാര്യത്തിനായി പോകാന്‍ വായനക്കാരനെ മനസ്സനുവദിക്കാത്ത രീതിയിലാണ്‌ അദ്ദേഹത്തിന്റെ രചനാരീതിയും കഥാഘടനയുടെ രൂപപ്പെടുത്തലും. ഇതും രണ്ടുപുസ്തകങ്ങളിലും കണ്ട മറ്റൊരു വസ്തുതയാണ്‌. ഇത് അദ്ദേഹത്തിന്റെ ഒരു കഴിവാണെന്ന് പറയുന്നതിലും നല്ലത് അദ്ദേഹത്തിന്റെ ഉള്ളില്‍ത്തന്നെ അലിഞ്ഞുചേര്‍‌ന്നിട്ടുള്ള ഏതോ ഒരു ഗുണമാണെന്ന് പറയുന്നതാണ്‌‍. അങ്ങനെയല്ലാതെ എഴുതാന്‍ ശ്രമിച്ചാല്‍ പോലും അങ്ങനെയേ അദ്ദേഹമെഴുതിയാല്‍ വരൂ എന്നാണ്‌ തോന്നുന്നത്.

നരകവാതില്‍‌ക്കലെ രക്ഷകന്‍ എന്ന പുസ്തകത്തെക്കുറിച്ച്, നബീസത്താത്തയെയും കുഞ്ഞിമൂസയെയും കുറിച്ച്, ഹസ്സന്‍ നാസിര്‍ എന്ന എഴുത്തുകാരനെക്കുറിച്ച്, ഞാന്‍ അധികം പറയുന്നില്ല. മറ്റു പ്രമുഖര്‍ നേരത്തേ പറഞ്ഞുകഴിഞ്ഞു. അതിന്റെ ചില കഷണങ്ങള്‍ ഇവിടെയെടുത്തിടാം:

"താന്‍ ആവിഷ്കരിക്കുന്ന ലോകത്തിന്റെ ഊഷരതയും പരുക്കത്തവും നോവലിസ്റ്റ് തന്റെ ഭാഷയിലേക്കും ആവാഹിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു. കാല്‍‌പനികതയും, മൃദുലതയും സ്വപ്നങ്ങളും ആഖ്യാനഭാഷയില്‍നിന്ന് പിഴിഞ്ഞുകളയപ്പെട്ടിരിക്കുന്നു. പകരം ജീവിതയാഥാര്‍ത്ഥ്യങ്ങളുടെയും മനുഷ്യദുരന്തങ്ങളുടേയും കയ്പ്പും പുളിയും നിറക്കപ്പെട്ടിരിക്കുന്നു. നോവലിന്റെ ഭാഷ വീര്യം കുറയ്ക്കാത്ത ആസിഡിന്റെ തീവ്രതയോടെ വായനക്കാരന്റെ മാംസവും അസ്ഥിയും തുളച്ച് മജ്ജവരെ ചെന്നെത്തുകയും പൊള്ളിക്കുകയും ചെയ്യുന്നു."
- പ്രസാദ് കൊടിഞ്ഞി
(വെട്ടം മാസിക, മെയ് ൨൦൦൪)

"ഏതാണ്‌ 'നരകവാതില്‍ക്കലെ രക്ഷകന്‍' എന്നല്ലേ? ബോംബെയുടെ പശ്ചാത്തലത്തില്‍ എഴുതപ്പെട്ട മറ്റൊരു നോവല്‍ എന്നു പറഞ്ഞാല്‍ മാത്രം മതിയാവില്ല. ബോംബെയേക്കുറിച്ച് ഇതുവരെ വന്നിട്ടുള്ള നോവലുകളില്‍ നിന്ന് തികച്ചും വ്യത്യസ്തമാണ്‌ ഇത്.
ബോംബെയില്‍ അവിടെ കുടിയേറിപ്പാര്‍ക്കുന്ന ഭൂരിഭാഗം പേരും പാതനിയമങ്ങള്‍ കര്‍ശനമായി പാലിക്കുന്നവരേപ്പോലെ സുരക്ഷിതമായ ജീവിതം തിരഞ്ഞെടുക്കുന്നവരാണ്‌. ചുവന്ന തെരുവുകളും അധോലോകവുമൊക്കെ അവിടെയുണ്ടെന്നറിഞ്ഞുകൊണ്ടുതന്നെ അതില്‍ നിന്നെല്ലാം അകലം പാലിക്കുന്ന നമുക്ക് ബോംബെയുടെ മുഖത്തിന്റെ പല വശങ്ങളും കാണാനാവുന്നില്ല.അവിടെ കുറച്ചുകാലം ജീവിച്ചു എന്നതുകൊണ്ടുമാത്രം ആര്‍ക്കും നോവലെഴുതാനാവുകയുമില്ല. ഹസ്സന്‍ നാസിര്‍ വ്യത്യസ്തനാവുന്നത് ഇവിടെയാണ്‌. ജോലി തേടിയെത്തുന്ന ഒരു സാധാരണക്കാരന്‍ കാണുന്ന ബോംബെയല്ല ഹസ്സന്‍ നാസിര്‍ കാണുന്ന ബോംബെ. അയാള്‍ എത്തിനോക്കാന്‍ പേടിക്കുന്ന ഇരുണ്ട ഇടങ്ങളിലൂടെ അദ്ദേഹം നടത്തുന്ന യാത്രയ്ക്ക് ആധികാരികതയുണ്ട്."
- അഷ്ടമൂര്‍ത്തി
(൨൦൦൮)

" 'നെന്നെ ഞാന്‍ മറക്കാനോ കുഞ്ഞിമൂസേ.'
വായനക്കാരനും മറക്കുകയില്ലല്ലോ, കുഞ്ഞിമൂസയെയും നബീസയെയും അവരുടെ ലോകത്തിലെ ഭൂതവര്‍ത്തമാനഭാവികാലവിചാരങ്ങളെയും. സുഹറയെ മലയാളം മറക്കുമോ? പാത്തുമ്മയുടെ ആടിനെ മറക്കുമോ? ശബ്ദങ്ങള്‍ നിലക്കുമോ? നാസര്‍ ഗൗരവത്തിലാണ്‌. എങ്കിലും ഈ ശൈലിയെ ബഷീര്‍ അനുഗ്രഹിക്കാതിരിക്കയില്ല."
- ഡി. ബാബുപോള്‍
(മാധ്യമം ദിനപ്പത്രം, ൧൯ സെപ്റ്റ: ൨൦൦൭)

ബഷീറിനെയോ, ഉറൂബിനെയോ ഓര്‍മ്മിപ്പിക്കുന്ന ഭാഷയുടെ വഴക്കവും സ്വാഭാവികതയും, ചടുലതയും. ഒരുപക്ഷേ അതുതന്നെയാണ്‌ ഈ നോവലുയര്‍ത്തുന്ന ഭീഷണിയും."
- ഡോ. ഖദീജാ മും‌താസ്
(മാതൃഭൂമി ആഴ്ചപ്പതിപ്പ്, ൨൦൦൯ ജനു. ൧൧-൧൭)

പുസ്തകത്തിന്‌ കടപ്പാട്: ഹസ്സന്‍ നാസിറിനോട്

നാലുപെണ്ണും ഒരാണും

2009-08-08T13:40:00.007+04:00

Spoiler warning: ഓട്ടോഗ്രാഫ് എന്ന തമിഴ്/മലയാളം സിനിമയെക്കുറിച്ചാണ്‌. ഈ പടം കണ്ടിട്ടില്ലാത്തവര്‍, കാണാന്‍ ഉദ്ദേശിക്കുന്നുവെങ്കില്‍ സസ്‌പെന്‍സ് പോകാതിരിക്കുന്നതിനുവേണ്ടി ഇത് വായിക്കാതിരിക്കുക. പടം കണ്ടതിനുശേഷം വേണമെങ്കില്‍ വായിക്കുക.

"ഓരോ പ്രേമത്തിലും തോന്നും ഇതാണ്‌ സത്യമായ, യഥാര്‍ത്ഥമായ പ്രേമമെന്ന്, ഇതാണ്‌ പ്രേമമെന്ന്, ഇതിനുമുന്‍പുണ്ടായതെല്ലാം വെറും infatuation മാത്രമായിരുന്നുവെന്ന്." മനസ്സിലുയര്‍ന്നുവന്ന ഒരു tweet-ചിന്ത. (പക്ഷെ ഒട്ടിച്ചുനിര്‍ത്താന്‍ ശ്രമിച്ചത് മുഴുവനായും വേര്‍പ്പെട്ടുപോകുമ്പോള്‍, കത്തിയെരിച്ചിലെല്ലാം കഴിയുമ്പോള്‍, മെല്ലെ എല്ലാം മറക്കും. എങ്കിലും പില്‍ക്കാലത്ത് വീണ്ടും ഓര്‍മ്മകള്‍ ഉണരുമ്പോള്‍ കഴിഞ്ഞുപോയ ഓരോ പ്രേമവും അതിന്റേതായ പ്രത്യേകരീതിയില്‍ വ്യത്യസ്തവും അമൂല്യവും ആയിരുന്നു എന്ന്‍ ബോദ്ധ്യപ്പെടും.)
ഇങ്ങനെ ചിന്തിച്ചിരിക്കുമ്പോഴാണ്‌ ഇക്കാര്യം തന്നെ വളരെ ഉച്ചത്തില്‍ വിളിച്ചുപറയുന്ന ഈ സിനിമ യാദൃശ്ചികമായി കാണാനിടയായത്.

തമിഴ് സിനിമകള്‍ അധികം കണ്ടിട്ടില്ല, കാണാറില്ല. അതുകൊണ്ട് ഗോപികയുടെ ആദ്യപടങ്ങളായ 4 ദ പീപ്പിളിന്റെയും ഓട്ടോഗ്രാഫിന്റെയും പോസ്റ്ററുകള്‍ ഭിത്തിയില്‍ അടുത്തടുത്ത് കണ്ടിട്ടും ആദ്യത്തേതിനു കേറി. അതുകൊണ്ട് ചേരന്‍ എന്ന് പേരുള്ള ഈ കഴിവുള്ള എഴുത്തുകാരനെക്കുറിച്ച്, സം‌വിധായകനെക്കുറിച്ച്, നടനെക്കുറിച്ച്, അറിയാന്‍ ഇത്രയും വൈകി. ഇദ്ദേഹം തന്നെയാണ്‌ ഈ സിനിമയിലെ പ്രധാനറോളില്‍. ഹൃദയത്തില്‍നിന്ന് നേരെ ഇറങ്ങിവന്ന് ഹൃദയത്തിലേക്ക് നേരെ തുളച്ചുകയറുന്ന ഒരു സിനിമ. പ്രേമം എന്ന വികാരത്തെ അതിന്റെ ഏറ്റവും തീവ്രമായ രീതിയില്‍ അനുഭവിക്കുകയും മനസ്സിലാക്കുകയും ഉള്‍ക്കൊള്ളുകയും ചെയ്തിട്ടുള്ള ഒരു വ്യക്തിയാണ്‌ ചേരന്‍ എന്ന് മനസ്സ് പറയുന്നു. അല്ലാത്ത ഒരാള്‍ക്ക് ഇങ്ങനെയൊരു സിനിമയുണ്ടാക്കാന്‍ കഴിയുമോ? ഇത് അദ്ദേഹത്തിന്റെതന്നെ കഥയായിരിക്കാം. കേരളത്തിന്റെ അതിയായ സാന്നിദ്ധ്യവും ജീവിതത്തിന്റെ യാതാര്‍ഥ്യങ്ങളോടുള്ള സത്യസന്ധതയും കണ്ടപ്പോള്‍ ഇത് മണിരത്നത്തിന്റെ സിനിമയാണോ എന്ന് സംശയിച്ചു. അവസാനമാണ് സം‌വിധായകന്റെ പേര്‌ നോക്കിയത്. ചേരന്‍. മണിരത്നം സിനിമകളില്‍ ഉള്ളത്രയും നാടകീയത പോലും ഇതിലില്ല എന്ന് തോന്നി.

ഇതില്‍ പ്രേമത്തിന്റെ തീവ്രമായ അനുഭൂതിയുണ്ട്. തീക്ഷ്ണതയുണ്ട്. വിരഹവും, ദു:ഖവും, ആനന്ദവും, നൊംബരവും, രോദനങ്ങളുമുണ്ട്, അതിനേക്കാളൊക്കെയുപരി ജീവിതമുണ്ട്. അതുകൊണ്ടുതന്നെ ഇതൊരു പ്രേമകഥയാണെന്ന് പറയാന്‍ ധൈര്യമില്ല. കാരണം അങ്ങനെ പറഞ്ഞാല്‍ നമ്മള്‍ നിത്യവും കണ്ടുകൊണ്ടിരിക്കുന്ന അനേകം പ്രേമകഥകള്‍ പോലെ മറ്റൊരു മസാല കൂടി എന്ന് ആളുകള്‍ തെറ്റിദ്ധരിക്കും. മസാലയില്‍ പ്രേമം മാത്രമേയുള്ളൂ, ജീവിതത്തെ കണ്ടുകിട്ടാന്‍ എത്ര ബുദ്ധിമുട്ടാണ്‌. സാധാരണ പ്രേമകഥകള്‍ പോലെ ഒരു നായകനും നായികയുമല്ല ഇതില്‍. ഒരാണും നാലുപെണ്ണുങ്ങളുമാണ്‌. ഈ നാലുപെണ്ണുങ്ങളും ഓരോ ഘട്ടത്തിലാണ്‌, ഓരോ വ്യത്യസ്തരീതിയിലാണ്‌, അയാളുടെ ജീവിതത്തിന്റെ ഭാഗമാകുന്നത്. ഈ നാലുപെണ്ണുങ്ങളിലൂടെ അയാള്‍ ജീവിതത്തിന്റെ യാഥാര്‍ഥ്യത്തിലേക്ക് പടിപടിയായി നടന്നുകയറുന്നു. അയാളുടെതന്നെ വാക്കുകളില്‍, ജീവിതാനുഭവങ്ങളിലൂടെ അയാള്‍ വളരെ പാഠങ്ങള്‍ പഠിച്ചു.

ആദ്യത്തെ കാമുകി കമല ഹൈസ്കൂളില്‍ വെച്ചായിരുന്നു. പത്താം ക്ലാസ്സ് കഴിഞ്ഞതോടെ ഓട്ടോഗ്രാഫെഴുതി രണ്ടുപേര്‍ക്കും കണ്ണീരോടെ പിരിയേണ്ടിവന്നു. വര്‍ഷങ്ങള്‍ക്കുശേഷം ആ ബന്ധത്തെക്കുറിച്ച് അതിന്റെ എല്ലാ മാധുര്യത്തോടും കൂടി അയാള്‍ ഓര്‍മ്മകള്‍ അയവിറക്കുമ്പോഴും, അതിനെ മുഴുവന്‍ ഹൃദയം കൊണ്ടും വിലമതിക്കുമ്പോഴും, അതൊക്കെ എത്ര മനോഹരമായ infatuation മാത്രമായിരുന്നു എന്ന് അയാളുടെ ചുണ്ടുകളിലെ പക്വമായ പുഞ്ചിരി നമ്മോട് പറയുന്നു. അച്ഛന്റെ സ്ഥലം മാറ്റം മൂലം കേരളത്തില്‍ SB College-ല്‍ പഠനത്തിനു ചേര്‍ന്ന അയാള്‍ ലതികയെന്ന മലയാളിപ്പെണ്‍കുട്ടിയുമായി (ഗോപിക) സൗഹൃദത്തിലാവുന്നു. പഴയ വേദനകള്‍ മറന്ന് അയാളുടെ ജീവിതത്തിന്‌ ഉണര്‍‌വ്വ് നല്‍കാന്‍ അത് സഹായിക്കുന്നു. പ്രണയം ഏറ്റവും തീവ്രമായി വളരുന്നു. സിനിമകളില്‍ കണ്ടിട്ടുള്ള പ്രണയരംഗങ്ങളില്‍‌വെച്ച് ഏറ്റവും മാധുര്യമുള്ള ചില രംഗങ്ങള്‍ ഈ ഭാഗത്ത് കാണാന്‍ കഴിഞ്ഞു. പക്ഷെ തമ്പുരാന്‍‌കുടുംബത്തിലെ കുട്ടിയെക്കുറിച്ച് 'ചോദിക്കാനും പറയാനും' ആളുകളും ശക്തിയും ധാരാളമുള്ളതുകൊണ്ട് അയാള്‍ക്ക് ഗുരുതരമായ ദേഹോപദ്രവമേറ്റുകൊണ്ട് പാതിജീവനുമായി കുടുംബത്തോടെ കേരളം വിട്ട് തമിഴ്‌നാട്ടിലേക്ക് തിരിച്ച് യാത്രയാവേണ്ടിവന്നു. പെണ്ണ്‌ അവളുടെ മുറച്ചെറുക്കന്‌ ഉടനെ കെട്ടിച്ചുകൊടുക്കപ്പെടുകയും ചെയ്തു. ഈ പ്രേമം സ്കൂളിലെ പഴയ infatuation-നെക്കാളും ഒരു പടി കൂടുതല്‍ പക്വമാണെങ്കിലും പൂര്‍ണ്ണമായും ഉത്തരവാദിത്തബോധമുള്ള ജീവിതാധ്യായമല്ല. കാരണം, രണ്ടുപേരും കോളെജ് വിദ്യാര്‍ഥികള്‍ മാത്രമാണ്‌. രണ്ടുപേരും ജീവിതത്തിന്റെ പിന്നീടുള്ള ഭാഗങ്ങള്‍ കണ്ടിട്ടില്ല. അതുകൊണ്ട് ഈ ബന്ധവും പില്‍ക്കാലത്ത് അയാള്‍ക്ക് അല്പം ദൂരെ മാറിനിന്നുകൊണ്ട് വീക്ഷിക്കാന്‍ കഴിയുന്നു.

മൂന്നാമത്തെ സുഹൃത്തിനെ അയാള്‍ക്ക് ലഭിക്കുന്നത് ജോലിചെയ്യുന്ന സ്ഥലത്താണ്‌. വളരെ ഉത്തരവാദിത്തബോധമുള്ള, പക്വമായ ജീവിതവീക്ഷണമുള്ള, മനസ്സില്‍ കാരുണ്യമുള്ള, ഗുണവതിയായ, തികച്ചും ശുഭാപ്തിവിശ്വാസിയായ ഒരു പെണ്ണ്. സ്നേഹ. ഒരു പ്രേമവും അതിലെ വഞ്ചനയും നേരിട്ടുകഴിഞ്ഞവള്‍. അവള്‍ അയാള്‍ക്കും ശക്തിപകരുന്നു. രോഗശയ്യയില്‍ നിത്യരോഗിയായി കിടക്കുന്ന അമ്മയെ നോക്കുന്നതും, വീട്ടിലെ മറ്റെല്ലാ ഉത്തരവാദിത്തങ്ങളും കൈകാര്യം ചെയ്യുന്നതും അവള്‍ തനിച്ചാണ്‌. അവള്‍ അവന്‌ നല്ലൊരു സുഹൃത്തായി മാറുന്നു. കഴിഞ്ഞ രണ്ട് ബന്ധങ്ങളെക്കാളും പക്വമായ ബന്ധം ഇതാണ്‌. സദാസമയം സയാമീസുകളെപ്പോലെ ഒന്നിച്ചുനടന്നിട്ടും ഇവര്‍ കാമുകനും കാമുകിയുമാകുന്നില്ല. ഇവര്‍ സ്കൂള്‍കുട്ടികളൊ കോളേജ് വിദ്യാര്‍ഥികളോ അല്ല; ജീവിതത്തിന്റെ ഉത്തരവാദിത്തങ്ങളെയും വെല്ലുവിളികളെയും മുഖാമുഖം നോക്കുകയും എതിരിടുകയും ചെയ്യുന്ന, അനുഭവങ്ങളുടെ തീച്ചൂളയില്‍ കുറെയേറെ വെന്തുപാകപ്പെട്ട, തെളിഞ്ഞ ബോധത്തോടെ കാര്യങ്ങള്‍ നോക്കിക്കാണുന്ന, സമൂഹത്തിലെ രണ്ട് വ്യക്തിത്വങ്ങള്‍.

ഇവളെയാണ്‌ അവന്‍ വിവാഹം ചെയ്യാന്‍ പോകുന്നത് എന്ന് കരുതിയിരുന്നത് തെറ്റി. അവന്‍ വിവാഹം ചെയ്യുന്നത് മറ്റൊരു പെണ്ണിനെയാണ്‌. Arranged marriage. സ്നേഹയെ വിവാഹം ചെയ്തിരുന്നെങ്കില്‍ ഒരാണും പെണ്ണും തമ്മിലുണ്ടാവുന്ന വളരെ പവിത്രമായ ഒരു സുഹൃദ്ബന്ധം, സ്നേഹം, അതോടെ കഴിയുമായിരുന്നു. അവര്‍ വിവാഹം കഴിക്കാത്തതുകൊണ്ട് ചൂണ്ടിക്കാണിക്കാന്‍ അത്തരത്തിലുള്ള ഒരു ബന്ധത്തിന്റെ മനോഹരമായ ഉദാഹരണം നമ്മുടെ മുന്നില്‍ എന്നും ഉണ്ടാകും. ഇങ്ങനെയുള്ള ബന്ധങ്ങളും സാധ്യമാണ്‌ എന്നും അവയും പ്രണയം പോലെ അമൂല്യങ്ങളാണെന്നും അത് നമ്മളെ ഓര്‍മ്മിപ്പിക്കും.

വിവാഹത്തിന്റെ ക്ഷണക്കത്ത് വിതരണം ചെയ്യാനിറങ്ങുന്ന അവന്‍ പല പഴയ പരിചയെക്കാരെയും സഹപാഠികളെയും പഴയ കാമുകിമാരെയും കാണുന്നു. (ഈ യാത്രയിലൂടെയാണ്‌ സം‌വിധായകന്‍ അവന്റെ ജീവിതത്തിന്റെ ഓരോ ഏടും ഫ്ലാഷ്‌ബാക്കായി പറഞ്ഞുപോകുന്നത്‌). കുടുംബസമേതം എല്ലാവരെയും ക്ഷണിക്കുന്നു, ഭര്‍ത്താവും മൂന്നുകുട്ടികളുമായി കുടുംബിനിയായി കഴിയുന്ന കമലയെയും ഭര്‍ത്താവും മാതാപിതാക്കളും നഷ്‌ടപ്പെട്ട് വിധവയായി കഴിയുന്ന ലതികയെയും ഉള്‍പ്പെടെ. എല്ലാവരും അവന്റെ വിവാഹച്ചടങ്ങില്‍ സന്തോഷത്തോടെ പങ്കെടുക്കുന്നു. അവന്‌ ഐശ്വര്യവും നന്മയും നേരുന്നു. മേരാ നാം ജോക്കറിലെ രാജ് കപൂറിനെ ഒരു നിമിഷം ഓര്‍ത്തുപോയി.

(കഴിഞ്ഞ പാരഗ്രാഫ് എഴുതുന്നതിനിടയിലാണ്‌ Wikipediaയില്‍ പോയി ഈ പടത്തെക്കുറിച്ച് ഒന്ന് എത്തിനോക്കിയത്. അപ്പോഴാണ്‌ കാര്യം വിചാരിച്ചതിലും ഗംഭീരമാണെന്ന് മനസ്സിലായത്. ഇത് ൨൦൦൫-ല്‍ മൂന്ന് ദേശീയ അവാര്‍ഡുകള്‍ വാങ്ങിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു. കൂടാതെ, ഫ്രാന്‍സിലെ Lyon Asian Film Festival-ലും കാനഡയിലെ Montreal World Film Festival-ലും പ്രദര്‍ശിപ്പിക്കപ്പെട്ടിരിക്കുന്നു. സിനിമകളെക്കുറിച്ച് എന്റെ സാമാന്യവിജ്ഞാനം എത്ര poor! )

കല്യാണച്ചടങ്ങുകളുടെ ബഹളങ്ങള്‍ അവസാനിക്കുന്നിടത്ത്, പങ്കെടുക്കാനെത്തിയവരൊക്കെ ഓരോരുത്തരായി പിരിഞ്ഞുകഴിയുമ്പോള്‍, അവന്‍ പുഞ്ചിരിച്ചുകൊണ്ട് നമ്മളോട്‌ ചോദിക്കുന്നു: "എന്ന? എന്നോട ലൈഫ് പാത്ത് ഉനക്ക് ഫീലിങ്ങായിര്‌ച്ചാ?" . തീര്‍ച്ചയായും ഫീലിങ്ങായിര്‌ച്ച്!
ഇത് എന്റെ തന്നെ കഥപോലെ തോന്നി. എന്റെ മാത്രമല്ല, പ്രേമിച്ചിട്ടുള്ള ഓരോരുത്തരുടെയും.

. . . ആരാണ്‌ പ്രേമിച്ചിട്ടില്ലാത്തത്‌?????

കാലടി - അതിരപ്പിള്ളി - വാഴച്ചാല്‍

2009-08-07T12:49:00.003+04:00

കാലടിയിലെ സദ്‌വിദ്യസഞീവനി ഋഗ്വേദപാഠശാലയില്‍ മന്ത്രമുരുവിട്ടുപഠിക്കുന്ന വേദവിദ്യാര്‍ഥി

നീലവാനച്ചോലയില്‍...

Rich man.. Poor man..

Sshhhhh...

നില്‍ക്കാന്‍ സമയമില്ല!

ഈ ആഴ്ചയിലെ അമ്മയും കുഞ്ഞും

Leaves.. buds..

തെളിനീര്‍.. കുളിര്‍നീര്‍..

"ഹായ്! എവിടെ, നോക്കട്ടെ..."

ജലമര്‍മ്മരം

"Men may come... and men may go..."

പുഴയൊഴുകും വഴി

The dance

മടക്കം

ചന്ദ്രനുദിക്കുന്ന ദിക്കില്‍

Mattancherry Jew Town

2009-08-01T03:03:00.002+04:00

The Synagogue building

The Synagogue building clock

Picture postcards for sale

Main street of the Jew Town

The Jewish graveyard

Foundation stone of the graveyard with Hebrew inscription

Foundation stone of the graveyard with Malayalam and English inscription

Strangers in a strange land

2009-07-21T19:32:00.006+04:00

Some pictures of western tourists in Fort Cochin during early 2009

പ്രണയം മെയ്‌ക്കപ്പിടുമ്പോള്‍

2009-07-16T01:30:00.010+04:00

ചീറ്റപ്പുലിയുടെ രൂപം അത്യാകര്‍ഷകമായിട്ടാണ്‌ എനിക്ക് എപ്പോഴും തോന്നിയിട്ടുള്ളത്. അനാവശ്യമായ ഒരല്‍‌പ്പം പോലും കൊഴുപ്പ് ആ ശരീരത്തിലില്ല. എങ്കിലും ആവശ്യത്തിന്‌ മാംസമുള്ള, വടിവും ആകാരഭംഗിയുമൊത്ത രൂപഘടന. ഇത്‌ തന്നെയാണ്‌ അവളെക്കുറിച്ചും എനിക്ക് പറയാനുള്ളത്‌ :) .
ആ വെളുത്ത മുഖവും ഏറ്റവും സുന്ദരം. എന്റെ സന്തോഷം കണ്ണുകള്‍ ആദ്യമേതന്നെ അവളോട്‌ നി:ശബ്ദമായി പറഞ്ഞുകൊടുത്തതായിരുന്നു. എന്നിട്ടിപ്പോള്‍ ഒരു വര്‍ഷമെങ്കിലും കഴിഞ്ഞിരിക്കുന്നു. എങ്കിലും അവള്‍ ഗൗനിച്ചതേയില്ല.

അപരിചിതനായ ഞാന്‍ അവിടെ നില്‍ക്കെ അവള്‍ കണ്ണാടിയില്‍ നോക്കി ലിപ്‌സ്റ്റിക്ക് ഇട്ടു. ഇത് കുറച്ച് നാളുകള്‍ക്കുമുന്‍പാണ്‌ നടന്നത്. അത് എന്നെ ആശ്ചര്യപ്പെടുത്തി. സാധാരണ പെണ്ണുങ്ങള്‍ മറ്റു പുരുഷന്മാര്‍ നോക്കിനില്‍ക്കെ പരസ്യമായി മെയ്‌ക്കപ്പിടാറില്ലല്ലോ; അതൊക്കെ സ്വകാര്യതയില്‍ ചെയ്‌തിട്ട് വെളിച്ചത്തുവന്ന് പുരുഷന്മാരുടെ മുന്‍പില്‍ ഗമയോടെ നില്‍ക്കുകയല്ലേ പതിവ്. അതും ഒരു ഇമറാത്തിപ്പെണ്ണ്‌. അവളുടെ പ്രവൃത്തി വിചിത്രമായി എനിക്ക് തോന്നി. അവള്‍ പറയാന്‍ ശ്രമിച്ചത് ഇതായിരുന്നു?: "ഇത് എന്റെ നാടാണ്‌. എന്റെ സ്ഥലമാണ്‌. എനിക്ക് ഇവിടെ നിന്നെക്കാളും പവറുണ്ട്. എനിക്ക് ലിപ്‌സ്റ്റിക്ക് ഇടണമെന്ന് തോന്നിയാല്‍ ഞാന്‍ ഇടും. നീ അവിടെ നോക്കിനില്പ്പുണ്ടെന്നുവെച്ച് ഞാന്‍ എന്തിന്‌ അത് ചെയ്യാതിരിക്കണം. എന്റെ കാര്യങ്ങള്‍ ചെയ്യാന്‍ നിന്നെ ഞാന്‍ പേടിക്കേണ്ട കാര്യമില്ല."
അഹങ്കാരി. പിന്നെ അവളെ കുറച്ചുനാള്‍ കണ്ടില്ല. വെക്കേഷനു പോയതായിരിക്കണം. അവളെ എനിക്കും ഓര്‍മ്മ വന്നില്ല.

പിന്നീട് അവളെ കാണുന്നത് കഴിഞ്ഞയാഴ്ചയാണ്‌. കഫറ്റീരിയയില്‍ ഒരു ഫെന്‍സ് വെച്ചു രണ്ടായി തിരിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നതിന്റെ അപ്പുറം അവള്‍ ഇരിക്കുന്നു, കൂട്ടുകാരികളുമൊത്ത്. ഇപ്പുറം ഞാന്‍. യാദൃശ്ചികമായാണ്‌ ഞാന്‍ ഫെന്‍സിന്റെ വിടവുകളിലൂടെ അത് കണ്ടത്. അവള്‍ കൂടെക്കൂടെ എന്നെ പാളി നോക്കുന്നു. ഞാന്‍ ശ്രദ്ധിക്കുന്നതുകണ്ടപ്പോള്‍ ദൃഷ്ടികള്‍ മാറ്റിക്കളയുന്നു. അപ്പോള്‍ അവള്‍ക്ക് എന്നെക്കുറിച്ചും ചിന്തയൊക്കെയുണ്ട്. അത് മതി. എനിക്ക് തൃപ്തിയായി. മനസ്സ് നിറഞ്ഞു!

പിറ്റെ ദിവസം അവളെ വീണ്ടും കണ്ടു. തനിച്ച്. അപ്പോള്‍ അവള്‍ സിസിഡി കാമെറയുടെ മുന്നില്‍നിന്ന് സ്‌ക്രീനില്‍ അവളുടെ മുഖം നോക്കിക്കൊണ്ട് ലിപ്‌സ്റ്റിക്കും കണ്മഷിയും മറ്റും ഭംഗിയായിട്ടുണ്ട് എന്ന് ഉറപ്പുവരുത്തി. തലയും കഴുത്തും തലമുടിയും മൂടിയിരിക്കുന്ന ഹിജാബിന്റെ അരികുകള്‍ കൈകള്‍ കൊണ്ട് ശരിപ്പെടുത്തി മുഖഭംഗി തീര്‍ച്ചപ്പെടുത്തി. ഞാന്‍ മാത്രമേ തൊട്ടടുത്തുള്ളൂ. ഞാന്‍ നോക്കിക്കൊണ്ട് നില്‍ക്കുന്നത് കണ്ടിട്ടും അവള്‍ ഒരു കൂസലുമില്ലാതെ മുഖത്തിന്‌ ഭംഗി വരുത്തുന്നു. പക്ഷെ ഇപ്പോള്‍ അവളുടെ മനസ്സില്‍ എന്നോട് സ്നേഹവും സൗഹൃദഭാവവുമേയുളളൂ. അതാണ്‌ കഫറ്റീരിയയില്‍നിന്ന് എനിക്ക് മനസ്സിലായതും. ഇപ്പോള്‍ അവളുടെ മുഖത്തെ പ്രസന്നതയും അതുതന്നെയാണ്‌ പറയുന്നത്. അപ്പോള്‍, അവള്‍ക്ക് എന്നോട് അനിഷ്‌ടമില്ല. ഞാന്‍ അവള്‍ക്ക് അന്യനല്ല എന്നും എന്റെ സാന്നിദ്ധ്യത്തില്‍ അവള്‍ക്ക് സന്തോഷമുണ്ടെന്നും അതില്‍ അവള്‍ comfortable ആണെന്നുമാണ്‌‌ അവള്‍ പറയാന്‍ ശ്രമിച്ചത്! അന്ന് ലിപ്‌സ്റ്റിക്ക് ഇട്ടപ്പോഴും അവള്‍ അതുതന്നെയാണ്‌ പറഞ്ഞതും! എനിക്കത് മനസ്സിലാകാതെ പോയി. ഞാന്‍ അവളെ അഹങ്കാരിയാക്കി. പാവം! എപ്പോഴും അവളോട് യാതൊരു ഫോര്‍മാലിറ്റിയുമില്ലാതെ, ഒരു കുടുംബാംഗത്തോടെന്നപോലെ ആത്മാര്‍ത്ഥതയോടുകൂടിയുമാണ്‌ ഞാന്‍ പെരുമാറിയിട്ടുള്ളത്. വൈകിയാണെങ്കിലും ആ സ്നേഹം അവള്‍ മാനിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു എന്ന് എന്നെ അറിയിച്ചിരിക്കുകയാണ്‌ അവള്‍ തന്റെയും അനൗപചാരികമായ ചേഷ്‌ടകളിലൂടെ. അന്ന് ലിപ്‌സ്റ്റിക്കിട്ടപ്പോഴും അതേ വികാരമായിരുന്നു! അതോ അതിനും വളരെ മുന്‍പ് മുതല്‍, ആദ്യം മുതലേ അങ്ങനെയായിരുന്നോ? അവള്‍ക്കത് പ്രകടിപ്പിക്കേണ്ടതെങ്ങനെയെന്നറിയാതെ പോയതാണോ? അതോ എനിക്ക് മനസ്സിലാകാതെപോയതോ? ഇവള്‍ (പ്രേമലേഖനത്തിലെ) സാറാമ്മയുടെ സുഹൃത്തായിരിക്കണം:) ഏതായാലും അവള്‍ മുഖം നോക്കിക്കൊണ്ടിരുന്ന ടിവി സ്ക്രീനിലെ ദൃശ്യം കോണ്‍ഫറന്‍സ് റൂമിലിരിക്കുന്നവര്‍ വലിയ സ്‌ക്രീനില്‍ ലൈവ് ആയി കാണുന്നുണ്ടാകും എന്ന് ഞാന്‍ പറഞ്ഞപ്പോള്‍ ഒരു ഞെട്ടലോടെ അവള്‍ കാമറയുടെ മുന്നില്‍നിന്ന് വശത്തേക്ക് ചാടിമാറി: "റീലി??!" ('റിയലി' എന്ന് വായിച്ചോളണം). അതെയെന്ന് ഞാന്‍ പറഞ്ഞു. 'ശ്ശോ, ആകെ ചമ്മലായല്ലോ' എന്ന ഭാവത്തില്‍ വിഷമത്തോടെ, പരുങ്ങലോടെ, അവള്‍ നിന്നു.

ഒന്നുരണ്ട് ദിവസങ്ങള്‍ കൂടി കഴിഞ്ഞപ്പോള്‍ വീണ്ടും കഫറ്റീരിയയില്‍ വെച്ച് കണ്ടു. അവളുടെ മുഖം കണ്ട ഞാന്‍ ഞെട്ടി. മുല്ലപ്പൂ പോലെ മനോഹരമായ വെളുത്ത മുഖത്ത് കവിളുകള്‍ രണ്ടും ചായം തേച്ച് ചുവപ്പിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു. ആ കോലത്തില്‍ അതുവരെ അവളെ കണ്ടിട്ടില്ലായിരുന്നു. ' നിനക്കെന്റെ മുഖം കാണുന്നത് ഇഷ്ടമാണല്ലോ, അതുകൊണ്ട് നിനക്ക് കണ്ടാസ്വദിക്കാന്‍ വേണ്ടി ഞാന്‍ മുഖം സുന്ദരമാക്കി വെക്കുന്നു. എന്റെ കവിളുകള്‍ എത്ര ഭംഗിയായിരിക്കുന്നുവെന്ന് നോക്കൂ' എന്ന ഭാവത്തില്‍ അവള്‍ എന്റെ മുന്നില്‍ക്കൂടി അങ്ങോട്ടുമിങ്ങോട്ടും നടന്നു. ശ്ശൊ! യാ ബിന്‍‌ത് !! ഇത്രയ്ക്ക് വേണ്ടായിരുന്നു.
കണ്മഷിയും ലിപ്‌സ്റ്റിക്കുമല്ലാതെ മറ്റൊന്നും അതിനുമുന്‍പ് മുഖത്ത് അവള്‍ ഉപയോഗിച്ചുകണ്ടിട്ടില്ല. കണ്മഷി ഭംഗിയാണെപ്പോഴും. ലിപ്‌സ്റ്റിക്കാകട്ടെ, വളരെ നാചുറല്‍ ഷെയ്‌ഡാണ്‌ അവള്‍ ഉപയോഗിക്കുക. അവളുടെ rose lips- നു ചേരുന്ന രീതിയിലുള്ള rose നിറം. ലിപ്‌സ്റ്റിക്ക് ഇട്ടിട്ടുണ്ട് എന്നറിയുകപോലുമില്ല. പക്ഷെ ഇപ്പോള്‍ ഈ കവിളത്ത് ചെയ്തത് ആ മുഖത്തിന്‌ വളരെ കൃത്രിമത്വം സൃഷ്‌ടിക്കുന്നു. കവിളത്ത് ചുവപ്പ് ചായം വാരിപ്പൂശുക, കണ്‍പോളകളില്‍ നീലയും പച്ചയും നിറമിടുക, ഗില്‍റ്റും മറ്റും ഉപയോഗിച്ച് തിളക്കമുണ്ടാക്കുക, രണ്ടിഞ്ചുകനത്തിലെങ്കിലും പുട്ടിയടിക്കുക, അതും മുഖത്തിന്‌ ഒട്ടും യോജിക്കാത്ത നിറങ്ങളില്‍, തുടങ്ങിയ കാര്യങ്ങള്‍ക്ക് ഖലീജിപ്പെണ്ണുങ്ങള്‍ കുപ്രസിദ്ധരാണ്‌. പക്ഷെ അവള്‍ ഇക്കാര്യത്തില്‍ അവരില്‍നിന്നൊക്കെ വ്യത്യസ്തയാണ്‌ എന്നത് എനിക്ക് വളരെ സന്തോഷം നല്‍കിയിരുന്ന കാര്യമാണ്‌. പക്ഷെ അവളും ഇപ്പോള്‍... ഇനി മറ്റ് ഇമറാത്തിപ്പെണ്ണുങ്ങള്‍ ചെയ്യുന്നതുപോലെ, ഹിജാബിനകത്ത് തടവിലാക്കപ്പെട്ടിരിക്കുന്ന തലമുടിയുടെ സൗന്ദര്യം ആരും കാണാതെപോകുന്നല്ലോ എന്ന വിഷമം തീര്‍ക്കാനായി മുടി താനെ തെന്നിവീണുകിടക്കുകയാണ്‌, അറിഞ്ഞുകൊണ്ടല്ല, എന്ന് തോന്നിക്കുന്ന രീതിയില്‍ അല്പം മുടി ഹിജാബില്‍നിന്ന് പുറത്തേക്ക് നെറ്റിയിലേക്ക് cascade ചെയ്തിടുന്ന രീതിയും ഇവള്‍ പരീക്ഷിക്കുമോ. ചുറ്റുമുള്ള മറ്റു പെണ്ണുങ്ങള്‍ ചെയ്യുന്നതുപോലെ വെളുത്ത മുഖത്തെ മനോഹരമായ കറുത്ത പുരികങ്ങള്‍ പ്ലക്ക് ചെയ്‌ത് നൂലുപോലെ നേര്‍ത്തതാക്കുകയും ചെയ്യുമോ. സങ്കല്‍‌പ്പിക്കാന്‍ വയ്യ! കൊച്ചേ, വേണ്ട കേട്ടോ.. ഇപ്പോഴുള്ള simple രൂപത്തില്‍ത്തന്നെ എത്ര മനോഹരിയാണ്‌.

പക്ഷെ, അവള്‍ ചെയ്തിരിക്കുന്ന ഒരു കാര്യം എനിക്ക് വലിയ ഇഷ്ടമാണ്‌. മൂക്കുത്തി! അറബിപ്പെണ്ണുങ്ങള്‍ മൂക്കുത്തിയിടാറില്ലെന്നായിരുന്നു എന്റെ ധാരണ. പക്ഷെ സഹപ്രവര്‍ത്തകയായ സുഡാനിപ്പെണ്ണിന്റെ മുഖത്ത് അത് ആദ്യമായി കണ്ടു. ഇപ്പോള്‍ രണ്ടാമതായി ഇവളുടെ മുഖത്തും. ഇത് ഇവള്‍ ഇപ്പോള്‍ install ചെയ്തതാണോ അതോ മുന്‍പുമുതലേ മൂക്കിന്മേലുണ്ടായിരുന്നോ എന്നറിയില്ല. മുന്‍പൊരിക്കലും ശ്രദ്ധയില്‍‌പ്പെട്ടിട്ടില്ലായിരുന്നു. കാരണം it's a really tiny, tiny nose-pin. So tiny that you don't notice it unless you stand real close to her. മാത്രവുമല്ല, അത് മൂക്കിനു മുകളില്‍ പൊങ്ങിനില്‍ക്കുകയല്ല, മൂക്കിന്മേല്‍ embed ചെയ്തുവെച്ചിരിക്കുകയാണ്‌ എന്നാണ്‌ തോന്നുക. വളരെ പൊടി. എത്ര മനോഹരം! അതിരിക്കുന്ന മൂക്കിനെ ഞാന്‍ വളരെ ഇഷ്ടപ്പെടുന്നു. (ആ മൂക്കിരിക്കുന്ന മുഖവും.)

(picture courtesy: Discovery site)

(Edited on 18.07.2009:
ഈ പോസ്റ്റ് ഇട്ടതിനുശേഷമാണ്‌ അറിഞ്ഞത് 'ബിന്‍‌ത്' (bint) എന്നത് ചില രാജ്യങ്ങളില്‍ ഒരു പെണ്ണിനെ മോശമായി അഭിസംബോധന ചെയ്യാന്‍ ഉപയോഗിക്കുന്ന വാക്കാണെന്ന്‌. പക്ഷെ അറബിഭാഷയില്‍, അറബിനാടുകളില്‍ 'യാ ബിന്‍‌ത്' എന്നു പറഞ്ഞാല്‍ 'O girl' എന്നേ അര്‍ഥമുള്ളൂ. രണ്ടാമതൊരു അര്‍ത്ഥമില്ല. ഈ പോസ്റ്റില്‍ പ്രത്യേകിച്ചും. പിന്നെ പറയുന്ന ടോണും സന്ദര്‍ഭവും സാഹചര്യവുമൊക്കെ അനുസരിച്ച് ഏത് വാക്കിനും വ്യത്യസ്‌ത അര്‍ത്ഥങ്ങള്‍ കൈവരുന്നതുപോലെ ഇതിനും വരുമെന്നുമാത്രം.
ഇതിലെ മറ്റുചില പ്രയോഗങ്ങളുടെ അര്‍ത്ഥം കൂടി:
ഇമറാത്തിപ്പെണ്ണ്: Emirates girl
ഖലീജിപ്പെണ്ണുങ്ങള്‍: Gulf girls)

Bye dear!

2009-06-26T12:12:00.001+04:00

Michael!
This is too early! I really wanted to see you living to be very old..

But then, now you'll be in that golden list of prodigies, geniuses who died young, when they were full of that exhilarating, inspiring energy, fully remembered, talked about, instead of being old, weak and forgotten..

I shall try to console myself thus ...

Why Men Don't Have a Clue & Women Always Need More Shoes

2009-06-18T02:32:00.004+04:00

Book title: Why Men Don't Have a Clue & Women Always Need More Shoes

Authors: Allan & Barbara Pease

ISBN: 978-0-7528-7940-6 (Orion Books-2006)

Just finished reading Why Men Don't Have a Clue & Women Always Need More Shoes. This is the book big-boobed Maisa (no, she won't be offended as having read this book, she now knows that "a man may not be able to talk about a girl without picturing her naked" :) and "a woman must try to understand and put up with this 'weird' male biology"! ) was seen poring over for days. I borrowed it from her when she was done.

The book was exhilarating right from the Introduction. Funny language interspersed with hilarious jokes and tidbits of handy information makes it an interesting read. The book is largely about traits and characteristics of the sexes and relationships and relating between them. It helps the reader to get a pretty deep insight into the complexities of the opposite sex and how to handle them for the best results. Explanations of facts are done mostly based on theories drawing heavily from fields such as Evolutionary Anthropology, and in spite of assumptions that look a bit far-fetched in places and devoid of citation of immediate references that make them appear no better than ground level hypotheses, the reader can gain a lot from this book for sure.

A funny realisation about myself that dawned on me while reading the book was that I prefer titles starting with Why to those starting with How. For instance, I may not be interested in the title How to be rich, but change the title to Why you are not rich, and I may read it :)

The authors seem to have shared chapters in the book. Eventhough they don't explicitly say which portions are handled by whom, I could sort of detect the thing from the transition in style. While the jokes and funny observations that appeared in pages I believe to have been handled by Allan were awesomely hilarious, those that appeared on pages I believe to be from Barbara failed to excite me in the least degree. But then, the book itself says that the jokes that men find delightful and love to tell are entirely different from those that elicit laughter in women, and vice versa.

If not for anything else, the book can be read just for the fun of it!

Book courtesy: Maisa

Sahih Bukhari- vol. 1

2009-06-16T00:37:00.000+04:00

Book title: Sahih Bukhari- vol. 1
Author: Bukhari

The strongest thought that comes to mind after reading this volume is how a religion can be changed from bad to worse by lopsided interpretations based on obscurantist obstinacy and lack of common sense. What I feel after reading this is that there is enough possibility for Islam to be a better religion than what it is now. If only it could be handled a bit more sensibly. If only someone could knock some sense into the heads of the leaders who preach it.

Heaven & Hell

2009-06-13T00:07:00.000+04:00

' Narrated Abu Huraira:
The people said, "O Allah's Apostle! Shall we see our Lord on the Day of Resurrection?" He replied, "Do you have any doubt in seeing the full moon on a clear (not cloudy) night?" They replied, "No, O Allah's Apostle!" He said, "Do you have any doubt in seeing the sun when there are no clouds?" They replied in the negative. He said, "You will see Allah (your Lord) in the same way. On the Day of Resurrection, people will be gathered and He will order the people to follow what they used to worship. So some of them will follow the sun, some will follow the moon, and some will follow other deities; and only this nation (Muslims) will be left with its hypocrites. Allah will come to them and say, 'I am Your Lord.' They will say, 'We shall stay in this place till our Lord comes to us and when our Lord will come, we will recognize Him. Then Allah will come to them again and say, 'I am your Lord.' They will say, 'You are our Lord.' Allah will call them, and As−Sirat (a bridge) will be laid across Hell and I (Muhammad) shall be the first amongst the Apostles to cross it with my followers. Nobody except the Apostles will then be able to speak and they will be saying then, 'O Allah! Save us. O Allah Save us.' There will be hooks like the thorns of Sa'dan [??] in Hell. Have you seen the thorns of Sa'dan [??]?" The people said, "Yes." He said, "These hooks will be like the thorns of Sa'dan [??] but nobody except Allah knows their greatness in size and these will entangle the people according to their deeds; some of them will fall and stay in Hell forever; others will receive punishment (torn into small pieces) and will get out of Hell, till when Allah intends mercy on whomever He likes amongst the people of Hell, He will order the angels to take out of Hell those who worshipped none but Him alone. The angels will take them out by recognizing them from the traces of prostrations, for Allah has forbidden the (Hell) fire to eat away those traces. So they will come out of the Fire, it will eat away from the whole of the human body except the marks of the prostrations. At that time they will come out of the Fire as mere skeletons. The Water of Life will be poured on them and as a result they will grow like the seeds growing on the bank of flowing water. Then when Allah had finished from the Judgments amongst his creations, one man will be left between Hell and Paradise and he will be the last man from the people of Hell to enter paradise. He will be facing Hell, and will say, 'O Allah! Turn my face from the fire as its wind has dried me and its steam has burnt me.' Allah will ask him, "Will you ask for anything more in case this favor is granted to you?' He will say, "No by Your (Honor) Power!" And he will give to his Lord (Allah) what he will of the pledges and the covenants. Allah will then turn his face from the Fire. When he will face Paradise and will see its charm, he will remain quiet as long as Allah will. He then will say, 'O my Lord! Let me go to the gate of Paradise.' Allah will ask him, 'Didn't you give pledges and make covenants (to the effect) that you would not ask for anything more than what you requested at first?' He will say, 'O my Lord! Do not make me the most wretched amongst Your creatures.' Allah will say, 'If this request is granted, will you then ask for anything else?' He will say, 'No! By Your Power! I shall not ask for anything else.' Then he will give to his Lord what He will of the pledges and the covenants. Allah will then let him go to the gate of Paradise. On reaching then and seeing its life, charm, and pleasure, he will remain quiet as long as Allah wills and then will say, 'O my Lord ! Let me enter Paradise.' Allah will say, May Allah be merciful unto you, O son of Adam! How treacherous you are! Haven't you made covenants and given pledges that you will not ask for anything more that what you have been given?' He will say, 'O my Lord! Do not make me the most wretched amongst Your creatures.' So Allah will laugh and allow him to enter Paradise and will ask him to request as much as he likes. He will do so till all his desires have been fulfilled . Then Allah will say, 'Request more of such and such things.' Allah will remind him and when all his desires and wishes have been fulfilled, Allah will say "All this is granted to you and a similar amount besides." '

-(Sahih Bukhari- Vol. 1, No:770)

(pic. by Carmen Lomas Garza)

SAW May/Jun '09

2009-06-10T21:14:00.000+04:00

Received May/Jun issue of Saudi Aramco World . Thanks SAW!

തരൂരും തൃശൂരും

2009-06-08T23:53:00.000+04:00

Varamozhi Editor: Text Exported for Print or Save

ഞാൻ വളരെ ബഹുമാനിക്കുന്ന ശശി തരൂറിന്റെ മുകളിൽ കാണുന്ന tweets ആണ്‌ ഈ പോസ്റ്റിനാധാരം.

പഠാണികൾ ധാരാളമുള്ളിടത്താണ്‌ എന്റെ വീട്‌. ചെറുപ്പം മുതലേ അവിടെ വളർന്നു. അവിടെ ഒരു റോഡിന്‌ പഠാൺ റോഡ്‌ എന്ന്‌ പേരുമുണ്ട്‌. മലയാളി-പഠാണികളെയാണ്‌ ഉദ്ദേശിച്ചത്‌, UAEയിലെ ടാക്സിയോടിക്കുന്ന ഒറിജിനൽ പഠാണിയല്ല. പക്ഷെ, 'പഠാൺ' എന്ന വാക്ക്‌ ഇംഗ്ലീഷിലെഴുതുമ്പോൾ Pathan എന്നാണ്‌ സാധാരണ എഴുതുന്നത്‌. അതുകൊണ്ട്‌ മലയാളികളിൽ പലരും അതിനെ 'പത്താൻ' എന്നുച്ചരിക്കുന്നു. കാരണം, മലയാളികൾ transliterate ചെയ്യുമ്പോൾ 'th' എന്നതിനെ 'ഠ' എന്നല്ല ,'ത' എന്നാണുച്ചരിക്കുന്നത്‌. അതായത്‌, 'tha' as in 'thanks'. അതുകൊണ്ടാവണം 'തരൂർ' എന്നത്‌ ഇംഗ്ലീഷിൽ Tharoor ആയത്‌. പക്ഷെ 'th' എന്നത്‌ എല്ലാവർക്കും 'ത' അല്ല. വടക്കുള്ളവർക്ക്‌ 't' ആണ്‌ 'ത'. അതേ 't' തന്നെ 'ട' യുമാണ്‌. അപ്പോൾ അവരെ സംബന്ധിച്ചിടത്തോളം

th = t + h = ത + ഹ = ഥ

അല്ലെങ്കിൽ

th = t + h = ട + ഹ = ഠ

ആണ്‌.

ഓരോ പ്രദേശത്തും ഓരോ coding ഉപയോഗിക്കുന്നു. അല്ലെങ്കിൽ പിന്നെ മലയാളത്തിലെ 'ഴ' എന്ന ശബ്‌ദം എന്തുകണ്ടിട്ടാണ്‌ നമ്മൾ ഇംഗ്ലീഷിൽ 'zha' എന്നാക്കിയിരിക്കുന്നത്‌?

'ശശി തരൂരി'ലെ 'ശശി' എന്ന വാക്കിന്റെ കാര്യത്തിലും ഒരു ഭാഷയെ ഇംഗ്ലീഷിലേക്ക്‌ transliterate ചെയ്യുമ്പോൾ രംഗപ്രവേശം ചെയ്യുന്ന ഇത്തരം പ്രാദേശികനിയമങ്ങളുടെ പ്രഭാവമുണ്ട്‌. മലയാളികൾ 'ശ' എന്നതിനെ ഇംഗ്ലീഷിലാക്കുമ്പോൾ 'sh' എന്നെഴുതുന്നു. അതുകൊണ്ട്‌ 'ശശി' എന്നത്‌ 'Shashi'യായി. പക്ഷെ ഒരു വടക്കേ ഇന്ത്യക്കാരന്‌ അത്‌ 'Sasi'യാണ്‌. 'Sakuntala', 'Asoka' തുടങ്ങിയ വാക്കുകളിൽ അവർ 'Sh'-നു പകരം 'S' മാത്രമുപയോഗിക്കുന്നു.

തൃശൂരിനെ 'Trichur എന്ന് എഴുതുന്നത്‌ 'accurate' ആണെന്ന്‌ ശശി തരൂർ പറയുന്നു. 'Thrissur' എന്നത്‌ sub-literate ആണെന്നും. പക്ഷെ അദ്ദേഹത്തിന്റെ പേരിൽ 'ത' എന്നതിന്‌ 'th' ഉപയോഗിച്ച സ്ഥിതിക്ക്‌ 'തൃശൂരി'ലും 'Th' ഉള്ളതല്ലേ കൂടുതൽ 'accurate'? മാത്രമല്ല, 'Trichur' എന്നതിലെ 'ch' എങ്ങനെയാണുച്ചരിക്കുക? 'ch'-നു ഇംഗ്ലീഷിൽ ശ/ഷ, ക, ച എന്നീ ശബ്‌ദങ്ങളുണ്ട്‌. chance-ൽ 'ച' യാണ്‌, character-ൽ 'ക'യാണ്‌. പിന്നെ അപൂർവ്വം വാക്കുകളിൽ മാത്രമാണ്‌ 'ശ/ഷ' ശബ്‌ദം വരുന്നത്‌. ഉദാ: Chevalier, Chivalry etc.

അപ്പോൾ എങ്ങനെയാണ്‌ 'Trichur' accurate ആകുന്നത്‌?

Three Wise Men..

2009-06-04T00:13:00.001+04:00

" The story of the Three Wise Men and the birth of Christ is one of the world's most told tales. It's also one, which, for women, illustrates all of the male species' traits that frustrate them. First of all, they simply assumed the heavens revolved around them -- the star shining in the East had been put there expressly for them to follow. Secondly, they didn't arrive at the stable where Jesus was born until more than two months after the event, most probably because they refused to stop on the way and ask for directions. Thirdly, what possible use would a newborn baby and his exhausted new mother want with gifts of gold, frankincense (a resin used for fumigation) and myrrh (a strong-smelling plant oil used for embalming the dead)? And, finally, Three Wise Men? Who's ever seen such an unlikely sight?
Imagine if the story had started Three Wise Women. They would have asked directions, arrived in time to help deliver the baby and brought practical gifts, like nappies, bottles, toys and a bouquet of flowers. They would then have put the animals outside, cleaned the stables, made a casserole, stayed in touch by mail, and there would be peace on Earth for ever more.

Moses wandered in the desert for 40 years.
He wouldn't ask for directions either.

Why does it take 4 million male sperm
to find and fertilize an egg?
Not one wants to ask for directions."

- (Why Men Don't Have a Clue & Women Always Need More Shoes)

Kamala

2009-05-31T21:49:00.000+04:00

Kamala.
Someone whom I could relate to.

Love you.

Little Manhattan

2009-05-25T23:00:00.000+04:00

ഇതിനെക്കുറിച്ച്‌ ഒന്നും ഇവിടെ എഴുതണ്ട എന്നു കരുത്തിയതാണ്‌. എഴുതാൻ എന്തുകൊണ്ടോ തോന്നിയില്ല. സാധാരണ വായിക്കുന്ന പുസ്തകത്തെക്കുറിച്ചോ കാണുന്ന സിനിമയെക്കുറിച്ചോ എഴുതണമെന്ന് തീവ്രമായി തോന്നുമ്പോഴാണ്‌ എഴുതുന്നത്‌. പക്ഷെ ഈ പടം എന്റെ ഫേവറൈറ്റ്‌ ലിസ്റ്റിൽ സ്ഥാനം പിടിച്ചുകഴിഞ്ഞിട്ടുപോലും എന്തുകൊണ്ടോ ഇതിനെക്കുറിച്ച്‌ എഴുതണമെന്ന് തോന്നിയില്ല. പക്ഷെ രണ്ടുമൂന്നു ദിവസങ്ങൾ കഴിഞ്ഞിട്ടും എന്നെ വിടാതെ പിന്തുടരുന്നു ഇത്‌! മനസ്സിനെ വിടാതെ പിടികൂടിയിരിക്കുന്നു. എഴുതൂ എഴുതൂ! എന്ന് അലമുറകൂട്ടുന്നു! അതുകൊണ്ട്‌ എഴുതുന്നു.

രണ്ട്‌ കുട്ടികളുടെ അനുരാഗമാണിത്‌. Gabe & Rosemary. പത്തും പതിനൊന്നും വയസ്സുകൾ. Little Manhattan എന്ന സിനിമയെക്കുറിച്ചാണ്‌ പറഞ്ഞുവരുന്നത്‌. ഓർമ്മയുള്ള കാലം മുതലേ എല്ലാവരിലും പ്രണയചിന്തകളുണ്ടാകുന്നു എന്നാണ്‌ എനിക്ക്‌ മനസ്സിലായിട്ടുള്ളത്‌. (കുറഞ്ഞപക്ഷം എന്നെ സംബന്ധിച്ചിടത്തോളം അത്‌ ശരിയാണ്‌. ഒന്നാം ക്ലാസ്സിൽ മുൻപിലെ ബെഞ്ചിലിരിക്കാറുണ്ടായിരുന്ന ആ പെൺകുട്ടിയോടുള്ള എന്റെ secret obsession ഇപ്പോഴും നല്ല ഓർമ്മയുണ്ട്‌. ലക്ഷ്മി? രേഖ? പേര്‌ എന്തായിരുന്നു എന്നോർമ്മയില്ല. രണ്ടാം ക്ലാസ്‌ മുതൽ എനിക്ക്‌ മറ്റൊരു സ്കൂളിൽ പഠിക്കേണ്ടിവന്നതുകൊണ്ട്‌ പിന്നീടൊരിക്കലും ആളെ കണ്ടിട്ടില്ല. വർഷങ്ങൾക്കുശേഷം ഒരുപക്ഷെ എവിടെയെങ്കിലും വെച്ച്‌ കണ്ടുമുട്ടിയിരിക്കുമോ? അദ്ദേഹമാണ്‌ ഇദ്ദേഹം എന്ന് മനസ്സിലാകാതെ ഞാൻ കടന്നുപോയിരിക്കുമോ? ഏതായാലും എന്റെ obsessionനെക്കുറിച്ച്‌ ആ കുട്ടി ഒരിക്കലും അറിഞ്ഞിരുന്നില്ല.) എന്നിട്ടും ഇങ്ങനെയൊരു തീമുള്ള സിനിമ ഒരിക്കലും കാണാനിടയായില്ല. അതുതന്നെയാണ്‌ ഈ പടം പ്രസക്തമാണെന്ന് തോന്നാനുള്ള ഒരു കാരണമെന്നുതോന്നുന്നു. കുട്ടികൾ തമ്മിലുള്ള സ്നേഹബന്ധങ്ങൾ ഒക്കെ സിനിമകളിൽ അവതരിക്കപ്പെട്ടിട്ടുണ്ട്‌. എങ്കിലും മുതിർന്നവരുടേതുപോലെയുള്ള ഒരു ബന്ധം കാണിക്കുന്ന ഈ പടം വളരെ പുതുമയുള്ളതാണ്‌. ഒരു പടത്തിൽ അനുവദിക്കപ്പെട്ടിട്ടുള്ള സമയദൈർഘ്യത്തിൽ, ഈ തീം അനുവദിക്കുന്ന പരിധികളിൽനിന്നുകൊണ്ട്‌ ഇതിനെ ഇതിലും മനോഹരമാക്കാൻ കഴിയുമെന്നുതോന്നുന്നില്ല. എത്ര മുതിർന്നവരായാലും പ്രണയത്തിൽ കുടുങ്ങിയാൽപ്പിന്നെ കുട്ടികളുടേതുപോലെയുള്ള ചാപല്യങ്ങളാണല്ലോ എല്ലാവർക്കും. അതുകൊണ്ടുതന്നെ ഇവരുടെ പ്രണയവും മുതിർന്നവരുടെ പ്രണയവും തമ്മിൽ വലിയ വ്യത്യാസമില്ല. സ്നേഹകാലം അങ്ങുദൂരെ വർഷങ്ങൾക്കപ്പുറത്ത്‌ ഇട്ടെറിഞ്ഞോ നഷ്ടപ്പെട്ടോ കടന്നുവന്നവർക്ക്‌, സ്നേഹിക്കേണ്ടതെങ്ങിനെയെന്ന് മറന്നുപോയവർക്ക്‌, ഒന്നുകൂടി ഓർമ്മകൾ പുതുക്കുവാനും കൈമോശം വന്നുപോയ മനസ്സിന്റെ നിഷ്കളങ്കതയെ നിമിഷനേരത്തേക്കെങ്കിലും തിരിച്ചുവിളിച്ചുകൊണ്ടുവരുവാനും ഈ കുട്ടികളുടെ കഥ സഹായിക്കും.

പക്ഷെ ഈ പടത്തിൽ ഈ കുട്ടികളുടെ സ്നേഹം മാത്രമല്ല, വേറെയും ചിന്തിപ്പിക്കുന്ന ഘടകങ്ങളുണ്ട്‌. ഈ കുട്ടികളുടെ കഥയോടൊപ്പം തന്നെ സമാന്തരാമായി, എന്നാൽ അവരുടെ കഥയുടെ ഇഴകളിൽ നിന്ന് പൂർണ്ണമായി വിട്ടുപോകാതെ പുരോഗമിക്കുന്ന Gabe-ന്റെ മാതാപിതാക്കളുടെ കഥ ബന്ധങ്ങളെക്കുറിച്ച്‌, ജീവിതത്തെക്കുറിച്ചുതന്നെ, വലിയ സത്യങ്ങൾ നമുക്ക്‌ പറഞ്ഞുതരുന്നു. ചോരതിളക്കുന്ന യൗവനത്തിൽ പ്രേമിച്ചു വിവാഹിതരായ അവർക്ക്‌ ക്രമേണ മനസ്സിലാകുന്നു അവർ അന്യോനം യോജിച്ചവരല്ല എന്ന്‌. വിവാഹമോചനത്തിനു തയ്യാറായി ദിവസങ്ങൾ അന്യരെപ്പോലെ ഒരേവീട്ടിൽ തള്ളിനീക്കുന്ന ദമ്പതികൾ! എവിടെയാണ്‌ പിഴച്ചത്‌ എന്ന ചിന്തയുമായി നടക്കുന്ന Gabe-ന്റെ അച്ഛന്‌ ഉത്തരം ലഭിക്കുന്നു. അത്‌ അദ്ദേഹം പത്തുവയസുകാരനായ സ്വന്തം മകനോട്‌ വിശദീകരിച്ചുകൊടുക്കുന്നു:
"Let me.. let me tell you something about me and your mom.. Once upon a time, we really loved each other. But as.. as time went by.. there just got to be all these.. these things- little things... stupid things that were left unsaid. And all these things that were left unsaid piled up like.. like the clutter in our storage room. And after a while... there was so much that was left unsaid...that we barely said anything at all.."
എത്ര വലിയ സത്യമാണത്‌! റാബിയയും ഓഷോയും പറഞ്ഞുതന്ന ആ സത്യം വീണ്ടുമിതാ ഈ സിനിമയും എന്നെ ഓർമ്മിപിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു. റാബിയ:"Healthy relationships often have these little fightings. It's perfectly normal." ഏനിക്ക്‌ അതുകേട്ടപ്പോൾ ഈ പെണ്ണിനു വട്ടാണോ എന്നുതോന്നി. അടികൂടിക്കൊണ്ടിരിക്കുന്നവരുടെ ബന്ധം എങ്ങനെയാണ്‌ healthyയാവുക? എന്നാണ്‌ ഇവൾക്ക്‌ പക്വതയാകുക എന്നൊക്കെ അന്ന് വിചാരിച്ചു. പക്ഷെ ആ വാക്കുകളുടെ അർത്ഥം മനസ്സിലായത്‌ വളരെക്കഴിഞ്ഞാണ്‌. ഒന്നിച്ചുജീവിക്കുന്ന രണ്ടുപേർ തമ്മിൽ പല വ്യത്യസ്ഥതകളും, അരസികതകളും ഒക്കെയുണ്ടാകും. മനസ്സിൽ തോന്നുന്ന അനിഷ്ടങ്ങളും അഭിപ്രായവ്യത്യാസങ്ങളുമെല്ലാം സമയാസമയം പറഞ്ഞുതീർത്തോ അടിച്ചുതീർത്തോ തന്നെവേണം മുന്നോട്ടു പോകാൻ. കാരണം, അങ്ങനെയാവുമ്പോൾ, ചെറിയ ചെറിയ കശപിശകളിലൂടെ, പിണക്കങ്ങളിലൂടെ ബന്ധം മുന്നോട്ട്‌ പോകും. തീർക്കാനുള്ളതൊക്കെ അപ്പപ്പോൾ തീർക്കുമ്പോഴാണ്‌ ഒരു ബന്ധം healthyയാവുക! അല്ലാതെ എല്ലാം മനസ്സിൽ കൂട്ടിക്കൂട്ടിവെച്ചാൽ കുറെ കഴിയുമ്പോൾ എല്ലാം കുമിഞ്ഞുകൂടി കൂമ്പാരമായി ഒരു യുദ്ധംതന്നെ പൊട്ടിപ്പുറപ്പെടും. പിന്നെ അടുത്ത പടി ഡൈവോഴ്‌സ്‌ മാത്രമായിരിക്കും. ഓഷൊ പറഞ്ഞു: സുഹൃത്തുക്കൾ തമ്മിലുള്ള വൈരമാണ്‌ അപകടകരം. കാരണം ശത്രുക്കളുമായി നമ്മൾ തുറസ്സായി പോരാടും. പക്ഷെ സുഹൃത്തുക്കളോട്‌ അഭിപ്രായവ്യത്യാസങ്ങൾ തുറന്നുപറയാതെ മനസ്സിൽ അടച്ചുവെക്കും. അതുപിന്നീട്‌ പ്രശ്നങ്ങൾ നൽകും. Airtel-ന്റെ പരസ്യവും ഇതുതന്നെ പറയുന്നു: If only we talk...

അങ്ങനെ രണ്ട്‌ കഥകൾ കൊണ്ട്‌ നെയ്തിരിക്കുന്ന ഈ സിനിമയിൽ നിർഭാഗ്യവശാൽ കുട്ടികളുടെ പ്രേമത്തിന്റെ കാര്യം മാത്രമേ മിക്കവരും ശ്രദ്ധിച്ചുള്ളൂ. ഓൺലൈനിൽ ഒന്നു വെറുതി പരതിനോക്കിയപ്പോൾ ബോദ്ധ്യമായത്‌ അതാണ്‌. ഈ പടത്തിനെക്കുറിച്ച്‌ സംസാരിക്കുന്നവരൊക്കെ, യൂട്യൂബിൽ വീഡിയോ ഇട്ടിരിക്കുന്നവരൊക്കെ, കുട്ടികളുടെ രംഗങ്ങളെക്കുറിച്ചുമാത്രമേ ചിന്തിക്കുന്നുള്ളൂ!!

Moses and the running stone

2009-05-21T01:04:00.000+04:00

Narrated Abu Huraira:
"The Prophet said, 'The (people of) Bani Israel used to take bath naked looking at each other. The Prophet Moses used to take a bath alone. They said, 'By Allah! Nothing prevents Moses from taking a bath with us except that he has a scrotal hernia.' So once Moses went out to take a bath and put his clothes over a stone and then that stone ran away with his clothes. Moses followed that stone saying, "My clothes, O stone! My clothes, O stone!" till the people of Bani Israel saw him and said, 'By Allah, Moses has got no defect in his body.' Moses took his clothes and began to beat the stone.' " Abu Huraira added, "By Allah! There are still six or seven marks present on the stone from that excessive beating."

(Sahih Bukhari .. Vol.1, No:277)

A Thousand Splendid Suns

2009-05-16T22:02:00.001+04:00

Book title: A Thousand Splendid Suns
Author: Khaled Hosseini

ISBN: 978-0-7475-9377-5
Publ: Bloomsbury

Finished reading A Thousand Splendid Suns written by Khaled Hosseini. To be honest, I liked his first book, The Kite Runner many times more than this. I don't mean to say that this creation of his has proved itself any inferior to his first work in terms of quality; it's something else. The narration dwells mostly on physical descriptions (which, of course, he has done wonderfully enough), and it doesn't necessarily take a Khaled Hosseini to bring forth something like this. But I don't mean that it's an easily possible task though. But I'm sure, only he can give birth to something like The Kite Runner, and no one else; it deals with such an abstract theme, and it needs great skill in making the reader really imbibe the feeling of something so indefinable with the help of mere words. I was literally walking along with each and every word, each and every line of The Kite Runner, but in this book it was hard to bring back my wandering mind in far too many places.

Whereas the first book tells the story of the two boys Hassan and Amir, this one is about two girls Mariam and Laila. Both stories are set against the backdrop of an Afghanistan ravaged senselessly by the rule of religious fundamentalists. But I saw many people who said this second book was far better than the first one. Is it because I'm a male that I liked the first book that tells us the touching story of two male friends more? I have had this experience with the movie Dil Chahta Hai which is about a group of boy-friends and the intricacies and ups and downs in their relationships. All my male friends who have seen it have liked it immensely, and I myself am a huge fan of it. But alas! all the female friends of mine who have seen that movie thought it was mere waste of time.

Apart from the main bulk of the plot, something was there which couldn't fail to capture my interest entirely. It is the magic that flows out of his pen when he portrays love and romance and eroticism. Eventhough such scenes are not too many in this book, wherever they were, they had this mesmerising power in them which I was incapable of overlooking. It brought back to my memory once again the romantic scenes of his first book which my mind couldn't help registering with a star-mark back when I read it. With these two books, he has proved that he is simply the best at it and I believe that a romantic love story from him will do really great! And I desire with all my heart that his next novel be one such dealing with soft and tender emotions that soothe the heart and make it dream and carries one gently into a world all too different from our mundane one, where there is only love and affection and no hatred and cruelty and no deafening sounds of sinister explosives and disturbing gunshots, where our minds slip smoothly into an all-embracing peace..

Courtesy: lunacia, who made it into a bookring

The young student..

2009-05-15T09:46:00.000+04:00

"The young student sits with his head bent over his books, and his mind straying in youth's dreamland; where prose is prowling on the desk and poetry hiding in the heart."

- (Lover's gift)

Tragedy of the Mannequins

2009-05-05T00:26:00.001+04:00

Book title: Tragedy of the Mannequins
Author: Hassan Nasir

ISBN: 81-88779-08-3
Publ: Pappiyon (Sep.2003)

Hassan Nasir!
Those were the words that captured my attention. Little wonder, I have always been fascinated by these ever-increasing number of muslim names on book covers. Especially the contemporary ones. Salman Rushdie to Asra Nomani, Khaled Hosseini to Nadeem Aslam, these names have never failed in casting that strange spell on me. The used book bearing the faded cover with marks of dried liquid drops spilt on it and sallow, dirty page-edges slightly rolled over at the corners including the paperback binding rested silently, unwanted, unfondled, unhandled, unattended by anyone, perhaps totally rejected by the person who had read it earlier, on one of the two stands on either side of the door of the cute bookshop Idiom Booksellers in Fort Cochin, speacializing in books on Indian culture, history, and literature, run by Michael of U.K. for whom Fort Cochin is a second home. But unlike other muslim authors, this book held something more delightful in it for me. As soon as I managed to pluck my eyes from the attractive light pinkish-maroonish cover art and move on to the first page, I discovered that the book was not written by someone in Afghanistan, Iran or Pakistan or some non-resident UK or USA muslim. It was someone from Kerala. A Malayalee from Cochin. Most surprisingly, Mattancherry! A first novel in English by a Malayalee in Mattancherry is indeed a thing to cherish! I had never heard of this book or the author before. Nor have I met anyone who made the slightest remark about him or his book. And not even a single entry in google search for the title of the book, Tragedy of the Mannequins, until a couple of entries were made by myself in Bookcrossing and Shelfari! Has anyone heard about this book or its author? Very curious :)

Was this book never published? Was it just a proof copy from the press after which the author dropped the plans of publishing it? It is a possibility as there are so many errors, typographical and otherwise. Basic mistakes in the usage of language and spelling errors are so many. Perhaps this was just a draft. In a few places, the language appeared to be a bit poor. If this has been already published, it must have utterly failed and forgotten thanks to these drawbacks. But mostly it displayed a very brilliant expression of language and an admirably flowing vocabulary. Was a ghost-writer involved? Is the excellence found in parts to be attributed to them and the poor portions to a crude framework created by the author on which the former worked? The printing, paper quality and the cover art maintain high standards. The novel itself is, no doubt, a great work of art. If only some technical aspects had been taken care of!

The plot is entirely gripping. This is one of the books that captivates the reader's attention totally. And the pages flip so fast. You just can't afford to toss the book aside and get occupied with something else without having the magical influence of the pages read to that point pulling you back to it harder and harder. My appeal to the author is if only he could make a re-examination of the book and make the necessary minor alterations and modifications, a little touching up, or even a tiny bit of remodelling here and there and remove the detrimental, unfavourable elements (which, I must say, are not so much in the impact they make on the work as a whole as they are in their number), and ultimately hand it over to some people who know how to successfully market a good book, because I have no doubt the book is on par with, or even above par of many of the books that have been labelled international bestsellers today.

The plot tells the story of Asokan who rejects the Gandhian doctrines infused in him by his Gandhian father from his very childhood and goes on to live his life according to his own urges and instincts, backed by the advices by his mother, and not for any ism or ideology. To my sheer joy, the entire length of the narration is interspersed heavily and colourfully with mentions of and references to numerous books, and characters and anecdotes from them, diverse personalities and ideologies and discussions of matters related to culture, literature, arts and history. The perfection in the moulding of the characters and the shrewdness in the design with which they are made to interact with each other contribute wonderfully to the success of the plot. The portrayal of Asokan, Elizabeth Domanic, Aysha(who reminded me of a certain Malayalam blogger and got me thinking if it is really her and if the author has any relation with her), Gopi and others is unforgettably vivid. Gandhi himself, in a way, has an indispensable role to play in the book. If at all I have any problem with the plot and the craft of the protagonists, it is the way he made Asokan appear to be. I doubt if the author has really fully succeeded in making the reader see Asokan the same way he wants to see him himself and wants the readers to see. The narrator of the story finds Asokan's character so praiseworthy and inspiring that he goes on to take pains in getting a posthumous biographical novel of him published and an award instituted in his name to be given away to the best students in the university Asokan studied in. But I couldn't find Asokan as much admirable as the narrator/author seems to want him to be.

Nevertheless, I truly loved reading this book! And it is one of those books I would love to read again.

Eleven Minutes

2009-04-21T22:52:00.000+04:00

Book title: Eleven Minutes
Author: Paulo Coelho

Publ: Harper Torch
ISBN: 0-06-072675-X

In 2002, the author Paulo Coelho met an old gentleman in his seventies with his wife and granddaughter at the Grotto in Lourdes, in France. The man embraced him and told about the importance of his books in his life. They made him dream. The words frightened the author because he knew that his upcoming novel Eleven Minutes dealt with a subject that was harsh, difficult, shocking. But however, Coelho has dedicated this novel Eleven Minutes to that old gentleman, Maurice Gravelines with these words:

"I have a duty to you, your wife and grand-daughter and to myself to talk about the things that concern me and not only about what everyone would like to hear. Some books make us dream, others bring us face to face with reality, but what matters most to the author is the honesty with which a book is written."

And now, after finishing reading this book, I'm convinced he has kept his word. He has indeed been totally honest in the process of writing this book.

He sets his protagonist Maria on the hard journey that ultimately helps her in discovering, and those among us who have not yet recognised recognise, the sacredness in what is known as 'sex' and to ponder on why it must always invariably be profane, taboo. This book is about desire, freedom, love, sex..

The author has littered (to my utmost delight:) ) all over the book with lines I would simply love to quote in as many places as possible. As one of my old for-a-short-while friends cum compulsive quote freak (like me :p) Bassem Sabry who used to write in Teenstuff says, quotations are nothing but our own views put in words by others in a far better and more beautiful way. Yeah, I am amazed how totally in tune I had been with the author throughout the book!

I don't think anyone can write a book as this in a subtler way. It's so fully pregnant with poetry. See how he starts the book:

"Once upon a time, there was a prostitute called Maria. Wait a minute. 'Once upon a time' is how all the best children's stories begin and 'prostitute' is a word for adults. How can I
start a book with this apparent contradiction? But since, at every moment of our lives, we
all have one foot in a fairy tale and the other in the abyss, let's keep that beginning.

Once upon a time, there was a prostitute called Maria."

..

Courtesy: solskinn who made a bookring of this

a caged bird..

2009-04-21T22:39:00.000+04:00

"Once upon a time, there was a bird. He was adorned with two perfect wings and with glossy, colourful, marvellous feathers. In short, he was a creature made to fly about freely in the sky, bringing joy to everyone who saw him.
One day, a woman saw this bird and fell in love with him. She watched his flight, her
mouth wide in amazement, her heart pounding, her eyes shining with excitement. She invited the bird to fly with her, and the two travelled across the sky in perfect harmony. She admired and venerated and celebrated that bird.
But then she thought: He might want to visit far-off mountains! And she was afraid, afraid that she would never feel the same way about any other bird. And she felt envy, envy for the bird's ability to fly.
And she felt alone.
And she thought: 'I'm going to set a trap. The next time the bird appears, he will never leave again.'
The bird, who was also in love, returned the following day, fell into the trap and was put in a cage.
She looked at the bird every day. There he was, the object of her passion, and she showed him to her friends, who said: 'Now you have everything you could possibly want.' However, a strange transformation began to take place: now that she had the bird and no
longer needed to woo him, she began to lose interest. The bird, unable to fly and express the true meaning of his life, began to waste away and his feathers to lose their gloss; he grew ugly; and the woman no longer paid him any attention, except by feeding him and cleaning out his cage.
One day, the bird died. The woman felt terribly sad and spent all her time thinking about him. But she did not remember the cage, she thought only of the day when she had seen him for the first time, flying contentedly amongst the clouds.
If she had looked more deeply into herself, she would have realised that what had thrilled
her about the bird was his freedom, the energy of his wings in motion, not his physical body."

- Eleven Minutes

A different business..

2009-04-17T16:30:00.000+04:00

"
'Prostitution isn't like other businesses: beginners earn more and the more experienced
earn less. Always pretend you're a beginner.'
"

- Eleven Minutes

The Bookseller of Kabul

2009-04-09T23:44:00.000+04:00

Title: The Bookseller of Kabul

Author: Asne Seierstad

Publ: Virago - 2004

ISBN: 1 84408 047 1

It was a bit of a dragging read, but I managed to finish it. I don't think this is a great book. The author tells us the story of an Afghan family at the time of the Taliban regime and afterwards. She narrates incidents from this family consisting of many members, and through them tries to give us a picture of the Afghan society of the time. But I think she has been successful in neither. Neither could she weave up an interesting story out of the plot, nor show us enough of the Taliban influenced nation. Both lack depth. The account of the happenings of Sultan Khan's family has nothing in it that makes it an artistic creation of fiction. It's nothing more than a dull, monotonous report. And as she had to concentrate on the affairs of the family, she couldn't give us much of the real society shattered by the Taleban.

I guess most of the readers who say it's a fantastic book are westerners. And the reason must be their introduction to something from the culture of the East that sounds strange and fascinating in some way as it is all different from their own. This is the same thing I felt about The Memoirs of a Geisha. But I think that that book was a bit better than this as it could claim a bit more depth to its overall content.

Courtesy: katrinat who made a bookring of this.

Abu Dhabi International Book-Fair- 2009

2009-04-08T01:04:00.000+04:00

The Abu Dhabi International Book-Fair- 2009 March was more than a bookfair.
A few pictures from the fair:

A section of German books

The DC Books stall for Malayalam books

A Chat with the Arabic writer Hoda Barakat

Fusion.... Renowned German pianist Laura Feldmann plays the piano to the recitation of a poem by the Arabic poet Mohammed Khalifa

Kids' fun corner. A quiz is going on for kids. A good company with the jovial quizmaster

Algerian- French writer Assia Djebar with French Professor Richard Sieburth

The traditional tents arranged by The Emirates Heritage Club

Idrees from Madhya Pradesh in the Indian stall of Goodword Books. This picture was made on his request (I've already sent by post to his Madhya Pradesh address three copies of this printed)

A French stall from the Antiquarian section of the book-fair. They specialize in rare and old maps, atlases and the like

Yet another stall belonging to the Antiquarian display of very old editions

An old manuscript in Arabic

Yet another attraction... Stone Books!! Stone sculptured in the shape of books. An item to adorn your living room with

Existence is abundant..

2009-03-11T23:03:00.000+04:00

"Existence is abundant - millions and millions of flowers, millions of birds, millions of animals — everything in abundance. Nature is not ascetic, it is everywhere dancing — in the ocean, in the trees. It is everywhere singing — in the wind passing through the pine trees, in the birds....
What is the need of millions of solar systems, each solar system having millions of stars?
There seems to be no need, except that abundance is the very nature of existence;
that richness is the very core; that existence does not believe in poverty."

- Osho

A memorable evening!

2009-03-07T22:32:00.000+04:00

March 3, 2009; Abu Dhabi Centre for Culture & Heritage:

I saw her through the space between the banister and the ceiling. I was lingering somewhere half way up the flight of stairs savouring the sweet flow of music from the live piano played at the entrance of the open restaurant upstairs. And the ambience of the interior of The Abu Dhabi Cultural and Heritage centre lit up by the dim yellow lights made the evening all too special. She wasn't anywhere to be seen five minutes before. Now she was there surrounded by not more than a dozen of people. No big crowd save the people, mostly westerners, lingering in the corners only a stone's throw away, seemingly hesitant to come too close, and reluctant to go too far, forming small groups of informal discussions, yet making sure that she was in the field of view. In short, she was totally Accessible. I'm talking about Mira Nair. Yeah, the highly accomplished film-maker of our time who made masterpieces like Salaam Bombay and Mississippi masala, and of course, Kamasutra: A tale of love (this last one was meant for those folks who know her only linked to that title :) )

She was there in the open, available, smiling, humble, welcoming, and not too much people were there to create any sort of inconvenience. I suppose they didn't make an entry of the programme in their pre-published schedule. Perhaps it was all an arrangement at the last moment. And that's how she was so freely available and I, along with my friend, could manage to get her autograph and even exchange a couple of words. She wrote 'Salaam!' and signed on the pamphlet of the movie Salaam Bombay which was to be screened a few minutes later in The Dhafra Auditorium of the cultural centre. (see the pic below which was clicked by my friend's wife. Doesn't she deserve The Best Photographer award?!! Anyway it's good that my face is blurred; Ain't I an anonymous blogger? :) )

It's me talking to her!! The one in the middle looking on in the blue t-shirt is my friend

The pamphlet with her autograph

There was a few minutes speech by her just before the movie started. Her voice was crystal clear as much as her ideas were. Her speech was too brief and yet she succeeded in making the points she intended to make. This was a woman who was so damn clear about what she wanted to speak as well as what she wanted to do. And that was something that was too conspicuous to be overlooked even when earlier I watched one of her movies seriously for the first time. Let me quote myself from an earlier post of mine about her film Mississippi masala: "She is so clear in her work.. nothing more, nothing less.. nothing overdone, nothing underdone.. right up to the mark. great!"

After the screening of the movie Salaam Bombay, the mother of all sorts of Slumdog Millionaires, there was a Q&A session for a short while. She made it clear in her talk that she didn't believe in wasting her time unless she was able to create something worthwhile out of it, as she was a person of family and many other preoccupations and she was accountable for the time she was absent from those engagements.

That was one of the most cherishable evenings! A big fat thanks to ADACH!!

S.A.W Jan-Feb 2009

2009-03-04T20:37:00.000+04:00

Received Jan-Feb 2009 free issue of Saudi Aramco World. Thanks S.A.W.!

നൊറീൻ..

2009-02-28T03:31:00.000+04:00

(സമയം: കഴിഞ്ഞയാഴ്ച)

നൊറീൻ!.. അവളുടെ ചുണ്ടുകളുടെ മാധുര്യം... മാറിടത്തിന്റെ മാർദ്ദവത... ഒരുനിമിഷം കൊണ്ട്‌ എല്ലാം പോയി.. ഞാൻ അവളെ ചുംബിക്കുകയായിരുന്നു.. അവളെ കെട്ടിപ്പുണർന്ന്‌ കിടക്കുകയായിരുന്നു.. അവളുടെ മാറിലൂടെ കൈവിരലുകൾ ഓടിക്കുകയായിരുന്നു.. ഇരുൾ നിറഞ്ഞ മുറിയിൽ അവൾ അപ്പുറത്തെ കട്ടിലിൽ കിടക്കുന്നത്‌ പെട്ടെന്നാണ്‌ ഞാൻ കണ്ടത്‌. എത്രവർഷങ്ങൾക്കുശേഷമാണ്‌ അവളെ കാണുന്നത്‌. ഒന്നും ആലോചിച്ചില്ല. എന്റെ കട്ടിലിൽനിന്നെണീറ്റ്‌ അവളുടെ കട്ടിലിൽ അവളോട്‌ ചേർന്നുകിടന്നു.

വർഷങ്ങൾക്കുമുൻപ്‌ അവളുടെ ജന്മദിനത്തിൽ സമ്മാനമായി ഞാൻ കൊടുത്തത്‌ ഒരു കാമറയായിരുന്നു-Yashica. വളരെ രഹസ്യമായിട്ടായിരുന്നു അത്‌ ഞാൻ കൊടുത്തത്‌. വളരെ രഹസ്യമായിരുന്നു ഞങ്ങളുടെ പ്രണയം. പക്ഷെ അവൾ room mate-നോട്‌ അത്‌ പറഞ്ഞു. അവളുടെ room mate സ്ഥലത്തെ പ്രധാന വായാടിയായിരുന്നു. എല്ലാവരും അറിഞ്ഞു. എന്നെ ആളുകൾ വിളിക്കാൻ തുടങ്ങി.. Mr. Yashica! Cafeteriaയിൽവെച്ച്‌ കാണുമ്പോൾ അവൾ വിളിക്കുമായിരുന്നു .."Hi handsome boy!..". ഞാൻ മറുപടി പറയുമായിരുന്നു: "Hi beautiful girl!.." അങ്ങനെയായിരുന്നു അത്‌ തുടങ്ങിയത്‌..

അവളുടെ rose ചുണ്ടുകളിൽ ഞാൻ മെല്ലെ ചുംബിച്ചു. പൊടുന്നനെ എന്നെ സ്വാഗതം ചെയ്യുന്നതുപോലെ അവളുടെ വായ വിടർന്നു. അവളുടെ ചുണ്ടുകൾ എന്റെ ചുണ്ടുകളിലായി. അവളുടെ വായ്‌ എന്റെ വായിലും. ക്ഷമയില്ലാത്ത രീതിയിൽ ഞാൻ അവളുടെയും അവൾ എന്റെയും ചുണ്ടുകളും നാവും നുകർന്നു. ഇടക്കെപ്പോഴോ എന്റെ കൈകളുടെ ഒരു ചെറിയ ചലനം കൊണ്ടുതന്നെ അവളുടെ ഷർട്ടിന്റെ മുകളിലത്തെ ബട്ടണുകളെല്ലാം തുറന്നിരുന്നു. അവളുടെ ബ്രായും എങ്ങനെയോ ഊർന്നുപോയി. ഡ്യൂട്ടിസമയത്തെ വെള്ളഷർട്ടുതന്നെയാണ്‌ അവൾ ധരിച്ചിരുന്നത്‌. വെള്ള പാന്റ്സും. വസ്ത്രമണിഞ്ഞ്‌ കാണുന്നതിൽനിന്നും അൽപം മുഴപ്പ്‌ കുറഞ്ഞ്‌ കുട്ടികളുടേതുപോലെ നിഷ്കളങ്കത്വം നിറഞ്ഞ മൃദുവായ മാറിടം. ചെറിയ, ഇരുണ്ടനിറത്തിലുള്ള nipples ആയിരുന്നുവെന്ന്‌ അപ്പോഴാണ്‌ ഞാൻ ആദ്യമായി കണ്ടത്‌. കാരണം മുൻപൊരിക്കലും ഞാൻ അവളോടൊപ്പം കിടന്നിട്ടില്ലായിരുന്നു. മുത്തവ്വമാർ അവളുടെയും എന്റെയും ഇടയിൽ തടസ്സമായി നിന്നു. ഇപ്പോൾ ആദ്യമായി ഞാൻ സ്നേഹിക്കുകയും എന്നെ സ്നേഹിക്കുകയും ചെയ്യുന്ന പെണ്ണിന്റെകൂടെ ഞാനിതാ ഒട്ടിക്കിടക്കുന്നു! ഞാൻ സ്നേഹിക്കുകയും എന്നെ സ്നേഹിക്കുകയും ചെയ്യുന്ന പെണ്ണിന്റെകൂടെ മാത്രമേ കിടക്കൂ എന്ന വാശിയായിരുന്നു.

ലൈംഗികത സ്നേഹത്തിന്റെ extension ആണ്‌, ആയിരിക്കണം എന്നാണ്‌ എന്റെ സിദ്ധാന്തം. അതെത്ര പൊട്ടസിദ്ധാന്തമായാലും അതിനോട്‌ ഞാൻ എന്നും ഒട്ടിനിന്നു, ഒട്ടിനിൽക്കുന്നു. ആത്മാർത്ഥമായി സ്നേഹിക്കുന്നവരുടെ ഹൃദയങ്ങളിലെ സ്നേഹം നിറഞ്ഞുകവിയുമ്പോൾ സംഭവിക്കുന്നതാണ്‌ സെക്സ്‌ എന്നാണ്‌ എന്റെ വിശ്വാസം. ആ വിശ്വാസം ഞാൻ ഇഷ്ടപ്പെടുന്നു. എന്റെകൂടെ കിടക്കാനാഗ്രഹിച്ച മിക്കവരെയും ഞാൻ സ്നേഹിച്ചിരുന്നില്ല. ആത്മാർത്ഥമായി സ്നേഹിച്ചിരുന്നവരുമായി കിടക്കാൻ കഴിഞ്ഞതുമില്ല. ആത്മാർത്ഥമായി സ്നേഹിച്ചിരുന്നവരോട്‌ പോലും കൂടുതലും നിഷ്കളങ്കളമായ ശുദ്ധസ്നേഹമായിരുന്നു. അവർ സ്പർശിച്ചപ്പോഴും അവരെ സ്പർശിച്ചപ്പോഴും അതൊക്കെ തീരെ കറയില്ലാത്ത, കുട്ടികളുടേതുപോലത്തെ ചേഷ്ടകൾ പോലെ മാത്രം അനുഭവപ്പെട്ടു. ലൈംഗികതയുടെ കറപുരട്ടി ആ അനുഭൂതി നഷ്ടപ്പെടുത്താൻ ആഗ്രഹിച്ചില്ല. പിന്നെ സ്നേഹം കവിഞ്ഞപ്പോൾ അത്‌ വേണമെന്ന് തോന്നിയപ്പോൾ സ്ഥലകാലങ്ങൾ വിലങ്ങുതടിയായി. രേഷ്‌മ കാമപരവശയായി വന്നപ്പോൾ സൗകര്യമൊരുക്കാൻ എനിക്ക്‌ കഴിഞ്ഞില്ല. ജീലുവിന്‌ മതമായിരുന്നു പ്രശ്നം. റാബിയയുമായുള്ള ബന്ധമോ, മുഴുവൻ ഓൺലൈൻ മാത്രമായി ഒതുങ്ങി. സിൻസിയാകട്ടെ എനിക്കുതന്ന സൂചനകൾ വർഷങ്ങൾ എടുത്തു എനിക്ക്‌ മനസ്സിലാകാൻ. അപ്പോഴേക്കും അവൾ വളരെ ദൂരെ പൊയ്ക്കഴിഞ്ഞിരുന്നു. ഇപ്പോഴിതാ ആദ്യമായി എന്റെ പെണ്ണിന്റെകൂടെ ഞാൻ കിടക്കുകയാണ്‌..

അനുഭൂതികളുടെ ആഴങ്ങളിൽ ഞാൻ, അവളും , ആണ്ടാണ്ടുപോയി. എപ്പോഴോ എന്റെ നാവ്‌ അവൾ അവളുടെ പല്ലുകൾ കൊണ്ട്‌ മെല്ലെ കടിച്ചുപിടിച്ചു. പെട്ടെന്ന്‌ ഞാൻ ശ്രദ്ധിച്ചു, മുറിയുടെ വാതിൽ അടച്ചിട്ടില്ല. ചാരി വെച്ചിട്ടേയുള്ളൂ. അതിന്റെ വിടവിലൂടെ പുറത്തെ വെളിച്ചം കാണാം. ആരെങ്കിലും കടന്നുവന്നാൽ എല്ലാം ഒരുനിമിഷം കൊണ്ടില്ലാതാകും. വർഷങ്ങളോളം ആഗ്രഹിച്ച അപൂർവ്വനിമിഷങ്ങൾ. അത്‌ നഷ്ടപ്പെടുത്താൻ വയ്യ. അത്രയ്ക്ക്‌ മാധുര്യം നിറഞ്ഞ അനുഭൂതിയുടെ കരങ്ങളിലാണ്‌ ഞാൻ അമർന്നുകിടന്നിരുന്നത്‌. കതകടക്കുന്നതിനുവേണ്ടി അവളോട്‌ ഒരു മിനിറ്റ്‌ എന്നുപറഞ്ഞ്‌ അവളുടെ പല്ലുകൾക്കിടയിൽനിന്ന്‌ നാവ്‌ വലിച്ച്‌ ഞാൻ എഴുന്നേറ്റു. അടക്കാനായി കതകിൽ കൈവെച്ചപ്പോഴേക്കും മൊബൈൽ ശബ്ദിച്ചു. എടുത്തുനോക്കിയപ്പോൾ തോമസാണ്‌.

തോമസ്‌ പറഞ്ഞു: "ഭായ്‌, ഞാൻ അൽനൂർ ഹോസ്പിറ്റലിൽ വന്നതാണ്‌. വണ്ടിയിലാണ്‌".

തബൂക്കിൽനിന്ന്‌ അബൂദബി വരെ ആംബുലൻസിൽ വന്നുവേന്നോ???

സൗദിയിലെ ഹോസ്പിറ്റലിൽ ആംബുലൻസ്‌ ഡ്രൈവറാണ്‌ തോമസ്‌!

"ഭായിയുടെയങ്ങോട്ട്‌ വരുകയാണ്‌ ഞാൻ".

ങേ!!

-- സാരമില്ല. പ്രിയപ്പെട്ട സ്നേഹിതൻ തോമസ്‌. തോമസ്‌ അറിയുന്നില്ലല്ലോ എന്റെ ജീവിതത്തിലെ എത്ര പ്രധാനപ്പെട്ട കാര്യത്തിനാണ്‌ തടസം നേരിടുന്നതെന്ന്‌. മൊബൈൽ വെച്ചു. ഏതായാലും അരമണിക്കൂറെങ്കിലും എടുക്കുമല്ലോ ഇവിടെയെത്താൻ. അതുവരെ നൊറീന്റെ ദേഹത്തിന്റെ ചൂടേറ്റു കിടക്കാം. കതക്‌ ചാരിക്കൊണ്ട്‌ മുറിക്കുള്ളിലേക്ക്‌ നോക്കി. ഇരുട്ട്‌ മൂലം ഒന്നും കാണുന്നില്ല. ഞാൻ കണ്ണുമിഴിച്ചുനോക്കി. ഒന്നും കാണുന്നില്ല. പിന്നെ കണ്ണ്‌ തുറന്നു നോക്കി. ചുറ്റും നോക്കി. ആരുമില്ല. ഞാൻ മാത്രമുണ്ട്‌. കിടക്കുകയാണ്‌ ഒറ്റക്ക്‌. അബൂദബിയിലല്ല, കേരളത്തിൽ വീട്ടിലെ മുറിയിൽ. അപ്പോൾ നൊറീനെ കണ്ടത്‌..? അവളോടൊപ്പം കിടന്നത്‌...? അവളുടെ rose lips..? soft ആയ അവളുടെ മാറിടം..? സ്നേഹിക്കുന്നവളുടെകൂടെ ആദ്യമായി കിടന്നത്‌..?....

എനിക്കറിയാമായിരുന്നു.. തബൂക്കിൽ നിന്ന്‌ ആംബുലൻസിൽ തോമസ്‌ അല്ല, ആരും വരില്ല അബൂദബിവരെ. അബൂദബിയിൽ ഞാൻ നൊറീനൊപ്പം കിടക്കുക കേരളത്തിലെ ജപ്തിചെയ്തുപോയ തറവാട്ടുവീട്ടിലെ ഇരുൾമുറിയിലായിരിക്കുകയുമില്ല...

എനിക്ക്‌ എന്നെയോർത്ത്‌ വിഷമം തോന്നി...

Fort Cochin

2009-02-03T22:02:00.000+04:00

A walk to remember..

Colours..

The Cochin Club

പൂക്കളം !

Tower road (front of Koder house)

നങ്കൂരം!

"Yeah yeah.. here! it's here..! "

ഇരുവർ

കാവലാൾ

സഞ്ചാരം

Friends..

A fisherman with his boat

Tons.. Tons... Tons....!

Chinese fishing nets

Bishop's Garden, Fort Cochin

Peter Celli street, Fort Cochin

The cute little bridge joining the red Koder House with Hotel Grande Residencia

Koder House and Hotel Old Harbour

Lying in wait...

"Let's make our nets ready.."

A Chinese fishing net

Greenery by the Fort Cochin shore

Bastion Bungalow

"ഒരു നല്ല കോളു താ കടലമ്മേ ! .."

Mississippi masala

2008-12-25T21:03:00.000+04:00

This is not so much a film review as a tiny attempt of mine to express my happiness in being fortunate in having such a sweet viewing experience as well as to shout out to all those movie-loving people who, despite being aware of the existence and importance of this movie have been keeping postponing watching it to tomorrow that never came: "Stop delaying anymore.. enough! go watch this movie..today.. now! enough procrastinating!!" as well as to spread the word among those who are not aware of the beauty and value of this movie or even its existence but may watch it and thus be saved from missing such a delicious treat for the eyes and heart when I tell them just because they relate to me in some way, just because their tastes rhyme with mine. People who are really interested can go here for a simple and brief review of the movie which gives a clear idea of the plot too.

Even at the beginning of it, I knew I was going to love this movie like crazy, just for its cinematography, if not for anything else. Such charming colours, captivating views!.. But I was mistaken. I didn't have to be only gratified with its cinematography. There was a huge bonus awaiting. I loved everything about the movie. I have started admiring Mira Nair. I have her Monsoon wedding and Salaam Bombay waiting to be watched. I would say students of film must learn direction from such movies as this. She is so clear in her work.. nothing more, nothing less.. nothing overdone, nothing underdone.. right up to the mark. Great!

It's about passion; and the values of tradition, as is obvious from the tagline. And of course what emerges when these get mixed up.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. Really love it! I still have a copy of the movie on my system. Don't want to delete it. It has entered my favourites list.. I recommend this to all movie-buffs who have not found time to watch it yet. I know it's too late already!!!

True love...

2008-12-19T12:38:00.000+04:00

"I am so terrified of true love I married someone else"

(from a postcard on Postsecret )

Saudi Aramco World Nov/Dec 2008

2008-12-15T22:24:00.000+04:00

Received today the Nov/Dec edition of Saudi Aramco World.
Thanks S.A.W.!

Go here for your free subscription.

കുഞ്ഞമ്മദിന്റെ ബലിപെരുന്നാൾ പോസ്റ്റിനുള്ള കമന്റ്‌

2008-12-13T22:46:00.000+04:00

കുഞ്ഞമ്മദിന്റെ ബലിപെരുന്നാൾ പോസ്റ്റിന്‌ ഞാനിട്ട കമന്റ്‌ blog owner approval പാസായില്ല എന്നു തോന്നുന്നു. അതുകൊണ്ട്‌ ഇവിടെ ഇടുന്നു:

" "ഖലീലിബ്രാഹീമിന്‍ ത്യാഗത്തിന്‍ സ്മരണയുമായ്..."
വല്ലവന്റെയും കഴുത്തിൽ (അതു സ്വന്തം മകനാണെങ്കിൽപോലും) കത്തിവെക്കുന്നതാണോ ഇത്ര വലിയ ത്യാഗം. എട്ടും പൊട്ടും തിരിയാത്ത മകനെ വിട്ടേക്കൂ, അവനുപകരം എന്റെ ജീവനെടുത്തോളൂ എന്നും പറഞ്ഞ്‌ ഇബ്രാഹീം സ്വന്തം കഴുത്തിന്‌ കത്തിവെച്ചിരുന്നെങ്കിൽ അത്‌ വലിയ ത്യാഗമായി കണക്കാമായിരുന്നു."

The dirt (adult content)

2008-11-08T04:27:00.003+04:00

ബോംബെയിലെ ദു:ഖിപ്പിക്കുന്ന അഴുക്ക്‌. email-ൽ വന്ന ചില ചിത്രങ്ങൾ:

foolish...

2008-11-06T19:06:00.000+04:00

"We offered the trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they refused to carry it and were afraid of it; and man carried it. Surely he is sinful, very foolish."

-(quoted in Discourses of Rumi)