#AtoZChallenge – Letter P – Poetic hope

One of the best lines on poetic hope I like is this one by Malayalam poet Kuttipurathu Kesavan Nair:

പ്രദോഷദീപാവലി കണ്ടുകൊണ്ടു
പാശ്ചാത്യഭൂഭാഗമണഞ്ഞ സൂര്യൻ
പ്രഭാതദീപാവലി കണ്ടുകൊണ്ടു
പൗരസ്ത്യ ദേശത്തെയണഞ്ഞു വീണ്ടും!

It roughly translates to:

The brightness of the dusk the sun saw as it set in the west;
Only to smile and rise in the east to illuminate the morning!

You may wonder what hope has to do in those lines. There is nothing like seeing a bright morning after a particularly dark night! Day and night are just metaphors here. I think the poet wanted to convey the message that there is brightness at the end of every dark road; hope at the end of despair; light at the end of every tunnel. The fact that dawn is mentioned after dusk is significant here. It clearly shows that the poet wanted to illustrate the beauty of hope through those lines!

The first time I read those lines, I was instantly attracted and over time, have come to appreciate the meaning. I always chant this whenever I feel down. On some days, it gives me an instant upliftment. On others, it takes a while for the lines to have the desired effect on me. But it has always been with me and has never failed to inspire me.

Written as part of the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge – http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/