Dilip Simeon's blog

Back in the 14th century, Sant Soyarabai was writing and  singing  abhangs about Vitthal, her god whom she could not visit in a temple because of her Dalit identity. Her abhangs were not just proclamations of her predilections towards god, they were also lessons in understanding caste hierarchy and the pain that was caused by untouchability and Brahminical systems. S Anand, co-founder of Delhi-based publishing house Navayana and author, came across Soyarabai through T he Ant Who Swallowed the Sun , a book by musician Neela Bhagwat and author Jerry Pinto, which translates and explains  poetry  by 10 women saints of Maharashtra from the Bhakti movement.  Kiti kiti bolu deva, kiti Karu aata heva  (O god how much more do I plead The jealousy I must bear till you heed)  Anand uses Jaijaivanti, a raga from Guru Granth Sahab that’s mostly represented as a combination of joy and sorrow, to convey this abhang, which talks of a god who does not care for her, but...

Starry, starry night Paint your palette blue and gray Look out on a summer's day With eyes that know the darkness in my soul Shadows on the hills Sketch the trees and the daffodils Catch the breeze and the winter chills In colors on the snowy, linen land Now, I understand what you tried to say to me Oil-on-canvas painting by Vincent van Gogh; June 1889 It depicts the view from the east-facing window of his asylum And how you suffered for your sanity And how you tried to set them free They would not listen, they did not know how Perhaps they'll listen now Starry, starry night Flaming flowers that brightly blaze Swirling clouds in violet haze Reflect in Vincent's eyes of china blue Colors changing hue Morning fields of amber grain Weathered faces lined in pain Are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand Now, I understand, what you tried to say to me How you suffered for your sanity How you tried to set them free They would not listen, they did not know how Perhaps they...

NB : The attack on a Gurdwara in Kabul is a tragedy. The communalisation of political culture all over South Asia does not manifest a love for the Divine but an expression of evil, and the impulse to violence. Here is a story of love for humanity in a Gurdwara:  Secularism in a house of God   Aik Alif | Noori & Saieen Zahoor Pur pur ilm te fazal hoyo Ve kadi apne aap nu parya nai! Bajh bajh varnaye.mandar-e-maseet e Va kadi mann apne vich varya nai. Larna Roz!...Shaitaan de naal Ve kadi nafs apne naal larya nai!! Bulleh shah.asmaani udhiyaan phiro nai Ve jera ghar betha.unhoun phariya nai Bas kari oh yaar ilmo Bas kari oh yaaar. Bas kari oh yaar ilmo. Bas kari oh yaar.... Bhala Huwa Mori Gagri Phooti - Kabir Hor Vi Neevan Ho | Noori Lagi Bina/Chal Mele Noon Challiye| Saieen Zahoor & Sanam Marvi Mahamrityunjaya Mantra उड जायेगा हंस अकेला // जग दर्शन का मेला Simi Mehta - Martin Luther King: Changing The World With Love   SECULARISM IN A HOUSE OF GOD Sarbp...

The story behind the first line of The Sounds of Silence      Adapted from Sandy Greenberg’s memoir : “Hello Darkness, My Old Friend: How Daring Dreams and Unyielding Friendship Turned One Man’s Blindness into an Extraordinary Vision for Life."...   Lyrics It began when Arthur “Art” Garfunkel, a Jewish kid from Queens, enrolled in Columbia University. During freshman orientation, Art met a student from Buffalo named Sandy Greenberg, and they immediately bonded over their shared passion for literature and music. Art and Sandy became roommates and best friends. With the idealism of youth, they promised to be there for each other no matter what. Soon after starting college, Sandy was struck by tragedy. His vision became blurry and although doctors diagnosed it as temporary conjunctivitis, the problem grew worse. Finally after seeing a specialist, Sandy received the devastating news that severe glaucoma was destroying his optic nerves. The young man with such a brig...

The Waterboys: This is the sea These things you keep You better throw them away You wanna turn your back On your careless days Once you were tethered Now you are free Once you were tethered Now you are free Well that was the river! This is the sea Now if you're coming undone Maybe been alone too long Or just you've been suffering from A few too many Plans that have gone wrong And you're trying to remember How easy your life used to be And you're trying to remember 1973 Well that was the river! This is the sea Now you say you've got trouble You say you've got pain You say you've got nothing left to believe in Nothing to hold on to Nothing but chains You're trying to make sense Of something that you just can't see You're trying to make sense And you know that you once held the key But that was the river! This is the sea Now I can see you wavering As you're trying to decide You've got a war in your head And it's tearing you up inside For...

This is a song at the end of the film Dark Waters (2019), about the lawyer  who became Duponts worst nightmare .  Dark Waters, tells of the toxic spills scandal that led to US chemicals giant DuPont  paying US$671 million (£516 million)   to settle more than 3,500 lawsuits in 2017.  The company’s plant in Parkersburg, West Virginia had been contaminating the water supply with perfluorooctanoic acid ( PFOA ), also known as C-8, which is used to make products such as Teflon. The contamination had a “probable link with six illnesses” among the local population, including kidney and testicular cancer.  DuPont had used C-8 since the 1950s. It had known since the early 1980s that the chemical was toxic to humans, but only   agreed in 2006   to phase out its use. Though the company continued to deny wrongdoing, it has become one of the classic cases in which business leaders pursued a strategy that could cause human harm long after the risks had come to ...

 

I cannot say that I know you well But you can't lie to me with all these books that you sell I'm not trying to follow you to the end of the world I'm just trying to leave something behind Words have come from men and mouse Oh, but I can't help thinking that I have heard the wrong crowd When all the water is gone my job will be too So I'm trying to leave something behind Oh, money is free but love costs more than our bread And the ceiling is hard to reach Oh, the future ahead is broken and red And I'm trying to leave something behind This whole world is a foreign land We swallow the moon, but we do not know our own hand Oh, we're running with the case, but we ain't got the gold Yet we're trying to leave something behind My friends, I believe we are at the wrong fight And I can not read what I did not write I've been to his house, but the master is gone Yet we're trying to leave something behind Now there is a beast who has taken my brain You c...

James - Waltzing Along (Live) Help comes when you need it most I'm cured by laughter Mood swings not sure I can cope  My life's in plaster  May your mind set you free (chorus: opened by the wonderful) May your heart lead you on May your mind let you see through all disasters (chorus: opened by the wonderful) May your heart lead you on These wounds are all self-imposed Life's no disaster, disaster All roads lead unto death-row Who knows what comes after May your mind be wide open May your heart beat strong May your mind's will be broken By this heart-felt song May your mind set you free (Chorus: Be opened by the wonderful) May your heart lead you on May your eyes let you see through all disasters May your heart lead you on, lead you on (Chorus: May your eyes be opened by the wonderful) Set you free (Chorus: May your heart lead you on) Lead you on Getting away with it  (All Messed Up) Sometimes https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=bOOKy8-V4Vo https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Thirty years ago, on January 12, 1992, it seemed that the pulsating rhythms of the universe had gone silent forever. On this date, Kumar Gandharva drew his last breath. We are yet to fathom the full measure of this loss or take full stock of his legacy. One of the upsides of living in our age is the unprecedented availability of the recorded archive. When we were students in college it was hard to access more than a few stock recordings. Anyone who had access to rare or private recordings became our best friend. His Kabir recordings (the one oeuvre Kumarji was sent to this earth for) were, of course, freely available and widely known. But getting our hands on other cassettes was pure gold. Remembering Mahatma Gandhi: उड जायेगा हंस अकेला / जग दर्शन का मेला ।। But now, thanks to newly released archives, his corpus comes into full view. The full range of his nirguna bhajans, Marathi natya sangeet, even his incredibly playful compositions ...

Louder Than Words - Tick, Tick...Boom!  Jonathan Larson  (1960-1996) Why do we play with fire? Why do we run our finger through the flame? Why do we leave our hand on the stove Although we know we're in for some pain? Oh, why do we refuse to hang a light When the streets are dangerous? Why does it take an accident Before the truth gets through to us? Cages or wings Which do you prefer? Ask the birds Fear or love, baby? Don't say the answer Actions speak louder than words Why should we try to be our best When we can just get by and still gain? Why do we nod our heads Although we know The boss is wrong as rain? Why should we blaze a trail When the well worn path Seems safe and so inviting? How as we travel, can we See the dismay And keep from fighting? Cages or wings? Which do you prefer? Ask the birds Fear or love, baby? Don't say the answer Actions speak louder than words What does it take To wake up a generation? How can you make someone Take off and fly? If we don't ...

Brian Eno: Spinning Away Up on a hill, as the day dissolves With my pencil turning moments into line High above in the violet sky A silent silver plane - it draws a golden chain One by one, all the stars appear As the great winds of the planet spiral in Spinning away, like the night sky at Arles In the million insect storm, the constellations form On a hill, under a raven sky I have no idea exactly what I've drawn Some kind of change, some kind of spinning away With every single line moving further out in time And now as the pale moon rides (in the stars) Her form in my pale blue lines (in the stars) And there, as the world rolls round (in the stars) I draw, but the lines move round (in the stars) There, as the great wheels blaze (in the stars) I draw, but my drawing fades (in the stars) And now, as the old sun dies (in the stars) I draw, and the four winds sigh (in the stars) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-INeMspNSQ0 Gulzar : आहिस्ता चल ज़िन्दगी आहिस्ता चल ज़िन्दगी कई क़र्ज़ चुकाना...