Wednesday, October 6, 2010

From Shantaram, the novel.

This is a part of the conversation which Prabhu has with a Village bus conductor about the white man Lin before they (Prabhu and Lin) could board the bus in the village:

Bus conductor:
Whats he doing here?
Prabhu:
He is visiting my family

Where's he from?
New Zealand

New Zealand ?
Yes. New Zealand. In Europe.

Plenty of money in New Zealand?
Yes. Yes. Plenty. They are all rich, white people over there.

Does he speak Marathi ?
No.

Hindi?
No.Only English.

Only English?
Yes

Why?
They don't speak Hindi in his country.

They don't speak Hindi there?
No.

No Marathi? No Hindi?
No.Only English.

Holy Father! the poor fool.
Yes.

How Old is he?
Thirty.

He looks older.
They all do. All the Europeans look older and angrier than they really are. It's a white thing.

Is he married?
No.

Not married. Thirty and not married. Whats wrong with him?
He is European. A lot of them get married when they get old.

Thats Crazy.
Yes

What job does he do?
He is a teacher.

A teacher is good.
Yes

Does he have a mother and a father?
Yes

Where are they?
In his native place. New Zealand.

Why isn't he with them?
He is travelling. he is looking at the whole world.

Why?
Europeans do that.They work for a while, and then they travel around, lonely for a while,with no family, until they get old,and then they get married,and become very serious.

That's crazy
Yes.

He must be lonely,without his mummy and his daddy,and with no wife and children.
Yes but the Europeans don't mind. they get a lot of practice being lonely.

He has a big strong body.
Yes

A very strong body.
Yes

Make sure you feed him properly and give him plenty of milk.
Yes

Buffalo milk
Yes. Yes


Wednesday, September 29, 2010

SEDATION

Madness is a country
Just around the corner
Whose shores are never lit
But if you go there
Ferried by despair
The sentries would ask you to strip
At first the clothes,then the flesh
And later of course your bones
Their only rule is freedom
Why, they even eat bits of your soul
When in hunger,
But when you reach that shore
That unlit shore
Do not return, please do not return... 

                             - Kamala Das

Monday, June 14, 2010

DIVINE IMAGE

(A Poem by BLAKE)

Cruelty has a human heart,
And Jealousy a human face;
Terror the human form divine,
And secrecy the human dress.
The human dress is forged iron,
The human form a fiery forge,
The human face a furnace seal'd,
The human heart its hungry gorge.