Om Shanti Om (Let there be Peace Everywhere)
[Three compositions on World Peace]
May all be happy; may all be free from disease
Universal Soldier
(Lyrics: Buffy Sainte-Marie)
He’s
5 foot 2 and he’s 6 feet 4
He fights with missiles and with spears
He’s all of 31 and he’s only 17.
He’s been a soldier for a thousand years
He’s a Catholic, a Hindu, an Atheist, a Jain, A Buddhist, and a Baptist and Jew.
And he knows he shouldn’t kill,
And he knows he always will kill
He fights with missiles and with spears
He’s all of 31 and he’s only 17.
He’s been a soldier for a thousand years
He’s a Catholic, a Hindu, an Atheist, a Jain, A Buddhist, and a Baptist and Jew.
And he knows he shouldn’t kill,
And he knows he always will kill
You for
me my friend and me for you
And He’s fighting for Canada. He’s fighting for France.
He’s fighting for the USA.
And He’s fighting for Canada. He’s fighting for France.
He’s fighting for the USA.
And
he’s fighting for the Russians. And he’s
fighting for Japan
And he thinks we’ll put an end to war this way.
And He’s fighting for democracy, He’s fighting for the reds
He says it’s for the peace of all.
He’s the one, who must decide, who’s to live and who’s to die.
And he never sees the writing on the wall.
But without him, how would Hitler have condemned him at Dachau?
Without him Caesar would have stood alone
He’s the one who gives his body as a weapon of the war.
And without him all this killing can’t go on
He’s the universal soldier And he really is the blame
His orders comes from far away no more.
They come from him. And you and me.
And brothers can’t you see. This is not the way we put an end to war
And he thinks we’ll put an end to war this way.
And He’s fighting for democracy, He’s fighting for the reds
He says it’s for the peace of all.
He’s the one, who must decide, who’s to live and who’s to die.
And he never sees the writing on the wall.
But without him, how would Hitler have condemned him at Dachau?
Without him Caesar would have stood alone
He’s the one who gives his body as a weapon of the war.
And without him all this killing can’t go on
He’s the universal soldier And he really is the blame
His orders comes from far away no more.
They come from him. And you and me.
And brothers can’t you see. This is not the way we put an end to war
Imagine
(Lyrics: John Lennon)
Imagine
there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people living for today
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace
You, you may say
I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be as one
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people living for today
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace
You, you may say
I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no
possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharing all the world
You, you may say
I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will live as one
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharing all the world
You, you may say
I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will live as one
Sarve Bhavantu Sukhina (May all be Happy)
(A Mantra from Brihadaaranyaka Upanishad (1.4.14))
May everyone see good in each other and none have misery of any kind.
Let there be Peace, Peace & Peace
Om Shanti Om !
[Date delivered: August 10 2013
Advanced Communication Manual - Interpretive Reading
Project 3 - The Monodrama
Objectives:
- To understand the concept and nature of the monodrama
- To assume the identity of a character and to portray the physical and emotional aspects of the character to an audience.
Comments:
This project on monodrama was somewhat outside my comfort zone.
Firstly my speeches are generally without theatrics . But here the requirements of the project demanded that I indulge in some sort of drama .
Secondly as per the manual I was , preferably not supposed to read the text . But I simply did not have the time and inclination to memorize a long literary piece .
Therefore I chose two short songs and one translated version of a mantra from Upanishads which I already knew by heart and which had a common underlying theme - the World Peace. I then interpreted them in a monodrama format under the title Om Shanti Om.
It was well received and I was chosen as one of the Best Speakers of the Day.
But my evaluator though very impressed with my delivery was of the opinion that the compositions chosen by me were rather obscure (almost metaphysical ) for the audience consisting mainly of youngsters.
I too feel that I could have explained the context of the compositions a little more in details (though by doing that I would have overshot the 45 seconds limit , the manual suggests for this purpose).
So I am trying to make some amends here by providing the audience who happen to read this post , some links which they can refer to:
- Explanation of the lyrics of the song "Universal Soldier"
- Universal Soldier - Wikipedia article
- Imagine - Wikipedia article
- Universal Soldier performed by the songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie. She first narrates how she wrote this song, then sings Universal Soldier.
- Universal Soldier performed by Lobo. This is the version through which I got introduced to this song.
- Imagine by John Lennon