GS Shivarudrappa‘s eloquence:
(lines in Kannada followed by an English translation)
….ಎಲ್ಲ ಕೇಳಲಿ ಎಂದು ನಾನು ಹಾಡುವುದಿಲ್ಲ
ಹಾಡುವುದು ಅನಿವಾರ್ಯ ಕರ್ಮ ನನಗೆ…..
“…I do not sing so that everyone might listen
Singing is, for me, an indispensable act…”
Finding personal meaning in what we do remains the biggest motivators of work. The poet uses the metaphor of a singer to make this point. As usual, translation does not do justice to the actual rhythm of the lines, but the meaning by itself is well worth admiration, and Shivrudrappa captures it exquisitely. The lyrics of the full poem are available online, and LLMs can translate them reasonably.
Image credit: Deccan Herald
In Kannada (as in many Indian languages), this celebrated poem also takes the form of music (in this case, bhavageethae, a musical genre in Kannada music). By combining music with poetry, language and the underlying philosophy gets deeply registered in the minds.
Strange thing…this human brain. Strange connections between…poetry, music and philosophy.
