Kuhu Kuhu Bole Koyaliya...

To The Cuckoo

~ William Wordsworth

O blithe newcomer! I have heard,

I hear thee and rejoice:

O Cuckoo! shall I call thee bird,

Or but a wandering Voice?

While I am lying on the grass Thy twofold shout I hear; From hill to hill it seems to pass, At once far off and near.	The same whom in my schoolboy days I listened to; that Cry Which made me look a thousand ways In bush, and tree, and sky.
Though babbling only to the vale Of sunshine and of flowers, Thou bringest unto me a tale Of visionary hours.	To seek thee did I often rove Through woods and on the green; And thou wert still a hope, a love; Still longed for, never seen!
Thrice welcome, darling of the Spring! Even yet thou art to me No bird, but an invisible thing, A voice, a mystery;	And I can listen to thee yet; Can lie upon the plain And listen, till I do beget That golden time again.

O blessed Bird! the earth we pace 

Again appears to be 

An unsubstantial, fairy place, 

That is fit home for Thee!

Taj Mahal - Mohabbat aur Talkhiyaan

ताजमहल

~ शकील बदायुनी                                                               ~ साहिर लुधियानवी 

ताज वो शमा है, उल्फ़त के सनमखाने की जिसके परवानो में मुफ़लीस भी हैं,ज़रदार भी हैं संगेमरमर में समाये हुये ख्वाबों की कसम मरहले प्यार के आसान भी दुश्वार भी हैं दिल को एक जोश इरादों को जवानी दी हैं

अनगिनत  लोगोंने  दुनिया  में  मोहब्बत की है कौन  कहता  है  के  सादिक़ ना थे जज़बे  उनके लेकिन  उनके  लिए  तश 'हीर  का  सामान  नहीं क्युंके वो लोग भी अपनी ही तरह  मुफलिस  थे मेरे  महबूब  कहीं  और  मिला  कर  मुझसे

ताज एक ज़िंदा तसव्वुर हैं किसी शायर का इसका अफ़साना हक़ीकत के सिवा कुछ भी नही इस के आगोश में आकर ये गुमा होता हैं जिंदगी जैसे मोहब्बत के सिवा कुछ भी नही ताज ने प्यार के मौजों को रवानी दी हैं

मेरी  महबूब  उन्हें  भी  तो  मोहब्बत  होगी जिन की रानाई ने  बख्शी है इसे शक्ल-ऐ-जमील उनके प्यार के मक़ाबिर रहे बे - नाम  ओ  नमूद आज  तक  उनपे  जलाई  ना  किसी  ने  क़ंदील मेरे  महबूब  कहीं  और  मिला  कर  मुझसे

ये हसीन रात ये महकी हुई पुरनूर फज़ा हो इजाज़त तो ये दिल इश्क का इज़हार करें इश्क इन्सान को इन्सान बना देता हैं किसकी हिम्मत हैं मोहब्बत से जो इन्कार करे आज तकदीर ने ये रात सुहानी दी हैं

ये चमनज़ार, ये जमना का कनारा, ये महल ये मुनक़क़श दर-ओ-दीवार, ये मेहराब, ये ताक़ एक  शहंशाह  ने  दौलत  का  सहारा  लेकर हम ग़रीबों की मोहब्बत का उड़ाया है  मज़ाक़ मेरे  महबूब  कहीं  और  मिला  कर  मुझसे

Don't Worry! Be Happy...

Overheard In An Orchard
~ Elizabeth Cheney

"Said the robin to the sparrow,

'I should really like to know,
Why these anxious human beings 
Rush about and worry so.'

"Said the sparrow to the robin,
'Friend I think that it must be,
That they have no Heavenly Father,
Such as cares for you and me.”

Shaam Dhale...The Prelude

Surprised seeing some prose here? or is the right word, Alarmed?

Pray, do not be either, because this is just a forward to a particular series within this blog that I am about to start off over here - about the Sunsets.

One of the earliest memories of my childhood has me travelling in a Tonga with my grandmother on a rural-ish road somewhere near Kota, while the evening colours of a setting Sun provided a perfect sepia hue to the moment. Though there is some kind of a foot injury also associated with this, but kyunki hum filmi hain, this moment of flashback too somehow, also has a song associated to it somehow.

Despite my own doubts about the veracity of some parts of this memory, I think this is where my association and fascination with sunsets began.  To me somehow the sky, despite being so bright throughout the day, is never as attractive, dramatic and comfortable as it looks at twilight.  Over the years, at various stages of life, the sunset has always been a constant friend to me, a source of comfort in turbulent moments, a silent companion for my melancholy, adding colour to my romance and has always been there to shar my joyous moments.  

Over the last few years, with photography becoming a hobby & passion, the Sunset has always been one of the constant themes of my images. Be it a vacation with the family, a walk or just birding around, I have been striving to capture the various moods of a setting sun across all seasons. I think it is time for me to share this fascination of mine with all those who have been appreciating my love for nature & literature.

So I request your indulgence as I bring to you a regular montage, of moments, captured or yet to be captured by me, of twilight and sunsets- interspersed with some of the best verses, written over the centuries, by masters of words who, like me, were also enamored by the beauty of a Sunset – but with a difference – they could express it better! I am sure that the days to come, or rather evenings, will give me enough opportunities to bring to you more hues & shades that the nature is able to create as the Sun flows down the horizon.

Before bringing to you the first image, however, I would like to go back to the memory I wrote about – or rather specifically to the song that is somehow associated with that memory - a lovely composition with some wonderful poetry of Anand Bakshi from a movie - Pushpanjali:

Kabhi ruke kabhi chale Radha chori chori
Piya kahe aa, jiya kahe nahi gori
Sham dhale Jamuna kinare kinare
Aaja Radhe aaja tohe Shyam pukare