You may recall an earlier post (from 2019): In Praise of Poetry…and James Bond!
As I wrote in When I was Young, marking the occasion of my 55th birthday, as a teenager MPC stood for:
Math. Physics. Chemistry.
As I grew a bit older, it became an acronym for:
Movies. Physics. Cars.
Recently, as stated in सप्त काव्यानि (plus Two for Tagore), it also stands for:
Mythology. Poetry. Cocktails.
First, Cocktails. On my recent trip to Bangalore, I popped into the Rooftop Bar at The Four Seasons to savor
Eucalyptus-infused Martini.
Now to Mythology and Poetry. I believe that it is only fitting as an Academic Capitalist – turned Academic Hedonist – that in a post about poetry I highlight the closing – Final Blessing – of Kalidasa’s How Urvashi Was Won:
Wealth and learning are often at odds,
never in one place.
May they always come together
in the lives of all deserving people.
May each of us overcome all troubles.
May everyone find comfort.
May you fulfill all your desires.
May we delight in all that is.
What about something for Academic Philanthropist? Many of you may think this to be absolutely inappropriate, sacrilegious even, for, among other things I am not of The Lineage of the Raghus, but rather a direct descendent of (their guru, My History of Eternity) Vasishtha, but here it is, formed by rearranging phrases from different verses from Kalidasa’s Raghuvamsi (Chapter 1, Reaching Vasishtha’s Ashram):
Studious in childhood,
pursuing the pleasures of the senses in youth.
Pure from birth,
working until the goal is reached
collecting wealth for the sake of giving it away.
A purpose of this post is indeed to celebrate poetry (see International Poetry Forum, where I am on the Board of Directors) and alert you to three events – on September 15th, October 13th and December 13th – celebrating the art of spoken poetry:
Hope to see you there!
