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THIS ABOVE ALL
Books and
quotes
Khushwant Singh
A publisher once
gave me a book. In the first few pages, he had a few paragraphs.
The rest were blank. I decided to fill the other pages with my
favourite quotations in Urdu, Hindi, Gurmukhi and English.
Suddenly, the book disappeared. One reason why I became so
frantic about it was to locate the last few lines of Matthew
Arnold’s Dover Beach
 Many
years ago, a publisher gave me a book which he meant to publish.
In the first few pages he had a few paragraphs each; the rest
were blank. I decided to fill the other pages with my favourite
quotations in Urdu, Hindi, Gurmukhi and English. I began to rely
on these for writing my columns. Suddenly, the book disappeared.
I looked for it high and low but could not find it. I assumed
one of my friends may have whisked it away and I would never see
it again. Then one evening, I saw it on the table next to the
chair in which I sit to write my columns. I was overjoyed since
it reaffirmed my belief that books have a will of their own and
occasionally change places.
One reason why I
became so frantic about it was to locate the last few lines of
Matthew Arnold’s Dover Beach, which had become my
favourite and I could recite them by heart. Then they
disappeared from my memory. I was eager to revive them. I have
done so. They run as follows: Ah love, let us be true to one
another;
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Matthew Arnold’s poetry in Dover Beach is my favourite. I can recite the lines
of the poem by heart
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For the world
which lies like a land of dreams;
So beautiful, so
various, so new;
Hath really
neither joy, nor love, nor light;
Nor certitude, nor
peace, nor help for pain;And we are here as if on a darkling
plain;
Swept with
confused alarms of struggle and flight;
When ignorant
armies clash by night.
Temple
treasure
Temples are houses
of prayer, piety and God;
But you have to
secure the future of the Lord;
With heaps of
rubies, piles of gold;
And glittering
diamonds, centuries old;
For which the poor
village folk;
And the people of
the town;
Must die of
hunger;
With disease be
down;
While the priests
and trustees of the kingly treasure;
Their share in it
do solemnly measure;
And should a Sai
Baba or a Bhagwan;
After a painful
disease be gone;
An honest age of
loot is automatically switched on;
O the silly people
do not know the worth;
Of these
messengers of God on this wretched earth;`A0 `A0 `A0
Until they
accidentally reveal their divinity;
And are found to
have millions and billions in their kitty;
Not, of course,
for their own pleasure and luxury;
But all for the
salvation of this sinful country.
(Courtesy:
Kuldip Salil, Delhi)
Matrimonial
Santa was
looking at his marriage certificate for an hour. His wife Santo
asked: "What are you looking at for the last one
hour?"
Santa said:
"I am looking for the expiry date."
What is in a
name?
A girl asked a
boy: "What is your name?"
Boy: "Black
Lion."
Girl: "Are
you joking?"
Boy: "No, my
name is Kalu Singh." He also asked: "What is your
name?"
Girl: "My
name is soft
underwear."
Boy: "Are you
joking?"
Girl: "No,
actually my name is Komal Chadha."
Control
yourself
Banta came home
and found his best friend Natha kissing his wife Banto. Banta
took his pistol and killed Natha Singh. His wife told Banta:
"Control your temper Bantaji. Otherwise, you will lose all
your friends."
(Contributed by J.P. Singh
Kaka, Bhopal)
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