Monday 24 March 2008

Reflections

As I was travelling through rural interiors of India in the past few weeks for work, long hours of travel kept me busy with musings and thoughts. Suddenly these words came in my head and kept rolling about.

J'étais enchainée,
Et maintenant je suis libre...

Translation
I was enchained,
And now I am free...

I had written these words
some time ago – unfinished thoughts in an unfinished, cryptic poem. Inspired by the vast expanse of green fields of paddy, golden yellow fields of wheat and sunflower, the blue sky turning shades of orange, pink and cobalt I really wondered if I was enchained and whether I am free now.

J'étais enchainée,
Et maintenant je suis libre...
I thought so
As I lay in my bed on a hot summer night

But what are chains
Are they not meant to be broken
If they are
Would I be free

Oh! But what if it’s not a chain
It never crossed my mind
What I thought were shackles
Were maybe meant to liberate me

What if they weren’t
How am I to know
What lies on the other side
Can I find without going too far

What irony awaits me
Is it that what binds me
Tries to set me free
Or what sets me free, brings me back

Another summer is upon me,
And I wonder if
J'étais enchainée,
Et maintenant je suis libre...

12 comments:

Unknown said...

hi NG
Parlez vous Francais? C'est tres bon!
although i am no pro in French, i just took to learning the language because i was so impressed by the movie 'Amelie', that i decided to learn the language and its indeed quite challenging gettin the pronunciations right:D

Well the poem is indeed quite cryptic. im yet to get if the chains or shackles point to something positive or negative. i believe all this shackles, chains its all in the mind.

Surroundings really work wonders with creativity. i had once written something amidst such similiar suroundings, and now when i look back i m like, did i actually write that??

au revoir!
take care
ciao

PS: just went thru ur passions 8, n well 7 of them r my passions too:d

Kamesh said...

Hi N :)
Couldn't take ur tag though wanted to do it over the weekend.. xtremely hectic..

I don't know French, but i get the sense of what u say.. its really a great feeling visiting the countryside.. for that matter, a drive along the Greater Noida Expressway or DND with fields on either side too evoke similar feelings..

Will try to return to active blogging.. at this moment that seems bit distant :D:D

n.aka.zephyr said...

Hey TD

Je parle francais… au petit :)
I am just fascinated by the language which was the lingua franca of the western world before English took over… My French teach couldn’t understand why someone would learn the language because she just wants too :D

All the other people wanted careers as translators, French teachers etc. etc. After a while it got too classroom-ish for me… I learn better by listening and reading than looking at grammar textbooks and conjugating my verbs :D I’ve left my classes now…

As for the poem….it is still very cryptic.. maybe a more clear view emerge in times to come… The mind keeps running in different directions, giving arguments and counter arguments… I could have been a lawyer! :D

I also look at my writing and wonder if I really wrote what I wrote….

Glad we same some passions… I think the one which is uncommon is social issues… :) Maybe you shud take up the tag… would be fun to read it…

au revoir!

n.aka.zephyr said...

Hey Kamesh,

Keeping busy these days??? Do take it up when you get time…

Language knows no barriers… I heard about the accident on the DND flyover on Holi… am so scared everytime I use that expressway.. I cant enjoy the view too much… :P

Take care!

Rags said...

I like the Frenglish. Reminds me of Megadeth's "A Tout Le Monde".

A tout le monde
A tout les amis
Je vous aime
Je dois partir
There are the last words
I'll ever speak
And they'll set me free

n.aka.zephyr said...

Hey Rags

Am am not much of a Megadeth fan so I'd never heard the song... but it sure has interesting lyrics...

Due to my inability to speak french fluenly I restore to frenglish more often than not :D :D

Anonymous said...

liberty is in the ability one has to choose. Chains intherefor in non choice situation.
the greater your liberty is greater is your choice.
Choosing between pest and cholera is NO choice.
Liberty is choosing nor pest nor cholera.

Neha said...

Salut Moai!

Vous êtes occupé ces jours-ci? I don’t see you here that often…

Thanks for your insight… choice can sometimes be governed by external factors as well.. then its a problem…

What if you don’t have a medicine to fight pest or cholera.. what happens then?

Anonymous said...

Then do it the "Indian" way.
Karma ota hai.
But being french cultured makes it hard for me (the karma, mektoub, Calvin thinking).
As far external factors are concerned, you cannot be accounted for them. They are not of your responsability intherefor: are no chains.
There is always a medecine somewhere but i agree on that medecines being external factors.

n.aka.zephyr said...

Hey Moai
I do almost everything the indian way - I am a strong believer in Karma! :)

Sometimes external factors make you re-think your decisions... that's when you think of chains...

Of course there is a medicine for everything but it reacts differently with differnt people...

Anonymous said...

huho
hello again,

that sounds cryptic to me ....

Take care

n.aka.zephyr said...

hey moai,
i'll have to write a post to explain what i meant :D

hopefully i'll do it soon enough...

take care!