I
have been indulging in some creative activity. I have always been
fascinated
by clouds and here is my effort to communicate my feelings.
Speedy
This blog is about new entrants to the Colombo Medical Faculty of the University of Ceylon (as it was then known) in June 1962. There were a total of 166 in the batch (included 11 from Peradeniya).Please address all communications to: colmedgrads1962@gmail.com.You may bookmark this page for easier access later. Header image: Courtesy Prof. Rohan Jayasekara, Dean, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo (2011 - 2014). Please use the search bar using a key word to access what interests you
Mahen
ReplyDeleteWow that was intoxicatingly beautiful and certainly pulled on my chordae tendinae. The video montage is extraordinarily alluring and brings home the beauty of nature which is all around us all the time. The imagery most intimately resonates with the progress of our lives as the clouds form, drift, dissolve and disappear into oblivion. So very delicate and yet so elegant and graceful as they pass us by. The music complements and enhances the poetry, imagery and the message.
I've always been fascinated by clouds and their formations. I recall with much nostalgia looking out of the window when I was a raw green registrar in training in London. I was being taught the barium techniques and their interpretation. The cloud formations I saw seemed like the barium patterns on the television screen. Thankfully I outgrew this stage soon to appreciate the true beauty of clouds.
Rabindranath Tagore - Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.
Mahen it is a delightful piece of work. I hope it will make us see clouds differently and brighten up our lives. Thank you
Nihal, thanks for your words of appreciation. I am glad that you too were "always fascinated by clouds", like me. I sometimes annoy my golfing colleagues by being more interested in the changing cloud scene than the golf in progress! One of the many fascinations that clouds hold for me is the vastness, the variation and the omnipresence of clouds. I always spare a thought for those unfortunate people who are blind. I love the RT quote.
ReplyDeleteThere are times I sit out in the garden and just watch the clouds. It is simply fascinating to see them appear and disappear. The parallel traces of the jet engines are lovely too in a strange sort of way although produced by noisy man made machines, if you just consider them as just a part of the scenery of cloud formations. They too break up and criss cross with new arrivals.
ReplyDeleteThanks. It is a lovely thoughtful piece of work
Incidentally some of the cloud formations look like people, statues, monuments we know like the Eiffel tower (with a bit of imagination), scenery like Adam's peak.
ReplyDeleteThere are people who dedicate their lives to the study of clouds. Nephology is the science of clouds, which is undertaken in the cloud physics branch of meteorology. I remember learning about cumulus clouds and their significance in Geography. Not much stuck in my head in those days!!
When,you were talking of clouds,It came to my mind a Buddhist lesson that I learned in school,many years ago,about clouds.The Buddhist monk who taught us Buddhism explained that men can be classified in to four groups,as explained by Lord Buddha in one of his sermons.
ReplyDeleteCategory 1.Clouds produce no thunder or rain(there are people or make no noise or act)
Category 2.There is no rain but thunder(People make noise but no action.)
Category 3.There is rain but no thunder(People act but make no noise.)
Category 4.There is rain and thunder(People talk and act)
I can't remember name of the Sutra that Lord Buddha had used to explain,when question was put to him about the actions of people on the whole.You can classify our Politician,accordingly.
There are over 500 sutras in Buddhism. Is it the one dealing with the causes and effects of actions?
DeleteThanks,Lucky.
ReplyDeleteThe lesson on the subject was many years old.We had two monks teaching Buddhism in Sivali,one for the Juniors and the other for the seniors.
They were part-timers and left before 12 noon for their lunch.I must tell you the monks were of the highest standard,unlike present herd.I remember very well the word used as the heading "Walakulveni Minissu.No I idea about the Pali words.Perhaps,Nihil might remember,as he had done Pali lessons in Wesley College.
Sumathi,I found this also about clouds Within the Essence of Mind all things are intrinsically pure, like the azure of the sky and the radiance of the sun and the moon which, when obscured by passing clouds, may appear as if their brightness had been dimmed; but as soon as the clouds are blown away, brightness reappears and all objects are fully illuminated. Learned Audience, our evil habits may be likened unto the clouds; while Sagacity and Wisdom are like the sun and the moon respectively. When we attach ourselves to outer objects, our Essence of Mind is clouded by wanton thoughts which prevent our Sagacity and Wisdom from sending forth their light.
ReplyDeleteI found this in a Mahayana sutra called sutra of Him Neng.
Sumathy
ReplyDeleteYes, indeed, I studied Pali for the GCE O'levels as it was called then. Just scraped a pass. I loved the subject and it gave me a pretty good insight into the Buddhist scriptures and also the Sinhala language. With the passage of 60+ years much of it has got blown away by the wind of time. The person who taught me was Thevis Guruge's brother Charles De Silva. As he spoke he generated a lot of saliva and bathed everyone around him. Wonderful human being, an old school teacher of the kind that has disappeared from society. He arrived to school in an ancient Morris 8 which looked more like a boat. So we called him BOAT. He rose up to be the Vice-Principal and he certainly was a Wise-Principal. Ah! those were the days when life was so peaceful. Where have the years gone? With it my Pali and Sinhala have evaporated too.
Thanks,Nihal,I have heard the name Thevis Guruge.The name is astonishingly appropriate for his profession.I wonder whether he wrote any books.As I mentioned,name sounds very familiar.My uncle where,I was brought up,was an Ayurvedic Physician,who had to learn Devanagari(Sanskrit),in order to read the Ayurvedic medical terms.I was too small to learn Ayurvedic medicine and the Sanskrit language at the time.I have listened to his Sanskrit verses,that he recited before going to bed.
ReplyDeleteSumathy
DeleteThevis Guruge was the first Sinhala announcer for Radio Ceylon and holds iconic status in the industry. He was in broadcasting all his professional life.
Thank,you,My memory is taken back to those days and his name was recorded in the back of my head.
ReplyDeleteMahendra, I think I was one of the firsts to watch and listen to your video poem, and I commented on you tube. But I should have made a comment here on our blog! My comment is:
ReplyDelete'Observing this beautiful display and hearing soothing music, I felt I was in another dimension. Thanks! It's awe-inspiring in its beauty and simplicity.'
You do have artistic as well as technical skill to execute a presentation of this type. W are lucky we have people like you in our batch! Zita
You are so thoughtful and kind. Thanks a lot for taking so much trouble to give feedback.
DeleteWe are all now waiting eagerly
For that which comes to you so easily
another poetic masterpiece
Most certainly a grand showpiece
Mahen, a delightful composition - it does have an ethereal quality to it that a certain previous compostion of yours had - as we discussed - You do enjoy your Genos - Have fun !
ReplyDeleteGlad you like it Rohini but my favourite is still our joint effort,"Ode to the moon" - https://colombomedgrads1962.blogspot.com/2018/02/an-ode-to-moon-video-poem-by-mahendra_9.html
DeleteThe evolution of the above is an interesting one-
DeleteIt started with a photo I happened to take of the moon over Mission Bay one night and shared it with Indra who shared many photos with me , and Nihal who seemed to enjoy e-walking by the sea (and even has a certain Palm in Mission Bay named after him !) .
The latter tried persuading me to send the photo to the blog with a write up, and when his gentle persuasion didn’t work, sent me a ‘no nonsense-get on with it’ kind of email which I couldn’t ignore !
It was fortunately a day off work for me ,and as it didn’t seem like I’d get out of it, set to work immediately and had the poem done and dedicated to him in the blog by the time he woke up from his night’s slumber!
A few days later,I woke up one morning to see the poem transformed by Mahen into the beautiful musical composition it is now.
It all started with Nihal !
Moon over Mission Bay sounds so magical. I recall the walk on Tamaki Drive with much nostalgia. Ah! the Palm tree on Selwyn Avenue. Long may it survive.
DeleteThere is one important player in this that I haven’t mentioned- ie Lucky Abey- the founder and administrator of this blog without whose prompt and ever willing cooperation I could not have had the poem posted before Nihal surfaced from dreamland- Thank you Lucky -
ReplyDeleteThe Evolution of this hasn't got the same gravitas as Darwin's but it is fascinating anyway. And now,no pressure on you but another poem will be most welcome for me to add some music.
ReplyDeleteMahen, There are several accounts of what Darwin got right and what he got wrong in the Brittanica and other websites - you may already have read them or be interested -
ReplyDeleteShall see what I can do re- your persistent request ! Keep on your Genos meantime!
Getting in late on the discussion! So sorry for my 'leave of absence.' I received gentle nudges from both Nihal and Speedy (whose computer rechristened me 'Frisbee!' so funny). Speedy, I enjoyed this beautiful ode to clouds, especially the music. To do justice to your composition I listened to it on good speakers! I am also one who pays attention to cloud formations. Sometimes it is a distracting when I am driving! There are people who share images of unusual cloud formations on line. Once someone sent me a collection of these, but unfortunately I seem to have deleted the email.
ReplyDeleteJust to add something more to the discussion I looked up the common types of clouds.
They are: cumulus, stratus, stratocumulus, altocumulus, nimbostratus, altostratus, cirrus (latin for curl of hair), cirrocumulus, cirrostratus and cumulonimbus. My favorites are cirrus and cumulus.
And Rohini, I remember yours and Mahen's 'Ode to the Moon' very well!