Mirza Ghalib

Ghalib padh kar hum kabhi daad nahi dete, bezuban jo ho jate hain.
Magar itna zarur kahenge, "aaj phir unka paigaam aaya hai, aaj phir
mahfil bhari bhari si hai"


Ghalibsaab ki ek ghazal aaj pesh-e-khidmat hai aap sab ke liye :


Daayam pada hua tere dar pe nahiN hooN maiN
Khaq aisi zindagi pe ki paththar nahiN hooN maiN

Permanently fallen on your door step I am not
Be perished such life, a slab of stone I am not

KyuN gardish-e-mudaam seE ghabra na jaaye dil
Insaan hooN pyaala-o-sagar nahiN hoon maiN,

Why from eternal worries terrorized be the heart
I am a human being, a cup or goblet I am not

Yaa rab zamaana mujhko mittata hai kis liye
Lauhe-jahaan pe harfey-mukarrar nahiN hoon maiN

Oh God this age is destroying me for what reason
In this iron world inscribed words I am not

Had chaahiye saza mae akhoobat ke waaste
Aakhir gunahgaar hoon kaafir nahiN hoon maiN

There should be a limit to punishment for the sake of torture
After all I am only a sinner, a heretic (kafir) I am not

Kis waaste azeez nahiN jaante mujhe
Lalo - zumroo - doe - zaro - gaohar nahiN hoon maiN

What is the reason the noble do not recognise me
Ruby, Emerald, gold or pearl I am not

Rakhte hoe thum khadam meri aankhon se kyun daroagh
Ruthbae mae maehro - maah se kamtar nahiN hoon maiN

Keeping you are your feet from my eye distanced
In status from sun and moon, lesser, I am not

Karte hoe mujh ko manaaye-khadam-boas kis liye
Kya aasmaan ke bhee baraabar nahiN hoon maiN

Why are you restraining me from kissing your feet
What even to the sky equal I am not

'Ghalib' wazeefa-khwar ho do shah ko dua
Voh din gaye keh kahate the naukar nahiN hoon maiN

'Ghalib' you are a petitioner, do praise the sovereign
those days are gone when you boasted, servant I am not

[ Daayam pada hua tere . . . . by Ghalib ]
Translation from Urdu : AAKUDROLLI

Visit Mirza Ghalib for more ghazals by the Great Poet.

My toplist

Recently I have been tagged by 'milesnsmiles' to comeup with my toplist of H/Bollywood movies. So here it is.....

The last movie I borrowed:
Pather Panchali: The first of the 'Apu Trilogy'. Now I have watched all the three parts of the trilogy.. though in reverse order. I liked the 'real cinema' and am amazed by the director's attention to details. A must for those who like 'non-masala' movies.

The last film I watched in Theater :
Hollywood: Mr. & Mrs. Smith: Total disappointment on all the fronts.
Bollywood: Paheli: I am glad for the simple story and so real indian ethnic show. I think its not a gr8 movie by any means, but I am happy to have watched this one.

Which five fictional characters in Hollywood have you had a crush on?
Female:
1. Rose Dewitt Bukater - Kate Winslate in 'Titanic'.
2. Margaret "Maggie" Pollitt - Elizabeth Taylor in 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' (1958).
3. Isabella Oliveira - Penélope Cruz in Woman on Top.
4. Roxie Hart - Renée Zellweger in 'Chicago'.
5. Satine - Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge!

Male:
1. Neo - Keanu Reeves in 'The Matrix'.
2. Raymond Babbitt - Dustin Hoffman in 'Rain Man'.
3. Lt. Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell - Tom Cruise in 'Top Gun'.
4. The Terminator - Arnold Schwarzenegger in 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day'.
5. Jack Sparrow - Johnny Depp in 'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl'.

Which five fictional characters in Bollywood have you had a crush on?
Female:
1. Lolita - Vidya Balan in 'Parineeta': Yet to watch the movie, but I am already hypnotized.
2. Shalini - Preity Zinta in 'DCH'... She is so natural in the role. esp. 'Jaane kyon log pyar karte hai' song.
3. Annie - Manisha Koirala in 'Khamoshi: The Musical': She is so cute and fresh there. I wonder where she lost that innocence nowadays.
4. Aana - Suchitra Krishnamoorthi in 'Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na' (1994): Cute and Perfect for the character.
5. Renu - Madhubala in 'Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958)': I need not remind you 'Ek Ladki Bholi Bhalisi...'

Male:
1. Vijay Dinanath Chavan - Amitabh Bachchan in 'Agneepath (1990)'.
2. Ram Prasad Dasharath Prasad Sharma - Amol Palekar in 'Gol Maal (1979)'.
3. Pyare Mohan Illahabadi - Dharmendra in 'Chupke Chupke (1975)'.
4. Gabbar Singh - Amjad Khan in 'Sholay (1975)'.
5. Ajay Singh Rathod - Amir Khan in 'Sarfarosh (1990)'.

Five Hollywood films that I watch a lot or that mean a lot to me:
1. Matrix I : Brilliant idea, brilliant presentation.
2. Young Frankenstein (1974): The scariest comedy of all time!
3. City Lights (1931): Masterpiece by Charlie Chaplin.
4. Pulp Fiction (1994): Quentin Tarantino is the great.
5. The Lion King (1994): Life's greatest adventure is finding your place in the Circle of Life.

Five Bollywood films that I watch a lot or that mean a lot to me:
1. Dil Chahta Hai (2001): Never seen a Bollywood film? then DCH is the best place to start.
2. Chupke Chupke (1974): Amithabh, Dharmendra and Om Prakash cook a delicious comedy... remember the analogy between TO, DO and GO?
3. Sarfarosh (1999): A reason to live
4. Maine Pyar Kiya (1989): Classic film and unforgotable songs...Thing to remember - Friendship me no 'Thank you' no 'Sorry'!
5. Teesri Kasam (1966): Raj Kapoor and Waheeda Rahman at their best.

Five Hollywood/Bollywood types that I can't stop slurping over:
1. Preity Zinta
2. Kate Winslate
3. Aishwarya Rai
4. Vidya Balan
5. Nicole Kidman

Dudes I think have no right to be this cool / hunky:
1. Russell Crowe
2. Amir khan
3. Amitabh Bachchan
4. John Travolta
5. Hrithik Roshan

H/Bollywood people I'm supposed to be impressed by, but am not:
1. SRK
2. Sanjubaba
3. Tom Cruise
4. Angelina Jolie
5. Madhuri

Sudoku - Now I am addicted

Sudoku has started to take control of me. I was introduced to it just a few days back, but I find myself engulfed trying to solve the puzzle whenever I get a chance. They say, "The fact that Sudoku requires far lower literacy levels than crosswords makes it accessible to a far wider audience and it already has a readymade market of millions of devoted puzzle fans around the world who are welcoming it as the new big thing."

It has already been crowned as the world's fastest growing puzzle.

I crown it to be my favourite puzzle.

How was Engineer born?

They say it all began with the discovery of wheel. Discovery of wheel was the first enginnering feet performed by human ever.

No doubt discovery of wheel was a very important milestone in the field of development of human race. But I believe an engineer was born much before the discovery of wheel. Let me explain why...

They say need is the mother of all inventions. I totally agree with the saying. Now human needed to run fast / carry heavy loads which lead to the discovery of wheel. May be it was a serendipity, but yes, it was a very important discovery.

But I believe man faced more urgent need of something else much before the need of wheel. It was the need of 'food'. Indeed man can not do much if he's not full. So lemme tell a story how an engineer was born as a result of this need. This is a story of that era when they used to run after deer, hair , chicken and similar creatures and kill them with bare hands those days. Long long before the discovery of wheel... So one day a poor soul wandering in search of a pray to quench his hunger stumbled over something and hit the ground. There lied a tiny sharp edged stone which hurt our hero badly. Obviously our hero was not very happy over this and in frustration he swirled the thing which caused distress to him with all the force he could gather despite his weakness. Now a pray found inadvertantly itself in the trajectory of the tiny little sharp edged projectile moving with gread momentum and got killed becouse of the gread injury caused it. Our hero saw this pray waiting to be picked up and savoured it thanking the God Almighty.

The story does not end here. Our hero, now a glutton, went on to brag before his wife and kids how he killed a pray lying down on ground. And then he thought, okie, if I could do that inadvertantly lying on ground hurt, I could do that intentionally to grab a bigger and more delicious pray. He ran back to the tiny little sharp edged stone and showed his fellow men how to used it for kill. Thereafter all the ppl used shartp edged tools for hunting and no one was hungry then after.

Now do you see the birth of an Engineer there. Our hero observed some physical phenomena and recreaced it for the benefit of human kind. I believe that was when an Engineer was born.

Further down the line, our 'engineer' hero used his sharp adged tools, the original engineering invention, to carve wheel out of a big tree trunk and set pace for human development... didn't he?

(This idea struck me during a class debate long back. I also used it for our college magazine editorial then.)

Surprizingly, thesedays I find myself waiting for Hindi movies...

Till recently, I used to despise Hindi movies... be it a big banner SRK movie or the showman Subhash Ghai flik or Karan Johar production.. I made sure wont waste my time watching a new Hindi movie, I would rather do my research, you know...Just kidding ;). Boy, I watched a buncha Non-Hindi movies recently, thanx to Block Buster free trials and Dr. (my next door buddy).. I'm ready to publish my own 'Top 100 movies in the world' soon. Watch out for it...

But, God knows y, these days I find myself waiting for a few Hindi movies.. Parineeta, Salaam Namaste, Paheli (this is not for SRK or Rani) and ofcourse The Rising...

I hope my wait is worth it, 'cos I'm already a little disappointed with the editor of Bunty n Bubly... I would have chopped off a few scenes easily... but I liked the dance numbers in the flik... 'Kajarare Kajarare' and 'QQ Quureshi'