Saturday, September 4, 2010

Mirabai's Clouds - A tribute to Janmashtami



I stumbled upon the poetry of arguably India's best known poets of today; though she lived some 400 years ago.




Born to a noble Rajput family in what is known today as Rajasthan, she married the heir apparent the ruler of Mewar. Unfortunately, her husband died before he could take the throne and he left no heir.



During a battle against Muslim invasion on the year 1527, both her father and her father in law died as a result of the fighting. A new child king, and his mother, took the throne and then made life difficult for Mirabai to remain in the royal court.



At approximately the age of 30, she left and began writing poetry, much of which is devoted to Lord Krishna.



The birth date of Krishna was recently celebrated during a festival called Janmashtami.......and while I would have enjoyed the day off like many, I found myself on a business trip to Visakhapatnam (Vizag).



Still the season of monsoon, the clouds from the plane were magnificent, and I grabbed my camera to capture the ever changing scenery from my view from the plane.



This poem by Mirabai seemed perfect to share along with my photographs......enjoy the poem and the scenes from above India on my recent journey to Vizag on Janmashtami.


Thick overhead
clouds of the monsoon,
a delight to this feverish heart.
Season of rain,
season of uncontrolled whispers---the Dark One’s returning!
O swollen heart,
O sky brimming with moisture---
tongued lightning first
and then thunder,
convulsive spatters of rain
and the wind, chasing the summertime heat

No comments: