The title of today’s post must have had you wondering – what is she trying to say?
My Thursday Post of memes…phir se – for want of a ‘nalla’ ‘talebaraha’
phir se – means again (in Hindi – the national language of India which I learned in school and of course, Bollywood movies)
nalla – means good (in Tamil – this is my mother tongue)
talebaraha – means title (in Kannada – this is the language spoken in the state of Karnataka where I grew up and hence grew up learning it as well – in school and to speak with the locals there)
For dVerse – From Writing Experiments, I tried to use these techniques – a little bit of each of them (or maybe more of each of them) in my poem
- Write a work gazing into a mirror without using the pronoun I. – Used me, my instead.
- Write a macaronic poem (making use of as many languages as you are conversant with).
– I am conversant with four languages (three of them Indian) but I have not used them here fully, instead have used a combination of English and Hinglish here for this macaronic poem. I have also tried to use English words originated from Hindi/Tamil. We use a combination of English, Hinglish, Tamil, Hindi, and even Tanglish often as we converse as well as Kannada, another language from South India which both I and my DH are familiar with. - Write a poem by viewing an object or event from several different facets. – The ‘mirror-me’ views things from several views
For dVerse (Meeting the Bar: Postmodern (Experimental)) and Theme Thursday(Rebirth)
She
in the mirror
in the mirror
She
stares right back
stares right back
Saying,
“have a dekko” (1)
“have a dekko” (1)
Is
my reflection wondering if
my reflection wondering if
she
is a rebirth of me
is a rebirth of me
She
stares right back
stares right back
Looking
past me
past me
Seeing
the blank walls that wait
the blank walls that wait
While
the peacock artwork lies forgotten
the peacock artwork lies forgotten
She
stares right back
stares right back
At
the shampoos, and the soaps (2)
the shampoos, and the soaps (2)
At
the orange bandana (3 & 4)
the orange bandana (3 & 4)
As
if just to timepass (5)
if just to timepass (5)
She
stares right back
stares right back
Wishing
maybe if she can prepone this moment (6)
maybe if she can prepone this moment (6)
To
sometime back in time
sometime back in time
And
maybe see a better me
maybe see a better me
She
stares right back
stares right back
As
the bangles on my hands jangle (7)
the bangles on my hands jangle (7)
Mayhap
she thinks, “Such badmash hands – (8)
she thinks, “Such badmash hands – (8)
Disturbing
my tranquility”
my tranquility”
She
stares right back
stares right back
Watches
me brushing
me brushing
Wishing
she were Bangalored (9)
she were Bangalored (9)
To
a bungalow somewhere (10)
a bungalow somewhere (10)
She
stares right back
stares right back
She
seems to say ‘kati’ (11)
seems to say ‘kati’ (11)
And
me in my pajamas (12)
me in my pajamas (12)
Say,
“goodnight mirror-me”
“goodnight mirror-me”
- Dekko – Brit slang a look; glance; view (esp in the phrase take a dekko (at)) – [from Hindi dekho! look! from dekhnā to see]
- Shampoo – [from Hindi chāmpo, from chāmpnā to knead]
- Orange – derived either from Tamil நாரத்தம் naaraththam orange, நரந்தம்
narantham orange, or நாரங்கம் naarangam mandarin-orange, with நாரத்தம் + காய் = நாரத்தங்காய் naaraththangaay in current popular usage - Bandana – from Sanskrit बन्धन bandhan, “a bond”. From Tamil pantham “a bond”,pathu “hold
together, attachment”, atta “hold tightly, a leech”, ottu “stick”, othu “bind together, make love” - Timepass – Passing the time doing nothing much. Background: Used in India colloquially
- Prepone – Prepone is an everyday word in India, where meetings, elections, weddings, movie releases, exams, court cases, and more are preponed all the time.
- Bangles – The word is derived from Hindi bungri (glass)
- Badmash – A hooligan
- Bangalored – “to Bangalore” is another Hinglishism, meaning to send overseas, as in call
centres. - Bungalow – a “house in the Bengal style”
- Kati – meaning “I’m not your friend any more”.
- Pajamas – from Hindi pajama, probably from Pers. paejamah
13 Silver rules for 2013 for me and for Thursday Thirteen
- Sleep better – this is number one on my list because I am totally in sleep debt now and need to definitely work on better sleep habits
- Schedule – the important stuff – work out a schedule for the things I do at least regularly
- Follow the schedule – and more importantly stick to the schedule I make – maybe put a reward system for myself
- Smile more – I do spend a lot of time smiling but seems to have reduced from earlier – so ‘smile more’ it is for me
- Stuff the cranky me – this is related to #4, the ‘cranky me’ rears her ugly head a lot more than she used to before, so I need to tell her to stay away
- Slow down to smell the roses – oh yes, I need to do this.
- Spend more time with family and with friends, less with the computer (hopefully #2 and 3 will take care of this)
- Sweat – this refers to me being more active than I am –exercise more – well, if I am honest, just exercise (more means I am doing some exercise now, which is not true)
- Sweeten – up our lives by being more agreeable, sweeten up others lives by doing something good
- Spice up – spice up life in general – learn to embrace more exciting things (not sure what though)
- Spring in your step – approach life with a spring in my step – happily and confidently (again, I guess I am already this way most days, but I do need to remember it)
- Be more selfless – random acts of kindness is one way to do it, and I do want to help out by volunteering and teaching my kids too by taking them along where I can
- Be more selfish – learn to say No is one big part of this ‘being selfish’. I find myself involved in way too many things than I can handle many a time because I did not say No
Some very favorite and important words for me begin with Alphabe Thursday ‘s letter of the week ‘F’ and as I review the year that is coming to an end and make resolutions for the new one
(!), I reflect on these words with a quote for each of them:
(!), I reflect on these words with a quote for each of them:
- Family – A happy family is but an earlier heaven. – George Bernard Shaw
- Friends – A friend is a present you give yourself. – Robert Louis Stevenson
- Freedom – Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake. – Tagore
- Faith – Faith is believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe.- Voltaire
- Fun – Fun is good. – Dr. Seuss
- Food – Food for thought is no substitute for the real thing. – Walt Kelly
NaBloPoMo has this prompt for today: Would you rather work alone or with other people?
Depends on what I am doing – there are times when I definitely need to work with other people, in a group but I think I normally do work better alone.
Wishing she were Bangalored
To a bungalow somewhere …smiles…enjoyed the mirror poem…reminded me of when my son was very little and sat in front of the mirror and started talking to the boy in the mirror without realizing it was himself…smiles
also enjoyed the language poem…4 languages..wow…cool.. Badmash – A hooligan.. i have to remember this…way cool..smiles
Thank you Claudia.. 🙂
this is really cool, you absolutely nailed the prompt. i love how you toyed with the words here, you make it look so easy.
great work.
thank you… enjoyed this and have added the writing exercises as something I should do more regularly.
Ah, looking in the mirror — love all the Hindi and triple language allusions. Pāgala!
thank you Sabio.. 🙂 and you show off your knowledge of Hindi here ..
that is pretty cool…some rather common words, its neat to know where they came from and the base meanings…i def will stick these in my repotoire…
thanks Brian. most I knew earlier and some are new for me too.. Word origins always fascinate me..
Such an awesome post. I love your 2013 goals. Wishing you a wonderful new year full of happiness and blessings!
thank you Stephanie..
This is good. Your repeated line is very effective.
thanks.. i was tempted to change it at one point but could not think up something else so decided to let the repeated line stay…so glad it worked out..
it feels reflective =) the way the words and rhymes bounce across each other =)
thank you!!:)
I loved the multiple meanings and use of Hinglishisms that added depth to the 2D distorted reflection of the mirror. Nice avoidance of I, the whole experiment worked well. Thanks so much for joining us!
thank you Anna.. love being a part of the dVerse family..
It is good to learn of word origins. I remember when I was a child, we used to say "ain't" and our mother would tell us that is not a word. Funny how it eventually was put into a dictionary and our mom had to stop telling us that because we would tell her it was in the dictionary and was now a word. She still never used that word even if it was in a dictionary. Which it still has a bad reputation and I ain't sure why. LOL because I rarely use that word either.
I do see what you mean about us looking in the mirror and not seeing a "friend". I think this happens as we get older and in our minds' eye we still look young and beautiful, not like this person who has aged over the years. I really do like how you used all those words and I think that when we stand there brushing our hair, we do tend to have many thoughts go through our brains.
Thanks so much for being patient in waiting for me to visit. I am starting to feel better, at least I think so. The wee ones have caught a cold and I am trying so hard not to catch that from them. But youngest grandson told me yesterday that his Grandma was beautiful. How could I not hug him after he told me that.
God bless.
Your title absolutely grabbed me.
And then your words kept me here. I love your goals, I love your stories, I love the things I learn here.
Thank you!
You are a fantastic writer.
Hope 2013 is starting out swell.
A+