http://www.indocaribbeanheritage.com/content/view/44/65/
Estates in the British Isles that Used East Indian Indentured (bound)Laborers
1 Trinidad Adela
2 Trinidad Arandale
3 Trinidad Aranguez
4 Trinidad Aripero
5 Trinidad Bagatelle
6 Trinidad Barataria
7 Trinidad Beaulieu
8 Trinidad Beausejour
9 Trinidad Bel Air
10 Trinidad Belle View
11 Trinidad Ben Laomond
12 Trinidad Bien Venue
13 Trinidad Birken Hil
14 Trinidad Bon Accord
15 Trinidad Bon Air
16 Trinidad Bonasse
17 Trinidad Bonne Aventure
18 Trinidad Brechin Castle
19 Trinidad Bronte
20 Trinidad Broomage
21 Trinidad Brothers
22 Trinidad Buen Intento
23 Trinidad Buenos Ayres
24 Trinidad Camden
25 Trinidad Canaan
26 Trinidad Cane Farm
27 Trinidad Carmelita
28 Trinidad Caracas
29 Trinidad Carolina
30 Trinidad Caroni
31 Trinidad Cascade
32 Trinidad Champ Elysees
33 Trinidad Cedar Grove
34 Trinidad Cedar Hill
35 Trinidad Columbia
36 Trinidad Concord
37 Trinidad Concordia
38 Trinidad Constance
39 Trinidad Corinth
40 Trinidad Coryal
41 Trinidad Craignish
42 Trinidad Cupar Grange
43 Trinidad Curepe
44 Trinidad Diamond
45 Trinidad Dinsley
46 Trinidad Dumfries
47 Trinidad Edinburgh
48 Trinidad El Dorado
49 Trinidad El Reposo
50 Trinidad El Rosario
51 Trinidad El Socorro
52 Trinidad Endeavor
53 Trinidad Enterprise
54 Trinidad Esmeralda
55 Trinidad Esperance
56 Trinidad Esperanza
57 Trinidad Exchange
58 Trinidad Fairfield
59 Trinidad Felicity
60 Trinidad Florissante
61 Trinidad Forres Park
62 Trinidad Frederick
63 Trinidad Friendship
64 Trinidad Fullerton
65 Trinidad Garden
66 Trinidad Garth
67 Trinidad Glenroy
68 Trinidad Golconda
69 Trinidad Golden Grove
70 Trinidad Green Hill
71 Trinidad Guaracara
72 Trinidad Harmony Hill
73 Trinidad Harris Plain
74 Trinidad Henry
75 Trinidad Hermitage
76 Trinidad Hindustan
77 Trinidad Hope
78 Trinidad Industry
79 Trinidad Inverness
80 Trinidad Jordan Hill
81 Trinidad La Fortune
82 Trinidad La Gloria
83 Trinidad La Horquetta
84 Trinidad La Pastora
85 Trinidad La Resource
86 Trinidad La Retraite
87 Trinidad La Romaine
88 Trinidad Las Almas
89 Trinidad Laurel Hill
90 Trinidad La Vega
91 Trinidad Laventille
92 Trinidad Les Efforts
93 Trinidad Los Angeles
94 Trinidad Lothians
95 Trinidad Macoya
96 Trinidad Malgretoute
97 Trinidad Marabella
98 Trinidad Maracaas Bay
99 Trinidad Mararaval
100 Trinidad Mausica
101 Trinidad McBean
102 Trinidad McLeon Plain
103 Trinidad Milton
104 Trinidad Moka
105 Trinidad Mon Desir
106 Trinidad Mon Jaloux
107 Trinidad Mon Plaisir
108 Trinidad Mon Repos
109 Trinidad Montrose
110 Trinidad Mt. Pleasant
111 Trinidad Mt. Stewart
112 Trinidad Nelson
113 Trinidad Ne Plus Ultra
114 Trinidad New Grant
115 Trinidad New Hope
116 Trinidad Non Pariel
117 Trinidad Orange Grove
118 Trinidad Oropouche
119 Trinidad Otaheite
120 Trinidad Plamiste
121 Trinidad Palmyra
122 Trinidad Papourie
123 Trinidad Paradise
124 Trinidad Patna
125 Trinidad Perseverance
126 Trinidad Petersfield
127 Trinidad Petite Morne
128 Trinidad Phillipine
129 Trinidad Phoenix Park
130 Trinidad Picton
131 Trinidad Plain Palaise
132 Trinidad Plaissance
133 Trinidad Poole Syndicate
134 Trinidad Providence
135 Trinidad Reform
136 Trinidad Retrench
137 Trinidad Rio Clara
138 Trinidad River
139 Trinidad Rivulet
140 Trinidad Rostant
141 Trinidad San Antonia
142 Trinidad San Felipe
143 Trinidad San Gill
144 Trinidad San Francisco
145 Trinidad San Jose
146 Trinidad Santa Clara
147 Trinidad Seville
148 Trinidad Siparia
149 Trinidad Spring
150 Trinidad St. Anns
151 Trinidad St. Augustine
152 Trinidad St. Charles
153 Trinidad St. Claire
154 Trinidad St. Helena
155 Trinidad St. Johns
156 Trinidad St. Madeleine
157 Trinidad St. Marie
158 Trinidad Stretham Lodge
159 Trinidad Suzannah
160 Trinidad Terre Promise
161 Trinidad Toruba
162 Trinidad Tortuga
163 Trinidad Trafalgar
164 Trinidad Trois Amis
165 Trinidad Union
166 Trinidad Union Hall
167 Trinidad Valsayn
168 Trinidad Verdant Vale
169 Trinidad Victoria
170 Trinidad Villa Franca
171 Trinidad Vistabella
172 Trinidad Washington
173 Trinidad Waterloo
174 Trinidad Wellington
175 Trinidad Williamsville
176 Trinidad Woodbrook
177 Trinidad Woodford Dale
178 Trinidad Waterford Lodge
179 Trinidad Woodlands
180 St. Vincent Adelphi
181 St. Vincent Bellevue
182 St. Vincent Colonaire
183 St. Vincent Grand Sable
184 St. Vincent Langley Park
185 St. Vincent Lot 14
186 St. Vincent Mt. Bentink
187 St. Vincent Mt. Greenan
188 St. Vincent Orange Hill
189 St. Vincent Rabacca
190 St. Vincent San Souci
191 St. Vincent Tourama
192 St. Vincent Union
193 St. Vincent Yambou Vale
194 St. Vincent Argyle
195 St. Vincent Arnos Vale
196 St. Vincent Belair
197 St. Vincent Belair
198 St. Vincent Calder
199 St. Vincent Cane Hall
200 St. Vincent Carapan
201 St. Vincent Glen
202 St. Vincent Montrose
203 St. Vincent Mt. Pleasant
204 St. Vincent Rivulet
205 St. Vincent Cane Grove
206 St. Vincent Pembroke
207 St. Vincent Questelles
208 St. Vincent Mt. Wynne
209 St. Vincent Peters Hope
210 St. Vincent Rutland Vale
211 St. Vincent Wallilabou
212 St. Vincent Richmond
213 St. Vincent Rose Bank
214 British Guiana Vreed-en-Hoop
215 British Guiana Vriedestein
216 British Guiana Anna Regina
217 British Guiana Diamond
218 British Guiana Belle Vue
219 British Guiana Waterloo
220 British Guiana Highbury
221 British Guiana Devonshire
222 British Guiana Non-Pareil
223 British Guiana Friends
224 Grenada Mt. Alexander Estate
225 St. Lucia Castries
226 St. Lucia Cul De Sac
227 St. Lucia Soucis
228 St. Lucia Roseau
229 St. Lucia Anse La Raye
230 St. Lucia Mabouya
231 St. Lucia Dennery
232 St. Lucia La Caye
233 St. Lucia Richfond
234 St. Lucia Retraite
235 St. Lucia Crown Land
236 St. Lucia Peru
237 St. Lucia Pelute
238 St. Lucia Blackbay
239 St. Lucia Vieux Fort
240 Jamaica Claredon
241 Jamaica Westmoreland
242 Jamaica St. Thomas
Subject: Some Individuals in St. Lucia and Grenada circa 1891
The following bits of data was collected from the East Indies to St. Lucia
by Surgeon-Major D.W.D. Comins, Protector of Emigrants, Calcutta. Printed
at the Bengal Secretariat Press in 1893
St. Lucia
1. Budhu, age 20, son of Parabu. Caste: Turki Koiri from Azamgarh
District, Mohmadambad Thana, Walidpur village. Uncle's name Gulap, son of
Domon. Budhu signed a Form of Agreement for Intending Emigrant to St. Lucia
on 15 Dec 1890 in Ghazipur, India
2. Pay list of Crown Lands Estate for the week ending 3 April 1886:
Gujadhur, Horill, Hulass, Hoossanys, Intame, Joodhester, Joonab, Kalkasings,
Kehane, Kessowar, Khiroda, Lachiman, Lakpetia, Lukkia Dilloo, Maimra,
Manchoo, Mengaul, Mucktolia, Munnoosings, Naga, Najtookallys, Panchoo,
Pemya, Phobagra, Poonia, Pajne, Prionauth, Raghoo, Rampaul Girlya, Rampaul
Sanker, Rumsumhin, Ramyad, Resmu, Rutnu, Salamutalu, Snodunden, Shazjada,
Shajurb, Sabnath, Simroo, Somnar Mengaul, Sukba, Sookhan, Sookra, Somra
Lalloo, Somra Nimmur, Sarukissen, Sutraton, Sucknu, Jakam, Burdia, Bundoo.
3. Pay list of Crown Lands Estate for week ending 10 April 1886: Note
different spellings for same names listed for 3 Apr 1886: Agnoocea, Augmo,
Baijoo, Ballea, Barhoo, Bhagobutty L., Bhagobutty Ram, Bagwansahaie,
Bhulloo, Beekham, Button Napoo, Bissessur, Bissessuree, Boodhun, Bundhoo,
Bundhea, Boodna, Chakowree, Chootra, Chowtie, Chujjoo, Chumme, Dagull,
Donie, Dilchandsingo, Doola, Dorlaum, Ekwara, Fokeer Mahomed, Gopee,
Gujadhur, Horli, Hulass, Hoossany, Jutame, Joorhester, Jomal, Kalkasingo,
Kihane, Kessmar, Khiroda, Luchiman, Lukpotia, Lukhina, Lukkia Dilloo,
Mainwa, Manchoo, Mingnul, Mucktolia, Munnoosing, Naga, Naytookally, Panchoo,
Penya, Phobagra, Poonea, Payne, Prionath, Raghoo.
4. Bhowanibhick, age 55, son of Chowpaie ,5' 7.25",who originally came on
the Foyle (number 4) in 1880 to St. Lucia is registered to return to
Calcutta, India on the Hereford, which sailed on 4 Sept 1890, with his wife
and at least 3 children. He last worked on Crown lands.
5. Sukram age 38, son of Mungha, 5' 2.5", who originally came on the Bann
(number 237) in 1881 to St. Lucia elected bounty of 10 Pounds on 6 Mar 1891.
He had a wife. He last worked at the Roseau estate
6. Dhowday , age 31, son of Onsori, 5' 4.5", who originally come on the
Bann (number 228) in 1881 to St. Lucia elected to return to India. He had a
brother. He last worked at the Roseau estate.
7. Hunoomansing, age 35 who came on the Bracadaile (register number 1467 and
wife register number 1468) in 1884 was assigned to the Dennery Usine in
September. He appeared to have died on 27 Nov 1884.
8. Hosanee, General Register number 1033, of Roseau Estate, received a
certificate of exemption from labor on March 9, 1886.
9. Dhoni of Marguis Estate, who came to St. Lucia on the Leonidas in 1878,
was imprisoned on 7 Sept 1878 for 14 days. Register number 415.
10. Thaibdin, age 35, son of Oree, 5'5" was listed as number 278 in the
General Register of Return Immigrants. He originally came to St. Lucia on
the Leonidas (number 205) in 1878, left on the Moy (number 183) on 5 Sep
1888. He was last employeed at Perle Estate.
11. Badari, age 22, son of Chadhary, came to St. Lucia on the Bracadaile in
1884. His ship number 480 and register number 1625. He was a Kurmi by caste.
He was assigned to the Bois d'Orange Estate.
12. Narrain son of Loroton deposited 16 pounds in the Moy (ship number 272)
for the return voyage on 5 Sept 1888.
13. Motee registered 2 Pounds, 10 Shillings on 11 Mar 1885 to be sent to
Teeka
14. Ondhar, who came on the Foyle (number 53) in 1880 died on25 March 1883.
His 13 Pounds, 14 Shillings, and 11 pence were sent to India on 13th Jun
1880
15. Bhookul age 43, son of Augnoo elected for bounty of 10 Pounds on 19 June
1888. He originally came on the Leonidas in 1878. He was assigned to the
Esperance Estate.
Rambaran, age 25, son of Nimuth (Nimuta), 5" 0.5", was of the Ahir caste.
He was from Ghazipur. He left Calcutta on the SS Roumania ( Ship's number 4)
in 1891. He worked both for the Dennery Company, LTD (La Caye Estates) and
St. Lucia Central Sugar Factory Company, LTD (Crown Lands Estate).
16. Some individuals listed on Crown Land Estates circa 1891: Buckwala,
Bowdha, Bundheo, Bundhoo, Eddhay, Sawonbar, Juspersad, Rohi, and Reetai.
17. The following individuals had money in the treasury, but upon death
there was no heir to be found: Jecan, Purboll, Horill, Oudhai, Chingan,
Budal, Kullu, and Sonichara. The highest amount at the time was 13 Pounds,
14 Shillings, and 11 Pence belonging to Oudhai. This amount was lodged in
the treasury on 13 June 1889.
18. Durma came on the Bracadaile in 1885. Worked as a Chaukidar on the
Roseau Estate.
19. Ram Dass was employed by the Ressources Estate according to the pay list
dated 25 Apr 1891.
20. Anwar, worked at Ressources Estate during 1891.
21. Oomur, worked at Ressources Estate during 1891.
22. Purmanon had a bania shop on Ressource Estate during 1891. So did Debi.
They both most likely came to St. Lucia on the Bracadaile in 1884. Kali
Pershad sold rice and dal on the Ressource Estate during 1891.
23. Umeer Sing, only son of a mother still in India in 1891. Had accepted
the 10 Pound bounty and had no intentions of going back to India. He was a
Chettri by caste (Kstriy). He had a wife and two children. He most likely
either came to St. Lucia on the Foyle or Bann.
24. Ramnath (boy) was employed by Retraite Estate during 1891
The following bits of data was collected from the East Indies to St. Lucia
by Surgeon-Major D.W.D. Comins, Protector of Emigrants, Calcutta. Printed
at the Bengal Secretariat Press in 1893
St. Lucia
1. Budhu, age 20, son of Parabu. Caste: Turki Koiri from Azamgarh
District, Mohmadambad Thana, Walidpur village. Uncle's name Gulap, son of
Domon. Budhu signed a Form of Agreement for Intending Emigrant to St. Lucia
on 15 Dec 1890 in Ghazipur, India
2. Pay list of Crown Lands Estate for the week ending 3 April 1886:
Gujadhur, Horill, Hulass, Hoossanys, Intame, Joodhester, Joonab, Kalkasings,
Kehane, Kessowar, Khiroda, Lachiman, Lakpetia, Lukkia Dilloo, Maimra,
Manchoo, Mengaul, Mucktolia, Munnoosings, Naga, Najtookallys, Panchoo,
Pemya, Phobagra, Poonia, Pajne, Prionauth, Raghoo, Rampaul Girlya, Rampaul
Sanker, Rumsumhin, Ramyad, Resmu, Rutnu, Salamutalu, Snodunden, Shazjada,
Shajurb, Sabnath, Simroo, Somnar Mengaul, Sukba, Sookhan, Sookra, Somra
Lalloo, Somra Nimmur, Sarukissen, Sutraton, Sucknu, Jakam, Burdia, Bundoo.
3. Pay list of Crown Lands Estate for week ending 10 April 1886: Note
different spellings for same names listed for 3 Apr 1886: Agnoocea, Augmo,
Baijoo, Ballea, Barhoo, Bhagobutty L., Bhagobutty Ram, Bagwansahaie,
Bhulloo, Beekham, Button Napoo, Bissessur, Bissessuree, Boodhun, Bundhoo,
Bundhea, Boodna, Chakowree, Chootra, Chowtie, Chujjoo, Chumme, Dagull,
Donie, Dilchandsingo, Doola, Dorlaum, Ekwara, Fokeer Mahomed, Gopee,
Gujadhur, Horli, Hulass, Hoossany, Jutame, Joorhester, Jomal, Kalkasingo,
Kihane, Kessmar, Khiroda, Luchiman, Lukpotia, Lukhina, Lukkia Dilloo,
Mainwa, Manchoo, Mingnul, Mucktolia, Munnoosing, Naga, Naytookally, Panchoo,
Penya, Phobagra, Poonea, Payne, Prionath, Raghoo.
4. Bhowanibhick, age 55, son of Chowpaie ,5' 7.25",who originally came on
the Foyle (number 4) in 1880 to St. Lucia is registered to return to
Calcutta, India on the Hereford, which sailed on 4 Sept 1890, with his wife
and at least 3 children. He last worked on Crown lands.
5. Sukram age 38, son of Mungha, 5' 2.5", who originally came on the Bann
(number 237) in 1881 to St. Lucia elected bounty of 10 Pounds on 6 Mar 1891.
He had a wife. He last worked at the Roseau estate
6. Dhowday , age 31, son of Onsori, 5' 4.5", who originally come on the
Bann (number 228) in 1881 to St. Lucia elected to return to India. He had a
brother. He last worked at the Roseau estate.
7. Hunoomansing, age 35 who came on the Bracadaile (register number 1467 and
wife register number 1468) in 1884 was assigned to the Dennery Usine in
September. He appeared to have died on 27 Nov 1884.
8. Hosanee, General Register number 1033, of Roseau Estate, received a
certificate of exemption from labor on March 9, 1886.
9. Dhoni of Marguis Estate, who came to St. Lucia on the Leonidas in 1878,
was imprisoned on 7 Sept 1878 for 14 days. Register number 415.
10. Thaibdin, age 35, son of Oree, 5'5" was listed as number 278 in the
General Register of Return Immigrants. He originally came to St. Lucia on
the Leonidas (number 205) in 1878, left on the Moy (number 183) on 5 Sep
1888. He was last employeed at Perle Estate.
11. Badari, age 22, son of Chadhary, came to St. Lucia on the Bracadaile in
1884. His ship number 480 and register number 1625. He was a Kurmi by caste.
He was assigned to the Bois d'Orange Estate.
12. Narrain son of Loroton deposited 16 pounds in the Moy (ship number 272)
for the return voyage on 5 Sept 1888.
13. Motee registered 2 Pounds, 10 Shillings on 11 Mar 1885 to be sent to
Teeka
14. Ondhar, who came on the Foyle (number 53) in 1880 died on25 March 1883.
His 13 Pounds, 14 Shillings, and 11 pence were sent to India on 13th Jun
1880
15. Bhookul age 43, son of Augnoo elected for bounty of 10 Pounds on 19 June
1888. He originally came on the Leonidas in 1878. He was assigned to the
Esperance Estate.
Rambaran, age 25, son of Nimuth (Nimuta), 5" 0.5", was of the Ahir caste.
He was from Ghazipur. He left Calcutta on the SS Roumania ( Ship's number 4)
in 1891. He worked both for the Dennery Company, LTD (La Caye Estates) and
St. Lucia Central Sugar Factory Company, LTD (Crown Lands Estate).
16. Some individuals listed on Crown Land Estates circa 1891: Buckwala,
Bowdha, Bundheo, Bundhoo, Eddhay, Sawonbar, Juspersad, Rohi, and Reetai.
17. The following individuals had money in the treasury, but upon death
there was no heir to be found: Jecan, Purboll, Horill, Oudhai, Chingan,
Budal, Kullu, and Sonichara. The highest amount at the time was 13 Pounds,
14 Shillings, and 11 Pence belonging to Oudhai. This amount was lodged in
the treasury on 13 June 1889.
18. Durma came on the Bracadaile in 1885. Worked as a Chaukidar on the
Roseau Estate.
19. Ram Dass was employed by the Ressources Estate according to the pay list
dated 25 Apr 1891.
20. Anwar, worked at Ressources Estate during 1891.
21. Oomur, worked at Ressources Estate during 1891.
22. Purmanon had a bania shop on Ressource Estate during 1891. So did Debi.
They both most likely came to St. Lucia on the Bracadaile in 1884. Kali
Pershad sold rice and dal on the Ressource Estate during 1891.
23. Umeer Sing, only son of a mother still in India in 1891. Had accepted
the 10 Pound bounty and had no intentions of going back to India. He was a
Chettri by caste (Kstriy). He had a wife and two children. He most likely
either came to St. Lucia on the Foyle or Bann.
24. Ramnath (boy) was employed by Retraite Estate during 1891
Grenada
1. William Murray, after he became a Christian adopted this name from his
former master. He owned a shop and a small cocao plantation. He also
imported from America.
2. De Gale, also adopted his name from his former master. He owned private
property and had a provision shop. He gave the Cooly Mission the land to
build its school as a present.
3. Udalli owned land and ran a shop. He was into horse racing. His son
George Udalli was a clerk in the Police Magistrate's Office.
4. Cooman Sing ran a shop.
St. Vincent
1. Macleod had changed his name.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Mind Without Fear by RABINDRANATH TAGORE
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up
into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason
has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action---
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
Little Flute
Thou hast made me endless, such is thy pleasure. This frail
vessel thou emptiest again and again, and fillest it ever with fresh life.
This little flute of a reed thou hast carried over hills and dales,
and hast breathed through it melodies eternally new.
At the immortal touch of thy hands my little heart loses its limits in
joy and gives birth to utterance ineffable.
Thy infinite gifts come to me only on these very small hands of mine.
Ages pass, and still thou pourest, and still there is room to fill.
Purity
Life of my life, I shall ever try to keep my body pure, knowing
that thy living touch is upon all my limbs.
I shall ever try to keep all untruths out from my thoughts, knowing
that thou art that truth which has kindled the light of reason in my mind.
I shall ever try to drive all evils away from my heart and keep my
love in flower, knowing that thou hast thy seat in the inmost shrine of my heart.
And it shall be my endeavour to reveal thee in my actions, knowing it
is thy power gives me strength to act.
Moment's Indulgence
I ask for a moment's indulgence to sit by thy side. The works
that I have in hand I will finish afterwards.
Away from the sight of thy face my heart knows no rest nor respite,
and my work becomes an endless toil in a shoreless sea of toil.
Today the summer has come at my window with its sighs and murmurs; and
the bees are plying their minstrelsy at the court of the flowering grove.
Now it is time to sit quite, face to face with thee, and to sing
dedication of life in this silent and overflowing leisure.
Flower
Pluck this little flower and take it, delay not! I fear lest it
droop and drop into the dust.
I may not find a place in thy garland, but honour it with a touch of
pain from thy hand and pluck it. I fear lest the day end before I am
aware, and the time of offering go by.
Though its colour be not deep and its smell be faint, use this flower
in thy service and pluck it while there is time.
Fool
O Fool, try to carry thyself upon thy own shoulders!
O beggar, to come beg at thy own door!
Leave all thy burdens on his hands who can bear all,
and never look behind in regret.
Thy desire at once puts out the light from the lamp it touches with its breath.
It is unholy---take not thy gifts through its unclean hands.
Accept only what is offered by sacred love.
Leave This
Leave this chanting and singing and telling of beads!
Whom dost thou worship in this lonely dark corner of a temple with doors all shut?
Open thine eyes and see thy God is not before thee!
He is there where the tiller is tilling the hard ground
and where the pathmaker is breaking stones.
He is with them in sun and in shower,
and his garment is covered with dust.
Put off thy holy mantle and even like him come down on the dusty soil!
Deliverance?
Where is this deliverance to be found?
Our master himself has joyfully taken upon him the bonds of creation;
he is bound with us all for ever.
Come out of thy meditations and leave aside thy flowers and incense!
What harm is there if thy clothes become tattered and stained?
Meet him and stand by him in toil and in sweat of thy brow.
Journey Home
The time that my journey takes is long and the way of it long.
I came out on the chariot of the first gleam of light, and pursued my
voyage through the wildernesses of worlds leaving my track on many a star and planet.
It is the most distant course that comes nearest to thyself,
and that training is the most intricate which leads to the utter simplicity of a tune.
The traveler has to knock at every alien door to come to his own,
and one has to wander through all the outer worlds to reach the innermost shrine at the end.
My eyes strayed far and wide before I shut them and said `Here art thou!'
The question and the cry `Oh, where?' melt into tears of a thousand
streams and deluge the world with the flood of the assurance `I am!'
Song Unsung
The song that I came to sing remains unsung to this day.
I have spent my days in stringing and in unstringing my instrument.
The time has not come true, the words have not been rightly set;
only there is the agony of wishing in my heart.
The blossom has not opened; only the wind is sighing by.
I have not seen his face, nor have I listened to his voice;
only I have heard his gentle footsteps from the road before my house.
The livelong day has passed in spreading his seat on the floor;
but the lamp has not been lit and I cannot ask him into my house.
I live in the hope of meeting with him; but this meeting is not yet.
Strong Mercy
My desires are many and my cry is pitiful,
but ever didst thou save me by hard refusals;
and this strong mercy has been wrought into my life through and through.
Day by day thou art making me worthy of the simple,
great gifts that thou gavest to me unasked---this sky and the light, this body and the
life and the mind---saving me from perils of overmuch desire.
There are times when I languidly linger
and times when I awaken and hurry in search of my goal;
but cruelly thou hidest thyself from before me.
Day by day thou art making me worthy of thy full acceptance by
refusing me ever and anon, saving me from perils of weak, uncertain desire.
Patience
If thou speakest not I will fill my heart with thy silence and endure it.
I will keep still and wait like the night with starry vigil
and its head bent low with patience.
The morning will surely come, the darkness will vanish,
and thy voice pour down in golden streams breaking through the sky.
Then thy words will take wing in songs from every one of my birds' nests,
and thy melodies will break forth in flowers in all my forest groves.
Lotus
On the day when the lotus bloomed, alas, my mind was straying,
and I knew it not. My basket was empty and the flower remained unheeded.
Only now and again a sadness fell upon me, and I started up from my
dream and felt a sweet trace of a strange fragrance in the south wind.
That vague sweetness made my heart ache with longing and it seemed to
me that is was the eager breath of the summer seeking for its completion.
I knew not then that it was so near, that it was mine, and that this
perfect sweetness had blossomed in the depth of my own heart.
Boat
I must launch out my boat.
The languid hours pass by on the
shore---Alas for me!
The spring has done its flowering and taken leave.
And now with the burden of faded futile flowers I wait and linger.
The waves have become clamorous, and upon the bank in the shady lane
the yellow leaves flutter and fall.
What emptiness do you gaze upon!
Do you not feel a thrill passing through the air
with the notes of the far-away song
floating from the other shore?
Friend
Art thou abroad on this stormy night
on thy journey of love, my friend?
The sky groans like one in despair.
I have no sleep tonight.
Ever and again I open my door and look out on
the darkness, my friend!
I can see nothing before me.
I wonder where lies thy path!
By what dim shore of the ink-black river,
by what far edge of the frowning forest,
through what mazy depth of gloom art thou threading
thy course to come to me, my friend?
When Day Is Done
If the day is done,
if birds sing no more,
if the wind has flagged tired,
then draw the veil of darkness thick upon me,
even as thou hast wrapt the earth with the coverlet of sleep
and tenderly closed the petals of the drooping lotus at dusk.
From the traveler,
whose sack of provisions is empty before the voyage is ended,
whose garment is torn and dust-laden,
whose strength is exhausted,
remove shame and poverty,
and renew his life like a flower under the cover of thy kindly night.
Sleep
In the night of weariness
let me give myself up to sleep without struggle,
resting my trust upon thee.
Let me not force my flagging spirit into a poor preparation for thy worship.
It is thou who drawest the veil of night upon the tired eyes of the day
to renew its sight in a fresher gladness of awakening.
Lamp of Love
Light, oh where is the light?
Kindle it with the burning fire of desire!
There is the lamp but never a flicker of a flame---is such thy fate, my heart?
Ah, death were better by far for thee!
Misery knocks at thy door,
and her message is that thy lord is wakeful,
and he calls thee to the love-tryst through the darkness of night.
The sky is overcast with clouds and the rain is ceaseless.
I know not what this is that stirs in me---I know not its meaning.
A moment's flash of lightning drags down a deeper gloom on my sight,
and my heart gropes for the path to where the music of the night calls me.
Light, oh where is the light!
Kindle it with the burning fire of desire!
It thunders and the wind rushes screaming through the void.
The night is black as a black stone.
Let not the hours pass by in the dark.
Kindle the lamp of love with thy life.
Dungeon
He whom I enclose with my name is weeping in this dungeon.
I am ever busy building this wall all around; and as this wall goes up into
the sky day by day I lose sight of my true being in its dark shadow.
I take pride in this great wall, and I plaster it with dust and sand
lest a least hole should be left in this name;
and for all the care I take I lose sight of my true being.
Who is This?
I came out alone on my way to my tryst.
But who is this that follows me in the silent dark?
I move aside to avoid his presence but I escape him not.
He makes the dust rise from the earth with his swagger;
he adds his loud voice to every word that I utter.
He is my own little self, my lord, he knows no shame;
but I am ashamed to come to thy door in his company.
Prisoner
`Prisoner, tell me, who was it that bound you?'
`It was my master,' said the prisoner.
`I thought I could outdo everybody in the world in wealth and power,
and I amassed in my own treasure-house the money due to my king.
When sleep overcame me I lay upon the bed that was for my lord,
and on waking up I found I was a prisoner in my own treasure-house.'
`Prisoner, tell me, who was it that wrought this unbreakable chain?'
`It was I,' said the prisoner, `who forged this chain very carefully.
I thought my invincible power would hold the world captive
leaving me in a freedom undisturbed.
Thus night and day I worked at the chain
with huge fires and cruel hard strokes.
When at last the work was done
and the links were complete and unbreakable,
I found that it held me in its grip.'
Free Love
By all means they try to hold me secure who love me in this world.
But it is otherwise with thy love which is greater than theirs,
and thou keepest me free.
Lest I forget them they never venture to leave me alone.
But day passes by after day and thou art not seen.
If I call not thee in my prayers, if I keep not thee in my heart,
thy love for me still waits for my love.
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.
Give Me Strength
This is my prayer to thee, my lord---strike,
strike at the root of penury in my heart.
Give me the strength lightly to bear my joys and sorrows.
Give me the strength to make my love fruitful in service.
Give me the strength never to disown the poor
or bend my knees before insolent might.
Give me the strength to raise my mind high above daily trifles.
And give me the strength to surrender my strength to thy will with love.
Closed Path
I thought that my voyage had come to its end
at the last limit of my power,---that the path before me was closed,
that provisions were exhausted
and the time come to take shelter in a silent obscurity.
But I find that thy will knows no end in me.
And when old words die out on the tongue,
new melodies break forth from the heart;
and where the old tracks are lost,
new country is revealed with its wonders.
Only Thee
That I want thee, only thee---let my heart repeat without end.
All desires that distract me, day and night,
are false and empty to the core.
As the night keeps hidden in its gloom the petition for light,
even thus in the depth of my unconsciousness rings the cry
---`I want thee, only thee'.
As the storm still seeks its end in peace
when it strikes against peace with all its might,
even thus my rebellion strikes against thy love
and still its cry is
---`I want thee, only thee'.
Beggarly Heart
When the heart is hard and parched up,
come upon me with a shower of mercy.
When grace is lost from life,
come with a burst of song.
When tumultuous work raises its din on all sides shutting me out from
beyond, come to me, my lord of silence, with thy peace and rest.
When my beggarly heart sits crouched, shut up in a corner,
break open the door, my king, and come with the ceremony of a king.
When desire blinds the mind with delusion and dust, O thou holy one,
thou wakeful, come with thy light and thy thunder.
Sail Away
Early in the day it was whispered that we should sail in a boat,
only thou and I, and never a soul in the world would know of this our
pilgrimage to no country and to no end.
In that shoreless ocean,
at thy silently listening smile my songs would swell in melodies,
free as waves, free from all bondage of words.
Is the time not come yet?
Are there works still to do?
Lo, the evening has come down upon the shore
and in the fading light the seabirds come flying to their nests.
Who knows when the chains will be off,
and the boat, like the last glimmer of sunset,
vanish into the night?
Signet of Eternity
The day was when I did not keep myself in readiness for thee;
and entering my heart unbidden even as one of the common crowd,
unknown to me, my king, thou didst press the signet of eternity upon
many a fleeting moment of my life.
And today when by chance I light upon them and see thy signature,
I find they have lain scattered in the dust mixed with the memory of
joys and sorrows of my trivial days forgotten.
Thou didst not turn in contempt from my childish play among dust,
and the steps that I heard in my playroom
are the same that are echoing from star to star.
Where Shadow Chases Light
This is my delight,
thus to wait and watch at the wayside
where shadow chases light
and the rain comes in the wake of the summer.
Messengers, with tidings from unknown skies,
greet me and speed along the road.
My heart is glad within,
and the breath of the passing breeze is sweet.
From dawn till dusk I sit here before my door,
and I know that of a sudden
the happy moment will arrive when I shall see.
In the meanwhile I smile and I sing all alone.
In the meanwhile the air is filling with the perfume of promise.
Silent Steps
Have you not heard his silent steps?
He comes, comes, ever comes.
Every moment and every age,
every day and every night he comes, comes, ever comes.
Many a song have I sung in many a mood of mind,
but all their notes have always proclaimed,
`He comes, comes, ever comes.'
In the fragrant days of sunny April through the forest path he comes,
comes, ever comes.
In the rainy gloom of July nights on the thundering chariot of clouds
he comes, comes, ever comes.
In sorrow after sorrow it is his steps that press upon my heart,
and it is the golden touch of his feet that makes my joy to shine.
Distant Time
I know not from what distant time
thou art ever coming nearer to meet me.
Thy sun and stars can never keep thee hidden from me for aye.
In many a morning and eve thy footsteps have been heard
and thy messenger has come within my heart and called me in secret.
I know not only why today my life is all astir,
and a feeling of tremulous joy is passing through my heart.
It is as if the time were come to wind up my work,
and I feel in the air a faint smell of thy sweet presence.
The Journey
The morning sea of silence broke into ripples of bird songs;
and the flowers were all merry by the roadside;
and the wealth of gold was scattered through the rift of the clouds
while we busily went on our way and paid no heed.
We sang no glad songs nor played;
we went not to the village for barter;
we spoke not a word nor smiled;
we lingered not on the way.
We quickened our pace more and more as the time sped by.
The sun rose to the mid sky and doves cooed in the shade.
Withered leaves danced and whirled in the hot air of noon.
The shepherd boy drowsed and dreamed in the shadow of the banyan tree,
and I laid myself down by the water
and stretched my tired limbs on the grass.
My companions laughed at me in scorn;
they held their heads high and hurried on;
they never looked back nor rested;
they vanished in the distant blue haze.
They crossed many meadows and hills,
and passed through strange, far-away countries.
All honor to you, heroic host of the interminable path!
Mockery and reproach pricked me to rise,
but found no response in me.
I gave myself up for lost
in the depth of a glad humiliation
---in the shadow of a dim delight.
The repose of the sun-embroidered green gloom
slowly spread over my heart.
I forgot for what I had traveled,
and I surrendered my mind without struggle
to the maze of shadows and songs.
At last, when I woke from my slumber and opened my eyes,
I saw thee standing by me, flooding my sleep with thy smile.
How I had feared that the path was long and wearisome,
and the struggle to reach thee was hard!
Light
Light, my light, the world-filling light,
the eye-kissing light,
heart-sweetening light!
Ah, the light dances, my darling, at the center of my life;
the light strikes, my darling, the chords of my love;
the sky opens, the wind runs wild, laughter passes over the earth.
The butterflies spread their sails on the sea of light.
Lilies and jasmines surge up on the crest of the waves of light.
The light is shattered into gold on every cloud, my darling,
and it scatters gems in profusion.
Mirth spreads from leaf to leaf, my darling,
and gladness without measure.
The heaven's river has drowned its banks
and the flood of joy is abroad.
Passing Breeze
Yes, I know, this is nothing but thy love,
O beloved of my heart---this golden light that dances upon the leaves,
these idle clouds sailing across the sky,
this passing breeze leaving its coolness upon my forehead.
The morning light has flooded my eyes---this is thy message to my heart.
Thy face is bent from above, thy eyes look down on my eyes,
and my heart has touched thy feet.
Seashore
On the seashore of endless worlds children meet.
The infinite sky is motionless overhead
and the restless water is boisterous.
On the seashore of endless worlds
the children meet with shouts and dances.
They build their houses with sand
and they play with empty shells.
With withered leaves they weave their boats
and smilingly float them on the vast deep.
Children have their play on the seashore of worlds.
They know not how to swim, they know not how to cast nets.
Pearl fishers dive for pearls, merchants sail in their ships,
while children gather pebbles and scatter them again.
They seek not for hidden treasures, they know not how to cast nets.
The sea surges up with laughter
and pale gleams the smile of the sea beach.
Death-dealing waves sing meaningless ballads to the children,
even like a mother while rocking her baby's cradle.
The sea plays with children,
and pale gleams the smile of the sea beach.
On the seashore of endless worlds children meet.
Tempest roams in the pathless sky,
ships get wrecked in the trackless water,
death is abroad and children play.
On the seashore of endless worlds is the
great meeting of children.
Colored Toys
When I bring to you colored toys, my child,
I understand why there is such a play of colors on clouds, on water,
and why flowers are painted in tints
---when I give colored toys to you, my child.
When I sing to make you dance
I truly now why there is music in leaves,
and why waves send their chorus of voices to the heart of the listening earth
---when I sing to make you dance.
When I bring sweet things to your greedy hands
I know why there is honey in the cup of the flowers
and why fruits are secretly filled with sweet juice
---when I bring sweet things to your greedy hands.
When I kiss your face to make you smile, my darling,
I surely understand what pleasure streams from the sky in morning light,
and what delight that is that is which the summer breeze brings to my body
---when I kiss you to make you smile.
Old and New
Thou hast made me known to friends whom I knew not.
Thou hast given me seats in homes not my own.
Thou hast brought the distant near and made a brother of the stranger.
I am uneasy at heart when I have to leave my accustomed shelter;
I forget that there abides the old in the new,
and that there also thou abidest.
Through birth and death, in this world or in others,
wherever thou leadest me it is thou, the same,
the one companion of my endless life
who ever linkest my heart with bonds of joy to the unfamiliar.
When one knows thee, then alien there is none, then no door is shut.
Oh, grant me my prayer that I may never lose
the bliss of the touch of the one
in the play of many.
She
She who ever had remained in the depth of my being,
in the twilight of gleams and of glimpses;
she who never opened her veils in the morning light,
will be my last gift to thee, my God, folded in my final song.
Words have wooed yet failed to win her;
persuasion has stretched to her its eager arms in vain.
I have roamed from country to country keeping her in the core of my heart,
and around her have risen and fallen the growth and decay of my life.
Over my thoughts and actions, my slumbers and dreams,
she reigned yet dwelled alone and apart.
Many a man knocked at my door and asked for her
and turned away in despair.
There was none in the world who ever saw her face to face,
and she remained in her loneliness waiting for thy recognition.
Stream of Life
The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day
runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures.
It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth
in numberless blades of grass
and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.
It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth
and of death, in ebb and in flow.
I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life.
And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment.
Maya
That I should make much of myself and turn it on all sides,
thus casting colored shadows on thy radiance
---such is thy Maya.
Thou settest a barrier in thine own being
and then callest thy severed self in myriad notes.
This thy self-separation has taken body in me.
The poignant song is echoed through all the sky in many-coloued tears
and smiles, alarms and hopes; waves rise up and sink again,
dreams break and form.
In me is thy own defeat of self.
This screen that thou hast raised is painted with innumerable figures
with the brush of the night and the day.
Behind it thy seat is woven in wondrous mysteries of curves,
casting away all barren lines of straightness.
The great pageant of thee and me has overspread the sky.
With the tune of thee and me all the air is vibrant,
and all ages pass with the hiding and seeking of thee and me.
Innermost One
He it is, the innermost one,
who awakens my being with his deep hidden touches.
He it is who puts his enchantment upon these eyes
and joyfully plays on the chords of my heart
in varied cadence of pleasure and pain.
He it is who weaves the web of this maya
in evanescent hues of gold and silver, blue and green,
and lets peep out through the folds his feet,
at whose touch I forget myself.
Days come and ages pass,
and it is ever he who moves my heart in many a name,
in many a guise, in many a rapture of joy and of sorrow.
Senses
Deliverance is not for me in renunciation.
I feel the embrace of freedom in a thousand bonds of delight.
Thou ever pourest for me the fresh draught of thy wine of various
colours and fragrance, filling this earthen vessel to the brim.
My world will light its hundred different lamps with thy flame
and place them before the altar of thy temple.
No, I will never shut the doors of my senses.
The delights of sight and hearing and touch will bear thy delight.
Yes, all my illusions will burn into illumination of joy,
and all my desires ripen into fruits of love.
Face to Face
Day after day, O lord of my life,
shall I stand before thee face to face.
With folded hands, O lord of all worlds,
shall I stand before thee face to face.
Under thy great sky in solitude and silence,
with humble heart shall I stand before thee face to face.
In this laborious world of thine, tumultuous with toil
and with struggle, among hurrying crowds
shall I stand before thee face to face.
And when my work shall be done in this world,
O King of kings, alone and speechless
shall I stand before thee face to face.
Lost Star
When the creation was new and all the stars shone in their first
splendor, the gods held their assembly in the sky and sang
`Oh, the picture of perfection! the joy unalloyed!'
But one cried of a sudden
---`It seems that somewhere there is a break in the chain of light
and one of the stars has been lost.'
The golden string of their harp snapped,
their song stopped, and they cried in dismay
---`Yes, that lost star was the best,
she was the glory of all heavens!'
From that day the search is unceasing for her,
and the cry goes on from one to the other
that in her the world has lost its one joy!
Only in the deepest silence of night the stars smile
and whisper among themselves
---`Vain is this seeking! unbroken perfection is over all!'
Let Me Not Forget
If it is not my portion to meet thee in this life
then let me ever feel that I have missed thy sight
---let me not forget for a moment,
let me carry the pangs of this sorrow in my dreams
and in my wakeful hours.
As my days pass in the crowded market of this world
and my hands grow full with the daily profits,
let me ever feel that I have gained nothing
---let me not forget for a moment,
let me carry the pangs of this sorrow in my dreams
and in my wakeful hours.
When I sit by the roadside, tired and panting,
when I spread my bed low in the dust,
let me ever feel that the long journey is still before me
---let me not forget a moment,
let me carry the pangs of this sorrow in my dreams
and in my wakeful hours.
When my rooms have been decked out and the flutes sound
and the laughter there is loud,
let me ever feel that I have not invited thee to my house
---let me not forget for a moment,
let me carry the pangs of this sorrow in my dreams
and in my wakeful hours.
Roaming Cloud
I am like a remnant of a cloud of autumn
uselessly roaming in the sky, O my sun ever-glorious!
Thy touch has not yet melted my vapor,
making me one with thy light,
and thus I count months and years separated from thee.
If this be thy wish and if this be thy play,
then take this fleeting emptiness of mine,
paint it with colors, gild it with gold,
float it on the wanton wind and spread it in varied wonders.
And again when it shall be thy wish to end this play at night,
I shall melt and vanish away in the dark,
or it may be in a smile of the white morning,
in a coolness of purity transparent.
Lost Time
On many an idle day have I grieved over lost time.
But it is never lost, my lord.
Thou hast taken every moment of my life in thine own hands.
Hidden in the heart of things thou art nourishing seeds into sprouts,
buds into blossoms, and ripening flowers into fruitfulness.
I was tired and sleeping on my idle bed
and imagined all work had ceased.
In the morning I woke up
and found my garden full with wonders of flowers.
Endless Time
Time is endless in thy hands, my lord.
There is none to count thy minutes.
Days and nights pass and ages bloom and fade like flowers.
Thou knowest how to wait.
Thy centuries follow each other perfecting a small wild flower.
We have no time to lose,
and having no time we must scramble for a chance.
We are too poor to be late.
And thus it is that time goes by
while I give it to every querulous man who claims it,
and thine altar is empty of all offerings to the last.
At the end of the day I hasten in fear lest thy gate be shut;
but I find that yet there is time.
Chain of Pearls
Mother, I shall weave a chain of pearls for thy neck
with my tears of sorrow.
The stars have wrought their anklets of light to deck thy feet,
but mine will hang upon thy breast.
Wealth and fame come from thee
and it is for thee to give or to withhold them.
But this my sorrow is absolutely mine own,
and when I bring it to thee as my offering
thou rewardest me with thy grace.
Brink of Eternity
In desperate hope I go and search for her
in all the corners of my room;
I find her not.
My house is small
and what once has gone from it can never be regained.
But infinite is thy mansion, my lord,
and seeking her I have to come to thy door.
I stand under the golden canopy of thine evening sky
and I lift my eager eyes to thy face.
I have come to the brink of eternity from which nothing can vanish
---no hope, no happiness, no vision of a face seen through tears.
Oh, dip my emptied life into that ocean,
plunge it into the deepest fullness.
Let me for once feel that lost sweet touch
in the allness of the universe.
Untimely Leave
No more noisy, loud words from me---such is my master's will.
Henceforth I deal in whispers.
The speech of my heart will be carried on in murmurings of a song.
Men hasten to the King's market. All the buyers and sellers are there.
But I have my untimely leave in the middle of the day, in the thick of work.
Let then the flowers come out in my garden, though it is not their time;
and let the midday bees strike up their lazy hum.
Full many an hour have I spent in the strife of the good and the evil,
but now it is the pleasure of my playmate of the empty days to draw my heart on to him;
and I know not why is this sudden call to what useless inconsequence!
Death
O thou the last fulfilment of life,
Death, my death, come and whisper to me!
Day after day I have kept watch for thee;
for thee have I borne the joys and pangs of life.
All that I am, that I have, that I hope and all my love
have ever flowed towards thee in depth of secrecy.
One final glance from thine eyes
and my life will be ever thine own.
The flowers have been woven
and the garland is ready for the bridegroom.
After the wedding the bride shall leave her home
and meet her lord alone in the solitude of night.
Last Curtain
I know that the day will come
when my sight of this earth shall be lost,
and life will take its leave in silence,
drawing the last curtain over my eyes.
Yet stars will watch at night,
and morning rise as before,
and hours heave like sea waves casting up pleasures and pains.
When I think of this end of my moments,
the barrier of the moments breaks
and I see by the light of death
thy world with its careless treasures.
Rare is its lowliest seat,
rare is its meanest of lives.
Things that I longed for in vain
and things that I got
---let them pass.
Let me but truly possess
the things that I ever spurned
and overlooked.
Farewell
I have got my leave. Bid me farewell, my brothers!
I bow to you all and take my departure.
Here I give back the keys of my door
---and I give up all claims to my house.
I only ask for last kind words from you.
We were neighbors for long,
but I received more than I could give.
Now the day has dawned
and the lamp that lit my dark corner is out.
A summons has come and I am ready for my journey.
Threshold
I was not aware of the moment
when I first crossed the threshold of this life.
What was the power that made me open out into this vast mystery
like a bud in the forest at midnight!
When in the morning I looked upon the light
I felt in a moment that I was no stranger in this world,
that the inscrutable without name and form
had taken me in its arms in the form of my own mother.
Even so, in death the same unknown will appear as ever known to me.
And because I love this life,
I know I shall love death as well.
The child cries out
when from the right breast the mother takes it away,
in the very next moment to find in the left one its consolation.
Parting Words
When I go from hence
let this be my parting word,
that what I have seen is unsurpassable.
I have tasted of the hidden honey of this lotus
that expands on the ocean of light,
and thus am I blessed
---let this be my parting word.
In this playhouse of infinite forms
I have had my play
and here have I caught sight of him that is formless.
My whole body and my limbs
have thrilled with his touch who is beyond touch;
and if the end comes here, let it come
---let this be my parting word.
Still Heart
When I give up the helm
I know that the time has come for thee to take it.
What there is to do will be instantly done.
Vain is this struggle.
Then take away your hands
and silently put up with your defeat, my heart,
and think it your good fortune to sit perfectly still
where you are placed.
These my lamps are blown out at every little puff of wind,
and trying to light them I forget all else again and again.
But I shall be wise this time and wait in the dark,
spreading my mat on the floor;
and whenever it is thy pleasure, my lord,
come silently and take thy seat here.
Ocean of Forms
I dive down into the depth of the ocean of forms,
hoping to gain the perfect pearl of the formless.
No more sailing from harbor to harbor with this my weather-beaten boat.
The days are long passed when my sport was to be tossed on waves.
And now I am eager to die into the deathless.
Into the audience hall by the fathomless abyss
where swells up the music of toneless strings
I shall take this harp of my life.
I shall tune it to the notes of forever,
and when it has sobbed out its last utterance,
lay down my silent harp at the feet of the silent.
Sit Smiling
I boasted among men that I had known you.
They see your pictures in all works of mine.
They come and ask me, `Who is he?'
I know not how to answer them. I say, `Indeed, I cannot tell.'
They blame me and they go away in scorn.
And you sit there smiling.
I put my tales of you into lasting songs.
The secret gushes out from my heart.
They come and ask me, `Tell me all your meanings.'
I know not how to answer them.
I say, `Ah, who knows what they mean!'
They smile and go away in utter scorn.
And you sit there smiling.
Salutation
In one salutation to thee, my God,
let all my senses spread out and touch this world at thy feet.
Like a rain-cloud of July
hung low with its burden of unshed showers
let all my mind bend down at thy door in one salutation to thee.
Let all my songs gather together their diverse strains into a single current
and flow to a sea of silence in one salutation to thee.
Like a flock of homesick cranes flying night and day
back to their mountain nests
let all my life take its voyage to its eternal home
in one salutation to thee.
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up
into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason
has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action---
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
Little Flute
Thou hast made me endless, such is thy pleasure. This frail
vessel thou emptiest again and again, and fillest it ever with fresh life.
This little flute of a reed thou hast carried over hills and dales,
and hast breathed through it melodies eternally new.
At the immortal touch of thy hands my little heart loses its limits in
joy and gives birth to utterance ineffable.
Thy infinite gifts come to me only on these very small hands of mine.
Ages pass, and still thou pourest, and still there is room to fill.
Purity
Life of my life, I shall ever try to keep my body pure, knowing
that thy living touch is upon all my limbs.
I shall ever try to keep all untruths out from my thoughts, knowing
that thou art that truth which has kindled the light of reason in my mind.
I shall ever try to drive all evils away from my heart and keep my
love in flower, knowing that thou hast thy seat in the inmost shrine of my heart.
And it shall be my endeavour to reveal thee in my actions, knowing it
is thy power gives me strength to act.
Moment's Indulgence
I ask for a moment's indulgence to sit by thy side. The works
that I have in hand I will finish afterwards.
Away from the sight of thy face my heart knows no rest nor respite,
and my work becomes an endless toil in a shoreless sea of toil.
Today the summer has come at my window with its sighs and murmurs; and
the bees are plying their minstrelsy at the court of the flowering grove.
Now it is time to sit quite, face to face with thee, and to sing
dedication of life in this silent and overflowing leisure.
Flower
Pluck this little flower and take it, delay not! I fear lest it
droop and drop into the dust.
I may not find a place in thy garland, but honour it with a touch of
pain from thy hand and pluck it. I fear lest the day end before I am
aware, and the time of offering go by.
Though its colour be not deep and its smell be faint, use this flower
in thy service and pluck it while there is time.
Fool
O Fool, try to carry thyself upon thy own shoulders!
O beggar, to come beg at thy own door!
Leave all thy burdens on his hands who can bear all,
and never look behind in regret.
Thy desire at once puts out the light from the lamp it touches with its breath.
It is unholy---take not thy gifts through its unclean hands.
Accept only what is offered by sacred love.
Leave This
Leave this chanting and singing and telling of beads!
Whom dost thou worship in this lonely dark corner of a temple with doors all shut?
Open thine eyes and see thy God is not before thee!
He is there where the tiller is tilling the hard ground
and where the pathmaker is breaking stones.
He is with them in sun and in shower,
and his garment is covered with dust.
Put off thy holy mantle and even like him come down on the dusty soil!
Deliverance?
Where is this deliverance to be found?
Our master himself has joyfully taken upon him the bonds of creation;
he is bound with us all for ever.
Come out of thy meditations and leave aside thy flowers and incense!
What harm is there if thy clothes become tattered and stained?
Meet him and stand by him in toil and in sweat of thy brow.
Journey Home
The time that my journey takes is long and the way of it long.
I came out on the chariot of the first gleam of light, and pursued my
voyage through the wildernesses of worlds leaving my track on many a star and planet.
It is the most distant course that comes nearest to thyself,
and that training is the most intricate which leads to the utter simplicity of a tune.
The traveler has to knock at every alien door to come to his own,
and one has to wander through all the outer worlds to reach the innermost shrine at the end.
My eyes strayed far and wide before I shut them and said `Here art thou!'
The question and the cry `Oh, where?' melt into tears of a thousand
streams and deluge the world with the flood of the assurance `I am!'
Song Unsung
The song that I came to sing remains unsung to this day.
I have spent my days in stringing and in unstringing my instrument.
The time has not come true, the words have not been rightly set;
only there is the agony of wishing in my heart.
The blossom has not opened; only the wind is sighing by.
I have not seen his face, nor have I listened to his voice;
only I have heard his gentle footsteps from the road before my house.
The livelong day has passed in spreading his seat on the floor;
but the lamp has not been lit and I cannot ask him into my house.
I live in the hope of meeting with him; but this meeting is not yet.
Strong Mercy
My desires are many and my cry is pitiful,
but ever didst thou save me by hard refusals;
and this strong mercy has been wrought into my life through and through.
Day by day thou art making me worthy of the simple,
great gifts that thou gavest to me unasked---this sky and the light, this body and the
life and the mind---saving me from perils of overmuch desire.
There are times when I languidly linger
and times when I awaken and hurry in search of my goal;
but cruelly thou hidest thyself from before me.
Day by day thou art making me worthy of thy full acceptance by
refusing me ever and anon, saving me from perils of weak, uncertain desire.
Patience
If thou speakest not I will fill my heart with thy silence and endure it.
I will keep still and wait like the night with starry vigil
and its head bent low with patience.
The morning will surely come, the darkness will vanish,
and thy voice pour down in golden streams breaking through the sky.
Then thy words will take wing in songs from every one of my birds' nests,
and thy melodies will break forth in flowers in all my forest groves.
Lotus
On the day when the lotus bloomed, alas, my mind was straying,
and I knew it not. My basket was empty and the flower remained unheeded.
Only now and again a sadness fell upon me, and I started up from my
dream and felt a sweet trace of a strange fragrance in the south wind.
That vague sweetness made my heart ache with longing and it seemed to
me that is was the eager breath of the summer seeking for its completion.
I knew not then that it was so near, that it was mine, and that this
perfect sweetness had blossomed in the depth of my own heart.
Boat
I must launch out my boat.
The languid hours pass by on the
shore---Alas for me!
The spring has done its flowering and taken leave.
And now with the burden of faded futile flowers I wait and linger.
The waves have become clamorous, and upon the bank in the shady lane
the yellow leaves flutter and fall.
What emptiness do you gaze upon!
Do you not feel a thrill passing through the air
with the notes of the far-away song
floating from the other shore?
Friend
Art thou abroad on this stormy night
on thy journey of love, my friend?
The sky groans like one in despair.
I have no sleep tonight.
Ever and again I open my door and look out on
the darkness, my friend!
I can see nothing before me.
I wonder where lies thy path!
By what dim shore of the ink-black river,
by what far edge of the frowning forest,
through what mazy depth of gloom art thou threading
thy course to come to me, my friend?
When Day Is Done
If the day is done,
if birds sing no more,
if the wind has flagged tired,
then draw the veil of darkness thick upon me,
even as thou hast wrapt the earth with the coverlet of sleep
and tenderly closed the petals of the drooping lotus at dusk.
From the traveler,
whose sack of provisions is empty before the voyage is ended,
whose garment is torn and dust-laden,
whose strength is exhausted,
remove shame and poverty,
and renew his life like a flower under the cover of thy kindly night.
Sleep
In the night of weariness
let me give myself up to sleep without struggle,
resting my trust upon thee.
Let me not force my flagging spirit into a poor preparation for thy worship.
It is thou who drawest the veil of night upon the tired eyes of the day
to renew its sight in a fresher gladness of awakening.
Lamp of Love
Light, oh where is the light?
Kindle it with the burning fire of desire!
There is the lamp but never a flicker of a flame---is such thy fate, my heart?
Ah, death were better by far for thee!
Misery knocks at thy door,
and her message is that thy lord is wakeful,
and he calls thee to the love-tryst through the darkness of night.
The sky is overcast with clouds and the rain is ceaseless.
I know not what this is that stirs in me---I know not its meaning.
A moment's flash of lightning drags down a deeper gloom on my sight,
and my heart gropes for the path to where the music of the night calls me.
Light, oh where is the light!
Kindle it with the burning fire of desire!
It thunders and the wind rushes screaming through the void.
The night is black as a black stone.
Let not the hours pass by in the dark.
Kindle the lamp of love with thy life.
Dungeon
He whom I enclose with my name is weeping in this dungeon.
I am ever busy building this wall all around; and as this wall goes up into
the sky day by day I lose sight of my true being in its dark shadow.
I take pride in this great wall, and I plaster it with dust and sand
lest a least hole should be left in this name;
and for all the care I take I lose sight of my true being.
Who is This?
I came out alone on my way to my tryst.
But who is this that follows me in the silent dark?
I move aside to avoid his presence but I escape him not.
He makes the dust rise from the earth with his swagger;
he adds his loud voice to every word that I utter.
He is my own little self, my lord, he knows no shame;
but I am ashamed to come to thy door in his company.
Prisoner
`Prisoner, tell me, who was it that bound you?'
`It was my master,' said the prisoner.
`I thought I could outdo everybody in the world in wealth and power,
and I amassed in my own treasure-house the money due to my king.
When sleep overcame me I lay upon the bed that was for my lord,
and on waking up I found I was a prisoner in my own treasure-house.'
`Prisoner, tell me, who was it that wrought this unbreakable chain?'
`It was I,' said the prisoner, `who forged this chain very carefully.
I thought my invincible power would hold the world captive
leaving me in a freedom undisturbed.
Thus night and day I worked at the chain
with huge fires and cruel hard strokes.
When at last the work was done
and the links were complete and unbreakable,
I found that it held me in its grip.'
Free Love
By all means they try to hold me secure who love me in this world.
But it is otherwise with thy love which is greater than theirs,
and thou keepest me free.
Lest I forget them they never venture to leave me alone.
But day passes by after day and thou art not seen.
If I call not thee in my prayers, if I keep not thee in my heart,
thy love for me still waits for my love.
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.
Give Me Strength
This is my prayer to thee, my lord---strike,
strike at the root of penury in my heart.
Give me the strength lightly to bear my joys and sorrows.
Give me the strength to make my love fruitful in service.
Give me the strength never to disown the poor
or bend my knees before insolent might.
Give me the strength to raise my mind high above daily trifles.
And give me the strength to surrender my strength to thy will with love.
Closed Path
I thought that my voyage had come to its end
at the last limit of my power,---that the path before me was closed,
that provisions were exhausted
and the time come to take shelter in a silent obscurity.
But I find that thy will knows no end in me.
And when old words die out on the tongue,
new melodies break forth from the heart;
and where the old tracks are lost,
new country is revealed with its wonders.
Only Thee
That I want thee, only thee---let my heart repeat without end.
All desires that distract me, day and night,
are false and empty to the core.
As the night keeps hidden in its gloom the petition for light,
even thus in the depth of my unconsciousness rings the cry
---`I want thee, only thee'.
As the storm still seeks its end in peace
when it strikes against peace with all its might,
even thus my rebellion strikes against thy love
and still its cry is
---`I want thee, only thee'.
Beggarly Heart
When the heart is hard and parched up,
come upon me with a shower of mercy.
When grace is lost from life,
come with a burst of song.
When tumultuous work raises its din on all sides shutting me out from
beyond, come to me, my lord of silence, with thy peace and rest.
When my beggarly heart sits crouched, shut up in a corner,
break open the door, my king, and come with the ceremony of a king.
When desire blinds the mind with delusion and dust, O thou holy one,
thou wakeful, come with thy light and thy thunder.
Sail Away
Early in the day it was whispered that we should sail in a boat,
only thou and I, and never a soul in the world would know of this our
pilgrimage to no country and to no end.
In that shoreless ocean,
at thy silently listening smile my songs would swell in melodies,
free as waves, free from all bondage of words.
Is the time not come yet?
Are there works still to do?
Lo, the evening has come down upon the shore
and in the fading light the seabirds come flying to their nests.
Who knows when the chains will be off,
and the boat, like the last glimmer of sunset,
vanish into the night?
Signet of Eternity
The day was when I did not keep myself in readiness for thee;
and entering my heart unbidden even as one of the common crowd,
unknown to me, my king, thou didst press the signet of eternity upon
many a fleeting moment of my life.
And today when by chance I light upon them and see thy signature,
I find they have lain scattered in the dust mixed with the memory of
joys and sorrows of my trivial days forgotten.
Thou didst not turn in contempt from my childish play among dust,
and the steps that I heard in my playroom
are the same that are echoing from star to star.
Where Shadow Chases Light
This is my delight,
thus to wait and watch at the wayside
where shadow chases light
and the rain comes in the wake of the summer.
Messengers, with tidings from unknown skies,
greet me and speed along the road.
My heart is glad within,
and the breath of the passing breeze is sweet.
From dawn till dusk I sit here before my door,
and I know that of a sudden
the happy moment will arrive when I shall see.
In the meanwhile I smile and I sing all alone.
In the meanwhile the air is filling with the perfume of promise.
Silent Steps
Have you not heard his silent steps?
He comes, comes, ever comes.
Every moment and every age,
every day and every night he comes, comes, ever comes.
Many a song have I sung in many a mood of mind,
but all their notes have always proclaimed,
`He comes, comes, ever comes.'
In the fragrant days of sunny April through the forest path he comes,
comes, ever comes.
In the rainy gloom of July nights on the thundering chariot of clouds
he comes, comes, ever comes.
In sorrow after sorrow it is his steps that press upon my heart,
and it is the golden touch of his feet that makes my joy to shine.
Distant Time
I know not from what distant time
thou art ever coming nearer to meet me.
Thy sun and stars can never keep thee hidden from me for aye.
In many a morning and eve thy footsteps have been heard
and thy messenger has come within my heart and called me in secret.
I know not only why today my life is all astir,
and a feeling of tremulous joy is passing through my heart.
It is as if the time were come to wind up my work,
and I feel in the air a faint smell of thy sweet presence.
The Journey
The morning sea of silence broke into ripples of bird songs;
and the flowers were all merry by the roadside;
and the wealth of gold was scattered through the rift of the clouds
while we busily went on our way and paid no heed.
We sang no glad songs nor played;
we went not to the village for barter;
we spoke not a word nor smiled;
we lingered not on the way.
We quickened our pace more and more as the time sped by.
The sun rose to the mid sky and doves cooed in the shade.
Withered leaves danced and whirled in the hot air of noon.
The shepherd boy drowsed and dreamed in the shadow of the banyan tree,
and I laid myself down by the water
and stretched my tired limbs on the grass.
My companions laughed at me in scorn;
they held their heads high and hurried on;
they never looked back nor rested;
they vanished in the distant blue haze.
They crossed many meadows and hills,
and passed through strange, far-away countries.
All honor to you, heroic host of the interminable path!
Mockery and reproach pricked me to rise,
but found no response in me.
I gave myself up for lost
in the depth of a glad humiliation
---in the shadow of a dim delight.
The repose of the sun-embroidered green gloom
slowly spread over my heart.
I forgot for what I had traveled,
and I surrendered my mind without struggle
to the maze of shadows and songs.
At last, when I woke from my slumber and opened my eyes,
I saw thee standing by me, flooding my sleep with thy smile.
How I had feared that the path was long and wearisome,
and the struggle to reach thee was hard!
Light
Light, my light, the world-filling light,
the eye-kissing light,
heart-sweetening light!
Ah, the light dances, my darling, at the center of my life;
the light strikes, my darling, the chords of my love;
the sky opens, the wind runs wild, laughter passes over the earth.
The butterflies spread their sails on the sea of light.
Lilies and jasmines surge up on the crest of the waves of light.
The light is shattered into gold on every cloud, my darling,
and it scatters gems in profusion.
Mirth spreads from leaf to leaf, my darling,
and gladness without measure.
The heaven's river has drowned its banks
and the flood of joy is abroad.
Passing Breeze
Yes, I know, this is nothing but thy love,
O beloved of my heart---this golden light that dances upon the leaves,
these idle clouds sailing across the sky,
this passing breeze leaving its coolness upon my forehead.
The morning light has flooded my eyes---this is thy message to my heart.
Thy face is bent from above, thy eyes look down on my eyes,
and my heart has touched thy feet.
Seashore
On the seashore of endless worlds children meet.
The infinite sky is motionless overhead
and the restless water is boisterous.
On the seashore of endless worlds
the children meet with shouts and dances.
They build their houses with sand
and they play with empty shells.
With withered leaves they weave their boats
and smilingly float them on the vast deep.
Children have their play on the seashore of worlds.
They know not how to swim, they know not how to cast nets.
Pearl fishers dive for pearls, merchants sail in their ships,
while children gather pebbles and scatter them again.
They seek not for hidden treasures, they know not how to cast nets.
The sea surges up with laughter
and pale gleams the smile of the sea beach.
Death-dealing waves sing meaningless ballads to the children,
even like a mother while rocking her baby's cradle.
The sea plays with children,
and pale gleams the smile of the sea beach.
On the seashore of endless worlds children meet.
Tempest roams in the pathless sky,
ships get wrecked in the trackless water,
death is abroad and children play.
On the seashore of endless worlds is the
great meeting of children.
Colored Toys
When I bring to you colored toys, my child,
I understand why there is such a play of colors on clouds, on water,
and why flowers are painted in tints
---when I give colored toys to you, my child.
When I sing to make you dance
I truly now why there is music in leaves,
and why waves send their chorus of voices to the heart of the listening earth
---when I sing to make you dance.
When I bring sweet things to your greedy hands
I know why there is honey in the cup of the flowers
and why fruits are secretly filled with sweet juice
---when I bring sweet things to your greedy hands.
When I kiss your face to make you smile, my darling,
I surely understand what pleasure streams from the sky in morning light,
and what delight that is that is which the summer breeze brings to my body
---when I kiss you to make you smile.
Old and New
Thou hast made me known to friends whom I knew not.
Thou hast given me seats in homes not my own.
Thou hast brought the distant near and made a brother of the stranger.
I am uneasy at heart when I have to leave my accustomed shelter;
I forget that there abides the old in the new,
and that there also thou abidest.
Through birth and death, in this world or in others,
wherever thou leadest me it is thou, the same,
the one companion of my endless life
who ever linkest my heart with bonds of joy to the unfamiliar.
When one knows thee, then alien there is none, then no door is shut.
Oh, grant me my prayer that I may never lose
the bliss of the touch of the one
in the play of many.
She
She who ever had remained in the depth of my being,
in the twilight of gleams and of glimpses;
she who never opened her veils in the morning light,
will be my last gift to thee, my God, folded in my final song.
Words have wooed yet failed to win her;
persuasion has stretched to her its eager arms in vain.
I have roamed from country to country keeping her in the core of my heart,
and around her have risen and fallen the growth and decay of my life.
Over my thoughts and actions, my slumbers and dreams,
she reigned yet dwelled alone and apart.
Many a man knocked at my door and asked for her
and turned away in despair.
There was none in the world who ever saw her face to face,
and she remained in her loneliness waiting for thy recognition.
Stream of Life
The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day
runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures.
It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth
in numberless blades of grass
and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.
It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth
and of death, in ebb and in flow.
I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life.
And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment.
Maya
That I should make much of myself and turn it on all sides,
thus casting colored shadows on thy radiance
---such is thy Maya.
Thou settest a barrier in thine own being
and then callest thy severed self in myriad notes.
This thy self-separation has taken body in me.
The poignant song is echoed through all the sky in many-coloued tears
and smiles, alarms and hopes; waves rise up and sink again,
dreams break and form.
In me is thy own defeat of self.
This screen that thou hast raised is painted with innumerable figures
with the brush of the night and the day.
Behind it thy seat is woven in wondrous mysteries of curves,
casting away all barren lines of straightness.
The great pageant of thee and me has overspread the sky.
With the tune of thee and me all the air is vibrant,
and all ages pass with the hiding and seeking of thee and me.
Innermost One
He it is, the innermost one,
who awakens my being with his deep hidden touches.
He it is who puts his enchantment upon these eyes
and joyfully plays on the chords of my heart
in varied cadence of pleasure and pain.
He it is who weaves the web of this maya
in evanescent hues of gold and silver, blue and green,
and lets peep out through the folds his feet,
at whose touch I forget myself.
Days come and ages pass,
and it is ever he who moves my heart in many a name,
in many a guise, in many a rapture of joy and of sorrow.
Senses
Deliverance is not for me in renunciation.
I feel the embrace of freedom in a thousand bonds of delight.
Thou ever pourest for me the fresh draught of thy wine of various
colours and fragrance, filling this earthen vessel to the brim.
My world will light its hundred different lamps with thy flame
and place them before the altar of thy temple.
No, I will never shut the doors of my senses.
The delights of sight and hearing and touch will bear thy delight.
Yes, all my illusions will burn into illumination of joy,
and all my desires ripen into fruits of love.
Face to Face
Day after day, O lord of my life,
shall I stand before thee face to face.
With folded hands, O lord of all worlds,
shall I stand before thee face to face.
Under thy great sky in solitude and silence,
with humble heart shall I stand before thee face to face.
In this laborious world of thine, tumultuous with toil
and with struggle, among hurrying crowds
shall I stand before thee face to face.
And when my work shall be done in this world,
O King of kings, alone and speechless
shall I stand before thee face to face.
Lost Star
When the creation was new and all the stars shone in their first
splendor, the gods held their assembly in the sky and sang
`Oh, the picture of perfection! the joy unalloyed!'
But one cried of a sudden
---`It seems that somewhere there is a break in the chain of light
and one of the stars has been lost.'
The golden string of their harp snapped,
their song stopped, and they cried in dismay
---`Yes, that lost star was the best,
she was the glory of all heavens!'
From that day the search is unceasing for her,
and the cry goes on from one to the other
that in her the world has lost its one joy!
Only in the deepest silence of night the stars smile
and whisper among themselves
---`Vain is this seeking! unbroken perfection is over all!'
Let Me Not Forget
If it is not my portion to meet thee in this life
then let me ever feel that I have missed thy sight
---let me not forget for a moment,
let me carry the pangs of this sorrow in my dreams
and in my wakeful hours.
As my days pass in the crowded market of this world
and my hands grow full with the daily profits,
let me ever feel that I have gained nothing
---let me not forget for a moment,
let me carry the pangs of this sorrow in my dreams
and in my wakeful hours.
When I sit by the roadside, tired and panting,
when I spread my bed low in the dust,
let me ever feel that the long journey is still before me
---let me not forget a moment,
let me carry the pangs of this sorrow in my dreams
and in my wakeful hours.
When my rooms have been decked out and the flutes sound
and the laughter there is loud,
let me ever feel that I have not invited thee to my house
---let me not forget for a moment,
let me carry the pangs of this sorrow in my dreams
and in my wakeful hours.
Roaming Cloud
I am like a remnant of a cloud of autumn
uselessly roaming in the sky, O my sun ever-glorious!
Thy touch has not yet melted my vapor,
making me one with thy light,
and thus I count months and years separated from thee.
If this be thy wish and if this be thy play,
then take this fleeting emptiness of mine,
paint it with colors, gild it with gold,
float it on the wanton wind and spread it in varied wonders.
And again when it shall be thy wish to end this play at night,
I shall melt and vanish away in the dark,
or it may be in a smile of the white morning,
in a coolness of purity transparent.
Lost Time
On many an idle day have I grieved over lost time.
But it is never lost, my lord.
Thou hast taken every moment of my life in thine own hands.
Hidden in the heart of things thou art nourishing seeds into sprouts,
buds into blossoms, and ripening flowers into fruitfulness.
I was tired and sleeping on my idle bed
and imagined all work had ceased.
In the morning I woke up
and found my garden full with wonders of flowers.
Endless Time
Time is endless in thy hands, my lord.
There is none to count thy minutes.
Days and nights pass and ages bloom and fade like flowers.
Thou knowest how to wait.
Thy centuries follow each other perfecting a small wild flower.
We have no time to lose,
and having no time we must scramble for a chance.
We are too poor to be late.
And thus it is that time goes by
while I give it to every querulous man who claims it,
and thine altar is empty of all offerings to the last.
At the end of the day I hasten in fear lest thy gate be shut;
but I find that yet there is time.
Chain of Pearls
Mother, I shall weave a chain of pearls for thy neck
with my tears of sorrow.
The stars have wrought their anklets of light to deck thy feet,
but mine will hang upon thy breast.
Wealth and fame come from thee
and it is for thee to give or to withhold them.
But this my sorrow is absolutely mine own,
and when I bring it to thee as my offering
thou rewardest me with thy grace.
Brink of Eternity
In desperate hope I go and search for her
in all the corners of my room;
I find her not.
My house is small
and what once has gone from it can never be regained.
But infinite is thy mansion, my lord,
and seeking her I have to come to thy door.
I stand under the golden canopy of thine evening sky
and I lift my eager eyes to thy face.
I have come to the brink of eternity from which nothing can vanish
---no hope, no happiness, no vision of a face seen through tears.
Oh, dip my emptied life into that ocean,
plunge it into the deepest fullness.
Let me for once feel that lost sweet touch
in the allness of the universe.
Untimely Leave
No more noisy, loud words from me---such is my master's will.
Henceforth I deal in whispers.
The speech of my heart will be carried on in murmurings of a song.
Men hasten to the King's market. All the buyers and sellers are there.
But I have my untimely leave in the middle of the day, in the thick of work.
Let then the flowers come out in my garden, though it is not their time;
and let the midday bees strike up their lazy hum.
Full many an hour have I spent in the strife of the good and the evil,
but now it is the pleasure of my playmate of the empty days to draw my heart on to him;
and I know not why is this sudden call to what useless inconsequence!
Death
O thou the last fulfilment of life,
Death, my death, come and whisper to me!
Day after day I have kept watch for thee;
for thee have I borne the joys and pangs of life.
All that I am, that I have, that I hope and all my love
have ever flowed towards thee in depth of secrecy.
One final glance from thine eyes
and my life will be ever thine own.
The flowers have been woven
and the garland is ready for the bridegroom.
After the wedding the bride shall leave her home
and meet her lord alone in the solitude of night.
Last Curtain
I know that the day will come
when my sight of this earth shall be lost,
and life will take its leave in silence,
drawing the last curtain over my eyes.
Yet stars will watch at night,
and morning rise as before,
and hours heave like sea waves casting up pleasures and pains.
When I think of this end of my moments,
the barrier of the moments breaks
and I see by the light of death
thy world with its careless treasures.
Rare is its lowliest seat,
rare is its meanest of lives.
Things that I longed for in vain
and things that I got
---let them pass.
Let me but truly possess
the things that I ever spurned
and overlooked.
Farewell
I have got my leave. Bid me farewell, my brothers!
I bow to you all and take my departure.
Here I give back the keys of my door
---and I give up all claims to my house.
I only ask for last kind words from you.
We were neighbors for long,
but I received more than I could give.
Now the day has dawned
and the lamp that lit my dark corner is out.
A summons has come and I am ready for my journey.
Threshold
I was not aware of the moment
when I first crossed the threshold of this life.
What was the power that made me open out into this vast mystery
like a bud in the forest at midnight!
When in the morning I looked upon the light
I felt in a moment that I was no stranger in this world,
that the inscrutable without name and form
had taken me in its arms in the form of my own mother.
Even so, in death the same unknown will appear as ever known to me.
And because I love this life,
I know I shall love death as well.
The child cries out
when from the right breast the mother takes it away,
in the very next moment to find in the left one its consolation.
Parting Words
When I go from hence
let this be my parting word,
that what I have seen is unsurpassable.
I have tasted of the hidden honey of this lotus
that expands on the ocean of light,
and thus am I blessed
---let this be my parting word.
In this playhouse of infinite forms
I have had my play
and here have I caught sight of him that is formless.
My whole body and my limbs
have thrilled with his touch who is beyond touch;
and if the end comes here, let it come
---let this be my parting word.
Still Heart
When I give up the helm
I know that the time has come for thee to take it.
What there is to do will be instantly done.
Vain is this struggle.
Then take away your hands
and silently put up with your defeat, my heart,
and think it your good fortune to sit perfectly still
where you are placed.
These my lamps are blown out at every little puff of wind,
and trying to light them I forget all else again and again.
But I shall be wise this time and wait in the dark,
spreading my mat on the floor;
and whenever it is thy pleasure, my lord,
come silently and take thy seat here.
Ocean of Forms
I dive down into the depth of the ocean of forms,
hoping to gain the perfect pearl of the formless.
No more sailing from harbor to harbor with this my weather-beaten boat.
The days are long passed when my sport was to be tossed on waves.
And now I am eager to die into the deathless.
Into the audience hall by the fathomless abyss
where swells up the music of toneless strings
I shall take this harp of my life.
I shall tune it to the notes of forever,
and when it has sobbed out its last utterance,
lay down my silent harp at the feet of the silent.
Sit Smiling
I boasted among men that I had known you.
They see your pictures in all works of mine.
They come and ask me, `Who is he?'
I know not how to answer them. I say, `Indeed, I cannot tell.'
They blame me and they go away in scorn.
And you sit there smiling.
I put my tales of you into lasting songs.
The secret gushes out from my heart.
They come and ask me, `Tell me all your meanings.'
I know not how to answer them.
I say, `Ah, who knows what they mean!'
They smile and go away in utter scorn.
And you sit there smiling.
Salutation
In one salutation to thee, my God,
let all my senses spread out and touch this world at thy feet.
Like a rain-cloud of July
hung low with its burden of unshed showers
let all my mind bend down at thy door in one salutation to thee.
Let all my songs gather together their diverse strains into a single current
and flow to a sea of silence in one salutation to thee.
Like a flock of homesick cranes flying night and day
back to their mountain nests
let all my life take its voyage to its eternal home
in one salutation to thee.
Friday, June 26, 2009
My paternal family tree -Who am I ?
My paternal family tree -Who am I ?
James Robert an adult Indian and his brother William came from St.Vincent illegally to Trinidad on or about 1895, entering at Icacos and then moved to Penal. Kitwara Sebastian a bound Indian from Usine St.Madeline living in Fyzabad had a daughter named Moongia.
James Robert , 25 years old married Moongia who was 14 years old and moved from Penal Road in the south of Trinidad to Boscia Village number one in the de Boscia estate in the north of Trinidad, and converted to Roman Catholism. While in Boscia, James and Moongia had eleven children, the oldest child was Agatha Samaria Roberts.
Gobin Seecharan 35 years old, his son Michael Gobin Seecharan age 5 years, and his father’s brother came from India on or about 1885 and did their bound (indenturedship) at Castle field. At the end of their bound Gobin Seecharan married and lived in Penal. While doing bound, Gobin Seecharand and Bagwansingh become friends and were given government jobs in Port of Spain where they meet James Roberts. Gobin Seecharand was the gardener for the Colonial House and Hospital.
Gobin Seecharand’s son, Michael married James Roberts’s daughter, Agatha and had two children, the first Lachman Gobin Seecharand and a girl, Cecilia Gobin Seecharand (my paternal grandmother).
Here is the great evil and tragedy of this family story. Bagwansingh borrowed money from Gobin Seecharand with James Robert as the witness to the IOU. Gobin Seecharand sued Bagwansingh in the court to get his money and James Robert committed perjury on behalf of Bagwansingh, his friend. Gobin Seecharand sued James Roberts for perjury and this was the end of Gobin Seecharand with James Roberts.
Michael Gobin Seecharan for whom the money lent to Bagwansingh was to be given to purchase a home was very annoyed at his father in law, James Roberts and wanted revenge. Michael and Agatha rented a home in Boscia from Master Andre de Boscia Esq, the white former slave owner of the large Boscia estate and rental compound Boscia village number one, where the Roberts lived as one of only ten Indian families among former Negro slave owners and free Negro slave families.
Michael left Agatha and their two children, moved from Boscia to Arouca to live with another women Carmen, who was a Muslim. Michael came after three months with a letter to Agatha his estranged wife asking for his son Lachman as his father Gobin Seecharand was ill and close to death and wanted to see his grandson.
Michael Gobin Seecharand took his son Lachman, and sold him in a rum shop for $5 to a Muslim man with Ramgolie ( the rum shop owner) acting as the broker in Curepe, getting his revenge on the Robert's family. After a few months had past, Michael told Agatha that their son Lachman had died at his father’s Gobin Seecharan estate. Agatha screams of horror could be heard several streets away as she fainted and never was the same. Agatha never after this loss of her son allowed her infant daughter Cecilia out of her eyesight.
In the interim , James Roberts was annoyed at his son in law , his daughter , Agatha and granddaughter because of Gobin Seecharan action in court against him for perjury, so he evicted Agatha and her young daughter from their home, which he provide for them when Michael left the young family.
Agatha was about 18 years old and her daughter was about three years old when her maternal uncle from Fyzabad put them into a home in Boscia. Agatha and her daughter worked as garbage removers for the homes in the Maraval hills. James Roberts and Moongia had ten other children after Agatha.
Agatha concerned about being a woman with a child alone, took and lived common in law with Sookhan who was 20 years older. Cecilia was raised by Sookhan and he was the father in her life. Michael Gobin Seecharan had died in a vehicle accident in Santa Cruz when his truck went into the river. Michael was a lorry driver for Custom & Exercise and carted vegetables and fruits to the warehouse from the Port of Spain wharf.
Lachman Gobin Seecharan was renamed Rahamuth Ali and grew up with the childless elderly muslimman and his wife who were bound Indians and lived in Curepe. Rahamuth Ali lives in Curepe as a practicing Muslim and built a successful career as a Coconut vendor around Queens Park Savananah. I lived with Uncle Rahamuth at his home on Lyndon Street Curepe while attending the University of The West Indies, in my undergraduate studies for Pre-Medicine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4D5hRlDvYQ
Cecilia and her step father Sookhan Sagarr and his common in law wife lived in Boscia. At the age of 14 years Cecilia second cousin Sookraj who was 35 years old wanted to marry her. Cecilia wanted to marry Sookraj however James Robert intervened.
The following year at St.Patrick RC church in Newton Cecilia was married to Harry Nidhu from Tunapuna. Sookraj then married Cecilia's cousin.
Cecilia and Harry moved to Tunapuna where they lived as husband and wife for three months. Harry Nidhu died from asthma complications. Cecilia remained in Tunapuna with her mother in law.
While collecting water in Tunapuna for her mother-in law, the 16 year old widow Cecilia Nidhu was spotted by Andrew Ramon Matadeen, ( my paternal grandfather) a 40 year old estranged for five years from his wife Winifred nee Maharaj. Winifred left her husband Andrew Matadeen after seven years of marriage due to spousal abuse which resulted in losing a baby. There were no other children for Andrew and Winifred. Winifred ran away with Andrew’s nephew. Winifred was considered to be a beautiful woman.
John Matadeen and Dorcas Matadeen were Indians living in Venezuela with six children in 1900. The family were farmers in Maracaibo close to the lake. The names of the six children were Frank, Andrew , Josephine, Rita, Rosa and Abrigo.
While drawing water for the family crops Abrigo was taken by an adult caiman alligator at the water edge, and his young body was later found among the water reeds. The Matadeen family were traumatised by this event and migrated in 1908 to Tunapuna Trinidad West Indies. John Matadeen worked for Rev. Dr. John Morton the Canadian missionary as his gardener. Rev. Morton and his spouse took a keen interest in the young Matadeen family and soon the entire lot converted to Presbyterianism. John and Dorcas Matadeen's family is one of the first Indian families to attend the Aramayala Presbyterian Church in Tunapuna.
Frank Matadeen and his siblings attend the Presbyterian school and Frank went on to become a dentist and returned with his sister Rita to Caracas Venezuela, where to this day the family continues. Rita returned to Trinidad after the death of her husband in Caracas just after WWII.
Andrew Matadeen was not interested in continued education like his elder brother and after getting a primary school education went to work in the warehouse in Port of Spain, ending up as a warehouse foreman for Kirpalani Store in Port of Spain.
Andrew Matadeen inquired as to where the young widow lived, Cecilia. Her mother-in-law Ma Nidhu concerned about her 16 year old daughter-in law, sent her from Tunapuna to Agatha and Sookhan home in Boscia.
Andrew Matadeen came to the home of Agatha and Sookhan in Boscia, but Sookhan was not there. Agatha told Andrew to leave before Sookhan comes that her daughter Cecilia is not interested in him.
Andrew Matadeen persisted and returned with his father , John, mother Dorcas, elder sister Josephine and meet with James Roberts and Sookhan . After a year on her 17 th birthday, Cecilia was given under Hindu rites to Andrew (41 years) as a wife. Andrew was still married in the Presbyterian Church to Winifred, his estranged spouse living common in law with his nephew.
When Winifred died several decades later and Andrew was on his deathbed then he married Cecilia under Presbyterian rites on June 13, 1978. Cecilia and Andrew had Victor Matadeen (my father), Randolph Matadeen, Joyce Matadeen, Fred Matadeen, Ann Matadeen, Peter Matadeen and Merle Matadeen.
Dharrie Ramdansingh from Barrackpore wanted to purchase a fridge so he went to Kirpalani Store in Port of Spain and purchased one. Andrew Matadeen was to deliver the fridge to Samuel Roopchand , Ramdansingh’s brother in law living in Charles Street Gasparillo. When arriving at Roopchand’s home in Gasparillo to drop the fridge, Andrew Matadeen noticed the picture of Bernice Roopchand , Samuel and Nellie’s daughter on the wall of the living room. Andrew told Ramdansingh that his son Victor Matadeen , the eldest , would be a good match for Bernice. Ramdansingh spoke to Samuel his brother in law and Nellie about Andrew Matadeen’s son Victor Matadeen. Victor Matadeen was 23 years old and Bernice Matadeen was 24 years old. Victor Matadeen was educated at Hillview College and after graduating with senior Cambridge exams worked as postman in Curepe, while Bernice Roopchand was helping run the family business, a rum shop as well as was studying nursing and express a desire to embark to England to join her cousin Polly Ramdeen who had gone the year earlier to England to continue her studies in nursing. Polly remained in England and returned to Trinidad a couple of years later to start a family. In 1965 August 7th, Victor and Bernice were married at Susamacha Presbyterian Church in San Fernando.
Both Victor and Bernice had other persons of interest in their life however the force of personalities of the parents overrode any dissensions that Victor and Bernice had. Samuel Roopchand was against the marriage to Victor but Nellie was for it . Nellie got a broken finger in a beating from Samuel for agreeing to the marriage to Victor.
I was born premature by seven weeks on November 11, two years later at San Fernando General Hospital, named Adrian Kern Delon Matadeen, first child of Victor and Bernice Matadeen and spent the first year of my life in the hospital attached to machines helping me live.
James Robert an adult Indian and his brother William came from St.Vincent illegally to Trinidad on or about 1895, entering at Icacos and then moved to Penal. Kitwara Sebastian a bound Indian from Usine St.Madeline living in Fyzabad had a daughter named Moongia.
James Robert , 25 years old married Moongia who was 14 years old and moved from Penal Road in the south of Trinidad to Boscia Village number one in the de Boscia estate in the north of Trinidad, and converted to Roman Catholism. While in Boscia, James and Moongia had eleven children, the oldest child was Agatha Samaria Roberts.
Gobin Seecharan 35 years old, his son Michael Gobin Seecharan age 5 years, and his father’s brother came from India on or about 1885 and did their bound (indenturedship) at Castle field. At the end of their bound Gobin Seecharan married and lived in Penal. While doing bound, Gobin Seecharand and Bagwansingh become friends and were given government jobs in Port of Spain where they meet James Roberts. Gobin Seecharand was the gardener for the Colonial House and Hospital.
Gobin Seecharand’s son, Michael married James Roberts’s daughter, Agatha and had two children, the first Lachman Gobin Seecharand and a girl, Cecilia Gobin Seecharand (my paternal grandmother).
Here is the great evil and tragedy of this family story. Bagwansingh borrowed money from Gobin Seecharand with James Robert as the witness to the IOU. Gobin Seecharand sued Bagwansingh in the court to get his money and James Robert committed perjury on behalf of Bagwansingh, his friend. Gobin Seecharand sued James Roberts for perjury and this was the end of Gobin Seecharand with James Roberts.
Michael Gobin Seecharan for whom the money lent to Bagwansingh was to be given to purchase a home was very annoyed at his father in law, James Roberts and wanted revenge. Michael and Agatha rented a home in Boscia from Master Andre de Boscia Esq, the white former slave owner of the large Boscia estate and rental compound Boscia village number one, where the Roberts lived as one of only ten Indian families among former Negro slave owners and free Negro slave families.
Michael left Agatha and their two children, moved from Boscia to Arouca to live with another women Carmen, who was a Muslim. Michael came after three months with a letter to Agatha his estranged wife asking for his son Lachman as his father Gobin Seecharand was ill and close to death and wanted to see his grandson.
Michael Gobin Seecharand took his son Lachman, and sold him in a rum shop for $5 to a Muslim man with Ramgolie ( the rum shop owner) acting as the broker in Curepe, getting his revenge on the Robert's family. After a few months had past, Michael told Agatha that their son Lachman had died at his father’s Gobin Seecharan estate. Agatha screams of horror could be heard several streets away as she fainted and never was the same. Agatha never after this loss of her son allowed her infant daughter Cecilia out of her eyesight.
In the interim , James Roberts was annoyed at his son in law , his daughter , Agatha and granddaughter because of Gobin Seecharan action in court against him for perjury, so he evicted Agatha and her young daughter from their home, which he provide for them when Michael left the young family.
Agatha was about 18 years old and her daughter was about three years old when her maternal uncle from Fyzabad put them into a home in Boscia. Agatha and her daughter worked as garbage removers for the homes in the Maraval hills. James Roberts and Moongia had ten other children after Agatha.
Agatha concerned about being a woman with a child alone, took and lived common in law with Sookhan who was 20 years older. Cecilia was raised by Sookhan and he was the father in her life. Michael Gobin Seecharan had died in a vehicle accident in Santa Cruz when his truck went into the river. Michael was a lorry driver for Custom & Exercise and carted vegetables and fruits to the warehouse from the Port of Spain wharf.
Lachman Gobin Seecharan was renamed Rahamuth Ali and grew up with the childless elderly muslimman and his wife who were bound Indians and lived in Curepe. Rahamuth Ali lives in Curepe as a practicing Muslim and built a successful career as a Coconut vendor around Queens Park Savananah. I lived with Uncle Rahamuth at his home on Lyndon Street Curepe while attending the University of The West Indies, in my undergraduate studies for Pre-Medicine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4D5hRlDvYQ
Cecilia and her step father Sookhan Sagarr and his common in law wife lived in Boscia. At the age of 14 years Cecilia second cousin Sookraj who was 35 years old wanted to marry her. Cecilia wanted to marry Sookraj however James Robert intervened.
The following year at St.Patrick RC church in Newton Cecilia was married to Harry Nidhu from Tunapuna. Sookraj then married Cecilia's cousin.
Cecilia and Harry moved to Tunapuna where they lived as husband and wife for three months. Harry Nidhu died from asthma complications. Cecilia remained in Tunapuna with her mother in law.
While collecting water in Tunapuna for her mother-in law, the 16 year old widow Cecilia Nidhu was spotted by Andrew Ramon Matadeen, ( my paternal grandfather) a 40 year old estranged for five years from his wife Winifred nee Maharaj. Winifred left her husband Andrew Matadeen after seven years of marriage due to spousal abuse which resulted in losing a baby. There were no other children for Andrew and Winifred. Winifred ran away with Andrew’s nephew. Winifred was considered to be a beautiful woman.
John Matadeen and Dorcas Matadeen were Indians living in Venezuela with six children in 1900. The family were farmers in Maracaibo close to the lake. The names of the six children were Frank, Andrew , Josephine, Rita, Rosa and Abrigo.
While drawing water for the family crops Abrigo was taken by an adult caiman alligator at the water edge, and his young body was later found among the water reeds. The Matadeen family were traumatised by this event and migrated in 1908 to Tunapuna Trinidad West Indies. John Matadeen worked for Rev. Dr. John Morton the Canadian missionary as his gardener. Rev. Morton and his spouse took a keen interest in the young Matadeen family and soon the entire lot converted to Presbyterianism. John and Dorcas Matadeen's family is one of the first Indian families to attend the Aramayala Presbyterian Church in Tunapuna.
Frank Matadeen and his siblings attend the Presbyterian school and Frank went on to become a dentist and returned with his sister Rita to Caracas Venezuela, where to this day the family continues. Rita returned to Trinidad after the death of her husband in Caracas just after WWII.
Andrew Matadeen was not interested in continued education like his elder brother and after getting a primary school education went to work in the warehouse in Port of Spain, ending up as a warehouse foreman for Kirpalani Store in Port of Spain.
Andrew Matadeen inquired as to where the young widow lived, Cecilia. Her mother-in-law Ma Nidhu concerned about her 16 year old daughter-in law, sent her from Tunapuna to Agatha and Sookhan home in Boscia.
Andrew Matadeen came to the home of Agatha and Sookhan in Boscia, but Sookhan was not there. Agatha told Andrew to leave before Sookhan comes that her daughter Cecilia is not interested in him.
Andrew Matadeen persisted and returned with his father , John, mother Dorcas, elder sister Josephine and meet with James Roberts and Sookhan . After a year on her 17 th birthday, Cecilia was given under Hindu rites to Andrew (41 years) as a wife. Andrew was still married in the Presbyterian Church to Winifred, his estranged spouse living common in law with his nephew.
When Winifred died several decades later and Andrew was on his deathbed then he married Cecilia under Presbyterian rites on June 13, 1978. Cecilia and Andrew had Victor Matadeen (my father), Randolph Matadeen, Joyce Matadeen, Fred Matadeen, Ann Matadeen, Peter Matadeen and Merle Matadeen.
Dharrie Ramdansingh from Barrackpore wanted to purchase a fridge so he went to Kirpalani Store in Port of Spain and purchased one. Andrew Matadeen was to deliver the fridge to Samuel Roopchand , Ramdansingh’s brother in law living in Charles Street Gasparillo. When arriving at Roopchand’s home in Gasparillo to drop the fridge, Andrew Matadeen noticed the picture of Bernice Roopchand , Samuel and Nellie’s daughter on the wall of the living room. Andrew told Ramdansingh that his son Victor Matadeen , the eldest , would be a good match for Bernice. Ramdansingh spoke to Samuel his brother in law and Nellie about Andrew Matadeen’s son Victor Matadeen. Victor Matadeen was 23 years old and Bernice Matadeen was 24 years old. Victor Matadeen was educated at Hillview College and after graduating with senior Cambridge exams worked as postman in Curepe, while Bernice Roopchand was helping run the family business, a rum shop as well as was studying nursing and express a desire to embark to England to join her cousin Polly Ramdeen who had gone the year earlier to England to continue her studies in nursing. Polly remained in England and returned to Trinidad a couple of years later to start a family. In 1965 August 7th, Victor and Bernice were married at Susamacha Presbyterian Church in San Fernando.
Both Victor and Bernice had other persons of interest in their life however the force of personalities of the parents overrode any dissensions that Victor and Bernice had. Samuel Roopchand was against the marriage to Victor but Nellie was for it . Nellie got a broken finger in a beating from Samuel for agreeing to the marriage to Victor.
I was born premature by seven weeks on November 11, two years later at San Fernando General Hospital, named Adrian Kern Delon Matadeen, first child of Victor and Bernice Matadeen and spent the first year of my life in the hospital attached to machines helping me live.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
What &How did they do to learn ?
Traditional CEOs in my opinion are taught in business schools to address four fundamental activities of the corporate office: leadership, strategy, finance, and governance. The learning for innovation & entrepreneurship required by the CEO in order to demonstrate it to his viewing audience, is learnt where and how, if at all?
Where did Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Jim Pattison, Stephen Schwarzman ,Norman A. Sabga, Guy Laliberte,Paul & Andre Desmarais,Arthur Lok Jack,Ted Rogers, Ken Thompson , Ratan Tata, Lakshmi Mittall, Li Ka-Shing ,Oprah Winfrey , Steve Wyatt,Stanley Ho,Matt Barrett( Barclays Bank), Jim Sinegal,Jacqui Safra , John Bond (HSBC) and yes even Lawrence Duprey,Lord Conrad Black, Martha Stewart , Bernie Ebbers, Bernie Madoff , Kenneth Lay, David Walsh ( Bre-X) and Sir Sandford Fleming learn innovation & entrepenurship? All empire builders, as described in the poetry of empire building R.Kipling in the poem "Mary Gloster" , the personage of Sir Anthony Gloster, and I quote :http://www.daypoems.net/poems/1855.html
"Not counting the Line and the Foundry, the yards and the village, too,
I've made myself and a million; but I'm damned if I made you.
Master at two-and-twenty, and married at twenty-three --
Ten thousand men on the pay-roll, and forty freighters at sea!
Fifty years between 'em, and every year of it fight,
And now I'm Sir Anthony Gloster, dying, a baronite:
For I lunched with his Royal 'Ighness -- what was it the papers a-had?
"Not least of our merchant-princes." Dickie, that's me, your dad!
I didn't begin with askings. I took my job and I stuck;
And I took the chances they wouldn't, an' now they're calling it luck. "
Why do some climb road bumps and others climb K2? All of the above are frugal, enjoy spending 33cents or less and getting a $1 or more value in product & service, understand the power of capital and project the wherewithal of confidence that they can and ought to have unlimited access to other people money to leverage as they so determine and take the first fruits of rewards for such action. All are great risk takers and thrive on taking risk once the risk element is first under their determination and all share a strong desire of anonymity in action until the results and rewards are reaped. Last but not least all have a carapace of ruthless in winning and winning well , competition is paramount once it is second to their position, it is live or die every time all the time , 100% personality and force of ego behind effort, focused in and on winning and nothing else, performance means profits and money is the catholic language of all wealthy individuals who lead. No foolish rambling about wealth in the journey with this lot , its get there now and get there as efficiently as possible , using other people's money and let me enjoy the rewards of again being the first. The truth be told, they excel at excellence in themselves and in those who they recruit to do their efforts. All have a good eye for talent and better yet talent that is controllable if only by them . Your comments?
Where did Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Jim Pattison, Stephen Schwarzman ,Norman A. Sabga, Guy Laliberte,Paul & Andre Desmarais,Arthur Lok Jack,Ted Rogers, Ken Thompson , Ratan Tata, Lakshmi Mittall, Li Ka-Shing ,Oprah Winfrey , Steve Wyatt,Stanley Ho,Matt Barrett( Barclays Bank), Jim Sinegal,Jacqui Safra , John Bond (HSBC) and yes even Lawrence Duprey,Lord Conrad Black, Martha Stewart , Bernie Ebbers, Bernie Madoff , Kenneth Lay, David Walsh ( Bre-X) and Sir Sandford Fleming learn innovation & entrepenurship? All empire builders, as described in the poetry of empire building R.Kipling in the poem "Mary Gloster" , the personage of Sir Anthony Gloster, and I quote :http://www.daypoems.net/poems/1855.html
"Not counting the Line and the Foundry, the yards and the village, too,
I've made myself and a million; but I'm damned if I made you.
Master at two-and-twenty, and married at twenty-three --
Ten thousand men on the pay-roll, and forty freighters at sea!
Fifty years between 'em, and every year of it fight,
And now I'm Sir Anthony Gloster, dying, a baronite:
For I lunched with his Royal 'Ighness -- what was it the papers a-had?
"Not least of our merchant-princes." Dickie, that's me, your dad!
I didn't begin with askings. I took my job and I stuck;
And I took the chances they wouldn't, an' now they're calling it luck. "
Why do some climb road bumps and others climb K2? All of the above are frugal, enjoy spending 33cents or less and getting a $1 or more value in product & service, understand the power of capital and project the wherewithal of confidence that they can and ought to have unlimited access to other people money to leverage as they so determine and take the first fruits of rewards for such action. All are great risk takers and thrive on taking risk once the risk element is first under their determination and all share a strong desire of anonymity in action until the results and rewards are reaped. Last but not least all have a carapace of ruthless in winning and winning well , competition is paramount once it is second to their position, it is live or die every time all the time , 100% personality and force of ego behind effort, focused in and on winning and nothing else, performance means profits and money is the catholic language of all wealthy individuals who lead. No foolish rambling about wealth in the journey with this lot , its get there now and get there as efficiently as possible , using other people's money and let me enjoy the rewards of again being the first. The truth be told, they excel at excellence in themselves and in those who they recruit to do their efforts. All have a good eye for talent and better yet talent that is controllable if only by them . Your comments?
The right kind of leadership is what exactly?
| Published: | May 1, 2009 |
| Author: | Jim Heskett |
Leadership that is capable of building trust, the willingness to take risk, and establishing a culture tolerant of failure—was cited often as the most important ingredient in supporting innovation and entrepreneurship in organizations of any size.
If that's the case, one has to conclude that there is a shortage of such talent. Can someone lead both a large, established organization and encourage entrepreneurial effort within? Or are the requirements so different that it is too much to expect one person to be able to do ?
Referring to the same problem, Jim Johnson invoked my colleague Michael Tushman's work on "ambidexterity" among leaders, concluding that "Most leaders are just right-handed." Richard Eckel pointed out that "Business schools … teach 'mature' organization skills, primarily because entrepreneurial and creative organizational skills are not teachable." Do you agree?
If that's true, we may have to look elsewhere for the kind of leadership we seek. Perhaps it will come from a "younger culture" that is now infusing organizations with "teaming and a desire to be more cohesive (which will) actually foster more effective innovation," as Paul Davis suggested. What do you think?
Technology acting as a barrier to face to face interaction, 30% of information impact is lost
The bottom line is that people have more to gain from practising and nurturing their face-to-face relationships than they do in replying to the call of their BlackBerry ”— Steve Prentice, president of workplace technology consultancy Bristall Morgan Inc.
"The fundamental rule of career success is the quality of your relationships. Any action that diminishes your attention and rapport with others is a threat to your career prospects," he adds.
"This is not about being a Luddite or about being old-fashioned. People must always come first."
But that doesn't mean you have to hide your BlackBerry in the process. In fact, you can demonstrate that you are a savvy user of technology, he says.
Dealing with the devices: Here are tips from etiquette expert Linda Allan and office technology consultant Steve Prentice:
- Take charge
Set times during the day when you choose to check messages; otherwise put the gadget away. - Shut it up
The "new message" reminder or sound can tempt you, so turn it off. - Filter priorities
Set up your e-mail filter during busy work hours to forward messages only from specific, high-priority contacts. Save the others to read at less hectic times. - Say I shall return
To allay expectations of an instant response, set up an out-of-office message that promises a well-thought-out reply as soon as possible. - Talk rather than text
Text messages beget more text. A phone call can often solve problems more quickly and completely. A bonus is that vocal messages are more personal and can carry more authority than written words. - Hide the face
If you need to have the device out in a meeting to reference calendar or memos, place it face-down so you are not tempted to look and to show you are paying attention to the gathering. - Schedule text breaks
At meetings, set ground rules for checking PDAs. Instead of an outright ban, consider a 20-minute break in mid-meeting. - Ask permission
If you're waiting for an important e-mail or call, let others at the meeting know ahead of time that you're expecting it. - Take it outside
If you must answer a message or take a call during a meeting, excuse yourself from the room to avoid distracting everyone else. - Set boundaries
Avoid replying to messages on evenings and weekends, or contacts will be conditioned to always expect instant answers. - If you really must...
Don't succumb to stealth. Keeping the device under the table and typing sneakily will only make people think you are hiding something; better to let people see what you really are up to.
Work in Progress
How does one go about knowing who I am?
Why is this important , knowing myself ?
Enlightenment is of what value to me and others?
Who cares really whether I am enlightened or not ?
I ask myself and reflect about these questions and the others , if change is a must then I must be cognitive to the process of change or else what is its purpose ?
Why is this important , knowing myself ?
Enlightenment is of what value to me and others?
Who cares really whether I am enlightened or not ?
I ask myself and reflect about these questions and the others , if change is a must then I must be cognitive to the process of change or else what is its purpose ?
- What makes it so difficult to be myself with my family?
- How is my relationship with my spouse affected by how my family acted when I was a child?
- Will my parents still love me if I let them know my real feelings?
- How has my birth order and my gender affected my personality?
- What birth order in a spouse is the best match for me?
- Why do I always feel rejected when my spouse disagrees with me?
- How can I change the way I react?
- What role does my family history play in my life?
- How can I improve my communication skills?
The unreality is changed to subjective reality through curiousity
http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/change1.html
- Heraclitus (c. 535-c. 475 B.C.), Greek philosopher. Herakleitos & Diogenes, pt. 1, fragment 23
- Saul Alinsky (1909-72), U.S. radical activist. Rules for Radicals, "The Purpose" (1971).
- King Whitney, Jr.
The Reality of Change
Change alone is unchanging.- Heraclitus (c. 535-c. 475 B.C.), Greek philosopher. Herakleitos & Diogenes, pt. 1, fragment 23
All things change, nothing is extinguished. . . . There is nothing in the whole world which is permanent. Everything flows onward; all things are brought into being with a changing nature; the ages themselves glide by in constant movement.
- Ovid (43 B.C.-A. D. 17), Roman poet. Pythagoras, in Metamorphoses, bk. 15 (c. A.D. 8).
A living thing is distinguished from a dead thing by the multiplicity of the changes at any moment taking place in it.
- Herbert Spencer (1820-1903), English philosopher. Principles of Biology, pt. 1, ch. 4 (1865).
All things must change to something new, to something strange.
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix.
- Christina Baldwin
Nothing endures but change.
- Heraclitus
The Conflict of Change
Change means movement. Movement means friction. Only in the frictionless vacuum of a nonexistent abstract world can movement or change occur without that abrasive friction of conflict.- Saul Alinsky (1909-72), U.S. radical activist. Rules for Radicals, "The Purpose" (1971).
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
- Reinhold Niebuhr
Most of us are about as eager to be changed as we were to be born, and go through our changes in a similar state of shock. James Baldwin (1924-87), U.S. author.
- "Every Good-Bye Ain't Gone" (published in New York, 19 Dec. 1977; repr. in The Price of the Ticket, 1985).
They always say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.
- Andy Warhol
If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we aren't really living.
- Gail Sheehy
The Impact of Change
Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better.- King Whitney, Jr.
If a man like Malcolm X could change and repudiate racism, if I myself and other former Muslims can change, if young whites can change, then there is hope for America.
- Eldridge Cleaver (b. 1935), U.S. black leader, writer. Soul on Ice, "The White Race and Its Heroes" (1968).
We must become the change we want to see.
- Mahatma Gandhi
Men make history, and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better.
- Harry S. Truman
The future is not a result of choices among alternative paths offered by the present, but a place that is created--created first in the mind and will, created next in activity. The future is not some place we are going to, but one we are creating. The paths are not to be found, but made, and the activity of making them, changes both the maker and the destination.
- John Schaar, futurist
In a time of drastic change it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.
- Eric Hoffer
Life is like a dogsled team. If you ain't the lead dog, the scenery never changes.
- Lewis Grizzard
Reflecting on Change
At the EndTime: About 50 minutes - 30 minutes for individual reflection and 20 minutes for discussion after the reflection period.First Step - 30 minutes: Listed below are several quotes on change. Have each learner go through each of the three sections and pick one quote from each section. Have them reflect on each quote for about 10 minutes. Second Step - 20 minutes: After the reflection period, lead a discussion on change. Some sample questions might be:
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Sunday, June 21, 2009
Hunting, Hawking, and Heraldry
'An Eagle for an Emperor, a Gyrfalcon for a King;a Peregrine for a Prince, a Saker for a Knight, a Merlin for a Lady; a Goshawk for a Yeoman, a Sparrowhawk for a Priest, a Musket for a Holy water Clerk , a Kestrel for a Knave.' Book of St. Albans (1486),
A world of order and appropriate benefit.
A world of order and appropriate benefit.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
"Non-Indian will never led UNC"
Dear Mr. Shah,
I read your article "Non-Indian will never led UNC" in the Trinidad Express April 29, 2001. I found it to be an interested commentary and would like to know how much of it is composed of facts and how much from personal invectives.
My caption calls upon you to compose a path forward, now that we know the sky's blue and the earth is not flat, how can this nation state gather rewards for its present and future citizens and what do you forsee the costs to be?
You may contritely answer that healing begins with first recognizing there is illness but then what?
It behooves me to ask you what is your true agenda? Are you a vanguard of reformation , or are you part of a historic artifact of an "what if" that occurred more that three decades ago? You seem to succinctly calibrated and refined your dosage of hemlock as to what the "real" power centric ego motivation of the current Prime Minister Mr. Panday is, but to what end ?
Are you planning to step forward as the new Moses for the 21first century? Do you have the vision, single-mindedness , wisdom thickskined, ruthlessness and diplomatic finesse to lead and empower for the betterment?
Who do you really represent , Mr. Shah and why should you be entrusted with a pan-national mandate? Are you a guns or butter man or a hybrid of both polarities?
Where is your thoughts on good governing and what value system is it premised on for this heterogeneous, pluralistic and mass "politically uneducated" citizenry as you allude to in your writing?
Many persons much wiser than myself have often called us not to focus on answers which ebb and flow as the tidal changes in Mayaro's beaches, but to find clarity, accuracy and brevity in the questions you ask of your self and others. It is the latter which remain as constant as the northern star.
Macavilli, Bentham, Lenin, Sun Tzu, Lao Tzu, Von Clauswitz, Paine,Montesquie and Mill tried to define the ideal relationship of that carnal trinity of leader to statehood to the individual. It seems to be all Solon's Greek to me.
Your published response is appreciated.
Yours respectfully,
Adrian Matadeen
Old Boy of Naparima Class of 1987
Vancouver , BC Canada
I read your article "Non-Indian will never led UNC" in the Trinidad Express April 29, 2001. I found it to be an interested commentary and would like to know how much of it is composed of facts and how much from personal invectives.
My caption calls upon you to compose a path forward, now that we know the sky's blue and the earth is not flat, how can this nation state gather rewards for its present and future citizens and what do you forsee the costs to be?
You may contritely answer that healing begins with first recognizing there is illness but then what?
It behooves me to ask you what is your true agenda? Are you a vanguard of reformation , or are you part of a historic artifact of an "what if" that occurred more that three decades ago? You seem to succinctly calibrated and refined your dosage of hemlock as to what the "real" power centric ego motivation of the current Prime Minister Mr. Panday is, but to what end ?
Are you planning to step forward as the new Moses for the 21first century? Do you have the vision, single-mindedness , wisdom thickskined, ruthlessness and diplomatic finesse to lead and empower for the betterment?
Who do you really represent , Mr. Shah and why should you be entrusted with a pan-national mandate? Are you a guns or butter man or a hybrid of both polarities?
Where is your thoughts on good governing and what value system is it premised on for this heterogeneous, pluralistic and mass "politically uneducated" citizenry as you allude to in your writing?
Many persons much wiser than myself have often called us not to focus on answers which ebb and flow as the tidal changes in Mayaro's beaches, but to find clarity, accuracy and brevity in the questions you ask of your self and others. It is the latter which remain as constant as the northern star.
Macavilli, Bentham, Lenin, Sun Tzu, Lao Tzu, Von Clauswitz, Paine,Montesquie and Mill tried to define the ideal relationship of that carnal trinity of leader to statehood to the individual. It seems to be all Solon's Greek to me.
Your published response is appreciated.
Yours respectfully,
Adrian Matadeen
Old Boy of Naparima Class of 1987
Vancouver , BC Canada
"Tell Me Who to Kill?" By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe September 26, 2008
Dear Selwyn:
In light of the Duprey/CLICO/British American dawning of financial malfeasance , your sharp pen is hopefully poise again onto paper to delight the fancies of your readership with a polemic display of your literary and poetic skills .
It is now four months and some and your silence is reverberating the halls of amusement and the castles of triviality. We your readership question how can an intellectual elite be so blatantly asymmetric, where is this one eye man in the land of the blind? Where is Cudjoe? Where is Selwyn's voice on this Duprey matter?
Come out of your den, dragon, come out I say. Breathe out your poisonous fire , sour the air with your noxious fumes of diatribe and race thinking, Come out Selywn , I command you to come out cantankerous worm, come out of your hole. But wait...
There is a man on a horse armed with a spear prepared to do battle with you, Worm. His name is Reason and his weapon is called critical thought. You will feel Reason's sting in your belly, Cudjoe.Come out! Petant aut petant venire habet Vermo a manu,
Semper Fedelis
Adrian Matadeen
Green Business Developer/Financier
Trinidad & Tobago
West Indies
In light of the Duprey/CLICO/British American dawning of financial malfeasance , your sharp pen is hopefully poise again onto paper to delight the fancies of your readership with a polemic display of your literary and poetic skills .
It is now four months and some and your silence is reverberating the halls of amusement and the castles of triviality. We your readership question how can an intellectual elite be so blatantly asymmetric, where is this one eye man in the land of the blind? Where is Cudjoe? Where is Selwyn's voice on this Duprey matter?
Come out of your den, dragon, come out I say. Breathe out your poisonous fire , sour the air with your noxious fumes of diatribe and race thinking, Come out Selywn , I command you to come out cantankerous worm, come out of your hole. But wait...
There is a man on a horse armed with a spear prepared to do battle with you, Worm. His name is Reason and his weapon is called critical thought. You will feel Reason's sting in your belly, Cudjoe.Come out! Petant aut petant venire habet Vermo a manu,
Semper Fedelis
Adrian Matadeen
Green Business Developer/Financier
Trinidad & Tobago
West Indies
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
My Purpose & My Mission 2009 to 2015
I , Adrian Matadeen, have as mission & primary purpose while here in Trinidad & Tobago for the next 36 to 60 months to create fifty thousand new well paying jobs. These jobs are not premised on the Petroindustry and offers gainful advancement.
Methodology: An example of a sustainable project that is win -win , and creates between 5500 to 9000 high paying jobs in total.
* Project Tamarind - A national curbside collection program for the picking up and sorting of recyclable products from both business and households , Phase one. Contiguous is Phase two which is the building and operating of a Materials Recover Facility for used car tires, plastic empties, glass , paper, aluminum & cardboard which has downstream products. For example Post Consumer Resins from the plastics empties, cullet from crushed glass, toilet paper from recycled paper and roof tiles from car tires. This plan has been submitted to the Government of Trinidad & Tobago , Solid Waste Management Company Limited , the regional leader of plastic bottling CC1 ( Coca-Cola), National Insurance Board of Trinidad & Tobago, First Citizens Bank of Trinidad & Tobago, Caribbean private sector recyclers , waste disposal companies in Trinidad & Tobago, Trinidad & Tobago Manufactures Association ,private investors, concerned individuals, The Trinidad & Tobago Chamber of Commerce , domestic & foreign venture capitalist and international funders such as CIDA, World Bank, OECD & EIB.
Methodology: An example of a sustainable project that is win -win , and creates between 5500 to 9000 high paying jobs in total.
* Project Tamarind - A national curbside collection program for the picking up and sorting of recyclable products from both business and households , Phase one. Contiguous is Phase two which is the building and operating of a Materials Recover Facility for used car tires, plastic empties, glass , paper, aluminum & cardboard which has downstream products. For example Post Consumer Resins from the plastics empties, cullet from crushed glass, toilet paper from recycled paper and roof tiles from car tires. This plan has been submitted to the Government of Trinidad & Tobago , Solid Waste Management Company Limited , the regional leader of plastic bottling CC1 ( Coca-Cola), National Insurance Board of Trinidad & Tobago, First Citizens Bank of Trinidad & Tobago, Caribbean private sector recyclers , waste disposal companies in Trinidad & Tobago, Trinidad & Tobago Manufactures Association ,private investors, concerned individuals, The Trinidad & Tobago Chamber of Commerce , domestic & foreign venture capitalist and international funders such as CIDA, World Bank, OECD & EIB.
Did You Know?
- Recycling aluminum saves 95% energy vs. virgin aluminum; recycling of one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for 3 hours(Reynolds Metal Co.)
- Recycled aluminum reduces pollution by 95%(Reynolds Metal Co.)
- 4 lbs of bauxite are saved for every pound of aluminum recycled (Reynolds Metal Co.)
- Enough aluminum is thrown away to rebuild our commercial air fleet 4 times every year.
- Recycled glass saves 50% energy vs. virgin glass(Centre for Ecological Technology)
- Recycling of one glass container saves enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for 4 hours(EPA)
- Recycled glass generates 20% less air pollution and 50% less water pollution(NASA)
- 1 ton of glass made from 50% recycled materials saves 250 lbs. of mining waste(EPA)
- Glass can be reused an infinite number of times; over 41 billion glass containers are made each year(EPA)
- Recycled paper saves 60% energy vs. virgin paper(Centre for Ecological Technology)
- Recycled paper generates 95% less air pollution: each ton saves 60 lbs. of air pollution(Centre for Ecological Technology)
- Recycling of each ton of paper saves 17 trees and 7000 gallons of water(EPA)
- Every year enough paper is thrown away to make a 12' wall from New York to California
- Plasic milk containers are now only half the weight that they were in 1960(EPA)
- If we recycled every plastic bottle we used, we would keep 2 billion tons of plastic out of landfills(Penn State)
- According to the EPA, recycling a pound of PET saves approximately 12,000 BTU's
- We use enough plastic wrap to wrap all of Texas every year(EPA) source: University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Produces and maintained by the office of Waste Management.
- Incinerating 10,000 tons of waste creates one job; landfilling 10,000 tons of waste creates six jobs; recycling 10,000 tons of waste creates 36 jobs.
Think recycling is expensive? Consider this: aluminum cans are the most valuable item in your bin. Aluminum can recycling helps fund the entire curbside collection. It’s the only packaging material that more than covers the cost of collection and re-processing for itself. Adapted from http://ontario.earth911.org/can/master.asp
If you are interested in this project please feel free to email me at amatadeen@gmail.com or call me at 1-868-292-4282 (EST). Thank you for your time and patience.
With gratitude
Adrian Matadeen
Efficiency warrior
Green business developer & Funder
Vancouver BC Canada
& Trinidad & Tobago WI
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