Sita Swayamvaram

I tweeted about the song "Rama Kanavermira" from K. Vishwanath's film "Swathi Muthyam" starring Kamal Hassan and Radhika. Mad Nad asked for an English translation, then I understood the pain of translating the pure classical Telugu into English.

Like many yo-yo guys, even I wanted to address Rama as dude and Sita as Babe as it sounds modern and rebellious for young folks and even I felt like questioning the conduct of Rama with Sita to look like a posh Liberal activist. But, these things changed as I read some good and reliable translations of Ramayana and understanding the love between Rama and Sita and how they both were tested by time and Dharma. Of course, these days it is cool and modern to come up with jokes which ridicule our culture and traditions and the so called stand-up comedians crack mediocre jokes like "Rama went to a Bar..." or "Sita caught Rama in a Bar...". I am fine with criticizing and having some fun with epics but I am not comfortable when people who haven't read them and who have no idea about culture and traditions starts ridiculing them just for ostentation.

Veturi's song "Rama chakkani Sitaki" in Godavari has opened a new dimension of Veturi for me, the way he used words in the song was brilliant and was sure that "Rama Kanavemira" (రామా కనవేమిరా) was written by Veturi, as the style was similar but to my surprise I found out that it is Atreya who has written the lyrics for the song "Rama Kanavemira" (రామా కనవేమిరా). Veturi was very much inspired by Atreya and often said that he has seen Atreya as a guru and Atreya was much better writer than him.

Translating this song into English was an excruciating experience as there are no online resources for telugu words and no good Telugu dictionary available. Below mentioned friends helped me in this endeavor.

I thank  Pavan for translating some words into English.
I thank Avinash for providing his inputs, never knew that he had so much command on Telugu.
I thank Priyanka Mukherjee for fine tuning the raw dump English words into poetic form.

Request: Please comment if you find any mistakes or any changes that have to be done.
Note: Telugu was my 3rd language in School.

*****

రామా కనవేమిరా  శ్రీ రఘురామ కనవేమిరా...
రమణీ లలామ నవ లావణ్య సీమ
ధరాపుత్రి, సుమగాత్రి నడయాడి రాగా...
రామా కనవేమిరా

Why don't you see Rama? O! Mighty Rama why don't you see?
The loveliest amongst women, beauty unsurpassed, new vistas touched,
The daughter of the earth, with a voice that lilts, has come looking for thee
Why don't you see Rama?

సీతాస్వయంవరం ప్రకటించిన పిమ్మట జనకుని కొలువులో ప్రవేశించే జానకినీ, సభాసదులందరూ పదే పదే చూడగా...

శ్రీరామచంద్రమూర్తి కన్నెత్తి చూడడేమని అనుకుంటున్నారటా, తమలో సీతమ్మ అనుంగు చెలికత్తెలు.

After the announcement of Sita’s swayamvar at Janaka’s court. The guests who arrived can't take their eyes off from Sita.
Her female comrades wonder “Why doesn’t Rama too catch a sight of Sita's beauty?”

రామా కనవేమిరా  శ్రీ రఘురామ కనవేమిరా...
రమణీ లలామ నవ లావణ్య సీమ
ధరాపుత్రి, సుమగాత్రి నడయాడి రాగా...
రామా కనవేమిరా

Why don't you see Rama? O! Mighty Rama why don't you see?
The loveliest amongst women, beauty unsurpassed, new vistas touched,
The daughter of the earth, with a voice that lilts, has come looking for thee
Why don't you see Rama?

ముసిముసి నగవుల రసిక శిఖామణులూ..
ఒసపరి చూపుల అసదృశ విక్రములు
ముసిముసి నగవుల రసిక శిఖామణులూ..
ఒసపరి చూపుల అసదృశ విక్రములు

The Smirking of the amorous experts ..
The Glances of handsome men and unparalleled heroes
The Smirking of the amorous experts ..
The Glances of handsome men and unparalleled heroes


మీసం మీటే రోష పరాయణులూ
మా సరి ఎవరని మత్త గునోల్వనుల్లు
Proud aspirants, twirling their moustaches in woes
Pompous men, heads swollen with arrogance


క్షణమే ఒక దినమై నిరీక్షణమే ఒక యుగమై...
తరుణి వంక, శివధనువు వంక, తమ తనువుమరచి, కనులుతెరచి, చూడగ
రామా కనవేమిరా

Each second seems like a day, and this wait is like a yuga(era).
Their eyes on the blossoming young woman and Lord Shiva’s arch,
Unaware of their surroundings and selves, Sita they see, with eyes opened large
Why don't you see Rama?


ముందుకేగి, విల్లందబోయి, ముచ్చెమటలు పట్టిన దొరలూ భూవరులూ
తొడగొట్టి, ధనువుచేపట్టి, బావురని గుండెలుజారిన విభులు
విల్లెత్త లేక, మొగమెత్తాలేక, సిగ్గేసిన నరపుంగవులు
తమ వొళ్ళు విరిగి, రెండు కళ్ళూ తిరిగి, ఒగ్గేసిన పురుషాగ్రణులూ
ఎత్తేవారు లేరా? అ విల్లు ఎక్కుపెట్టే వారులేరా?

With poise they come to lift the bow. An attempt at winning the bet,
And the mortal grooms are in sweat.
Failing to raise the bow; stooped with shame, embarrassed those who’re used to lead.
Exhausted forms and swooning eyes; men of repute admit their defeat.
"None there to lift the bow? None there to lift and position the bow?"

అంతలో రామయ్య లేచినాడు,ఆ వింటి మీదా చెయ్యి వేసినాడు
సీత వంక ఓరకంట చూసినాడు,
ఒక్క చిటికలో విల్లు ఎక్కు పెట్టినాడూ
ఫెళ ఫెళ ఫెళ ఫెళ విరిగెను శివధనువు, కళలొలికెను సీతానవవధువూ
జయ జయ రామా రఘుకుల సోమా దశరధరామా దైత్యవిరామా
జయ జయ రామా రఘుకుల సోమా దశరధరామా దైత్యవిరామా

Meanwhile Rama stands up then and places his hand on the bolt
Caught Sita in a furtive glimpse.
Within snap of fingers, he lifted the bow and stretched the string.
The bow breaks with a sonorous noise, thus becomes the husband of Sita
Hail! Rama, the courageous king of Kshatriyas Dasarath’s Rama, the demon slayer.

*****

Image Courtesy: http://fineartamerica.com/featured/sita-swayamvar-badri-narayanan.html 

When I realized that it is a curse to be a middle class Indian

I do not look like this guy, it is just for illustration & page thumbnail

Over two decades ago, my parents and some family friends bought land on the outskirts of the city. The land remained untouched for years until a few years ago when numerous property developers showed interest in buying the land. We were curious as to why so many parties were interested in buying at the same time, but eventually, nothing happened. 

After a few months, the government announced one of the biggest construction projects in the state, and we realized why so many parties had expressed interest in buying our land. Due to our financial obligations and my unfinished engineering degree, we wanted to sell the land, but none of the parties who had approached us initially came forward to buy the land at the last minute.

When the government released the initial plan for the project, we discovered that our land would fall under the project, and the market value of the land was lost. We were disappointed, but we had no other choice but to accept the compensation rate that would be given by the government.

Later, we heard that the government had changed the plan, and some lands that were initially part of the project were no longer included. We made inquiries and found that our land was still part of the project area.

Gravity

Alfonso Cuaron's "Gravity" is a masterpiece. Its hard to even think that major part of a Sci-Fi film with big stars of Hollywood, backed by a big Hollywood studio is shot in a confined studio space. One has to watch the film to feel the unprecedented achievement of Cinema complimented by Technology. Its quite obvious for film lovers to equate "Gravity" with Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey". Alfonso Cuaron's "Gravity" doesn't even have the traces of philosophical & psychological overtones which is profound in "2001: A Space Odyssey" but its the audacity of Alfonso Cuaron's imagination and the exquisite execution makes it a Sci-Fi masterpiece. I couldn't stop myself from asking, what Stanley Kubrick would have created if he had the same scientific technology at his disposal. Alfonso Cuaron's "Gravity" is scientific sorcery on celluloid. Don't miss it.

[Note: This post was lying in my Draft Folders, publishing it without completing the whole review]

Right to Reject and its Misuse

This post is intended for self reference and can help many as it can be taken as a template to make some points after the 2014 General Elections irrespective of the mandate given by the people.

Parliament Democracy can be funny and it will turn out to be more interesting in the next general elections as Supreme Court okayed the "Right to Reject" option where the voter can choose not to vote for any candidate.

Example:-

Let us assume that there is a guy named NM who is contesting for the MP seat from XNagar.
Total number of voters in the XNagar constituency according to Elections Commission is 100.

60 people came out and casted their votes on the election day.
40 people voted for NM
10 people voted for Others (Others=Main Opposition + Other parties + Independents)
10 people used the new option "Right to Reject" granted by Supreme Court

NM wins the MP seat and if NM's party gets good results across India, he has the chance to become the PM of the country.

Activists, Left Liberals and Assholes:-

Now, lets look at Activists, Left Liberals and many assholes. Let us assume that as NM is a public figure and he attracts criticism and let us even assume that Activists, Left Liberals and Assholes are haters of NM and cant bear to see NM as PM. So, the following would be the argument by them:

100 -Total voters in XNagar
60- No: of people who came out to vote
40 - No: of people who voted for NM
20 - Didn't want NM (10+10)

According to Election Commissions data
40- People who didn't turn up on voting day (100-60)

Some perjurist Teesta or a crook Amartya or a jerk URA or a fool like Amitav would come out and say that 60% people didn't vote for NM and would exude their deep hatred by saying that he cannot be the PM of the country as 60% people of his own constituency didn't want him and he cannot be the PM of this country.

AAP - Deadly Cocktail of Islamification + Left Liberalism

The difference between a Ballet hall and a Strip club is that the poles are kept in horizontal and vertical positions respectively. As the Delhi elections are coming closer, the leaders of AAP and its supporters are going berserk to gather votes and sometimes their camouflage which they have cleverly adopted is exposed due to Freudian slips.

It has been a roller coaster ride for AAP leaders, members and supporters who were once part of Team Anna. Syed Ahmed Bukhari, said that the Anna movement is Anti-Islamic and Indian Muslims should not participate in it. A lot has changed since then –Team Anna got divided and comrade Arvind Kejriwal has set up a political party called Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which hopes to win the Delhi Assembly elections with the help of Muslim votes with a parallel continuous Anti-Corruption agenda which they hijacked from Team Anna and the illegitimate claim to the momentum which got generated during the Anna movement.

The formula which worked for All India Students Association (AISA) in the recent Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) has been neatly chronicled here, where the true left ideology doesn't play an important role but it’s the Muslim vote bank + backward class votes which made the difference and the similar approach is now being applied by Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP.

AAP comrades are well aware that they have more than a good chance to surprise people and political pundits in the coming Delhi assembly elections and its supporters are counting on the momentum gained by the Anna Hazare movement which can get bulk of middle class votes, vigorous minority appeasement tactics to get the Muslim votes and at the same time presenting their left liberal attitude which usually gets a good response in Indian urban areas. BJP MLA, Kishan Reddy tweeted about the important issue of illegal immigrants in India and the supporters of AAP have started to show their true colors shedding their chameleonism. The AAP supporters came with the comrade’s style of arguments and asked if Migrated Aryans should also leave India suggesting that ethnic Indians are migrants, this logic is obviously derived from the Aryan Invasion Theory.

People like Ramachandra Guha, Romila Thapar and other Eminent Historians have indirectly and actively propagated the Aryan Invasion Theory which is a hoax, and which was repeatedly proved by scientific biological studies across the world. Marxist Historians have tried to push this false theory again and again to suit their intentions and now this hoax is now being used by AAP supporters.

Do you know what is the sexiest thing in Ruby Sparks (2012)?

Ruby Sparks is a must watch. I don't have time to write about it but would like to ask you a question if you have seen the film.

What is the sexiest thing in Ruby Sparks?
- Its not the film. (I agree that its a very good film)
- Its not Calvin.
- Its definitely not Ruby. (Even though she is mind boggling )
- Its not the dog, Scott. (Its just cute)
- Its not the viewer (Do not complicate the question)