The Last Post....

The Last Post....

Do you know the story behind the song?

Reportedly, it all began in 1862 during the American Civil War, when Union Army Captain Robert Ellicombe was with his men near

Harrison's Landing in Virginia. The Confederate Army was on the other side of the narrow strip of land.

During the night, Captain Ellicombe heard the moans of a soldier who lay severely wounded on the field. Not knowing if it was a Union or Confederate soldier, the Captain decided to risk his life and bring the stricken man back for medical attention. Crawling on his stomach through the gunfire, the Captain reached the stricken soldier and began pulling him toward his encampment.

When the Captain finally reached his own lines, he discovered it was actually a Confederate soldier, but the soldier was dead.

The Captain lit a lantern and suddenly caught his breath and went numb with shock. In the dim light, he saw the face of the soldier. It was his own son. The boy had been studying music in the South when the war broke out. Without telling his father, the boy enlisted in

the Confederate Army.

The following morning, heartbroken, the father asked permission of his superiors to give his son a full military burial, despite his enemy status. His request was only partially granted.

The Captain had asked if he could have a group of Army band members play a funeral dirge for his son at the funeral.

The request was turned down since the soldier was a Confederate.

But, out of respect for the father, they did say they could give him

only one musician.

The Captain chose a bugler. He asked the bugler to play a series of musical notes he had found on a piece of paper in the

pocket of the dead youth's uniform.

This wish was granted.

The haunting melody, we now know as 'The Last Post' used at military funerals was born.

The words are:-

Day is done.
Gone the sun.
From the lakes
From the hills.
From the sky.
All is well.
Safely rest.
God is nigh.
-------
Fading light.
Dims the sight.
And a star.
Gems the sky.
Gleaming bright.
From afar.
Drawing nigh.
Falls the night.
-------
Thanks and praise.
For our days.
Neath the sun
Neath the stars.
Neath the sky
As we go.
This we know.
God is nigh

Remember Those Lost and Harmed While Serving Their Country.

Also Remember Those Who Have Served And Returned; and for those presently serving in the Armed Forces..

The Last Post

If....

'

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

-Rudyard Kipling

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tTeZNfwesg

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xcmik6_if-rudyard-kipling_creation

After the Rain..

A simple rose I have found
It's not the flower that grows from the ground,
Its beauty is one of such delight ...
This rose is soft to the touch in all its perfection.

The envy for all the flowers in this garden
Its fragrance will consume your every obsession.
This rose must be a gift, a gift from above
A gift from Heaven to show us love.

Every morning I wake to see its petals glisten
Its easy to see how one could be so smitten
If love was a rose it would shine so bright
Because all I need is this rose in my life.

- Kevan Mends

Freedom

Photo : Prakhar

Freedom

Highway rainbow

Highway Rainbow

I wish if I could ever see this rainbow on my way.....

Photo : National Geographic

Breathless....

Breathless.....The Best of Shankar..


Breathless by Shankar Mahadevan...

Best of Jagjit Singh...

Khumari Chad ke utar Gayi , Zindagi Yun Hi Guzar Gai.....

Khumari Chad Kay Utar Lyrics

(khumari Chadh Ke Utar Gayi
Zindagi Yun Hi Gujar Gayi) - 2
Kabhi Sote Sote Kabhi Jaagte
Khwaabon Ke Pichhe Yu Hi Bhaagte
Apni Toh Saari Umar Gayi - 2
Khumari Chadh Ke Utar Gayi
Zindagi Yun Hi Gujar Gayi

(rangeen Bahaaron Ki Khwaahish Rahi
Haath Magar Kutch Aaya Nahi) - 2
Kehne Ko Apne The Saathi Kai
Saath Kisine Nibhaya Nahi - 2
Koi Bhi Hamsafar Nahi
Kho Gayi Har Dagar Kahi
Kabhi Sote Sote Kabhi Jaagte
Khwaabon Ke Pichhe Yu Hi Bhaagte
Apni Toh Saari Umar Gayi - 2
Khumari Chadh Ke Utar Gayi
Zindagi Yun Hi Gujar Gayi

(logon Ko Aksar Dekha Hai
Ghar Ke Liye Rote Hue) - 2
Ham Toh Magar Beghar Hi Rahe
Gharwalon Ke Hote Hue - 2
Aaya Apna Nazar Nahi - 2
Apni Jahaa Tak Nazar Gayi
Kabhi Sote Sote Kabhi Jaagte
Khwaabon Ke Pichhe Yu Hi Bhaagte
Apni Toh Saari Umar Gayi - 2
Khumari Chadh Ke Utar Gayi
Zindagi Yun Hi Gujar Gayi

(pehle Toh Ham Sun Lete The
Shor Mein Bhi Shehnaaiya) - 2
Ab Toh Hamko Lagti Hai
Bheed Mein Bhi Tanhaaiya
Jeene Ki Hasrat Kidhar Gayi - 2
Dil Ki Kali Bikhar Gayi
Kabhi Sote Sote Kabhi Jaagte
Khwaabon Ke Pichhe Yu Hi Bhaagte
Apni Toh Saari Umar Gayi - 2
Khumari Chadh Ke Utar Gayi
Zindagi Yun Hi Gujar Gayi

Ghazal by Jagjit Singh...

Rainbow...

I can see a rainbow,
see it in the sky, see it when the rain has gone away.
All the colors of the rainbow
in the sky so high,
I can name them all for you today:

Red there is, a rosy red, a red so bright and bonny,
and orange as a tiger lily leaf, so bold and tawny,

yellow as the blazing sun, that gives us all our light,
and green as grass beneath our feet,
blue as the sky so bright.

There's indigo, as dark as night,
and violet like flowers.

These are the colors nature paints
the sky with
after showers.

- Helen H. Moore

For everything there is a season....

For everything there is a season,

And a time for every matter under heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die;

A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal;

A time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh;

A time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to seek, and a time to lose;

A time to keep, and a time to throw away;

A time to tear, and a time to sew;

A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time to love, and a time to hate,

A time for war, and a time for peace.

Life is a train of moods like a string of beads; and as we pass through them they prove to be many colored lenses, which paint the world their own hue, and each shows us only what lies in its own focus.

The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers

On Mother's Day..

By Miles….

You are far from me..

By thoughts You are close to me..

By Hearts..

You are in me….

I cannot remember my mother....

I cannot remember my mother
only sometimes in the midst of my play
a tune seems to hover over my playthings,
the tune of some song that she used to
hum while rocking my cradle.

I cannot remember my mother
but when in the early autumn morning
the smell of the shiuli flowers floats in the air
the scent of the morning service in the temple
comes to me as the scent of my mother.

I cannot remember my mother
only when from my bedroom window I send
my eyes into the blue of the distant sky,
I feel that the stillness of
my mother's gaze on my face
has spread all over the sky.

By Rabindranath Tagore from Shishu Bholanath

Time....

Distant Time

I know not from what distant time
thou art ever coming nearer to meet me.
Thy sun and stars can never keep thee hidden from me for aye.

In many a morning and eve thy footsteps have been heard
and thy messenger has come within my heart and called me in secret.

I know not only why today my life is all astir,
and a feeling of tremulous joy is passing through my heart.

It is as if the time were come to wind up my work,

and I feel in the air a faint smell of thy sweet presence.

- RabindranathTagore

So sweet ...

My Snowy....

Close Love !

Snowy...caught in Prakhar's Camera..

So Cute ...

On Outing ...

Watching the World !