I took leave from work today to read Gitanjali (naughty me) and managed to fall asleep many times in between readings. It has to be done so that I can cross it off my to-do list. Never mind finding money.
Gitanjali is a collection of poems originally in Bengali. When it was translated into English, the West took notice and awarded the poet, Rabindranath Tagore the Nobel Prize for literature in 1923. Much of the original poem's "subtlety of rythm, untranslatable delicacies of colour, of metrical invention" was lost in translation, so what we get from the translation is perhaps a quarter of its original splendour.
I have six poems that I like; but will record here just two; here's the first:
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; and 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 desires.
And this one:
When I bring to you coloured toys, my child, I understand why
there is such a play of colours on clouds, on water, and why
flowers are painted in tints--when I give coloured toys to you,
my child.
When I sing to make you dance I truly know 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 which the summer breeze brings
to my body--when I kiss to make you smile.
There you have it. Off my chest.
But of course the greatest "literature" of all is Kalamullah, alQuran; a quest I must embark on.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Monday, February 27, 2012
Menyirap
Di pejabat Embak tadi, Embak terdengar perbualan telefon antara seorang rakan sekerja Embak dengan pelanggannya -- tak tahu namanya tapi dapat dirumuskan ceritanya dia ni seorang bekas askar sedang menghadapi masalah isteri mudanya yang berusia 23 tahun dah bercinta dengan lelaki lain. Si askar pencen ni ada seorang anak umur setahun dengan bini mudanya tapi mak budak tu dah tak nak anaknya. Dia dah nak angkat kaki tinggalkan suami dan anaknya sebab nak kawin dengan boy-friend.
Jadi terpaksalah si isteri pertamanya membela budak ni, walaupun komplen, penat. Anak-anak sendiri dah besar-besar.
Si askar pencen ni, dengan muka tak malunya tanya kat kawan saya, ada ke kawan-kawan yang tak kawin lagi? Bolehlah kawin dengan si askar pencen, pakej dengan anak sekali.
Kawan saya kata, tak ada. Yang nak anak angkat adalah, tapi tak nak bapanya.
Si askar pencen kata dia nak cari pengganti bini muda dia, kalau boleh, biarlah wanita yang berkarier.
Tak ke MENYIRAP dibuatnya!!
Jadi terpaksalah si isteri pertamanya membela budak ni, walaupun komplen, penat. Anak-anak sendiri dah besar-besar.
Si askar pencen ni, dengan muka tak malunya tanya kat kawan saya, ada ke kawan-kawan yang tak kawin lagi? Bolehlah kawin dengan si askar pencen, pakej dengan anak sekali.
Kawan saya kata, tak ada. Yang nak anak angkat adalah, tapi tak nak bapanya.
Si askar pencen kata dia nak cari pengganti bini muda dia, kalau boleh, biarlah wanita yang berkarier.
Tak ke MENYIRAP dibuatnya!!
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Penakut
Tak semua kau rancang akan berlaku
Mungkin nasib tak menyebelahi aku
Entah mengapa engkau yang aku cinta
Mungkin lebih baik kau ku lepas saja
Chorus
Ini tidak adil tidak adil baginya
Ini tidak adil tidak adil bagiku
Ini tidak adil
Untuk kau bertanya jika ku mencintaimu juga
Tidak adil tidak adil baginya
Kau tak pernah cuba memahami aku
Cinta kau ucapkan tak pernah engaku tunjuk
Dan bila tiba saat ku kehilangan
Beban yang tak pernah kau cuba ringankan
(Ulang Chorus)
Kau bukan milikku
Dan aku memang penakut
Mengakui cinta kepadamu
Seribu kali ku cuba ucapkan
Bila bersamamu
Kau bukan milikku
Dan engkau pun tahu
Kau bukan milikku
Mungkin nasib tak menyebelahi aku
Entah mengapa engkau yang aku cinta
Mungkin lebih baik kau ku lepas saja
Chorus
Ini tidak adil tidak adil baginya
Ini tidak adil tidak adil bagiku
Ini tidak adil
Untuk kau bertanya jika ku mencintaimu juga
Tidak adil tidak adil baginya
Kau tak pernah cuba memahami aku
Cinta kau ucapkan tak pernah engaku tunjuk
Dan bila tiba saat ku kehilangan
Beban yang tak pernah kau cuba ringankan
(Ulang Chorus)
Kau bukan milikku
Dan aku memang penakut
Mengakui cinta kepadamu
Seribu kali ku cuba ucapkan
Bila bersamamu
Kau bukan milikku
Dan engkau pun tahu
Kau bukan milikku
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
7 Things to Stop Doing Now on Facebook
by Consumer Reports Magazine
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
1. Using a Weak Password
Avoid simple names or words you can find in a dictionary, even with numbers tacked on the end. Instead, mix upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and symbols. A password should have at least eight characters. One good technique is to insert numbers or symbols in the middle of a word, such as this variant on the word "houses": hO27usEs!
2. Leaving Your Full Birth Date in Your Profile
It's an ideal target for identity thieves, who could use it to obtain more information about you and potentially gain access to your bank or credit card account. If you've already entered a birth date, go to your profile page and click on the Info tab, then on Edit Information. Under the Basic Information section, choose to show only the month and day or no birthday at all.
3. Overlooking Useful Privacy Controls
For almost everything in your Facebook profile, you can limit access to only your friends, friends of friends, or yourself. Restrict access to photos, birth date, religious views, and family information, among other things. You can give only certain people or groups access to items such as photos, or block particular people from seeing them. Consider leaving out contact info, such as phone number and address, since you probably don't want anyone to have access to that information anyway.
4.Posting Your Child's Name in a Caption
Don't use a child's name in photo tags or captions. If someone else does, delete it by clicking on Remove Tag. If your child isn't on Facebook and someone includes his or her name in a caption, ask that person to remove the name.
5.Mentioning That You'll Be Away From Home
That's like putting a "no one's home" sign on your door. Wait until you get home to tell everyone how awesome your vacation was and be vague about the date of any trip.
6.Letting Search Engines Find You
To help prevent strangers from accessing your page, go to the Search section of Facebook's privacy controls and select Only Friends for Facebook search results. Be sure the box for public search results isn't checked.
7. Permitting Youngsters to Use Facebook Unsupervised
Facebook limits its members to ages 13 and over, but children younger than that do use it. If you have a young child or teenager on Facebook, the best way to provide oversight is to become one of their online friends. Use your e-mail address as the contact for their account so that you receive their notifications and monitor their activities. "What they think is nothing can actually be pretty serious," says Charles Pavelites, a supervisory special agent at the Internet Crime Complaint Center. For example, a child who posts the comment "Mom will be home soon, I need to do the dishes" every day at the same time is revealing too much about the parents' regular comings and goings.
Copyrighted 2009, Consumers Union of U.S., Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
1. Using a Weak Password
Avoid simple names or words you can find in a dictionary, even with numbers tacked on the end. Instead, mix upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and symbols. A password should have at least eight characters. One good technique is to insert numbers or symbols in the middle of a word, such as this variant on the word "houses": hO27usEs!
2. Leaving Your Full Birth Date in Your Profile
It's an ideal target for identity thieves, who could use it to obtain more information about you and potentially gain access to your bank or credit card account. If you've already entered a birth date, go to your profile page and click on the Info tab, then on Edit Information. Under the Basic Information section, choose to show only the month and day or no birthday at all.
3. Overlooking Useful Privacy Controls
For almost everything in your Facebook profile, you can limit access to only your friends, friends of friends, or yourself. Restrict access to photos, birth date, religious views, and family information, among other things. You can give only certain people or groups access to items such as photos, or block particular people from seeing them. Consider leaving out contact info, such as phone number and address, since you probably don't want anyone to have access to that information anyway.
4.Posting Your Child's Name in a Caption
Don't use a child's name in photo tags or captions. If someone else does, delete it by clicking on Remove Tag. If your child isn't on Facebook and someone includes his or her name in a caption, ask that person to remove the name.
5.Mentioning That You'll Be Away From Home
That's like putting a "no one's home" sign on your door. Wait until you get home to tell everyone how awesome your vacation was and be vague about the date of any trip.
6.Letting Search Engines Find You
To help prevent strangers from accessing your page, go to the Search section of Facebook's privacy controls and select Only Friends for Facebook search results. Be sure the box for public search results isn't checked.
7. Permitting Youngsters to Use Facebook Unsupervised
Facebook limits its members to ages 13 and over, but children younger than that do use it. If you have a young child or teenager on Facebook, the best way to provide oversight is to become one of their online friends. Use your e-mail address as the contact for their account so that you receive their notifications and monitor their activities. "What they think is nothing can actually be pretty serious," says Charles Pavelites, a supervisory special agent at the Internet Crime Complaint Center. For example, a child who posts the comment "Mom will be home soon, I need to do the dishes" every day at the same time is revealing too much about the parents' regular comings and goings.
Copyrighted 2009, Consumers Union of U.S., Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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