Posted:
I am not sure of what I have written, to be honest. I had planned on writing something and it turned out to be something else 😕 Please do bear with me.
The lyrics used in the piece is from the movie "ROCKSTAR" called "Kun Fayakun"
Thank you for the pictures, Kittu, and thank you for the banner, Dez.
Disclaimer:
This is a work of fiction, and does not intend to hurt anyone's personal views and sentiments. No degradation of any character involved, and may Shankar ji help you to calm down if you are simply frustrated for any reason.
Kadam badha le
Move Your feet forward
Haddon ko mita le
Finish off these distances
Aaja khalipan mein pee ka ghar tera
Enter this void (home of your beloved), it is empty without you
Tere bin khali aaja khalipan mein...
Without you there is an emptiness, Come...
He had never believed in the force of the Almighty. He had never considered anyone superior to himself, neither did he see anyone inferior. He believed in being equals. He saw goodness in everyone, despite the thick poison throbbing in their veins. Perhaps that was why he trusted everyone. Perhaps that was why his trust broke every single time. Watching his mother set herself on flames as her husband, the man he refused to acknowledge as his father anymore, walked out hand in hand with his mistress. He had fallen on his knees, screaming in anguish, after his mother was rescued and tucked safely in bed. He had picked up the car keys and driven with no aim or destination in mind. Fate had a plan though, and his vehicle broke down exactly in front of the temple- the one place he now began to hate.
Ho mujh pe karam sarkar tera
It would be your generosity on me, My Lord
Araz tujhe kar de mujhe mujhse hi riha
I have a request, please set me free from myself (my ego, my pride and my bonds)
Ab mujhko bhi ho deedar mera
I wish to meet the true self of mine
Kar de mujhe mujh se hi riha
Please set me free from myself
The evening clouds had darkened and the sky was all set to pour down. The drizzling of rain had dampened the soil, filling the breeze with its fragrance. He walked up the steps to the temple; his eyes were darker than the fiercest thunderstorm. Walking straight into the empty temple, he looked into the eyes of the idol that sat there with a serpent round His neck and the moon in His hair. With no amusement in his eyes, he laughed at the idol mirthlessly, and in an accusatory tone he screamed, "You call yourself a God? What kind of a God are you, who silently watches his people suffering?" The thunderstorm had begun, and it was as if nature was bearing witness to this clash between mortal and the immortal. The idol stared back in silence with a serene smile on its lips.
Mann ke mere ye bharam... Kachche mere ye karam
These unreal thoughts in my mind, These works of mine which are not concrete
Leke chale hain kahaan main to jaanu hi na
Where do they all take me, I have no idea
"Could you, please, not wear your footwear inside the temple?" he heard a meek voice of a female, and turned around to see the source of it. There, at the entrance of the temple, stood a petite woman watching him straight in the eye. She possessed a different kind of solace in her demeanour. Had he been calmer, he'd have gone ahead to notice how flawlessly beautiful she looked despite her humble appearance, and how untainted she appeared to be in this brutal world. After all, an artist's eyes would always appreciate beauty. But that wasn't the case right now, for here he was blinded with pure hatred against the whole world that was hell bent on hurting him, over and over again, of which he'd had enough. He was boiling with anger and in a weak effort to get rid of the sludgy poison that was beginning to curdle his blood, he intentionally spat rudely at her, replying, "You think I care?" Looking at the idol, he clenched his fists in rage to see the idol smiling at his cruel fate, "You think I care about this God of yours smiting me with his powers for not taking my shoes off? You think I give a damn about your so-called God's holiness?"
He could almost hear the woman smile, and a look at her confirmed his thoughts. Was she laughing at his cruel life too? He would have questioned her audacity to laugh at him, but before that, she said, "I wasn't referring to what you were thinking. You simply jumped to conclusions. I know that there is no point in taking ones shoes off when they have no reverence, awe or faith in their hearts. It ultimately becomes a mere tradition. And traditions don't mean anything when there is no emotion invested into it. I requested you to take off your shoes because I had just finished mopping the floor... And clearly, it has gone in vain..."
He looked at the floor of the temple, and looking at the trail of thick muddy footprints he'd left from the entrance, he looked up at her. The gentler side of him resurfaced as he apologized, guiltily. He'd never been the person to think or act irrationally, this far. Surely, anger had gotten the worst side of him today, and a complete stranger had to bear the brunt of it. "I'm sorry..." he said once more after he'd left his expensive leather shoes out, soaking in the rain, as the woman sat down and rinsed the rag cloth in the tiny bucket. "I made this mess, and it should be me who has to mop the floor. This isn't your work to clean what I dirtied..." he said, asking her to hand the rag over to him. She merely smiled and shook her head in refusal, as she cleaned up the floor.
Sajra savera mere tann barse
The morning rain showers blessings on my body
Kajra andhera teri jalti lau
It purifies the dark parts of my soul
Qatra mila jo tere darr barse
Every drop of purity that You gave me, nourished me
O Maulaa! O Maulaa
Oh Lord! O Lord!
He stood at the corner, his stare alternating between the thundering sky lighting up with streaks of lightning, and the idol inside the sanctum. "You seem to be new around this place..." she said, and he turned around to see her filling the lamps with oil. "Or is it that you don't visit the temple often?" she asked. He nodded, indicating the latter. "He and I don't get along." He replied, tilting his head in the direction of the idol. She laughed in response, "Is that so?" He frowned, "Why is that funny?" She shook her head as her laughter died down, "That's because He is my best friend. My Shankar ji gives me all that I need." He rolled her eyes, "Well, some people are fortunate. Not all are lucky." His fingers gripped the pane of the window painfully hard, as he recalled the way his father smirked pulling his mistress closer in his arms, while his mother was being wrapped in a blanket to prevent her from killing herself in flames.
"Maybe..." she spoke, and after a long pause, she said, "An accidental fire had wiped out the family I was born in. Growing up in an orphanage, it never really felt lonely. I had so many friends. Even though we were sent to bed hungry for several nights, and even if we trembled during those cold seasons, the love we had for each other warmed us, filling our hearts and our tummies too." He glanced at her from the corner of his eye, regretting for undermining the privileged life he lived in a royal mansion, having servants at his beck and call.
She continued, "Being adopted by Maa and Papa, life had become so good. Our house was tiny; perhaps, the size was half of this temple, and the three of us used to cuddle together and sleep. Maa, Papa and me." His looked around at the temple, estimating the size of the room; His bathroom was bigger, while this woman's house was half the size of it. "But when Papa passed away, I had to give up my studies and start learning embroidery to earn money. Papa's petty shop was pocketed by my uncle and aunt. But the temple priest was a kind man; it was blessing to have a job of designing chunris for the goddess. Maa's medicines weren't a worry anymore." He asked her without looking at her, "You said you had to leave your studies; how far have you studied?" She replied with a grin, "Fifth standard!" He closed his eyes; he and his brothers had private tutors, one for each, until they finished high school.
"Uncle and Aunt used to harass and beat up Maa and me, until we were free from the two of them." She said with a melancholic voice. "What happened?" he asked curiously, only to hear her reply in a dull tone, "Maa passed away, and I was thrown out of my Papa's house." At this, he turned around and looked at her. She had a solemn smile and an optimistic glow on her face. He shook his head, "And yet you call life a blessing?" He couldn't fathom going through what she had lived. "It is certainly a blessing. I could have died in the fire that killed my family. I could have been in a worse condition. But look at me. I am here, today, hale and hearty, working in the temple for my living, and having everything that I need." Turning around, so as to change the garland of flowers around the Lord's statue, she said, "Life is what you make of it. It is how we see it. Of course, life gives us problems. But not beyond out capability to handle them. And when things are too weary for you to carry alone, look towards Shankar ji; he'll help you in your journey of life by carrying all your burdens for you."
She turned around to see him chuckle, as he said, "As if it's so easy." She smiled and offered him a tiny piece of Prasad. When he extended his hand in a pinch to take it from her, she shook her head in refusal and asked him to hold his hand out. He shook his head slightly with a smirk, but did hold his hand out. Placing the tiny piece of sweet in his palm, she said, "I never said it's easy. The only fair thing about life is that it is unfair to all. Everyone faces problems. But guilt and worry are our real burdens. Why worry, if a problem can be sorted? And if it cannot be solved, would worrying about it resolve it?"
"Are you telling me that every problem has a definite solution? And that it is your Shankar ji that provides solutions to life's complicated situations?" he mused as he ate the Prasad. Then pointing at the statue, he asked again, "This Shankar ji? The one who does nothing but merely smiles at our troubles, leaving us resigned to our fate?" She grinned, "Who says he does nothing? The Lord was there even when nothing else was there. He was there even before the earth was separated from the sky, and the land was separated from the waters. A power so superior who created you and me and the universe, would most certainly have solutions to life's problems. Patience and faith is all it takes..."
Kun fayakun Kun fayakun fayakun
He commands and it is as he wants
Fayakun fayakun fayakun
He commands and it is as he wants
Jab kahin pe kuch nahi bhi nahi tha
When there was nothing nowhere to be found
Wahi tha Wahi tha Wahi tha Wahi tha
He was there even then
As she walked towards the innermost sanctum to close the door, she heard him ask, "Is it really so easy?" Noticing the sadness in his tone, she knew without him telling her, that he was going through a hard phase of life. "What is?" she asked, and he said with a sigh, "To stop worrying... to just let it go... to simply, live?" She smiled, as she picked her tiny black umbrella from the corner of the temple, "We can't control the outside world. We can only control our internal environment. Our thoughts and how we respond to things. When do we feel frustrated? When we get attached to results. Trying to control things we cannot. We need to learn to recognize what we cannot control."
Closing the windows of the temple, she continued, "It is natural; it is human tendency to worry over troubles. But if your mind is open, your greatest teachers in life are those troubles that make you stronger." Then looking at him with a soft smile, she said, "Life becomes painful if you take it too seriously. Why carry unnecessary baggage? Isn't it best to let it go? Things will fall in place. All you need is faith, hope and a little bit of patience..."
Tu hai mujh mein samaaya kahaan leke mujhe aaya
You are inside me and You have brought me someplace
Main hoon tujh mein samaaya
I am inside of You
Tere peechhe chala aaya
I came here following You
Tera hi main ik saaya
I am one of Your shadows
He followed her as she walked out of the temple. The thunderstorm had calmed down, although it still continued to rain. "Do you work here every day?" he asked her as he walked down the steps, outside her umbrella, with a distance of four feet between them. She nodded a yes in reply. "Should I drop you somewhere?" he said as he fished for his keys from his pocket. "I stay close by, thank you..." she said with a small smile, and turned to walk in an opposite direction. He stood watching her as she walked in a direction away from him. She had merely gone a few steps away when he called out to her, "Listen?" She paused, not turning around. "What's your name?" he asked. She turned her head sideways, and in a soft tone, she said, "Gauri..." "Gauri..." he repeated softly, and she smiled as she made her way towards her house.
Tune mujhko banaya
You have made me
Main to jag ko naa bhaya
I was disliked by the world
Tune gale se lagaya
Only You have embraced me
Haq tu hi hai khudaya
You are the only just
Sach tu hi hai khudaya
It's true You are the only truth
He looked up at the sky and recalled the various events of the whole day. It was certainly difficult to forget the harsh turn of events of his life; to see his mother aching for her husband's love; to see his father turn a blind eye towards his family; to see that hatred for his mother in the man's eyes; to watch his mistress gloat with pride. But through all of that mess, he now had a renewed faith; a faith to fight it, a faith to keep going against the strong currents. Perhaps there was an Almighty who designed fate in His own strange ways; perhaps his own fate was designed for something bigger and better; perhaps, meeting Gauri was a part of the plan. A small flutter in his heart caused a small smile to appear on his lips. And looking towards the sky that poured down, he knew his rainbow as well as his rays of hope weren't far away from him.
Kun fayakun Kun fayakun fayakun
He commands and it is as he wants
Fayakun fayakun fayakun
He commands and it is as he wants
***
Any amount of criticism welcomed...
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