Can love lead one to kill !

Having been a student of English literature, I am quite familiar with the poet Robert Browning and his dramatic monologues. But it is in a different context that I was drawn to his poem .“ Porphyria’s Lover” , which is about a lover , who after reclaiming his lost love kills his beloved- in a fit of uncontrollable euphoric frenzy - by strangulating her with her tresses . As per the poet’s explanation, he does this to perpetuate the feeling of love for him that he sees in the eyes of his beloved. This, to me and perhaps to many like me may only appear to be a case of abnormal psychology.The lover in this case is clearly a psychopath There are instances when a possessive husband like Othello, kills his beloved wife Desdemona on baseless suspicion of infidelity, the seeds of which are sown in his mind by Iago , the villain of the piece. There are also instances galore of jilted lovers killing the beloved , their professed love being one sided and unrequited , but this instance appears to be unique . This also puts to question the tag of “ incorrigible optimist “ attached to the poet Browning as this action of the lover stems from the uncertainty and insecurity that the future may hold as far as love life is concerned. This is also contrary to his popular belief :

“God is in his heaven and everything is right with the world ” , as how does one explain the killing of a young , innocent , unsuspecting woman at the hands of a person in whose company she seeks bliss of eternal love !

The link for the poem is :

http://www.love-poems.me.uk/browning_robert_porphyrias_lover_l.htm

Remembering Nutan

Today is Nutan’s birthday . Nutan , an actress par excellence was an equally nice human being. Very few could match her grace and poise. I am taken back to my childhood days, 1963 to be exact , when my sister a good 5-6 years older to me , back from school announced- Dev Anand aur Nutan , ( Shimla) aaye huey hain , Tere Ghar ke Samne picture ki shooting ke liye . I was just nine year old then , had heard of Dev Anand , but the name Nutan was ‘ new’ and unfamiliar to me. I did not ask further about the film or the actors , but however thought that Nutan was also a male actor like Dev Anand . It was much later that I saw the movie Sujata - with Sunil Dutt and Nutan in the lead roles and came to know that Nutan was an actress and not a male actor as I had figured in my mind. Later on I also happened to see movies like Bandini, Tere Ghar ke Samne,Anari , Paying Guest , Milan, Karma , Main tulsi tere Aangan ki , Seema , etc. etc . virtually with every leading hero of the times All movies are a living testimony to her acting abilities and strong screen presence. She could get easily and effortlessly into the skin of the role she was enacting , and it looked as if only she could have played that role. It is twenty years now since she left this world and particularly the film world, poorer by her absence .

Dear Friend Ronald

In early eighties, I was in my twenties, and an eligible bachelor – as the term goes for a young man of marriageable age . However, at that time, I had no intentions of getting tethered to a peg , though this did not prevent me at times from fantasizing about marriage and whatever it meant . Apart from my ten- to -five Bank job, reading, listening to music and ‘malling’ on the mall were my favourite pastime.

On a bright sunny winter Sunday, as I was having a stroll on the mall , in my hometown Shimla, suddenly, my eyes caught sight of a visage with shoulder length golden tresses . At once I was reminded of Della, the heroine of O Henry’s famous story “ The Gift of the Magi ” , who sells her Golden tresses to buy a wristwatch chain for her beloved and loving husband Jim , as a Christmas present.

Out of curiosity , to know who the owner of the golden tresses was, I headed towards the bench where the person was sitting under a rain shelter only to find that that it was ‘ he’ and not ‘she ‘ as I had guessed. I sat beside him and in no time we were engaged in a conversation exchanging bits of information about the lifestyle and culture of our respective countries. As it turned out, he was Ron - short for Ronald - from Netherlands, touring India like most other Europeans. He accepted my offer of tea and snacks in a nearby restaurant , where we spent quite some time. We parted for the day but only after he had had a promise from me that we would be together for afternoon refreshments the next day and that he would play the host.

The next day, true to his word, he was at my Bank at 2 P. M. on dot and we had some refreshments. He was to leave for Delhi the next day and complimented me on two things, one that I knew much more about his country than an average Indian and secondly, I was not after any of his personal things like Jacket, Glasses etc. etc. I had the satisfaction of acquitting myself well as the self- appointed ambassador of my country before a foreigner . Unfortunately, those were not the days of computer, internet or e-mail otherwise we would have been in contact even to this day !

May he be happy wherever he is !

Beauty in your own eyes

In these times , no body has time to peep in to the psyche of a person to know his or her real worth and outward appearance whether physical , behavioural or attitudinal , however illusory or deceptive it may be, is all that seems to matter . So far as the physical appearance is concerned, apart from good health and a good physique , it is the beautiful symmetrical lines of clean white teeth that matter the most..If one is not endowed with this feature, other aspects are simply pushed to the back ground. Mind you this applies to both men and women. Similarly, in respect of men, as they say apparel oft proclaim the man . In formally dressed men, I think, well polished, shining shoes matter the most, otherwise even the costly, lounge suit or, band-gala suit will not amount to much. Whether one is clean shaved, or chooses to have a beard – a goatee or french cut – much will depend on the shape of the face.

These are my personal views- as I consider myself a deprived soul , devoid of this attribute- and no offence is meant please !