THE 'RANGABATI' MUDDLE

         

              This is my first post on a legal issue where I put a step out of my world of art and enter into this world of reality. For the past few days what has been troubling me is the slow growth of my beloved Odisha. I work in Bangalore and I have found people who consider Odisha to be backward. I get back at them with all the rich culture and the beautiful tradition lecture.
             Recently, I found the massive circulation of the remixed Rangabati song on YouTube and many other social networking sites. I was finally happy to hear that people have come to know about our music and have loved listening to the same in a loop. This was pushing our culture to the forefront.
               But, this did not last long and then popped up a copyright issue claiming this song to be an infringement. I'm sad that the progress of our culture in the nation has come to a standstill, but at the same time, I'm also happy to know that the law relating to intellectual property has gained relevance in Odisha.
                 They fight over the issue of 'public domain'! Dude! a work comes into 'public domain' only when the copyright over it has expired. In India, a copyright expires sixty years after the death of the authors and our author still live. Not taking the permission was kind of "underestimating the power and knowledge of an Odia!". We showed them that we are not going to sit back!
                    Saying all of the above and thinking from a young Indian's point of view, I think the copyright owners should take a reasonable royalty, impose a penalty for not taking permission and let the remix remain untarnished. This is helping Odisha become famous and bring out the real colours of Odisha in a modern way. The breaking of "ranga" from "rangabati" is just a part of the remix to bring out the modern music effect to this 1977 song. However, even if 'ranga' refers to 'third gender', what's wrong in addressing a 'third genger' as beautiful?

This is one platform where I can open up my heart and mind. I did so. I hope it reaches out.

-Somya Mishra

MY BIRDY FLIGHT

Have you ever felt like a bird?
I have... That feeling was like winning a challenge and standing above many others who had never seen me.
When I stood there and waved my hands gracefully, I could see shocked expressions on faces and also some happy faces. The shocked faces brought in more confidence than the happy ones. I felt like a bird flying much above the crowd and even higher to show the crowd how swift my flight can be.
 With me, there was another small humming bird bearing a smile on her lips and innocence in her eyes. Even without a word, the was a lot of connection between her thoughts and mine. I will keep this tiny bird close to my heart always.
This feeling of rising above your generally assumed personality is equal to flying like a bird who spreads her wings to embrace every hurdle and overcome it.

HAIDER

Innocence and rage,
Held on to each other,
When the extremes knew,
That they were strengths for each other.

With heart filled with love,
And mind drowned in confusion,
"To be or not to be"
Came out as the resulting situation.

Respect and Hatred,
Battled with each other,
But none could stand victorious,
As on the other side was his mother.

When blood relations parted ways,
And new relations bloomed,
There was a balance of emotions,
And faith's existence was doomed.

Living upto many expectations,
And crawling into many hearts,
It became a perfect combination,
Of a soul's shattered parts.

With a never giving up artist,
And a bunch of unbeatable makers,
"Haider" is a work of art,
Giving huge profits to the bakers.
                                                        -Somya Mishra

बारिश

वो बारिश ही क्या जिसमे भीगे नहीं,
वो धूप ही क्या जिसमे जले नहीं.
जो ना देखे तुमने कुद्रट के ये नज़ारे,
तो समझो दुनिया की गोदी पे पाले नहीं.

जागती है सूरज सुबह की बारिश के साथ,
तो दिल करता है के ये दिन कभी ढले नहीं.
जो ना देखे तुमने कुद्रट के ये नज़ारे,
तो समझो दुनिया की गोदी पे पाले नहीं.

बारिश भीगती है बंजर ज़मीन को,
जैसे दिल में वापस आया हो एक सोया एहसास.
जो ना महसूस किया हो तुमने इस खुशी को,
तो समझो दुनिया की गोदी पे पाले नहीं.
                                                     - Somya Mishra

SECRET OF HOPE

Do you believe in having faith and seeing it come alive exactly as expected?

One such incident took place today. I just realised that hope is not merely a word of motivation; it is an act of having faith. whenever you act in a certain way and have the determination in your mind that a certain result is expected, no power on earth can stop it from happening.

This again brings my thought back to the "Secret" by Rhonda Byrne where she had written that

"There is no such thing as a hopeless situation. Every single circumstances of your life can change!". This statement is very true. In this book she talks about the Law of Attraction and I actually saw that work right in front of my eyes. There are positive as well as negative energies all around you; only the ones which you attract towards yourself will come to you. The magnetic energy flowing in the air gets attracted to similar forces coming out of one's mind when it comes to emotions. This denies the theory of "opposites attract" but tends to function perfectly with one's brain. Hope is one such emotion.


When you are hopeful and certainly want a thing to happen, the best way to attract the positive energy is to have faith in your hope and work for it with full determination because you tend to attract your dominant thoughts. So, choose your thoughts carefully because thoughts attracted to certain strong emotions usually turn out to be pieces of creation. I don't know how far this piece of writing is valuable to many, but I am certain of the fact that this piece has contained many experiences within its fencing and it will certainly be helpful to many.


                                                                                                     -Somya Mishra

YIN-YANG ALIVE!!!

A busy daily schedule and so many dreams yet to come true. Standing in a crowded bus, I find this above expression on many faces. Bangalore is a city with hopes and opportunities. While struggling for a single meal everyday, I visualize the life of any yuppie in a new city with lot of troubles. One month looks like "ONE BIG MONTH" where it has become difficult to plan out things for everyday keeping the daily schedule in mind. So, sitting in my firm, the existence of this Chinese Symbol struck my mind and forced my to type it down.

Come out of your house and look at the road once! Will you find every person satisfied? I bet even you have a dissatisfied look on your face standing in the heat right now. The more difficult the things look, the more pleasing they will be once they get over. In a way, it is better to continue with the particular thing and not get done with it. Life seems to be pointless when you divorce seriousness from fun. The combination of these completely opposite phases of life brings out the true essence. This combination or union of the opposites is the YIN-YANG.

People tend to misinterpret the symbol as the depiction of union of man and woman only. It is a depiction of all union of opposite forces of the world. I am a person who is quite courageous to face all different situations without thinking about the consequences and afraid of few outcomes at the same time. This has helped me understand myself. This union makes my life peaceful. I would be making a fool out of myself if I lost the courage by only worrying about the consequences. It is possible that I may also look like a wierdo if I did everything without caring about the outcomes. Sometimes, we need to let go of the bounds and free ourselves while sometimes it is extremely necessary to bind our souls with certain limitations of reasonability. This bond is one of the perfect unions of opposites which brings out peace in your life. Similarly, the union of fun and seriousness will also bring our the essence of variety and interest in life. It's time you bring out the YIN-YANG in you!!!

अनकही

नही कही तुमसे कुछ बातैं,
क्यूंकि इंतज़ार में डूबे थे हमI
कट गई ऐसी बहुत सी रातें,
जब तुम्हारे प्यार में डूबे थे हमI

ना चाहा था किसी पल को उस पल से ज़्यादा,
जब सपना सच हो के सामने था आयाI
ना चाहा था किसी सपने को उस सपने से ज़्यादा,
जहां भीगी पलकों ने था अपना ख्वाब सजायाI

उन्ही आंसुओं के राह पर चलते,
हमने जिंदगी का रास्ता बनायाI
और उन्ही रास्तों के, इस मोड़ पर,
खुद को तुमसे बहुत दूर पायाI

सफर हमारा ना होगा पूरा,
जो साथ ना रहा एक दूजे का सायाI
ज़िन्दगी का मकसद रहेगा अधूरा,
अगर कदम तुम्हारी गती पे बढ़ ना पाया

                                    - Somya Mishra

JEJE

With the calmness of the silent sea,
And the kindness of a sage,
He looked upon everyone,
As placed on the same stage.

With respect for the elders,
And concern for the children,
He reached out to their hearts,
With a simple stroke of pen.

With the gentle flow of ink,
From the hands ruling the words,
"Khaali Akhi Re" was born,
As a challenge to renowned bards.

The knowledge and control over language,
With patience leading them,
Even epics were made complete,
As known works of this gem.

On setting out to go for work,
The spark of brilliance shone,
Humble colours of intellect,
Came out bright on the monochrome dress alone.

Holding on to faith,
And confidence at the same time,
A step was always put forward,
To argue for civil as well as a crime.

Trusting on self-righteousness,
Yet respecting others' opinions,
The Member of Parliament balanced,
The rules and emotions for milions.

The fear in our eyes,
To fall short of set expectation,
Managed to get superceded,
By genuine gestures of affection.

Being one of the youngest grandchildren,
I was showered with great love and care,
Yet not at all pampered,
To get spoilt even if I dare.

The words in this piece,
Came direct from my heart,
Without the emotions being judged,
But the framework of the same,
Have flown through Jeje's blood.

                                                 -Somya Mishra

GO "FOR" IT! NOT "AWAY FROM" IT

This is just to give some inspiration to myself as well as those who take the pain to go through this.

Happiness is like a pearl in an oyster. You know it is there, but you will have to struggle with the firm and strong shells to get that happiness. Once you manage to grab that pearl, all your pains and struggle will seem to be vanishing as the shine of the pearl will reflect all your efforts.
However, it depends how you measure the worth of the pearl. As human beings, we all have certain expectations always. these expectations never end. But they can be achieved if we keep them small. Few things like eternal love, riches with smiles and a long-term satisfying sleep are things which can not be achieved by every individual. But, these are not the only things which make this life worthwhile; everyone cannot aim towards achieving such great heights of happiness. You will always have to fix a limit for your expectation and make sure that the limit is very low. In this case, even the smallest of things will make you happy.
Experience has taught me that there are situations when you struggle with the shells, open the oyster and find it to be empty. these situations can be depressing and discouraging. When You have put in your hard-work and time, the reward should be proportionate or at least sufficient. It is a disgrace on God's creation if such failures have to come. But, even then, there is a way which would take you to happiness. "Patience" is the keyword which will open up your locks and lead you towards your deserved path. You may ask, "Why me?", or "Why am I to be patient when other get it easily?". Frankly speaking, I have no answer to this question but, one thought strikes my little brain now.
The thought is that all our fingers are not the same but, we never complained about it. basically, it is because we know that each fulfills a specific purpose depending upon its capabilities. If you feel that you are being test, then it is probably because you are found to be deserving more and capable of doing more than what the ordinary people can do.

I just hope the pain of reading was worthwhile because my pain of writing doesn't seem to be a pain anymore.

SKETCHES DIRECT FROM HEART

Some beautiful things do not last forever

To the rhythmic ballet

A view from National Geographic

The Dark-Shadowed Angel

the mirror-like reflection

Cleopatra on her death bed

LEAVE ME!!!!

Let me go!
It was nice when you called me,
And asked me to come along to a beautiful world.
I had you beside me as a support,
And I knew I could trust you.
You made me work for you as I desired to.
You made me smile as I was working for you.
When I was giving way to my heart for trusting you more,
You took me along with you,
Tied my hands to a pole,
Smiled at me and happily left.
I screamed and called you to help me out.
You turned a deaf ear to all that.
I tried to escape and struggled alone
As there was nobody I could call upon.
I hurt myself, my hands bled,
Yet i tried and tried.
When I was free, I came to you,
And found you ignoring me.
I wept and I saw you smiling.
I feel like approaching you,
And hitting you hard for hurting me.
But, I don't want to be an idiot like you.
I was good to you and I will be good to people
Because your selfishness will not affect my originality.
You hurt because you lack something called heart.
I don't.

ODE TO LOST LOVE

I was like a lost bird,
Wandering in the blue sky very high.
I never looked down.
I never feared to die.
You called me from behind,
Gave me a dream and reason to live,
Held my hand and took me along.
I lowered my pace,
So as to be with you for long.
I looked into our eyes and saw that glow.
You gave me everything without a "NO".
You changed my life and showed me heaven.
I was a Dove and no more a Raven.

Then came a dark cloud,
And blackened our path.
We left our hands and moved apart.
The darkness widespread and immensely fierce,
Neither let me find you nor stop my tears.
I again was a lost bird, lost in thoughts.
I lost the reason to live and never feared to die again.
                                                                                - Somya Mishra

Couldn't have him...

He came to me,
I was attracted towards him,
He created in me, a feeling for him.
But, he was very far.
He wanted me to stuggle to have him.

I got the clue.
I worked hard.
I thought of him all day and night.
I gave him all that he asked for.
I sacrificed my smile and gave them to him.
I prayed for him and I worshiped him.
He promised me to stay with me forever.

Finally, I was near him.
I wanted to embrace him.
He smiled at me and summoned me.
The moment I ran towards him,
And wanted to embrace him,
He turned his back towards me,
And walked away without even caring to turn back,
And look at me if I was fine or I was weepy.
I lost him or may be i never had him only so that I could lose him.
                                                                                                   - Somya Mishra