At home this Saturday night, wondering what to do when my friend who was supposed to join me for dinner excused himself at the last moment, I thought let me clean up the table draws and throw out all those scraps of paper… I had not cleaned it since ’94.
As Santana blared out from the headphones, I set about doing that… these are some of pieces / things I found worth mentioning:
1. A piece of paper with “kisi ka bhi liya naam tho aayiya tu hi tu… yeh to pyaala sharaabka, ban gaya yeh lahu” written on it. I must have been lovesick :p or listening to Radio Ceylon and just happened to like that particular line… :)
2. a note to myself asking me to remember that I should write a letter to one Mr. Advani asking him to stop taking people for a ride on his rath…
3. a torn piece of paper which had “ If by any chance God has not read these lines of Wilde : ‘ A prayer must never be answered, if it is, it ceases to be a prayer and becomes correspondence’ and grants Mr. Yeats’ wish, the child when she grows up, will be unfit live even in an utopia” Almost certain now that it is the last remnant of my masterpiece critical essay on Yeats’ “A Prayer for my daughter”
4. A sheet with the lyrics of songs from a Kannada play ( “karimaayi” amazing lyrics and terrific rhythm oriented folk songs )… in the margin a short cryptic line “classical physics : space and time, now Space-Time” Wonder what I was reading when I wrote that.
5. A short note on a ridiculous essay by Anthony Trollope.
6. A lengthy essay trashing the New Economic Policy, written in ’93 quoting figures culled from who-knows-where. I was a ‘maatam ka maseeha, criticizing NEP because I was a socialist and thought signing GATT was a sell-out.
7. Yeats again… an essay on Easter 1916. My thought when I reread it : would Yeats approve the Intifada if he were alive now?
8. A sheaf of stapled papers, randomly written lines from lyrics of old hindi songs… from ‘laakhon taare aasmaan mein’ to ‘tum jo mil gaye ho” ( I remember the songs of this movie better than the movie itself )
9. And a ditty, I know not from where I found ( certainly not created by me, and I intend no offense to any feminist who might chance upon this piece )
“Tell me what it is like to be teaching these girls?
Do you find that they have any brains?
Do they take themselves seriously ( may I ask ) or do you?”
10. A note taken / stolen from Nietzsche ( otherwise why it would be written down by me? I own the bloody book don’t I? Must have used it somewhere, somewhen to impress someone… ;) ) - "Old God comes to a final decision : ‘Man has become scientific – there is only one solution : he will have to be drowned!’ "
and the classic line from Linus ( of Charlie Brown ) : I love mankind, it’s people I cannot stand!!!
As Santana blared out from the headphones, I set about doing that… these are some of pieces / things I found worth mentioning:
1. A piece of paper with “kisi ka bhi liya naam tho aayiya tu hi tu… yeh to pyaala sharaabka, ban gaya yeh lahu” written on it. I must have been lovesick :p or listening to Radio Ceylon and just happened to like that particular line… :)
2. a note to myself asking me to remember that I should write a letter to one Mr. Advani asking him to stop taking people for a ride on his rath…
3. a torn piece of paper which had “ If by any chance God has not read these lines of Wilde : ‘ A prayer must never be answered, if it is, it ceases to be a prayer and becomes correspondence’ and grants Mr. Yeats’ wish, the child when she grows up, will be unfit live even in an utopia” Almost certain now that it is the last remnant of my masterpiece critical essay on Yeats’ “A Prayer for my daughter”
4. A sheet with the lyrics of songs from a Kannada play ( “karimaayi” amazing lyrics and terrific rhythm oriented folk songs )… in the margin a short cryptic line “classical physics : space and time, now Space-Time” Wonder what I was reading when I wrote that.
5. A short note on a ridiculous essay by Anthony Trollope.
6. A lengthy essay trashing the New Economic Policy, written in ’93 quoting figures culled from who-knows-where. I was a ‘maatam ka maseeha, criticizing NEP because I was a socialist and thought signing GATT was a sell-out.
7. Yeats again… an essay on Easter 1916. My thought when I reread it : would Yeats approve the Intifada if he were alive now?
8. A sheaf of stapled papers, randomly written lines from lyrics of old hindi songs… from ‘laakhon taare aasmaan mein’ to ‘tum jo mil gaye ho” ( I remember the songs of this movie better than the movie itself )
9. And a ditty, I know not from where I found ( certainly not created by me, and I intend no offense to any feminist who might chance upon this piece )
“Tell me what it is like to be teaching these girls?
Do you find that they have any brains?
Do they take themselves seriously ( may I ask ) or do you?”
10. A note taken / stolen from Nietzsche ( otherwise why it would be written down by me? I own the bloody book don’t I? Must have used it somewhere, somewhen to impress someone… ;) ) - "Old God comes to a final decision : ‘Man has become scientific – there is only one solution : he will have to be drowned!’ "
and the classic line from Linus ( of Charlie Brown ) : I love mankind, it’s people I cannot stand!!!
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