जो रँग भर दो, उसी रँग में नज़र आये
यह ज़िन्दगी न हुई, काँच का गिलास हुआ
-शाहिद कबीर
jo rang bhar do, usii rang mein nazar aaye
yah zindagii na huii, kaanch kaa gilaas huaa
-Shahid Kabir
It will take on whichever colour you add
As if life were a cup of glass!
NB 'kaanch kaa gilaas' is extremely difficult to translate for those who are not familiar with Hindi - Urdu. For literally, it would mean a cup made out of glass. For in India, a tall cup, used for drinking water, milk and lassi, is known as a glass. It is usually made out of steel, but it is still referred to as glass. This is why you would go to roadside stalls in India and find 'ganne kaa ras', sugarcane juice, sold by the glass!
(Rupert, maybe you could explain the Indian usage of the word 'glass' for your forthcoming seminar - Chutneyfying English)
यह ज़िन्दगी न हुई, काँच का गिलास हुआ
-शाहिद कबीर
jo rang bhar do, usii rang mein nazar aaye
yah zindagii na huii, kaanch kaa gilaas huaa
-Shahid Kabir
It will take on whichever colour you add
As if life were a cup of glass!
NB 'kaanch kaa gilaas' is extremely difficult to translate for those who are not familiar with Hindi - Urdu. For literally, it would mean a cup made out of glass. For in India, a tall cup, used for drinking water, milk and lassi, is known as a glass. It is usually made out of steel, but it is still referred to as glass. This is why you would go to roadside stalls in India and find 'ganne kaa ras', sugarcane juice, sold by the glass!
(Rupert, maybe you could explain the Indian usage of the word 'glass' for your forthcoming seminar - Chutneyfying English)
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