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Sunday Scribblings #37: When Time and Place Stand Still

June 28, 2020

Over the past few weeks – actually months now – we have all been living life one day at a time. Each day has rolled into the next, and with everyone at home, it has been hard to keep track of what day it is. It is almost as if both time and place stand still, frozen in a semblance of life a few months ago.

For example, construction was stopped on a site next door when the shelter in place started, and we have walked past the bare bones structure of a would-be-office-building every night since then. Frozen in time….

But recently, with construction activities having been given an OK, it is progressing towards what it can be, though seems like slower than in the previous normal.

And with schools out since the second week of June here in the US, kids are no longer even attending virtual schools. Which means it is harder to keep track of what day it is 🙂

Granted, life is slowly returning to normal (fingers crossed since things have shifted back to stricter mode in some places after reopening too soon); and we have all stepped out of our homes in these past few days, weeks, and months. But life has, in spite of the virtual socializing, been vastly different.

sunday scribblings

Poetic Sundays

The Forms so Far

The Triveni

I will attempt to introduce poetic forms from around the world over the next few weeks. While I have already done so with a couple of them earlier, this is more intentional. This week, I am choosing the Triveni poetic form. I discovered it today as I went in search of a new form (for me) from India.

What is the Triveni?

The triveni is a form invented by the poet and lyricist Gulzar. It can be considered as an extension of the beautiful Urdu poetic form called the sher (which is a two line poem, complete in itself). The triveni adds a third line, a twist to the two lines, thus adding an entirely new dimension to the poem.

In Gulzar’s words, “I called it triveni because the first two lines meet like the Ganga and the Yamuna and complete a thought, it forms a poem on its own. But beneath the two there is the subterranean flow of another, the Saraswati. Hidden. Not visible to the eye. The triveni intends to reveal the Saraswati. The third line, lost in the first two, either changes the meaning of the poem altogether, its focus, or gives it a surprising twist, in the process creating an entirely new poem altogether.”

Note to readers

While I hope to work on this form myself (in English and also in Hindi, though it has been a while since I wrote anything in Hindi), here is one as an example, written by Gulzar. (source: Wikipedia)

ज़ुल्फ़ में यूँ चमक रही है / बूँदजैसे बेरी में तनहा एक जुगनू / क्या बुरा है जो छत टपकती है

Transliteration: Zulf mein yun chamak rahi hai / boond jaise beree mein tanhaa ik jugnoo / kyaa buraa hai jo chhat tapaktee hai

Translation: The (water) glitters so in (your) hair/ As a lone firefly in (a) bush/ What’s so bad if the roof drips.

The addition of the third line implies that the water drop in the hair is due to a dripping roof and since it creates a visage of such beauty, the poet is unperturbed by it.

Last Few Weeks

On My Blog and Home-front

On my blog

While I hoped to get to more posts these past few weeks, that never happened, as you can see. And my last post was over two weeks ago! Oh well…. what can I say? No excuses really, but simply a break..

In other matters….

We are really learning to make do, as well as waste not. DH bought the giantest watermelon we have seen in a while a few weeks ago. And I am glad to say we made the best use of it, almost the whole of it, including the rind! The rind, you say? Yes! And it was definitely a cool way to use it all.

While the watermelon itself was simply melt-in-the-mouth sweet, there was so much of it that we juiced some of it and drank it. We also used the rind – the white part of it between the skin and the fruit itself – to make a couple of things. One was a curry I used as a side dish with the chapati (Indian bread), and the other was tutti-frutti – candied rind that you can eat as is, or use in baking or as toppings for ice cream, and many other ways.

Tutti-frutti

time and place stand still in this candied tutti-frutti

My Most Recent Posts

My most recent posts from a week a while ago (from my last Sunday Scribblings post)

MyPhotoADay

Here are a few selections from my insta-feed these past few weeks.

Upcoming

On My Blog and Home-front

Starting July, I will be participating in the Ultimate Blog Challenge once again. That has been a way to ensure I blog everyday (or at least close to daily) so I hope I will get there. And my plan is to do book reviews mainly, along with attempts at book summaries. Weekends will be something different, with random posts on Saturday and the Scribblings posts on Sundays, as always.

This Week’s Celebrations

Here are a few of this week’s many celebrations:

Wrapping up my Sunday Scribblings

So dear reader, this was it for my Sunday Scribblings(and I know it is past Sunday again, but it will come around). I would love to hear your comments on my post(s). And which of these days do you plan to celebrate (or any other)? 

Linking this to the Sunday Post over at the Caffeinated Reviewer and the Sunday Salon.

17 thoughts on “Sunday Scribblings #37: When Time and Place Stand Still”

  4. I’m fascinated with this new poetic form. It seems simple, yet complex. I think it would be an easy form to try, but hard to master.

    We are suffering here in my state for the foolishness of those around us who refuse to stay home, who refuse to social distance, and who refuse to wear masks. Sometimes I feel like I’m living in the Bedford Falls where George Bailey had never been born.

    Your photos are lovely. As always.

    1. Totally agree with your comments on the triveni… Gulzar, the creator is a true word master… so my hope is to be inspired by his writing.
      Ah… when I see the news and photos of the foolishness you mention, it truly is disheartening..
      Glad you love the photos I post 🙂

  7. I look forward to someday having time to do this! My Sunday’s are always so full with preparing for the homeschool and work week ahead. It won’t always be this way, once our toddler is older it will be easier.

  12. Thanks for the heads up about this week’s celebrations. I agree with you that we are simply living one day at a time that I personally lost track of the day and dates. Will celebrate the drop a rock day. I think the kids would have fun painting a rock.

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