There's Always Gonna Be Another Mountain

Hannah Montana aka Miley Cyrus is not supposed to be for me-kinds. More for the teeny boppers. I refuse to count the years I am past that stage...but before I start hyperventilating..shush.

Back to Hannah Montana. While in conversation with a friend, we were discussing my career or lack of it. I mentioned that I wanted to move on to more challenging opportunities. I love what I do but everyday now seemed like a 'been there done that' kind of day.

Friend: "You are looking for another mountain."
Me: What mountain?
Friend: You should listen to this song that has been playing on all the radio stations. Called "The Climb".

Me and google met (I like to think we are made for each other).

Me: Did you know this is a Hannah Montana song??
Friend: Really? Doesn't sound like her kind of song.
Me: Exactly. This is great. I can totally understand Sheryl Crow singing this. But Hannah Montana? Wow!

Since that day I have been listening to this song and passing it along.

I absolutely love the richness of meaning in the melody. I could frame the lyrics and pin it up on a wall.

Since that day, this has been like an anthem. I never thought of myself in the same mold as a 'climber' - which got me thinking. For me, it has always been more about the journey than the destination. The quest, more than than the achievement. A sudden realization. An Epiphany.

Trust me, I listened to lots of other Miley Cyrus songs. I did not find any that appealed to me the way this song did.

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb

Cannot seem to get enough of this song - and that is a good thing.

Ji Chahe

Ji Chahe
(from Raqs-e-Bismil – Dance of the Wounded)
Lyrics: Hazrat Shah Niaz, Baba Zaheen Shah Taji
Composed by: Muzaffar Ali
Singer: Abida Parveen

Ghazal literally means talking to a woman. It means conversing with the beloved. Broadly speaking, Sufism equates God as the Beloved. Sufi poetry has references to common mortals in love with beloved God. In search of God. In search of their beloved.

Ji Chahe is a beautiful ghazal rendered even more beautifully and soulfully by Abida Parveen – the voice of Sufism. The Holi poem that precedes the ghazal is written by Hazrat Shah Niaz. The ghazal is by Baba Zaheen Shah Taji. The Holi poem seems to be in a UP dialect – I am guessing UP since Niaz hails from UP.

Dance of the Wounded – wounded in search for their beloved? Being wounded can’t be all that bad if one can dance in ecstasy.

"Horih hoye rahi hai
Ahmad jiyo ke dwar

Hazrat Ali ka raang bano hai
Hasan Husain khilar

Aiyso hori ke dhum machi hai
chahun or pari hai pukaa

Aiyso anokho chatur khiladi
raang dinyon sansar

Niaz pyara bhar bhar chidke
ek hi raang sahas pichkar"
- Hazrat Shah Niaz

This poem can be interpreted as the festival Holi being played in the courtyard of Ahmed’s house. Ahmed is another name for Mohammed. Hazrat Ali is a sufi preacher/ possibly, a figure of some prominence. Hassan and Hussein are grandsons of Prophet Mohammed. So this couplet can be interpreted as: Hasan's and Husein's antics/play have colored Hazrat Ali's devotion/sufism. Hazrat Shah has included his signature, "Niaz", in the final couplet – his takhallus. So Niaz pyara is one who is dear to Niaz, in other words - God. God has filled his pichkari with color – the color of devotion and with this he is coloring the world in abandon.

Ji chahe to sheesha ban ja, ji chahe paimana ban ja
Sheesha paimana kya banna, mai ban ja maikhana ban ja..
If you wish, become the glass, or the chalice
But why choose those when you can become the wine and the tavern

Mai ban kar, maikhana ban kar masti ka afsana ban ja
Masti ka afsana bankar hasti se begaana ban ja
By becoming the wine and the tavern, become the tale of intoxication
By becoming the tale of intoxication, become a stranger to life
(interpretation: lose yourself in the lust of devotion)

Hasti se bagaana hona masti ka afsana banna
Is hone se is banne se achha hai deewana ban ja
Becoming a tale, becoming a stranger to being,
Better than these, however, is to become a madman.
(interpretation: become madly in love with God)

Deewana ban jane se deewana hona achha hai
deewana hone se achha, khak e dar e jaanana ban ja
Better than becoming a madman is to be a madman
Better than being a madman is to become dust at the door of a beloved

Khak e dar e jaanana kya hai, ahle dil ki annkh ka surma
Shama ke dil ki thandak ban ja, noor e dil e parwana ban ja
What is dust, but kohl in the eyes of the people of the heart
Become the coolness at the heart of a candle, become the light at the heart of a moth
(interpretation: illuminate the heart of the seeker of God)

Seekh Zaheen ke dil se jalna, kahe ko har shamma par jalna
Apni aag mein khud jal jaye, tu aisa parwana ban ja
Learn, Zaheen (Intelligent One - takhallus) to burn from the heart,
Why burn for every flame.
Become that moth that burns in its own fire
(interpretation: burn in your own internal flame, be directed by your inner self. Do not be disturbed by the worries around you)

P.S. I wish to acknowledge 'carvaka' for starting the dance.

You can listen to the ghazal here.

Nostalgia trip, through the waves

When I turned the online Hindi radio to the oldies channel, rest assured, I did not know I was setting myself up for a trip down nostalgia lane.

At that moment I was not thinking about any trip. All I wanted was some background music while I cooked in the kitchen. I was going in and out of the fridge, pantry and freezer, trying to figure out what I could possibly scrounge up for dinner when all I had were tomatoes, onions, potatoes and a variety of dried legumes and pulses. Maybe I was looking for some inspiration in the music! Anyway, that is the story of my life - more about that later.

As the scrounging was happening, Asha, Rafi, Lata and Kishore were singing to me.

saare zamaane se, mausam suhane se, is dil deewane se, veerani si chaayi, aap aaye bahaar aayi

hai apna dil to awaara, na jaane kispe aayega

yeh shaam ki tanhaiyan, aise me tera gham

ude jab jab zulfein teri, ude jab jab zulfein teri

I felt a jerk in my mind and instantaneously, I was taken to the streets of Delhi. I started thinking about these songs playing on our radio at home. On that one channel on TV, good ole Doordarshan, and the one and only song program, good ole Chitrahaar.

Sitting in the living room and watching the songs play on TV.

Listening to the songs playing on Vividh Bharati.

The balcony with the pigeons.

Taking the lift down and walking to the bus stop, with my sisters, at 7 in the morning and waiting for the school bus. Waving to my parents before I went out of view on my way to the bus stop. Always finding one of them there, waving back.

Wearing white uniform on Saturdays.

Coming home after a long day at school. Drinking a glass of cold milk.

The kitchen. My mother making rotis for dinner.

I felt an amazing sense of nostalgia and wanted to go back to the pure, simple days of childhood. One song took me back years. It wasn’t about that particular song.

It was the realization that I may never know what might trigger a response that will take me back decades. I do not know now and I will not know ten years from now.

aaj purani raahon se, koi mujhe aawaz na de

dard me doobe geet na de, gham ka sisakta saaz na de