Twist to the tale

Last week I mentioned I was thinking about doing some interesting things with the list. I will still be reading but I shall try to give it some sort of direction. So I’ve come up with a theme idea. Each month shall have a theme and in turn each quarter shall have an over-arching theme. So quarter 3 will be about entertainment in which I shall tackle fun subjects such as poetry, humor, drama and some fiction. For this week, I have started off with poetry. I’ve been too busy with eating some really delicious food and drinking lots of ginger wine to provide an intro to the book but I did start reading it (since Monday 12.30 am).

Coming back to the themes, I will introduce the quarter and monthly themes at the beginning of each quarter. The book I pick will only be revealed at the beginning of the week. However, I’m open to suggestions so if there is a particular book you have in mind for a given theme, feel free to share.

So this week is poetry and I’m reading Rumi. For a lot of you who don’t know who he is here is some back ground on the great poet.

Rumi, born in 1207, was a poet, theologian, jurist and Sufi mystic. There is no proper consensus on where he was born, some say in the region that is now Afghanistan, others Tajikistan and some Persia (now Iran). Rumi is a descriptive name meaning "the Roman" since he lived most of his life in an area called Rum because it was once ruled by the Eastern Roman Empire. Rumi's works are written in the New Persian language and his importance is considered to transcend national and ethnic borders. His original works are widely read in their original language across the Persian-speaking world but translations are very popular in other countries. His poetry has influenced Persian literature as well as Urdu, Punjabi and other Pakistani languages. In 2007, he was described as the "most popular poet in America”.

The book I’m reading is called “Rumi: Bridge to the Soul". Translated by Coleman Barks, it was introduced with 90 poems, not translated hitherto; most not even published in any form, in 2007 the year of Rumi’s 800th birthday. (Which was a great big deal. Even UNESCO was involved and all sorts of stamps commemorating him were introduced in Afghanistan and other countries that revere him). The Bridge, in the title, refers to the Khajou bridge in Iran the author visited in 2006 which promoted this book. The “soul bridge” refers to Rumi who crosses cultures and religions and brings us all together irrespective of caste, creed or religion.

Now, I know poetry is not everyone’s cup of tea. (I couldn’t read it at all until I read Hafiz), but if you are even a tiny bit interested, Rumi’s work is really worth exploring. Most of it is readily available online. 

Of the 90 poems, I’ve already finished 25. Here is a snippet from one of them, called Earsight.

Do you want the sweetness of food

or the sweetness of the one

who put the sweetness in food?

There are amazing things in the ocean,

and there is one who is the ocean.

Think of a carpenter’s alert comprehension

when he builds a house.

Now think of the one

who creates consciousness.

It takes skill to extract oil from a nut.

Now consider how sight lives in the eye.

And on it goes to absolute bliss and peace.