A sufi poem

February 2013

Ishq te aatish nu hi barabar

O vat ishq da tavut khera.

Aatish saare takht kanera

Ate ishq saare dil jera.

Aatish nu paani bujhaave

Te dusso ishq da daaru kehda ?

Aakhe ghulaam farida, aakhe peer farida

Othe kuch nain bachda, o jithe ishq ne la leya dera.

Love and fire are similar

But love has greater hurt.

Fire burns wood and grass,

But love burns the heart and liver.

Water douses fire 

But what's the remedy of love ?

The humble (ghulaam), wanderer (peer)  Fareed says

There remains nothing else, where love finally decides to stay.

Sufi love poem in Punjabbi (Multani/Arabic dialect) by

Baba Fareed.

Twelfth century sufi preacher and poet from

Multan, erstwhile Punjab (now in Pakistan).

***The image depicts Baba Fareed with disciples (murideen).

A Valentine Love Story

February 2013


'If you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain'

Dolly Parton.
American singer.

This is the story of an American soldier and a Ukrainian girl who incidentally was on the German side during World War Two. While what's amazing is the help the soldier received from other people along the way to get his love - as if The Almighty had a plan for him, what's really touching is the lengths to which the soldier went himself, at one point risking his life at the hands of the Russians for her, eventually going for what he wanted....and getting it. 

As they say....love will find a way. Bill put up with the rain and got his rainbow in Vera.

Happy Valentines Day.