Carpe Diem

Sunday, April 08, 2007

Feeding Nostalgia

(Foto de Jaime Jimenez - de venta en Dominican Thing)

DE LA NOSTALGIA, (Dario Jaramillo Agudelo)

Recuerdo solamente que he olvidado el acento de las más amadas voces,
y que perdí para siempre el olor de las frutas de la infancia,
el sabor exacto del durazno,
el aleteo del aire frío entre los pinos,
el entusiasmo al descubrir una nuez que ha caído del nogal.
Sortilegios de otro día, que ahora son apenas letanía incolora,
vana convocatoria que no me trae el asombro de ver un colibrí
entre mi cuarto, como muchas madrugadas de mi infancia.

¿Cómo recuperar ciertas caricias y los más esenciales abrazos?
¿Cómo revivir la más acierta penumbra,
iluminada apenas con la luz de [Juan Luis Guerra],
y cómo hacer que llueva la misma lluvia que veía caer a los trece años?

¿Cómo tornar al éxtasis de sol, a la luz ebria de mis siete años,
al sabor maduro de la mora,
a todo aquel territorio desconocido por la muerte,
a esa palpitante luz de la pureza,
a todo esto que soy y que ya no es mío?

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Vivah

One is always tempted to talk about the sad and eerie because its more dramatic and it makes us grow; it is impossible to go to India and not make a note of it. However, I also experienced a splendorous side of India - its lively music, its sparkle and festiveness. Sharan’s wedding was reminiscent of a grand feast of a Maharajah: music permeated each event; the dancing and celebration never ended and a gathering wasn’t complete without the delectable Indian food. Indians really know how to shake it up, and I felt in familial terrain when they turned up the music… that Bhangra beat is addictive and hypnotizing. To top it all up, Sharan’s family is multi-talented and when they take the microphone that’s when the party really gets started. Like Latins, and maybe even more so, Indians are extremely hospitable and warm, and I found myself feeling “at home” in their company. Indian women exude inner beauty – they may adorn themselves with henna, sparkling bangles, earrings, and dazzling saris, but they carry their real beauty inside.. you can see it in the intensity of their look, their genuine smiles and their evident self-acceptance. This was an experience of a lifetime and pictures don’t do justice to the essence of the celebration.