WHEN OUR MISTAKES TURN INTO MIRACLES

If I look back and ask, “Have all my decisions, during my 59-year-long life, so far, been only the ‘right’ decisions… Haven’t there been bad ones… some big ‘mistakes’ in the conventional view point?”

Why only my life, no one’s life can function within the ‘perfect frame’… All decisions cannot be ‘only right’. There have got to be ‘wrong ones’, too… the flawed, the so-called mistakes.

Sometimes, what a wrong decision can teach us, nothing else can. It’s the innate trust in our gut, that, there is something sublime concealed even in a bad decision – in a mistake – yes, this innate trust coming from our gut can, often, work miracles in our lives…

The art of converting a mistake into a miracle, therefore, is a spiritual art of successful living… It’s also the art of peaceful living… For, in the holistic sense, all decisions are good decisions… all flaws form the flawless!

Early this morning, my good friend, Dr. Deepak, sent me a video about one of the mammoth mistakes in the traditional music world. The gentleman on stage, in this video, explains as to how the mistake by the guitarist, turned the song into one of the immortal songs in the history of Indian film-music. The song was from the Rajesh Khanna-Sharmila Tagore starrer, ‘Amar Prem’ (1972)… It was brilliantly sung by Kishore Kumar… the remarkable lyrics were penned by Anand Bakshi….. and, music was composed by live-wire R.D. Burman... And, above all, the providential ‘goof-up’ on guitar chord was committed by Bhanu  Gupta!

But, the credit exclusively goes the genius of Pancham, R..D. Burman, … for trusting in his gut… And, the rest, as they say, had to be history!

“Watch this video… for it carries a valuable lesson in life,” Dr. Deepak had written. Here is the video:

Here is the song from the film…

Here are the amazing lyrics with their English translation (Courtesy: THE REVOLUTION BREATHES FIRE )

Chingaaree koee bhadake,

If a spark begins to flare

toh saawan use bujhaaye

then the rain douses it out

saawan jo agan lagaaye,

But if the rain is the one setting fire

use kaun bujhaaye

who shall douse it?

.

Patajhad jo baag ujaade,

When autumn uproots a garden

wo baag bahaar khilaaye

Spring makes that garden bloom

jo baag bahaar mein ujade,

But the garden that withers in spring

use kaun khilaaye?

Who shall make it bloom?

.

Hum se mat poochho kaise,

Do not ask of me, how

mandir tootaa sapanon kaa

the temple made of (my) dreams was broken

logon kee baat naheen hai,

This doesn’t concern the public

ye kissaa hain apanon kaa

This is a tale of those that are ours.

.

Koee dushman thhais lagaaye,

When some enemy causes an injury

toh meet jiyaa bahalaaye

then a friend cheers the spirit

manameet jo ghaav lagaaye,

but if a close friend is the one inflicting the wound

use kaun mitaye?

who shall erase it?

.

Naa jaane kyaa ho jaataa,

Don’t know what would have ended up happening

jaane hum kyaa kar jaate

Who knows what we would have gone and done

peete hain to zindaa hain,

As long as we’re drinking, we’re alive

naa peete to mar jaate

If we didn’t drink, then we would die

.

Duniyaa jo pyaasaa rakhe,

When the world keeps you thirsty

toh madiraa pyaas bujhaaye

then wine quenches that thirst

madiraa jo pyaas lagaaye,

but if the wine is what makes you thirsty

use kaun bujhaaye?

Then what shall douse it?

.

Maanaa toofaan ke aage,

Agreed that in the face of a storm

naheen chaltaa zor kisee kaa

no one’s will/force really works

maujon kaa dosh naheen hai,

But this is not the fault of the waves

ye dosh hai aur kisee kaa

This fault is someone else’s.

.

Majadhaar mein naiyyaa doobe,

If midstream, a boat begins to sink

toh majhee paar lagaaye

then the oarsman shall bring it to the shore

maajhee jo naaw duboye

but if the oarsman sinks the boat

use kaun bachaaye?

who shall save it?

Even God could not be flawless in His decision to create Adam and Eve… The entire existence, here on this earth, ever since, has been man’s constant search for finding meaning in his mistakes… making sense out of senselessness… turning the flawed into flawless!

GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: Chetna Shetty