How mommyhood restored my faith in karma and the cycle of life...

A fun post on my mommy blog about parents, karma, and the cycle of life. Check it out if you have the time.

bewafai

साक़ी से गिला तो मैखाने से हमने मुंह मोड़ लिया;

हमसफ़र से शिक्वा और कारवाँ ही छोड़ दिया;

आफ़ताब ने ऐसा जलाया कि रोशिनी से मन ऊब गया;

साहिल पे जो मात खाई, लेहेरों पे फिर यकीं कहाँ हुआ।


हँसी ने जब गम को पनाह दी, ख़ुशी को अलविदा कह दिया;

ऐसा इश्क़ की हम हम ना रहे, जुनूँ  से भी रिश्ता तोड़ दिया;

अंधेरों में अब वोह बात कहाँ, रात से जब बैर हो गया;

खामोशी ने ऐसा साथ निभाया, बातों पर यकीं ना रहा।


और भी गिले हैं, शिक्वे कई - शायद सबको भुला दिया,

चोट भी हैं और दर्द भी वहीँ - अब तो सब सह लिया;

तुमसे क्या बैर, ख़ुदा ने भी कुछ ख़ास साथ ना दिया,

पर ना  जाने  क्यूँ, उसके जहाँ को सीने से लगा लिया।

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(Last time I took a shot at hindi poetry, some readers came back asking for an English translation. Everyone knows translation can never convey the absolute original intended meaning, but nevertheless, here's an attempt for the piece above:

Betrayal

I didn't get along with the tavern keeper, so stopped going to the very tavern.
Discontentment with my soul mate, and I abandoned the journey.
The sun left such deep burns that I fell out with light itself.
How I was cheated at the shore, I could never trust the waves again.

When my smile gave sanctuary to my sorrow, I bid farewell to happiness forever.
Such love that I lost myself; passion has now deserted me.
The darkness no longer inspires awe or fear since I befriended the very night.
Silence has been such an ardent companion, I no longer trust conversations.

I have many grievances, many disappointments too - but most have been forgotten.
There's hurt and there is pain - but I have borne it all.
What can I hold against you when God himself was never by my side;
Yet, I don't know why, I embraced his world close to my heart.

First cheesecake!

When my S-I-L shared this recipe of a no-bake Oreo cheesecake on her blog, I bookmarked it for a must-try. Vish's first Father's Day presented the perfect opportunity :D. 

The recipe is fairly simple and the end product is soo yumm. How can it not be with - complete with lots of whipped cream, cream cheese and Oreo cookies! (I am dead serious about trying out more varieties of cheesecakes!)

Slurrp...time to dig into the leftover in the refrigerator :P.

And this time around, I did not forget taking a pic. ;)

(P.S. Whenever I whip cream and then decorate the cake, it always falls - doesn't stay sharp - any tips and tricks?)

Hitler's Children

I saw this really good documentary on Netflix the other day - it's called Hitler's Children - a conversational-styled movie with dialogues with the surviving children/grandchildren of the topmost (and hence the most fearsome) officers of the Nazi regime and some of the first and second generation holocaust survivors.

It deals with issues of the burden of carrying a fear-inducing surname - the feeling of guilt, responsibility, embarrassment, shame. The most powerful moment of the film for me was when the grandson of the Auschwitz camp commander visits the camp on a day when a survivor from that very camp is also visiting. The grandson is asked to answer a few questions by the tourists, and as he struggles to hold back his tears and give dignified responses, this survivor walks upto him, hugs him tight and says, "You were not there, it was not your fault. That was another time." I still get goosebumps recalling that scene. The grandson completely broke down - was it a closure or not is debatable. Did the survivor feel that having met the next generation of his perpetrator and forgiving him, he can move on - forgive and forget? Did the son feel that having got that acknowledgement from a person who lived through the camp atrocities is a befitting closure to the years of guilt and shame? I do not know.

The documentary made me wonder on the larger question of what family legacies and surnames do to an individual's life. Obviously, they have greater bearing if there is real greatness or tragedy associated - but how do children deal with it. I am sure sons and daughters of politicians and actors in the current world have it easy - do they really have a "burden on their shoulders", I think not. Ditto with business men. (Pardon me for my dismissive tone.) But imagine being born to parents who have been responsible for killing millions or some other negative impact that history can never forgive and forget - what do you do? Would you "renounce" the "name" or would you "live" with it?