AB Day 587

Respected Brother
Sadar Pranaam suprabhat
Before we talk more of that wonderful evening where we met and still not met.. I share a link of the voice of Dr. Bachchan where he provides initiation to the beautiful rendering of Madhushala by Manna Dey sahab..
http://abhayaharivansh.blogspot.com/2009/11/madhushala-in-harivansh-rai-bachchans.html

Also there were some errors which left unedited in my Hindi version of the Bachchan Sanfhya part 1 submitted late last night.. aapse gujaarish hai ki unko andekha kar de aur mujhe kshama kar den.. kahin anya bhool chook hui ho to uske liye bhi aapse anurodh hai apana chhota bhaai samajh kar meri galtiyon ko nazar andaz kar den..

Vaastav mein us shaam Dr. Bachchan se ek tarah se mulaakat hi to ho gai thee meri.. Kitane sundar pushp aapne unki kratiyon se chunkar ham logon ke liye prastut kiye.. shayad is chhote se jevan mein isase adhik main kya kah sakata hoon..

chhote se jeevan mein kitanapyar karun pee loon haala..aane ki hi saath jagat meinaane ke hi saath jagat meinkahalaaya jaane vala..

छोटे-से जीवन में कितना प्यार करुँ, पी लूँ हाला,
आने के ही साथ जगत में कहलाया ‘जानेवाला’,
स्वागत के ही साथ विदा की होती देखी तैयारी,
बंद लगी होने खुलते ही मेरी जीवन-मधुशाला।।६६।

I am happy that what I had added from memory was not all that wrong.. This is not the best verse for me.. the best I consider is most difficult to pick.. the complete Madhushala falls in that category.. and this is no appeasement of any sort..

Aaap se milakr bhi na mil paane mein jo sukh chuupa hai.. use koi anya kaise jaan sakata hai..
Addendum
( I find somewhere this compilation on my computer I hope you and others may just like it..
This post is not a part of Bachchan Sanfhya that I shall soon present a little later from now.. the second part is supposed to be dedicated to Dr. Bachchan embodied in your body for those few hours when he found his voice in you.. and the way r. Pushpa Bharati ji anchored the whole show.. I shall not disclose every thing here..

............ Quoted from past begins ........

हाथों में आने-आने में,हाय, फिसल जाता प्याला,
अधरों पर आने-आने मेंहाय, ढुलक जाती हाला,
दुनियावालो, आकर मेरीकिस्मत की ख़ूबी देखो,
रह-रह जाती है बस मुझकोमिलते-मिलते मधुशाला।।94।।

Tis just about to be grasped yet
Slips away this cup from hands
Tis wine just about to be clasped by lips
yet Rolls away too far away!

Oh my friends come have a look
What fate has scrabbled on my book!
Tis too close and yet too far away
Ever disappearing that tavern on the way!

This friends was a sort of not so literal yet somewhat lyrical transcription of how this particular verse could be anglicized for rest of the world. Its interpretation may or may not be too close to what I have paraphrased above. Time and again I remind myself of the great inadequacy that persists in a translational effort. What follows now is my understanding of the original verses.

Frankly speaking this computerized version is already showing some signs away from the one scribbled on the pad with pen! I do not desist away from such a path as long as I do not complicate the issues and make a mess of the work. The basic idea what Dr. Bachchan probably would have conceived in his mind is discussed here.

There are situations in life that reflect incompleteness and unexpectedness of an event – as if the cup slips away before eager hands could get hold of it! Or rather tumbling of the wine even before it could just embrace our lips!The poet then insists in spite of these fallacies and failures he invites his friends to have a close look at this desperate beauty of his deserving/ or undeserving fate. That he has missed a very near chance to have glance of the tavern on the way!

This again friends is more or less physical meaning what Dr. Bachchan has referred in these lines though he might actually be trying to philosophize the element of uncertainty and the unexpected from our perceived and preferred path and to be prepared for such eventualities. That many a times we are so very near to our target yet we miss it by a whisker, that we are so close on the verge of success yet somehow it deceives us in the most unexpected manner.
The Poet, I mean, I should say Dr. Bachchan is probably addressing the rest of us the populace on this earth to believe that his own story of dwindling fortunes and discomforting events could not be different for us human beings in any way. His near misses on finding his chosen path (Tavern) and to succed on it is like a mirage too near yet too far away!

Post Script:With this first interpretation of the thoughts of Dr. Bachchan in Madhushala - though actually the 94th verse of the poets poem I begin this journey to communicate with the rest of you. I wanted to take up something that I had not read in the train and I must add here that following sequence may never be important to me and you may find that before I complete all the verses I might have revisited a couple of them many times over! This particular couplet reminds us of uncertainty that we all must really respect.

I would also wish to make a point to the poet to forgive me if I ever fail and at times completely misunderstood his work or words and interpret them in not only a different manner but also in content and context. The beauty of a poetic work lies in its manifold manifestations and also strongly depends on the mood and mind of its reader at that particular point of time. The message could be seen and read differently as if there are not one or two but several messages hidden within. The same poetic work can have different meanings, be understood in different manners and different individuals could derive different messages at different times. I use this philosophy to defend my incapacity to treat the works of Dr. Bachchan as exactly as science would have loved it to be!
..... quoted from past - ends .......

Hopefully, I am able to provide enough of such couplets that could prove the Madhushala to be only as the tavern on the way! Here Madhushala symbolizes with uncertainty in life!…..This post was created on 2nd February 2009 some of the members of EF may have already read what I had said that day.. few things in life can always be repeated.. so I take this opportunity to share it with you all over again..

Love Afffection and Regards
is sure always on the cards…

Abhaya Sharma
November 30 2009 9:10 AM IST