Why this blog is called "Gallimaufry".

gal-uh-MAW-free\, noun.

Originally meaning "a hash of various kinds of meats," "gallimaufry" comes from French galimafrée; in Old French, from the word galer, "to rejoice, to make merry"; in old English: gala + mafrer: "to eat much," and from Medieval Dutch maffelen: "to open one's mouth wide."

It's also a dish made by hashing up odds and ends of food; a heterogeneous mixture; a hodge-podge; a ragout; a confused jumble; a ridiculous medley; a promiscuous (!) assemblage of persons.

Those of you who know me, will, I’m sure, understand how well some of these phrases (barring the "promiscuous" bit!) fit me.

More importantly, this blog is an ode to my love for Shimla. I hope to show you this little town through my eyes. If you don't see too many people in it, forgive me, because I'm a little chary of turning this into a human zoo.

Stop by for a spell, look at my pictures, ask me questions about Shimla, if you wish. I shall try and answer them as best as I can. Let's be friends for a while....

3 April 2010

Embrace your solitude... and try to sing out with it.


"Therefore, dear Sir, love your solitude and try to sing out with the pain it causes you. For those who are near you are far away... and this shows that the space around you is beginning to grow vast.... be happy about your growth, in which of course you can't take anyone with you, and be gentle with those who stay behind; be confident and calm in front of them and don't torment them with your doubts and don't frighten them with your faith or joy, which they wouldn't be able to comprehend. Seek out some simple and true feeling of what you have in common with them, which doesn't necessarily have to alter when you yourself change again and again; when you see them, love life in a form that is not your own and be indulgent toward those who are growing old, who are afraid of the aloneness that you trust.... and don't expect any understanding; but believe in a love that is being stored up for you like an inheritance, and have faith that in this love there is a strength and a blessing so large that you can travel as far as you wish without having to step outside it."

Rainer Maria Rilke (Letters To A Young Poet)

10 comments:

CHINAR SHADE said...

beautiful.

Mordu said...

sublime

Anonymous said...

where's the best tandoori chicken in town?

Anonymous said...

the sad solitude.

she went away too quickly.

there is no return.

- haiku 859 by Dagmara Anna AuraDagimar

-but still where's the best tandoori in town

Unknown said...

Oh! my gawd.That is the most beautiful stuff i've read.And as though the words were tailor made for me today! wow!
keep it going....

JAGDISH BALI said...

Metaphysical,and great.

Geetali said...

Thank you, Autar-ji.

Thank you, Mordu, Peachy, Jagdish.

Geetali said...

Beautiful haiku, that, Anil. Thank you for sharing it.
As for the best tandoori chicken, sadly Shimla doesn't have a single place worth its salt for that.... Not one. The chicken's either too stringy, or too tough. Or just plain tasteless.

Geetali said...

Thank you, Jagdish.

Anonymous said...

It's strange how things work sometimes...I have finished just a month ago the shooting of a film in Lucknow, where I've used Rilke's poetry "Loneliness". Now we are working on a project to do in Shimla, regarding the water, and I've found your blog.
I would like to ask you so many questions about Shimla! Seems such an interesting place, full of energy and inspiring.
Regards!

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