“Doli nahi se turrdee kadae kaharr bina, Charkha ronda vekheya mien mutyaar bina”
We have seen so much of change in our lifetime (just the last 20yrs or so). So much change. Life these days is so full of chaos. The moment you step out of the house, buses whizzing past, cars honking on traffic lights, a distant hammering, a jet flying past…; I try to shut my ears close, to get out. This increase of entropy in our lives is certainly undesirable. The world around us constantly reminds us about it. There is not a moment of peace anywhere. I for certain cherish memories of days when I was a little kid. Ancestral house in village next to the farm, those walks in the forest reserves, sitting by the riverside, early morning walks in rose garden, yoga on the beach under the sunrise, and those hours of loneliness. Moments that might never come again, for modernization has left its mark everywhere these days. It is not just the db levels that have changed; it has brought changes penetrating into the very abyss of our hearts. People, emotions, culture, tradition, ways, attitude, relations .., everything around me has changed now. For me, all this went unnoticed till now. I forgot about the birds that are not singing any more, there are no cicadas in my garden, the cuckoo is not sitting on the mango tree in my backyard, and definitely I haven’t heard the morning song for quite a while. Where did they all go, maybe they are still there striving for an identity suppressed in the moans of my modern world. A certain craving that arose from within for those old days, and I sat down thinking of what I am missing here. The trigger – “Balle ni Punjab diyae sher bachiyae”. A very old song by one of the greatest ever Punjabi singers – Asa Singh Mastana. The peace that the song carried, the joy and so much more. Noise wasn’t noisy then in those times. In a matter of seconds I find my self drifting backwards to those times. Even to times which I have only seen in pictures or heard about. The disliking for the present growing within like a cancer and now spreading across through my brain. Oh ya! I was being nostalgic about for memories that weren’t even mine. Crazy? No. The power of music definitely!
We have seen so much of change in our lifetime (just the last 20yrs or so). So much change. Life these days is so full of chaos. The moment you step out of the house, buses whizzing past, cars honking on traffic lights, a distant hammering, a jet flying past…; I try to shut my ears close, to get out. This increase of entropy in our lives is certainly undesirable. The world around us constantly reminds us about it. There is not a moment of peace anywhere. I for certain cherish memories of days when I was a little kid. Ancestral house in village next to the farm, those walks in the forest reserves, sitting by the riverside, early morning walks in rose garden, yoga on the beach under the sunrise, and those hours of loneliness. Moments that might never come again, for modernization has left its mark everywhere these days. It is not just the db levels that have changed; it has brought changes penetrating into the very abyss of our hearts. People, emotions, culture, tradition, ways, attitude, relations .., everything around me has changed now. For me, all this went unnoticed till now. I forgot about the birds that are not singing any more, there are no cicadas in my garden, the cuckoo is not sitting on the mango tree in my backyard, and definitely I haven’t heard the morning song for quite a while. Where did they all go, maybe they are still there striving for an identity suppressed in the moans of my modern world. A certain craving that arose from within for those old days, and I sat down thinking of what I am missing here. The trigger – “Balle ni Punjab diyae sher bachiyae”. A very old song by one of the greatest ever Punjabi singers – Asa Singh Mastana. The peace that the song carried, the joy and so much more. Noise wasn’t noisy then in those times. In a matter of seconds I find my self drifting backwards to those times. Even to times which I have only seen in pictures or heard about. The disliking for the present growing within like a cancer and now spreading across through my brain. Oh ya! I was being nostalgic about for memories that weren’t even mine. Crazy? No. The power of music definitely!
Very well said Jeeva!! Yes I have been witness to the cultural changes you have spoke about. And I still favour and cherish those old moments. Dupatta, Charkha all these things have been relegated to museum's or songs. We are excited at seeing any of these things which talks volumes about them loosing there space!! I have seen people saying to me in hindi "Hum bhee punjabi haan". What kind off punjabi you are if you cann't even say this in Punjabi. I can only pray that everything getting it's deserving place and the Charkha dubara naa rove!!
ReplyDeletethe important thing still is, "are we strong enuf to let our culture and heritage live thru us?".
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