Lou Andreas-Salome'- a woman extraordinaire                              and her 'Hymn  to  Life'    

                           

‘Muhabbatnama’ – the book that I finished reading this week - has a soul-stirring account of an iconoclast of her times: Lou Andreas-Salome’. Salome’ was born in Russia (“Russia was her janmbhumi and Germany her karmbhumi,” writes the author) about 150 years back when women, all over the world (Europe included), were treated like slaves. Their life/world was confined to the four walls of their homes. A woman then meant nothing but a mere object of amusement and satiation for the lust and needs of man. But this intrepid woman, Andreas-Salome’, “like a hawk flying against the tides of the time”, never let family’s shackles, social taboos and religious diktats stall her soaring flight: flight to freedom; flight to live life on her own terms. Neither she let her freedom be compromised even a tiny bit, nor did she let herself be tied to anyone. Yes, live, love and marry she did. But no relationship could ever impose its weight on her free will and freedom. "Her life is in fact the story of a flag-bearer of woman emancipation," says Jung Bahadur Goel, the author of this beautiful book.

Salomé’s beauty marked by innocence of her face, gleaming golden hair, big, blue, eager eyes, together with the brilliance of her intellect, dazzled anyone who came near her. Greatest minds of the time - intellectual giants like Nietzsche, Rilke and Sigmund Freud, who illumined  the world with new hope and meaning by their philosophical thoughts and memorable works – as they do still today – fell head over heels in love with her. Philosopher Nietzsche and poet-novelist Rilke competed and both begged her hand in marriage. But for Salome’ her independence and freedom were dearer than anything in the world; she declined. She loved them, befriended them, lived with them in a ‘commune’ (Plato's brainchild) but kept her freedom sacrosanct and undiluted.

Well, I could go on describing Lou Andreas-Salome’ to you but that would be giving away rather too much, and depriving you of the pure joy you would derive from reading the book.

This trail-blazing woman, adored and honoured as the greatest woman-philosopher of her time, among her several works, penned a poem ‘Hymn to Life’. Yours truly has dared and tried his hand at translating it into Hindi. I reproduce below both: her original poem and my translation. Happy reading! Comments welcome.

Take it as a little post Diwali gift from me!

                                   Hymn To Life

                                                                  by Lou Andreas-Salomé

                                     Surely, a friend loves a friend the way
                                     That I love you, enigmatic life —
                                    Whether I rejoiced or wept with you,
                                    Whether you gave me joy or pain.

                                     I love you with all your harms;
                                    And if you must destroy me,
                                    I wrest myself from your arms,
                                   As a friend tears himself away from a friend’s breast.

                                   I embrace you with all my strength!
                                   Let all your flames ignite me,
                                   Let me in the ardor of the struggle
                                   Probe your enigma ever deeper.

                                  To live and think millennia!
                                  Enclose me now in both your arms:
                                  If you have no more joy to give me —
                                  Well then—there still remains your pain.

                            जीवन के प्रति स्तुति गीत

सच मानो जिन्दगी, ऐ जिंदगी- अनबुझ पहेली-भरी

तुमसे करती हूँ मैं प्यार, हों जैसे हम यार दो जिगरी-

  चाहे हँसी हूँ तुम संग, या रोई हूँ मैं तुम संग, जार जार

  दी हो ख़ुशी बहुत, या किया हो तूने मुझे, पीड़ा से लाचार I

तुम्हारी बुराईयाँ भी हैं मुझको स्वीकार...

करती जो हूँ मैं आखिर तुमसे प्यार

करना ही है तुमने  मुझको बरबाद अगर

तो हो जाऊँगी तेरी बाँहों से अलग, मगर-

मन में संजो के दर्द –भरा प्यार

बिछुड़ें जैसे सीनों से चिपके दो यार I

करती हूँ तेरा आलिंगन मैं पुरजोर और भरपूर 

तेरी अग्नि में तपना है मुझे सहर्ष मंजूर

दहकना है तेरी ज्वालाओं में, चाहे जैसी भी हो आंच

जान तभी तो पाऊँगी मैं तेरे गहन राज़ों की वो सांच I

चिरकाल तक जीना है मुझे और करना है चिन्तन

जकड़ लो दो बाहों में अपनी तुम, ऐ मेरे जीवन

‘गर ख़ुशी नहीं है तेरे पास बची मेरे लिए कुछ और

तो मंजूर है मुझे  सहज तुम्हारा, पीड़ा का भी छोर I

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