Thoughts, reminiscences and more..: K, Kh, G, Gh

I wish I could write this post in Hindi. But there are readers who may not clearly understand the post, therefore, I am penning it in English.

Every weekend, my son prepares the national song of India - "Saare Jahan se achha, Hindustan hamara..". A group of kids are practicing for the upcoming Indian Festival in Stockholm, here in Sweden. This is V's first stint at Hindi. Knock on the wood, he is doing pretty well, especially with his pronunciations. Comes from his mom. Ahem ahem!!

My school, St Thomas', had a very good faculty. Staff is extremely learned. The most important point is that they all love teaching. If you love your job, you are best at it, isn't it?

But here I want to bring out the Hindi classes, and the hindi teachers. Some awesome memories, knowledge which I am proud and thankful of. Lest Hindi gets lost in the deep dark ocean. One on my uncle is running a Non Government Organization to popularize Hindi in India. He holds conferences and workshops. What a pity.

My stint with the hindi varnamala (alphabets) started with Mrs. Saxena, in grade 1. She was a very sensitive teacher , knew how to inculcate children's interest in the language. It was not a easy task, but she did it with such ease. Then was Mrs Das. Who doesn't love her. Her distinctive Bindi, her stern ways of teaching, yes soft heart, full of love for her children. Miss her a lot.

A recent picture of Mrs Das, with some of my super seniors, STS alumni

When I moved to senior school, I was excited. I had some of the best teachers, and I am sure all STSers will agree to this. Mrs Vinod was my hindi teacher. Years 8, 9 and 10, have a lot of focus on Hindi syllabus. Those were the days I enjoyed the subject. I have a natural instinct towards peotry, and Mrs Vinod used to explain the deeper meaning of the verses with deep intellect.

I remember doing Prasang sahit vyakhya of so many poems. My favorites include SumitraNanda Pant, Harivanshya Rai Bachhan and Mahadevi Verma. But the poem which is engraved in my heart, and now more so with my mommy status goes as below:

यह कदंब का पेड़ (Yeh Kadamb Ka Ped) -

सुभद्रा कुमारी चौहान (Subhadra Kumari Chauhan)

यह कदंब का पेड़ अगर माँ होता यमुना तीरे

मैं भी उस पर बैठ कन्हैया बनता धीरे-धीरे

ले देतीं यदि मुझे बांसुरी तुम दो पैसे वाली

किसी तरह नीची हो जाती यह कदंब की डाली

तुम्हें नहीं कुछ कहता पर मैं चुपके-चुपके आता

उस नीची डाली से अम्मा ऊँचे पर चढ़ जाता

वहीं बैठ फिर बड़े मजे से मैं बांसुरी बजाता

अम्मा-अम्मा कह वंशी के स्वर में तुम्हे बुलाता

बहुत बुलाने पर भी माँ जब नहीं उतर कर आता

माँ, तब माँ का हृदय तुम्हारा बहुत विकल हो जाता

तुम आँचल फैला कर अम्मां वहीं पेड़ के नीचे

ईश्वर से कुछ विनती करतीं बैठी आँखें मीचे

तुम्हें ध्यान में लगी देख मैं धीरे-धीरे आता

और तुम्हारे फैले आँचल के नीचे छिप जाता

तुम घबरा कर आँख खोलतीं, पर माँ खुश हो जाती

जब अपने मुन्ना राजा को गोदी में ही पातीं

इसी तरह कुछ खेला करते हम-तुम धीरे-धीरे

यह कदंब का पेड़ अगर माँ होता यमुना तीरे

Source:

www.ramprasadbismil.blogspot.com

(I follow this blog and read some of the best and famous Hindi Poetry, recommended)

I am indebted to my school, for the knowledge of my mother tongue, for the love I have for the language, for the feeling of belonging when I speak it, for the feeling of proud when I rad literature, for the ability to teach my son, who is almost a swede now, bits of the language and inculcate his interest in Hindi.

For the K, Kh, G, Gh, I am proud of Hindi, I am proud of Kakaehra, I am proud of STS.

This post is dedicated to the A-to-Z blogging challenge - the largest Blog Challenge in the history of Blogkind. My selected theme is "memories of St. Thomas' "- my Alma mater. This is the tenth post of the challenge, and is linked to the letter K - K, Kh, G, Gh: Kakehra: hindi alphabets, The Lord has come..