[Reader-list] Two Iqbals & One Faiz

[hpp at vsnl.com]

Dear Yasir and Shudha

Many thanks for your kind response to my reflections.

I too was immediately reminded of "raj karega khalsa", more so as someone 
who has known, lived with, visited gurdwaras (and also sung as a boy in my 
boarding school's gurdwara) .

But I overlooked the "karegi" bit, and with so its good Shudha pointed this 
out. Yes, reflecting on the masculine / feminine peculiar to Urdu / Hindi 
could yield some interesting conceptions of what Faiz's words indicate.

Just this morning I was again thinking about something that I've long felt - 
and that also touches on exactly what Shudha has raised - 
masculine-feminine, Sikh. From my childhood, living with Sikhs (in a 
boarding school) - I always saw Sikhs (boys, men) as essentially feminine. 
They seemed to have qualities and temperaments that were associated in my 
consciousness with e.g. my grandmother; this also had something to do with 
their having long hair. Many years later, when I kept my hair long for some 
years, and therefore had to look after and tend this ("kesh"), I felt that 
by having Sikhs keep their hair long, and thus look after it - perhaps a 
certain feminisation, certain feminine qualities were being sought to be 
instilled in and imparted to Sikh men. I have spoken about this to some Sikh 
friends as well.

One of Krishna's names - is "Keshava", which could mean "of lovely locks". 
Seeing a painting made by an uncle (who paints as a hobby) of "Radha" as a 
girl, I had expressed to him my wish to see a picture of the little boy 
Krishna sitting still on the ground, while the little (and bit older!) girl 
Radha, sitting behind on her knees plaits his hair.

I am also reminded of Rumi's reference to the curl of the lock of hair on 
the face of the beloved ...

Thank you.

Best

ramaswamy