hadji before taking off to visit his beloved crete
loaned us a hindi classic movie treat
called which took14 years to produce
a side drama between actress-wife#3 meeri and director-writer-poet kamal in itself profuse
a few days after movie’s release, meeri died
initially a flop but with meeri’s dance performance immortalized, it rose to acclaim flight

story touched on love straying from caste and societal pressure lines
with tragedy tussling with romance in landmines
ending in deaths that equalize
resolutions too late to fantasize

connecting me to a kannada saying
“nayee baala donka” literally translated “the tail of a dog is always crooked”, no use straightening
meaning u cannot convince some people no matter what you do, it ain’t playing
cos’ in “pakeezah,” the rigid wealthy patriach disapproved of his son’s prostitute lover to be marrying
heartbroken lover dies after giving birth to nargis, the resultant romance product she’s been carrying

nargis repeats the vicious cycle of being trapped in brothel life but destined to meet secret admirer salim
after some incidents that separated them, aristocratic salim found nargis and proposed marriage in a whim
when priest inquired of nargis’ name, salim responded “pakeezah” to disguise her legacy grim
she ran away and limped back to life she’s fated with dashed dream
turns out also salim’s grandpa is also the same patriach who killed her parents, what a scream

nayee baala donka conjurs an unwillingness to change for better
like leopards who can’t change their spots, harmful habits and thinking can cloister
and fetter
choices to make
life decisions to take
for goodness sake
make it a hippy, happy shake
people being kind to each other bake
law of attraction and golden rule icing on cake
“whatever u want men to do to u, do also to them…” matthew 7:12 spake