Once upon a time, not so long ago,

In the ancient, ever youthful,

Always evolving Delhi,

There lived a playful boy,

Thriving in the shade of his loving family,

Sweetened by the nectar of his mother’s lullabies,

(Sometimes interspersed with verses from the holy Gurbani, * one shabad is listed at the end of the blog)

Often sung in the gentle glow of the winter Sun,

Under star spangled summer nights,

In monsoons, even as lightning thundered across the sky,

But for the playful boy,

The best was when her nightingale voice,

Synchronized with the chirping of sparrows,

And there was magic all over…..

Alas!!!

As the seasons changed a few times,

There was an unprecedented onslaught of human greed,

Which brought the once proud Delhi, and the tiny sparrow,

To their knees, even as the bird,

Vanished from its home turf, never to return,

And pushed the city into a decaying, murky, lawless cesspool….

As for the playful boy, now fast climbing the steps of age,

The once precious lullabies,

Without which he would not fall asleep,

Became irritants, to be avoided at all cost, or rather stopped ….

Decades rolled by, like the fluttering of an eyelid,

And now, a fast aging man can often be seen,

Resting his back for support,

Against the trunk of a wizened banyan, 

Lost in thought, over the times gone by,

Sometimes sweet, sometimes sour,

In despondency, for his first love, the erotic Delhi,

More precious for him than the Kohinoor could ever be,

Now gasping for breath, hanging for survival,

On the edge of a sheer precipice,

From where a claw back seems impossible,

For the sweet chirping of the long-lost sparrow,

Now, the frantic, heart numbing, ear-splitting siren of ambulances,

But most of all, with a feeling of deep set guilt, and remorse,

For what he could never do for his mother,

Trying to figure out the conundrum,

As to how, and why things went so wrong……

In increasing desperation,

He tries to retrieve the notes of her celestial lullabies,

Of whatever he remembers,

Before they are erased forever,

To store them, as fragrant memories,

To be cherished, and celebrated, till his last breath,

Even as a tear is shed,

Occasionally….

*** One of the most beautiful and powerful shabads she sang was written by Guru Arjan Dev Ji, 5^th Guru of the Sikhs….

ताती वाओ ना लगई पार बह्म शरणाई,

The hot wind does not even touch one who is under the Protection of the Supreme Lord God.

चौ गिर्द हमारे राम का दुख लगे ना भाई,

On all four sides I am surrounded by the Lord’s Circle of Protection; pain does not afflict me, O Siblings of Destiny.

सतगुरु पूरा पेटेया, जिन बढत बड़ाई,
I have met the Perfect True Guru, who has done this deed.

राम नाम औ-खद दिया, ए का लिव लाई

He has given me the medicine of the Lord’s Name, and I enshrine love for the One Lord.

राख लिए तीन रखनहार, सब ब्याध मिटाई,

The Savior Lord has saved me and eradicated all my sickness.

कहो नानक किरपा पई,प्रभ पै सहाई,

Says Nanak, God has showered me with His Mercy; He has become my help and support.

सतगुरु पूरा पेटेया, जिन बढत बड़ाई,

I have met the Perfect True Guru, who has done this deed.

राम नाम औ–खद दिया, ए का लिव लाई,
He has given me the medicine of the Lord’s Name, and I enshrine love for the One Lord.

तात्ति वाओ ना लगई पार् बह्म……

The hot wind does not even touch one who is under the Protection of the Supreme Lord God.

राख लिए तीन रखनहार, सब ब्याध मिटाई,

The Savior Lord has saved me, and eradicated all my sickness

कहो नानक किरपा पई,प्रभ पै सहाई,

Says Nanak, God has showered me with His Mercy; He has become my help and support.

तात्ति वाओ ना लगई……..