Today was a day filled with music..a superb performance of north Indian classical music by Arti Anklekar in the morning, and old Hindi film hits in the evening…and it made me muse on love in lyrics.

drew my attention to 's post about the lyrics of Carnatic music being generally always a description of the attributes of gods and goddesses, and I do agree that sometimes I can't relate to the fulsome flattery of the gods! Why must Carnatic music lyrics ALWAYS be spiritual...why can we not sing of the celebration of love in its many forms, in human terms, not divine? Some of the poetry of the lyrics sung both in the morning and the evening were so very beautiful, haunting, amusing or whimsical...Arti sang one "bandish" which went, He told me he would come, but he hasn't; the clouds have formed, the air is cool, and my heart beats...here I am, all dressed up and waiting...simple words that rhymed and resonated...and of course, in the evening, the songs were all of the love between man and woman, teasing, sad, tentative or sweet... Poetry is a collection of words which touches the heart as well as the brain; and when it is allied to great music, it has the power to move to great happiness, or tears sometimes. Before falling in love, a young man sings: "lAkhOn hai nigAh mein zindagi ki rAh mein sanam haseen jawAn.. AnkhOn mein sharAb hai! hOtOn mein gulAb hai! --lEkin vOh bAth kahAn?" (There are lakhs (of girls) I see on the path of life Lovely, laughing and young; Their eyes are intoxicating, Their lips are rosy.. But--where's that special 'something'?) And a sad lover whose inamorata sits before him with another man that she must marry, sings: dil kE jharOkEy mein tujhkO bitthAkar yAdOn kO tEri main dulhan banAkar rakhoongA main dil kE pAs.. muth hO mEri jAn udAs.. (I will seat you in the window of my heart Make the memories of you my bride, And keep you near me... Dont feel sad,Oh my life.) and here are a couple of teasing songs: kOi bathA thEy dil hai jahAn kyun hOthA hai dard vahAn? theer chalAkey yeh thO na poochO dil hai kahAn, aur dard kahAn! The woman sings, Will someone tell me, why does it ache where my heart is? And the man replies, Don't first pierce (me) with the arrow, and then ask where the heart is and where the ache is! And a man teases his beloved: Ap yoon hee agar hamsE milthEy rahEy dEkhiyEy Ek din pyAr hO jAyega! (If you keep meeting (me) like this, One day you will fall in love!) And I love this description: "khuli latOn ki chAon mein khilA khilA sA roop hai ghatA sEy jaisi cchan rahee subah subah ki dhoop hai" (in the midst of the shadow of your tresses let loose your face is flowering like the early morning sun filtering through the clouds) Oh the delight of lyrics of love...whatever mood they depict! Ah, can't wind up without a few photographs... Here's some unknown flower ( I refuse to get into too many flower and butterfly id's; id'ing birds is bad enough!) drenched in the rain at Nandi Hills... And you want to see someone on the ladder to success? Here he is, a tailor bird (this was the iron ladder on a water tank): And here's the closeup of the little fellow giving his typical single-note cheeping/whistling call... Off I go to look at my friends' list now..