Same Thought

I don’t remember where I read this stanza, whether as a quote from a poem, or just an anonymous quote per se, but these have remained in my memory for long:

               Such situations have there been

               In the perspective of history

               That moments had lapsed in sin

               And centuries bore the punishment.

I have a habit of collecting interesting quotes, and these lines find a place in that collection.  Only, I have forgotten to make a remark of where I read this first, and in what context.  All I remember is that these were mentioned in a story that bore historical relevance to the sorry state of affairs we find ourselves in – it was either the hindu-muslim clash or India-Pakistan divide, the seeds of which were sown by the leaving British Raj, and watered, knowingly or unknowingly, by our own leaders.

Well, that is not the story what I want to write (or rant) about. It is more about how the same thought, or process of thought, occurs to people in different times and different situations. 

I was listening to an old Tamil song, மௌனத்தில் விளையாடும் மனசாட்சியே sung by Balamurali Krishna, written by – who else – the immortal Kannadasan.  In that song, which I have listened to many times and enjoy singing in the bathroom too, there are two lines which delve on the frailty of the human mind that drives a man, in a weak moment, to commit a sin and then lament in guilt forever - ஒரு கணம் தவறாகி பல யுகம் தவிப்பாய் நீ. 

As I was singing that song this morning, these two lines suddenly grabbed my attention as soon as I sang them, my mind immediately diving through my grey matter and successfully tracing out from its folds these four lines I have quoted in the beginning.  I could not but wonder at how similar an idea they both represent, though expressed by different persons in different times and in different languages, with almost no possibility of one knowing the other or even reading the other’s words.

Quite an interesting thought for the day, isn’t it?