Friday, October 13, 2006


Gandhi's hymn in Church

"Hi Ujjwal!

Could help me with a small favor? Folks at my church are singing Gandhi's favorite hymn this Sunday, and they asked me to find a translation by Friday. I found two on the web, and I wanted to know if you agreed with them. Best would be a translation that puts things in terms Westerners can understand (e.g., using spiritual language they're familiar with); since you've been going to church, you have a good grasp of this!
Perhaps you know of another translation, or could edit one of the ones above to make a good one? :)

Thanks in advance if you have time to help :-)
Warmly,
~~RK

Really? Wow, that was one heck of an email in between the barrage of work-needs-to-be-done emails all day long. And as expected, it was lost in the stack of marked 'urgent' emails. As I opened my laptop late in the night to check my mail one last time, it struck me that I had not replied to RK ( to preserve the identity of the sender, I prefer not spelling out her name here). I had been singing the hym

"Raghupati Raghav raja Ram, patit pavan Sita Ram Sita Ram Sita Ram, Bhaj pyare tu Sitaram Ishwar Allah tere naam, Saab ko Sanmti de Bhagavan"

since my childhood and had little trouble in translating every word and coming up with a punch five liner of my own.

"He is the great king Ram, the Lord

Cleanser of sins of those who fall
Lets sing in his praise, Sita Ram
Ishwar-Allah are just your names, the Father
Bless us all with equal wisdom, O mighty Lord"

Forgive me, O the creator of the song, because I know I have not done justice to it. Forgive me RK to make some lines from your email public. But I feel great when Westerners want to learn and talk more about Indian culture, people, values and society.

ps: Watched the movie Lage Raho Munnabhai and am not convinced if Gandhigiri is really the way to lead life when its so short and selfish.

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