Quirky Haikus- II

Dow Jones is down
My 401K now hit like a calamity
Bled like one stuck pig

Quirky Haikus- I

Haikus can be fun. More fun than even proverbs. And why? Because you can make them up as well!!
It follows a 5-7-5 syllable and a three line structure.
Let me try my hand at chronicling our recent economic debacle in haikus!!

1)
Stock market is crashing
Houses closing, wall street burning
Fiddle, Bush, Fiddle

2)
Retroevolution-
Lehman Brothers now known as
The Lemmings Brothers.

3)
(From one Wamu to another)
I'm all maxed out.
Plastics dont work like before-
Declaring bankruptcy.

4)
After Mighty Bull bit the dust
And the Bearish ran for cover,
Let's go cold turkey.

(Hint! Hint! Mighty bull and Bearish stand for some of the most esteemed institutions on Wall street).

Japanese Proverbs- II

Here is a classic saying!

知らぬが仏
Reading= Shiranu ga hotoke.
Literally, it means "Not knowing is Buddha" and more like "Ignorance is bliss"

I am following this piece of advice literally. I am not seeing any stock market news because ignorance is bliss!!

仏 (Hotoke) means Buddha and 仏教 is Buddhism or the way/ teaching of Buddha. There are many Japanese proverbs with allusions to Buddhism. Here is another one with 仏 (hotoke) in it.

仏の顔も三度
Reading= Hotoke no kao mo sando
Meaning= Even Buddha will frown when insulted thrice.
English= It is enough to try the patience of a saint.

馬の耳に念仏
Reading= Umo no mimi ni nenbutsu
Meaning= Prayers uttered in the ears of a horse
English= Casting pearls before swine

念仏 (Nenbutsu) is Buddhist prayer.

Wabi- Sabi

Wabi-sabi is a Japanese term that typifies the essence of Japanese culture. It is something which is hard to explain and is better experienced.
Wabi-sabi conveys the Japanese aesthetic sense. It signifies something which is not perfect but more intrinsic with nature. This is a concept by which I am fascinated by. It symbolizes simplicity, ascetism, modesty and a way of life more attuned to nature.
Wabi means "being remote" and "sabi" means "lean". Together, it means "beauty of imperfection". It is a concept of aesthetics that deviates from the typical Greco- Roman aesthetic ideal of symmetry. It has more to do with simplicity rather than outward perfection or flashiness. I think that this concept is shown in every aspect of Japanese culture like the flower arrangement (ikebana), tea ceremony (sado), bonsai etc. For example, if you look at a bonsai plant, at first glance, it would not stand out because it might seem insignificant. But then it commands your glance and then when you look again, you understand the nuances and it makes you want to look again and again. And then you begin to notice minute details and you are drawn in more and more into that world. The basic concept is based on Zen buddhism, on the impermanence of things. It supposes that
All things are impermanent
All things are imperfect
All things are incomplete

Italian Proverbs- I

In view of the recent economic debacles, here are some Italian vignettes of wisdom to take to heart.

"Il denaro e un buon servo e un cattivo padrone." (Money is a good servant but a nasty master.)

"A rubar poco si va in galera, a rubar tanto si fa cariera." (Steal a little, go to jail; steal a lot, make a career of it.) This seems directed to the Wall Street honchos. :-)

"Uno sciocco e il suo denaro son presto separati." (A fool and his money are soon parted.)

"Quando si è in ballo, bisogna ballare." (In for a penny, in for a pound.)

Japanese Proverbs- I

Proverbs, those tiny distilled bits of wisdom, are quite nifty. Each culture has its' own proverbs and predictably, these proverbs convey the sense of that culture. This is going to be a weekly feature where I pick up one proverb and study it in detail.

一利あれば、一害あり
いちりあれば、いちがいあり

This literally means "For every advantage, there is equally a disadvantage". "Everything has its pros and cons" sounds better. Or rather, nothing is troublefree! So you could slip this in when you are talking about economy, marriage, studying abroad, etc!! It probably works in all these cases.

Nos couleurs

On my music system, "Nos couleurs" sung by Cheb Mami featuring K. Maro. Around me, sounds reverberate. A curious mix of rap, french, arabic, african beats surround me. Amazing!!!
I have been a great fan of Rai music, the greatest musicians of this genre being Cheb Mami, Faudel, Khaled, etc. This music is such a combination of sweet sensibilities. There are numerous lines of rhythm running through it. The Arabic way of singing just serves to add a dash of poignancy to this song.
Music is so universal that our modern genres are amalgams of pieces of different cultures. Like how salsa and latin music is a mix of african beats and spanish music. Or how jazz evolved.
It would be interesting to draw a "Music Tree" that classifies the different genres of music, similar to the "Language Tree" that classifies languages as belonging to different families.