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Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Aroma of Words

As I lay on my bed in the cold, lifeless "call room", the beep of the pager wakes me up from the sleep that never was. The elusive sleep. Something from within me pushes me to put my thoughts in words. Words. I was just thinking how some words just get to you. Especially, sometimes, some words from your mother tongue will rustle your soul in such myriad ways. For instance, the Punjabi word "Santaap". To me, the word has such a visceral feel that I can't find an equivalent in the Queen's language. Purgatory comes to mind but that means more of something external, something imposed on you while "Santaap" would capture the sense of burning from within. The aroma of words.

I have been listening to Shiv Batalvi a lot in recent times. Actually, saw a video of him singing on Youtube. Awesome experience. Wish I could purge out my emotions in words that well. The past one year has been a testing time for me. It has tested me on a lot of different aspects. But I have learnt a lot of valuable lessons as well. I wish those lessons never have to be put to use again but I really doubt that. The following words from Maachis aptly describe my feelings about this:

ek nanha sa lamha hai,
jo khatam nahi hota,
mein lakh jalata hoon,
yeh bhasam nahi hota.

It is a little momemt,
That will not get over,
I burn it countless times,
But it won't turn to ashes.


Hopefully, will write more.