A Tribute to Shail Chaturvedi

Shail Chaturvedi, eminent Hindi poet, humorist, lyricist and Bollywood character actor, passed away early Monday morning.

A former lecturer at Allahabad University, Chaturvedi had also played character roles in several television serials and Bollywood movies, including Uphaar, Chitchor, Naiyya, Hum Do Hamaare Do, Chameli Ki Shaadi, Narasimha, Kareeb, Jahan Tum Le Chalo.

A contemporary of humourists like Kaka Hathrasi, Pradeep Chaubey and Ashok Chakradhar, Chaturvedi formed the A-league of hasya kavis. His works took a candid dig at the changing face of Indian politics through the 70’s and the 80’s. Chaturvedi was well-known for his cynical approach to everyday life. He had a quirk ready for anything odd that caught his eye.

When colour television was still a novel concept, Chaturvedi was synonymous with the annual kavi sammelan broadcast on Doordarshan every Holi. The exchange of repartees with fellow poets never failed to tickle even the weakest of the funny bones. When he was done having audiences at kavi sammelans in splits, he graced the small-screen with his large frame.

I remember those years fondly when we used to eagerly await Hasya Kavi Sammelan shows on TV.

Elusive Words

a Dot, a Stroke,
no beginning, no end,
void and blank,
the realm of words, (i) cannot transcend

the struggling poet within me
desperately seeking divine afflatus...

These lines are for you, Banu. The poet in me was long dead but well, if a cat can have nine lives, so can a poet, eh? :-)

My definition of a POET - A POET is the who can express Sentences in one Word and vice-versa.

Thoughts and Meditations

My current reading is a book by Kahlil Gibran, which shares the same title as this blog.
Here are two exceptionally great lines that i have come across thus far -
'It is the silence which proclaims the coming tempest. And when the tempest makes not its appearance, it is because the silence is stronger than the tempest.'

Another Gem which i would like to share with all, is from my favorite Poet 'Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib' :

qaid-e ;hayaat-o-band-e ;Gam a.sl me;N dono;N ek hai;N
maut se pahle aadmii ;Gam se nijaat paa))e kyuu;N

Translation: the prison of life and the bondage of grief– in essence/origin both are one
before death, why/how would a man find escape/release from grief?

My predispositions towards Persian poets (or should i say Wandering & Wondering Poets) has always been a mystery to me. I would attribute it to my love for Poetry and to the wonderful language of Urdu which, in my opinion, can effortlessly articulate the depths of emotion like no other language can.