Illustration of Power of Diplomacy

Following is best example of power of diplomatic speech, which changed entire scene of political environment after Julius Caesar's assassination. Brutus, first cousin of caeser and main schemer in the conspiracy of Caesar's assassination lost Roman throne due these few words of great diplomacy. This speech by Mark Antony is considered as one of the best speeches of the history turned all cards in favor of him and lead him to Roman throne.And the famous speech goes as follows.....


Mark Antony:
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him;
The evil that men do lives after them,
The good is oft interred with their bones,
So let it be with Caesar ... The noble Brutus
Hath told you Caesar was ambitious:
If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously hath Caesar answered it ...
Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest,
(For Brutus is an honourable man;
So are they all; all honourable men)
Come I to speak in Caesar's funeral ...
He was my friend, faithful and just to me:
But Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honourable man….
He hath brought many captives home to Rome,
Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill:
Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?
When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept:
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff:
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honourable man.
You all did see that on the Lupercal
I thrice presented him a kingly crown,
Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition?
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
And, sure, he is an honourable man.
I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke,
But here I am to speak what I do know.
You all did love him once, not without cause:
What cause withholds you then to mourn for him?
O judgement! thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason…. Bear with me;
My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,
And I must pause till it come back to me.

Favourites from New Gen.

Movie: Kaminey

1. Title Song- Kaminey:

Ultimate lyrics by Gulzaar.
Sung and composed beautifully by versatile director of movie - Vishal Bhardwaj

Favorite Lines: Jiska bhi chehra chhila andar se aur nikla
Massom sa kabootar naachha to mor nikla,
kabhi hum kaminey nikle, kabhi doosre kaminey

2. Raat Ke Dhai baje

Singers: Kunal Ganjawala, Sunidhi Chauhan, Rekha Bhardwaj, Suresh Wadkar, Earl
Lyricist: Gulzar
Music Director: Vishal Bhardwaj

Favorite Lines: ek hi lat suljhane mein saari raat guzaari hai
jaan ki gathri sar pe le li aapne kaisi zehmat dee hai

Movie: Love Aaj – Kal

1. Peppy and meaningful song: Chori Bazzari

Music Director: Pritam Chakraborty
Director: Imtiaz Ali
Lyrics: Irshad Kamil

Favorite Lines: Duniya ki tho fikar kahan thi Teri bhi ab chinta ghat gayi

Taarif teri karnaa, Tujhe khone se darnaa
Haan bhool gaya ab tujhpe Din mein chaar daffa marna
Pyaar khumhari utri sari Bathon ki badli bhi chat gayi
Hum se mein pe aayi aise Mujhko toh main hi main kat gayi

2. Bit Sad yet soothing song: Ye dooriyan

Music Director: Pritam Chakraborty
Director: Imtiaz Ali
Lyrics: Irshad Kamil

Favorite Lines: Kabhi hua yeh bhi, Khali Rahon pe bhi Tu tha mere saath ,
Kabhi tujhe milke lauta mera dil yeh khali khali haath
Yeh bhi hua kabhi Jaise hua Aabhi Tujhko sabhi mein paa lia
Tera mujhe kar jaati hai dooriyan……..

Experiencing Life with RBT's Poems

Rabindranath Tagore is an astonishing poet and India's priceless gift to the world literature.

Each poem equals a story. Each poem magnifies an emotion, a feeling and is so aptly interwoven into words that it feels like you are living that emotion; that story is yours; you are the character or emotion being talked about.

Human beings are most complex creatures when it comes to emotions and RBT's poems aptly exemplify all those emotions. It makes you assume diverse role as is narrated in the poem. Whenever I read his poems, I feel transition of time. Almost forget where or who I am and got lost in that world created by words.

Some of my personal favorites are ; A moment's indulgence, Let me not forget, Little of me, Brink of Eternity, Lost star and your questioning eyes, Are you a mere picture

Although I have always loved reading, I never considered poems can be my interest and that too verses by such a world-class poet always seemed a distant possibility. I always doubted whether I will be able to absorb these verses, it was only after I read one of his poetry in a friends' blog, I started getting crazy about them. Although I have just started exploring this beautiful world; wish could lose my breath in this deep ocean.

The journey continues......

Little of Me

Fantastic poem by a fantastic writer; Tagore

Little of Me

Let only that little be left of me

whereby I may name thee my all.

Let only that little be left of my will

whereby I may feel thee on every side,

and come to thee in everything,

and offer to thee my love every moment.

Let only that little be left of me

whereby I may never hide thee.

Let only that little of my fetters be left

whereby I am bound with thy will,

and thy purpose is carried out in my life---and that is the fetter of thy love.

A Piece of Spirituality

Recently, I came across a very beautiful article in Sunday Supplement of a Gujarati Newspaper. The article was actually about a spirituality teacher (This is how she likes herself to be called) Vimala Thaker. Whole article was fun to read but what left a lasting impression or touched me is opening lines of the article that presented some amazing thoughts of Vimala Thakar in her own words. Following are those beautiful and insightful lines.

Energy and bravery are prerequisites for living
But pain and cheerfulness collectively makes the life complete
The more sensitive you are, more you can live from depth of your existence
But vulnerable and unarmed to the perils offered by life
The more sensitive you are, more you have capacity to love
But more dejected you are, more depressed and more dismayed
Pain and grief are companions of love and sensitivity
Love and sorrow always goes hand in hand
So, if you are physically or mentally hurt
Then learn to live with it
Not by taking pity on yourself, being weak or living a burdened life
But because this is a part of your life
This is also an expression of life.