Tuesday, April 13, 2010

My experiment with faith.


Have u ever had a "soulburn"??
i guess not,or may be.
but that's the case quite often,
if not always, with me.

The blisters on faith do itch
bruises and scars are a plenty.
i wanted answers to questions which
some say,are reasonable but empty.

i resent the human commitment towards religion for being lame.
Be it a grain of sand or a rock in water, they sink as the same.

How do we testify religion?;or
rather differentiate with delusion,
somehow qauntify,relate or estimate it's limits;or
maybe just confine it to some measurable units.

U would say, it's impossible or freaky.
but as a matter of fact, Engineers are creepy;so
The engineer in me took his seat on a pavement..
so as to conduct , one of a kind "The faith experiment".

At the end of that road, stands a banyan tree.
which ultimately became my makeshift laboratory.
a big round stone with colored forehead,
Few candles, husk,holy colors n flower bud
all this was placed under the tree; n thus
turned out to be my experimental apparatus.

From dawn to dusk, i waited.
for people to pass with breath baited.
some bowed heads ,some lit candles
put sweets , camphor and bangles.

Almost All but one, didn't bow.
may be this led me to conclude how?
for him it's delusion, superstition;or
for others, faith in their religion:OR
Vice-versa? isn't it a contradiction?but
i feel it's the most appropriate conclusion...

Conclusion:

Religion is like a bird,flying with wings of faith.
but lands on feet of superstition.
likewise,
religion is just like life,
where life is lived on faith
but death is the delusion... or,
Vice-versa,once again a contradiction, now
u decide, whats the best solution?

17 comments:

Bright Shade Of Darkness said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bright Shade Of Darkness said...

well........what to say.....a great poem and different touch....a common topic that everyone feels but very rare and few people think about ..It.. So its a appetite for thought........and more to that accurate and perfectionist style of Katyayan..which make it special....start with a question end with a question...that's quite smart....and intelligent and that's katys virtue…. A great poem….i can rate it best by you……
well most though full line is
Religion is just like life,

My thinking level is not capable of commenting on such a deep and thoughtful topic......
but still i am daring to put some.....in my style.....

I am an ordinary person, with a ordinary brain.........
Which can’t think on such complex chain.............

There are so many feelings i do feel..........
But I am unable to distinguish ,what’s the deal?.......

Neither I am blessed with engineers quality.........
Nor curious for experiment for identity...........

But still what i feel , that there is something........
Which we have to take on belief, instead of meaning..........

Engineers have created many miracles in the world...........
Still many mysteries of nature are beyond word........

Which justifies the presence of someone.......
Which is still a pun....
Much much more intelligent, far superior, but loves to live in interior....
.who knows how to create and when to destroy......
We all play in his hands like toy.....

Till the time everything went right...
We argue over his existence, do fight.......

But when all routes seem closed, all dark and more Dark everywhere...
Suddenly we start creeping a new thing inducted, Destiny is there??

that something unknown and unsolved has kept faith alive....
Otherwise son just a faith to the world other than wives........

And my ordinary head denies understanding complexity of religion....
On that I have a simple opinion of my own........

Anything which takes u to the betterment is religion for me......
I never search God in temple, church or maszid..I am sure its in me....

Religion and god is not something needs to be discussed and proven....
Its to the choice of individual..Choose test and follow then......

Way of living is religion.....way of thinking is religion....purity is religion....unity is religion....peace is a religion.....fight to establish peace is religion....Work is religion. Moreover to that....Responsibility is the biggest religion......once who fulfills that's to perfection is God for me.......

And last but not the least...standing by own decisions is the religion.....
So friendship is the most pure religion.....because that the first independent decision taken by an individual...

At last as far u think u will get confused...........
So better leave it to great thinking brains to amused....

As a common person don’t pursue much tension
As per your conviction keep a simple definition....
do whatever makes u happy most, feels with a delight.....
because every religions aim is to feel ur life with light..........

SRIJAN SHUKLA said...

wellllllll.......
it seems this time u both wrote from the depth of ur heart....
bt i m too ignorant to give any comment on both of the poems....
simply great as usual

RavS said...

Well first of all, i wanted to say that Katy, please stop it...

Please stop giving your views on a blog which is virtually owned by VK. Start ur own blog, i would say!

I mean if u see, length wise, VK's follow up poem is longer than ur own! In fact i sometimes feel that Vikas does it so as let people compare who's poem, on the same topic, is better.

Alright if thats what u want, let me tell: for me Katy's poem seems to have come from a thinking man, who dwell-ed deeply on the subject and then selected right words to express his inner feelings.

But VK's poem was, as if you were always clear about what u r writing, and there is no better master of words, i know. My only wish was that u could have considered taking a bit more time writing ur own poem rather than producing it 'live', as is ur habit.

Now only if VK could take my advice and divert his pieces of art on his own blog.

RavS said...

Now coming back to ur poem. Well this one is special for me, just because it talks about religion and faith; two topics on which i have been confused, more so in the last one year.
I have been in a dilemma on the existence of God (talk about it some other time).

Now let me analyze ur poem a bit!
This time i want to comment on ur style of writing. I saw inconsistency, which though can be ignored very easily but should be brought to the notice.

All but one paragraph started with a capital letter. But not every sentence.

Are u in the habit of writing 'I' as 'i' and 'you' as 'u'. Well that's personal preference, i don't have any objection there.

But i couldn't see the logic of using a ';' before words like 'or' and 'so' (at one place u have used ':OR')..

But again as i said they are minor flaws (or may be not because u might have used them deliberately)..

Bright Shade Of Darkness said...

well Ravs it was never the intention to put my poems against Katyayan's one.....and the persona has been miss understood completely...well i know what i am writing...and it has no comparability with katyayan's master piece.....its simply an opinion put with rhyming words...nothing more than that it stood for.....well it was just his work that inspire me for instant writing and to some extent this instantiate is my weakness....i just thought katyayan will like reply as a poem ........but as it is giving a very wrong impression... in future i will not reply any of Katyayan poem in more than six lines as a comment.........

Where as my Blog is concern its a promise you will see at least one post every month and it mostly would be articles....well the fact behind it that I started this blog just to get some highly intellectual opinion of the some most intellectual people i know, and in hope to be blessed in order to improve my thinking level ..that's why mainly articles....it gives a platfarm to discuss ,seconldly i am not good in writing so it will improve it a bit..third it would keep an impartial though..and many angles to look for..
because i know Poems i can write...and can write well....but there is a problem...what i personally feel that.poem is an over flow of ones own emotions and believe ..and it keeps a deep believe and instant emotions since not open a big platform for discuss since more than facts its once own emotion and feelings.......i personally feel that i does not have the capability of writing in a manner katyayan did in poems keep the loop open for discussion...mine one is very simple...and expression of a result.....what ravi has said its true when it comes to poems i am quite clear what i am writing because i have simple thoughts...nothing special in it..neither i have a special way of presentation.......and when it comes to Hindi poem....then Ravs i will post u personally rather than posting on Blog...because i know it is not liked much by other people.......

hope that will clarify everything....

And its Katyayan's blog pls don't keep any doubt in it......

and katyayan i hope now you will stop using those hypocritical words as comment on my blog........

secondly..you are well aware to the fact as you write, that poems are a bit difficult to comment on..since its pure art and no art in the world can be compared or judged......so a person with my thinking capability cannot justify commenting on poetic style of your specially when it is an English poem........and on content ...i doesn't have literature capabilities to comment since you also know my English is very very very poor......so what i write on your blog is justifiable....what you use to write on mine...is a simple humiliation for me...since it cant be justified by any angle.........because u have a very creative and most intellectual head mounted on your shoulder..and as per your English is concerned.I don't thing anyone on globe will have a difference of opinion with me..that its superb...better than Harsa Bhogle..

hero wero zero said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
hero wero zero said...

well, it becomes imperative for me to now comment on this matter n bury this once n for all.
ravs n VK both have given dere opinions, firstly i thought i should write it as a e-mail becoz of the sensitivity of the issue.
but since my blog has limited no. of followers n the prominent one's are the subject of the discussion..so, i thought to put things into perspective, this is the best place.

coming to the issue, luk as "ravs" pointed abt v.k's comments being too long or it seems as if he is trying to put his poems against me...i completely don't buy that argument..i knw vikas personally n knw his intentions ..he wud never do dat ..a person who takes tym out of his busy schedule everytym n writes such precious words wud never have those intentions..also it really doesn't matter to me whether he writes 6 lines or 6 pages ..as long as he values me n my thoughts, he is n will always b a spl. friend..may b ravi wanted to just warn him about what other ppl will think(infact dats why i put it here)..every body has opinions n ravi has one of the most impartial n frank ones so, thank ravs...yaar, u two are the ppl who really take ur tym out put some words for my "freaky" thoughts(srijan as well)..so feel free to do so in any way u like..i can never thank u enough.
i hope this issue is settled.

coming to the topic of the month or the past few yrs..the whole intellectual,extraordinary n most intelligent brain talk goin on.

vikas, as u have said on ur blog , that u wud consider me as the most intellectual in the world til u meet another one better than me or the same applies to ravi if u meet more intelligent than him..right!
now, i knw we cn just laugh it off..the whole issue is nothing..i mean i usually considered is a joke all the tym n wanted u as well to admit as one..! but it seems u mean it..
first of all tell me, when we become frens, did we fall for each other on intelligence or intellectuality alone..i mean we bcame frens becoz we considered us "EQUALS".. there is dis mutual respect for each other..we may b admirers of each other for each others' gud qualities but we r not "FANS"..who told u that u r lesser dan us? i mean i've been teling u tym n again that u r one of us or may b better dan us..i knw , may b u just wanted to have fun!( thats ur nature) but again n again it becomes irritating n humiliating sometyms..luk' vikas don't take me wrong ..but sometyms it luks as if "tum hamari jhand kar rahe ho"..(english version sounds rude)..so let me just put it straight we r all equals , nobody is superior , nobody is inferior..n
if you still think the other way..u question the very essence of our friendship.i can't discuss it further on it.

About english...i agree dat you have some grammatical errors in ur articles here n der but thats part n parcel of any beginner..we r not masters here..we all commit mistakes..there are hundreds of errors in my poetry style if seen technically but i write coz it gives me solace .it gives me satisfaction..
it's not the words in ur writing that attract but ur thoughts ..u r a person who luks at things with a view that very few ppl can.
i wud say continue doing so,things will definitely improve ..n mind u , ur modi article is perfect in every sense ..be it grammar, emotion or content .
if u write like dat..when are u starting the writing lessons for us??
hahahaha

SRIJAN SHUKLA said...

Well katy, ravs or adarniya guru ji....
me ye manta hu iss bare me ki hm sb dost h..wo sirf isliye h ki aaj hum sab ek dusre ke vicharon ko samajhte hai..hum janete hai ki aaj katy kya sochta h guru ji kya sochte h or ravi kya sochta or even me kya sochta hu...
or hum sabhi log ek dusre ke fan b h kyn ki jo thoughts hum logon ke dimag me ate h wo jyadatar ekdum alag or aisa hota h jo hme jyada tar bahut prabhavit karta h
guru ji jab hindi me jab bhi likhte h to lajwab likhta h...hindi ke ek ek shabdo ko apni kavita me iss kadar piro dete h jaise ki kisi sunar ne mala me moti piroye ho....
ussi tarah katy jab english me likhta h kuch words to aise hote h jinhe pade koi to kehga "BHAI WAH LAJWAB"
usi tarah ravs jab kisi ki post pe comment karta h to lagta ki koi sai me comment kar raha h koi aisa h jo bina kisi makhanbaji ke comment kar raha ho.....
matlab kuch log hote h jo hmesha hi tarif likhte h or sach ko nai kehta ye soch kar ki samne wale ko bura na lag jaye....
i mean to say ki har koi apne aap me alag h or apni alag qualities h har kisi me...
hme wahi ek dusre ki qualities achi lagti h isliye hm ek dusre ke dost h hme acha lagta h ek dusre ke har chij ko dekhne ka najariya acha lagta h.....
thts all i wanna say....
nither of us is superior thn other nor inferior....
WE R JST FRNDS THTS THE MAIN POINT


or haan kripya comment ko comment ki tarah hi likha kijiye aap log uska comment coloum ka prayog bolg samajh ke na kiya kijiye ....
mere kehne ka arth ye h ki itne lambe lambe articles ke mafik comments n likha kijkiye wase iss baar mene b kuch jyada lamdba comment likh diya bt never mind age se nai likhunga...........

thanx katy for providin ur blog to right on....
JAY HO GURU JI KI...jinhone muje hindi me likhne layak banaya...
n thnks to ravs as welll

Bright Shade Of Darkness said...

well thanks Katyayan and i am sure u mean it...and since u didn't like it i will not put those words on blog though i completely mean it.....but still i am not agreeing to you equality view....but lets leave it here...
now as per my IPL article is concern.U know i leave to meet the promise and commitments .that is a promise made to Ravs in written .....so it has to be like that..without any mistake..because first time in my entire it has took me 1.5 hours to put a post...though in order to maintain my originality ..i have jotted down in .5 hours but first time i took this much time in editing (which i never do) and read my own article 3 times before posting still I have made a mistake at one place i is missing in 'is'...
well in this i have avoided doing some mistakes(which done generally deliberately in order to express certain special thing....but in next onwards it will be same..).so all credit to Ravs (if ravs approve so...).but where content is concern ..so many point i missed in order to bring a healthy discussion in..and brief the size of article ..and i am extremely glad its happening so thanks for your invaluable comments.....

But one more thing i would like to say...this poems of your and comments on it has taken it to some where which doesn't concerns..it actually what i have felt ..i posted frankly..and has started a good debate on two heavy terms..like Faith and Religion..but actually no one seen or noticed the views in it..and it seen in different persona...and.......

well one more thing I would like to share..Ravi is the one of the most cleaver commenter...he comments on simple things like word formation, sentence formation..but never open up his cards on hard core thinking and topic.....since you have started a very comprehensive and subjective topic...i would love to c some hard core discussion on faith and religion..and then final agreed conclusion....waiting for reply....
and ya ravs...pls give a opinion...( and do tell me if u minded something) since intention is not there....

hero wero zero said...

@if u donot agree to my equality view then ..please post ur comments..
give some worthy logic to dis whole debate.
#pls read this line carefully.
"if you still think the other way..u question the very essence of our friendship."

RavS said...

Alright so everyone has given his opinion. Now its time for mine.. I have been following this comment section for last one week and have been itching to give my views so here they go..

First VK:
"in future i will not reply any of Katyayan poem in more than six lines as a comment"
I think I have been completely misunderstood here. Well all I wanted was that you go and post ur poems on ur own blog, their right place. Because starting the blog is one thing maintaining it is another (one reason i haven't started my own blog yet). And this is because i seriously wanted you to update ur own blog regularly, and ur pieces may get hidden in the comments section. And let me tell you that I am certainly nor against long comments (as long as you are not writing rubbish). In fact I encourage it, because it shows that you have given considerable time thinking and giving views.

"its a promise you will see at least one post every month and it mostly would be articles...."
Its a promise that i will be keeping and eye on and seriously hoping that you live up to it. But why only articles, when you have the creativity why not use it to give a variety?

"i personally feel that i does not have the capability of writing in a manner katyayan...mine one is very simple.."
Well what can i say to that one. Its upto u how you think about this one. But yes I agree that ur poems are simple. And now I have to unwillingly admit that I connected to your last poem more than Katy's. (Katy will take that sportingly). Just because of its simplicity and ur clearness of thoughts on the topic.

"Ravs i will post u personally rather than posting on Blog"
Thats not done. Everyone has the right to read ur poems. And I doubt if you write and give poems only to me then it will be written keeping me in mind. And i don't want that. I am not saying that you should go on writing poems everyday. But once in a while and ur best are always welcome.

"poems are a bit difficult to comment on..since its pure art and no art in the world can be compared or judged"
I completely agree with you. And thats why I resist to comment on the poem directly. Especially since I don't have the talent to write such beautiful poems. So all I do is to encourage the writers and tell what i felt after reading the poem. Rest is upto them. Hopefully that will clarify why
"Ravi is the one of the most cleaver commenter...he comments on simple things like word formation, sentence formation."

"my English is very very very poor......"
haha.. What a joke, I liked it. You have a great sense of humor!!

".i would love to c some hard core discussion on faith and religion.."
Well this is one topic that I have been confused the most in my life. And more so since last 10-12 months or so. And this has been making me crazy also. I have a few things to say and ask. I will do that some time in future..

RavS said...

Lets come to Katy now:

"my blog has limited no. of followers"
Yeah. And that is a problem. Actually i am amazed that you have so many followers on Orkut and FB and still handful of people read ur blog. Or may be they read ur blog but don't take the pain to write a few lines in comment section. Too bad..

"every body has opinions n ravi has one of the most impartial n frank ones"
Thanks for the compliment. I am floored!

"when we become frens, did we fall for each other on intelligence or intellectuality alone.."
Let me tell you, when I hadn't met you two people, there was a sense of mystery around you two. I mean there was one guy coming to your school in 6th class with 99% aggregate and the other guy will be seen every other day on stage amazing people with his his out of the world poetic capability. I really wished i could become friend with you guys because of ur "intelligence" and "intellectuality" (VK are you listening!).

But then we did become friends and then I came to know that these people are just as "jhand" (read normal) as me. And that helped me become ur 'Friend' rather than just a friend.

So to cut long story short though I wanted to become ur friend because of intelligence/intellectuality, but now i don't care about these things. You will still be my friends even if you don't write great articles/poems or don't get ur pics on the front page of newspapers.
What binds me to you people is not ur special qualities - everybody is special in his/her own way- but ur nature .Because you are good human beings. And I can relate to ur thoughts. And because you consider me as much as ur friend as I do.(Now, Katy are u listening!).

"it becomes irritating n humiliating sometyms"
Very true. Well if you(VK) admire us, I am fine with that. But ur "you are cool, I am a bloody fool" theory does get on to my mind. Let me tell u, if you have been that much of a 'fool' you would not have been friends of most "intelligent" and "intellectual" persons you know!!

So what the conclusion?
Well if VK thinks I am the most intelligent person he has ever met, I can live with that tag (probably he lives in cave and hasn't met too many people in his life). But if you go on and start bashing about us in the world that here are the too most "blah blah" persons in the world, that I would register a serious objection to that. Because that would mean that our friendship doesn't hold much importance in ur life. I seriously hope thats not the case....

RavS said...

And finally Srijan..

"aaj hum sab ek dusre ke vicharon ko samajhte hai."

मैं आपकी बात से एकदम सहमत हूँ| कई बार ऐसा भी होता है कि हम एक दूसरे से सहमत नहीं भी होते लेकिन ये एक अच्छी दोती के लिए जरूरी भी है|


"ravs jab kisi ki post pe comment karta h to lagta ki koi sai me comment kar raha h koi"

अरे भाई सब के सब मेरे कमेन्ट करने के स्टाइल के पीछे ही पड़ गए है! वैसे ये बात मैं बता देना चाहता हूँ कि मैं कमेन्ट किसी को दिखाने के लिए नहीं करता| इसलिए नहीं की किसी को अच्छा लगे बल्कि इसलिए की अगर किसी ने इतना सब लिखकर मुझे कमेन्ट करने के लिए कहा है तो मेरे विचार उसके लिए जरूर मायने रखते हैं| और मेरा ये फ़र्ज़ बनता है की मैं उसे ये बताऊँ की मैं असल में उसके लिखे आर्टिकल या पोयम के बार में क्या सोचता हूँ| मैं बस वाही लिखता हूँ जो बिना सोचे दिमाग में आ जाए| क्योंकि वही वो सुनना चाहता है | बस ...

"aap log uska comment coloum ka prayog bolg samajh ke na kiya kijiye"

नहीं यार जब जिसका ब्लॉग है उसे कोई दिकत्त नहीं है तो हमें क्यों टेंशन लेना? वैसे भी छोटे ब्लोग्स पर लम्बे कमेन्ट अच्छे लगते हैं| क्यों कात्यायन? हाहाहा (हिंदी में हँसना कितना अच्छा लगता है!) बल्कि मैं तो कहता हूँ कमेन्ट इतने बड़े होने चाहिए की पता ही न चले असली में लिखा क्या गया था!


वैसे मुझे अच्छा लगा आप भी ब्लोग्स पढ़ते हो और कमेन्ट करना नहीं भूलते| ये ब्लॉग लिखने वाले के लिए बहुत जरूर है की उसे लगातार फीडबैक मिलता रहे|

अब मुझे लगता है की मैंने सबके विचारों का जवाब दे दिया है| और ये मामला यहीं ख़तम होता है...

RavS said...

And finally Srijan..

"aaj hum sab ek dusre ke vicharon ko samajhte hai."

मैं आपकी बात से एकदम सहमत हूँ| कई बार ऐसा भी होता है कि हम एक दूसरे से सहमत नहीं भी होते लेकिन ये एक अच्छी दोती के लिए जरूरी भी है|


"ravs jab kisi ki post pe comment karta h to lagta ki koi sai me comment kar raha h koi"

अरे भाई सब के सब मेरे कमेन्ट करने के स्टाइल के पीछे ही पड़ गए है! वैसे ये बात मैं बता देना चाहता हूँ कि मैं कमेन्ट किसी को दिखाने के लिए नहीं करता| इसलिए नहीं की किसी को अच्छा लगे बल्कि इसलिए की अगर किसी ने इतना सब लिखकर मुझे कमेन्ट करने के लिए कहा है तो मेरे विचार उसके लिए जरूर मायने रखते हैं| और मेरा ये फ़र्ज़ बनता है की मैं उसे ये बताऊँ की मैं असल में उसके लिखे आर्टिकल या पोयम के बार में क्या सोचता हूँ| मैं बस वाही लिखता हूँ जो बिना सोचे दिमाग में आ जाए| क्योंकि वही वो सुनना चाहता है | बस ...

"aap log uska comment coloum ka prayog bolg samajh ke na kiya kijiye"

नहीं यार जब जिसका ब्लॉग है उसे कोई दिकत्त नहीं है तो हमें क्यों टेंशन लेना? वैसे भी छोटे ब्लोग्स पर लम्बे कमेन्ट अच्छे लगते हैं| क्यों कात्यायन? हाहाहा (हिंदी में हँसना कितना अच्छा लगता है!) बल्कि मैं तो कहता हूँ कमेन्ट इतने बड़े होने चाहिए की पता ही न चले असली में लिखा क्या गया था!


वैसे मुझे अच्छा लगा आप भी ब्लोग्स पढ़ते हो और कमेन्ट करना नहीं भूलते| ये ब्लॉग लिखने वाले के लिए बहुत जरूर है की उसे लगातार फीडबैक मिलता रहे|

अब मुझे लगता है की मैंने सबके विचारों का जवाब दे दिया है| और ये मामला यहीं ख़तम होता है...

ashish ranjan said...

Great work Katy bhai... its amazing that I am reading this poem after 10 years from when it was penned. But it's super relevant now more than ever. You beautifully described the nothingness and fragility of religion and how, even then it survives. I wished the main content would have been more eleborate and conclusion shorter. Then it may have been able to clear my own confusion but I am sure you were as perplexed and confused about this affair as everyone else around you.

hero wero zero said...

Thanks Ashish! Loved your feedback.