I have a habit of writing a quote on my whiteboard at work in the beginning of the week, typically on Mondays. Sant Shishunal Sharifa, the Kannada mystic and poet was born on 07-Mar-1819. Since 07-Mar was Sant Shishunal Sharifa's birth anniversary, on Monday, 05-Mar-2018, I wrote these lines on my whiteboard: "You say that your life is yours only / You say that gain in wealth is not enough / When the door is opened to step into the final journey nothing is provided / You lament simply !", from one of his poems "Lokada Kalaji" ("Concern about the world"). A translation of this poem is available at https://www.musixmatch.com/lyrics/Raghu-Dixit/Lokada-Kalaji/translation/english for reading. The singer Raghu Dixit's video based on this song is available at https://youtu.be/lK2HwzB-unE for viewing.
Having written the lines, the import of his words began to strike me. It led me to stream his songs and listen to them during the week. The more I listened, the more the words beguiled me. At the end of the week, I decided to write this blog post on the meaning that I have understood from his poems.
I have my wife and her brother to thank for this interest in Sant Shishunal Sharifa. My wife's brother played Sant Shishunal Sharifa's songs for his young son. When she heard these songs, my wife told me about how she liked them. During my commute to work and back in the bus, I either listen to stories or music. Since my wife had remarked how she had liked the songs, last year, I downloaded some poems of Sant Shishunal Sharifa on my smartphone. Listening to the songs during the week of 05-Mar-2018, I feel that they need to be shared with people. In a world where narrow-mindedness seems to prevail, the poems of Sant Shishunal Sharifa become relevant, because they impart a loftier goal for human life using metaphors from everyday life.
The Wikipedia article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shishunala_Sharif has a brief biography of Sant Shishunanala Sharifa, as does https://www.poemhunter.com/shishunala-sharif/biography/. The movie "Sant Shishunal Sharifa " in Kannada educates one about his life. The hallmark of the movie is the music by C. Ashwath, which nicely brings out the words written by Sant Shishunala Sharifa. I watched the movie on Saturday, 10-Mar-2018 at one stretch. One can also listen to his songs on music players, like I have done since last year. In these songs, the artists may be different, but in all cases, the melody is simple.
For a different take on Sant Shishunala Sharif's songs, I recommend Raghu Dixit's work. I like the music in "Lokada Kalaji" and "Gudgudiya Sedhi Nodu". Videos of these songs are available on the Internet and are worth listening and watching, I feel. His albums "Antaragni" and "Jag Changa" contain some of Sant Shishunala Sharif's most famous poems. In my opinion, all these songs are well worth listening both for the lyrics and also the music.
One of Sant Shishunala Sharif'as famous poems is "Kodagana koli nungitha". The blog post http://infiniteautomata.blogspot.in/2009/12/kodagana-koli-nungitta.html contains a good explanation of the poem, translating the poem line by line. The comments in the blog post provide additional insight. Each of his poems contains a deeper insight, even when it appears to be describing every day events.
A case in point is the simple lyrics of the poem "Taravalli tagi ninna tamboori". As the blog post https://kavivani.wordpress.com/tag/taravalla-tagi-ninna-tamburi/ describes, on the face of it, Sant Shishunala Sharifa appears to be talking of how the "tamboori" musical instrument is played. The deeper lesson is to hone one's skills and aspire to godliness.
Similarly, Sant Shishunala Sharifa compares the smoking of the hookah to casting aside materialism in the poem "Gudgudiya sedhi nodu". https://www.musixmatch.com/lyrics/Raghu-Dixit/Gudugudiya-Sedi-Nodo/translation/english and the news article http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-miscellaneous/tp-others/leading-a-meaningful-project/article19893239.ece discuss this meaning.
Another current favourite of mine is the song "Entha mojina kudure". Literally, the poem describes how a horse needs to be tended and cared for and trained. Metaphorically, I suppose that Sant Shishunala Sharifa refers to the senses which can lead people astray, like the unbridled horse ! Just as the horse requires control, the poet hints that even the senses need to be restrained.
One notices a structure in Sant Shishunala Sharifa's poems. All of them narrate experiences and objects that common people are familar with, whether it is a horse or the tamboori. Invariably, it is the last line or the last few lines that point one towards the deeper meaning. One can see this in "Entha mojina kudre" and "Kodagana koli nungitha".
Poetry is about emotions and imagery. Can one imagine a poem on a leaking roof and link it with fear and faith ? I would not have thought it possible, but Sant Shishunal Sharifa's poem "Soruthihudu Maniya Maligi" does just that ! The poet takes up the topic of a leaking roof and brings in the emotions of fear, neglect and its consequences and finally concludes in faith. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMpo1HKQf7I shows the video and contains a translation of the poem.
I am just beginning to understand and discover the meaning of Sant Shishunala Sharifa's poems !
Having written the lines, the import of his words began to strike me. It led me to stream his songs and listen to them during the week. The more I listened, the more the words beguiled me. At the end of the week, I decided to write this blog post on the meaning that I have understood from his poems.
I have my wife and her brother to thank for this interest in Sant Shishunal Sharifa. My wife's brother played Sant Shishunal Sharifa's songs for his young son. When she heard these songs, my wife told me about how she liked them. During my commute to work and back in the bus, I either listen to stories or music. Since my wife had remarked how she had liked the songs, last year, I downloaded some poems of Sant Shishunal Sharifa on my smartphone. Listening to the songs during the week of 05-Mar-2018, I feel that they need to be shared with people. In a world where narrow-mindedness seems to prevail, the poems of Sant Shishunal Sharifa become relevant, because they impart a loftier goal for human life using metaphors from everyday life.
The Wikipedia article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shishunala_Sharif has a brief biography of Sant Shishunanala Sharifa, as does https://www.poemhunter.com/shishunala-sharif/biography/. The movie "Sant Shishunal Sharifa " in Kannada educates one about his life. The hallmark of the movie is the music by C. Ashwath, which nicely brings out the words written by Sant Shishunala Sharifa. I watched the movie on Saturday, 10-Mar-2018 at one stretch. One can also listen to his songs on music players, like I have done since last year. In these songs, the artists may be different, but in all cases, the melody is simple.
For a different take on Sant Shishunala Sharif's songs, I recommend Raghu Dixit's work. I like the music in "Lokada Kalaji" and "Gudgudiya Sedhi Nodu". Videos of these songs are available on the Internet and are worth listening and watching, I feel. His albums "Antaragni" and "Jag Changa" contain some of Sant Shishunala Sharif's most famous poems. In my opinion, all these songs are well worth listening both for the lyrics and also the music.
One of Sant Shishunala Sharif'as famous poems is "Kodagana koli nungitha". The blog post http://infiniteautomata.blogspot.in/2009/12/kodagana-koli-nungitta.html contains a good explanation of the poem, translating the poem line by line. The comments in the blog post provide additional insight. Each of his poems contains a deeper insight, even when it appears to be describing every day events.
A case in point is the simple lyrics of the poem "Taravalli tagi ninna tamboori". As the blog post https://kavivani.wordpress.com/tag/taravalla-tagi-ninna-tamburi/ describes, on the face of it, Sant Shishunala Sharifa appears to be talking of how the "tamboori" musical instrument is played. The deeper lesson is to hone one's skills and aspire to godliness.
Similarly, Sant Shishunala Sharifa compares the smoking of the hookah to casting aside materialism in the poem "Gudgudiya sedhi nodu". https://www.musixmatch.com/lyrics/Raghu-Dixit/Gudugudiya-Sedi-Nodo/translation/english and the news article http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-miscellaneous/tp-others/leading-a-meaningful-project/article19893239.ece discuss this meaning.
Another current favourite of mine is the song "Entha mojina kudure". Literally, the poem describes how a horse needs to be tended and cared for and trained. Metaphorically, I suppose that Sant Shishunala Sharifa refers to the senses which can lead people astray, like the unbridled horse ! Just as the horse requires control, the poet hints that even the senses need to be restrained.
One notices a structure in Sant Shishunala Sharifa's poems. All of them narrate experiences and objects that common people are familar with, whether it is a horse or the tamboori. Invariably, it is the last line or the last few lines that point one towards the deeper meaning. One can see this in "Entha mojina kudre" and "Kodagana koli nungitha".
Poetry is about emotions and imagery. Can one imagine a poem on a leaking roof and link it with fear and faith ? I would not have thought it possible, but Sant Shishunal Sharifa's poem "Soruthihudu Maniya Maligi" does just that ! The poet takes up the topic of a leaking roof and brings in the emotions of fear, neglect and its consequences and finally concludes in faith. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMpo1HKQf7I shows the video and contains a translation of the poem.
I am just beginning to understand and discover the meaning of Sant Shishunala Sharifa's poems !
Please, send meaning of that songs
ReplyDeleteMy apologies go to you for the extremely late reply. Regarding your comment, let me try and summarise: The literal meaning is about leaking roofs and smoking. The metaphorical meaning is far more spiritual ! A Google search for his songs does provide both, for some songs.
DeleteCOULD YOU PLEASE SHARE THE LINK TO THE GOOGLE SEARCH ON THE LEAKING ROOF PLEASE?
Delete