Ganga My Ganga
Oh! You Ganga!*Daughter of the lofty
Snow clad peaks of Himalaya
Born from the very tresses of Shiva**
You so pristine, pure,
Carefree, merry & virginal white,
How gleefully you flow down
From your lofty heights,
Singing the lilting raga
Of Malkauns,***
Traversing along the hills,
Gathering the fragrance
Of pine, cedar, gum & brush,
Birches, eucalypti &
Mountain-Chinars,
Which dot the valley
Of Kashmir, ****
Which adorn the gardens of
Nishat & Shalimar,
Where weeping willows bend low,
To kiss the waters of Dall & Jhelum;
Now,
All burnt to coal...
You gather the black of the carbon
With you
That scorches the coal to core...
You travel the muddy planes,
Gather the blood of cast and creed,
The corpses of hate and war,
The carcasses of famine and starvation,
The mortal remains of Sati & dowry,
The sins of multitudes, who
Once 'cleansed', embark
Afresh upon new sins...*****
By the time you meet
Your beloved Yamuna,
(Overriding your mute
Sister 'Saraswati'),
Your innocence's long lost,
Before the 'sacred Sangam': ******
Corrupted & polluted,
With the sins of multitudes,
Red with blood of hatred,
Yellow with tears of Brahmin
Widows on the banks of Varanasi,
Blue with the shrieks of tribal women,
Patience of 'fallen women',
Tinkle of anklets of water carrier of deserts*******
When you reach your delta,
You are far from pure mountain rivulet,
You, laden with misery & sin,
With an anguished cry of grief,
Jump into the bay (of Bengal),
And become one with your
Lord & God....
While, I your daughter, Ganga,
Stand on your banks,
Watching the 'funeral-pyres' burn,
And gaze into the centuries of
Grief, oppression, humiliation & discrimination,
My 'Moksha', no where
In sight...
My 'Nirvana', a far cry...
Author: Zoya Zaidi
Aligarh (UP), India
Copyright©: Zoya Zaidi
*Ganga is usually represented as a beautiful woman with a fish's tail in place of legs, and she rides on the Makara, a water monster.
**One myth about the origin of Ganga is that the god Vishnu once heard Shiva play the flute. Vishnu was so entranced by the music that his feet began to melt. Brahma caught the liquefied portion of Vishnu in a pot and from it created Ganga. Hence Ganga is also known as Vishnu-padi (she-who-was-born-out-of-Vishnu's-feet).
Originally Ganga flowed only in the heavens, but then was ordered to go down to earth. Not wanting to, she threatened to flood the whole world. The gods were so afraid of her that they sought the help of Shiva. Shiva broke the fall of Ganga by capturing her in his mighty locks of hair. Since then, Ganga resides on top of Shiva's head as his second wife, the first being Parvati. -http://www.siamese-dream.com/reference/ganga.html
***Raga Malkauns: Malkauns:http://www.ragascape.com/Ragascapes/34.html also known as Malkosh or Malav Kaushik, is one of the most beautiful, popular and ancient of the raagas in Hindustani Classical music. Raag Malkauns belongs to Bhairavi Thaat or scale of Hindustani classical music. Is a majestic pentatonic raga i.e. its type is Audav Audav and this raag is sung at late night. The notes of this raag correspond to Bhairavi Thaat i.e., komal (delicate) notes are used.
The raag is said to have evolved when Lord Shiva performed The Taandava dance. The raag thus evokes a feeling of vigour or we can say this Raag is a VEER rasa raga. And as traditions in Indian classical music ascribe, this is not the veer rasa of the battlefield but evokes a sense of conquering the self and reaching a state of inner satisfaction. This raga is said to have supernatural powers and can conjure spirits if rendered properly
****Kashmir, cradled in the lap of majestic mountains of the Himalayas, is the most beautiful place on earth. On visiting the Valley of Kashmir, Jehangir, one of the Mughal emperors, is said to have exclaimed: "If there is paradise anywhere on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here."
"Shalimar" and "Nishat" are the beautiful gardens built by the moghals. Jhelam in Srinagar is one of the five rivers (panjab) flowing through Northern India. Dal Lake is the famous lake of Srinagar.
Once happy valley with its peace-loving and crime-free people, Buddhism reached the zenith of its glory, Hinduism extended its philosophical frontiers into Shaivism and Shaktism, and Islam achieved a new meaning and practice in its tradition of Sufism, is now a victim of political turmoil, with terrorist insurgency spoiling the peace of this paradise on earth. http://www.kashmir-information.com/
*****Ganga --http://www.siamese-dream.com/reference/ganga.html
Is the goddess of the river Ganges, India's most sacred body of water. Hindus believe that bathing in her holy waters will help wash one's sins away, and hence they conduct repeated ritualistic washings in the river to secure a place in heaven
Her power to wash away sins and liberate is so strongly believed that the ashes of the dead are spread over her.
******The confluence of Ganga and the river Jamuna at Allahbad is called the sacred "Sangam"(literally meaning mingling), It is here and the Sacred Ghats of Varanasi that the 'Holy dip' is taken. Sarasvati the mythical river is said to have become extinct.
*******There are still places in India like the deserts of Rajisthan, where women walk up to 10 miles a day, with 4-5 pitchers balanced on their heads to fetch water. Though surrounded by water on three sides, India faces water shortage every year! Consider this- per capita water availability in India was 3,450 cu. m. in 1951. By 2025, the annual per capita availability of water is expected to fall drastically from the current 1800 cu m per person to 1200- 1500 cu m. (TOI-22 March 2006)
Poetry by Zoya Zaidi
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Written on 2006-03-22 at 18:30
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