\u201cLove takes off the masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.\u201d
\u2014 James Baldwin, \u201cLetter from a Region in My Mind\u201d (1962)
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u0915\u092c\u0940\u0930 \u0939\u0930\u0926\u0940 \u092a\u0940\u092f\u0930\u0940, \u091a\u0942\u0928\u093e \u090a\u091c\u0932 \u092d\u093e\u0907\u0964
\u0930\u093e\u092e \u0938\u0928\u0947\u0939\u0940 \u092f\u0942\u0901 \u092e\u093f\u0932\u0947, \u0926\u0942\u0928\u094d\u092f\u0942\u0901 \u092c\u0930\u0928 \u0917\u0901\u0935\u093e\u0907\u0965<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kab\u012br harad\u012b p\u012byar\u012b, c\u016bn\u0101 \u016bjal bh\u0101i |
R\u0101m-saneh\u012b y\u016b\u0303 mile, d\u016bny\u016b\u0303 baran g\u00e3v\u0101i ||<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Turmeric is yellow and lime is bright white, brother;
when two lovers of Ram meet, both relinquish their separate colours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kabir takes us into an ordinary household and shows us something extraordinary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Turmeric is yellow. Lime is white. Yet when they meet, the turmeric changes to red. Neither original colour remains untouched; their meeting produces something that was not visible in either one separately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kabir uses this familiar transformation to speak about those who love Ram.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the Kabir Granthavali<\/em>, this couplet appears among verses questioning rigid divisions\u2014including the distinction between Hindu and Muslim, Ram and Rahim, Kashi and Kaaba. Its traditional meaning therefore reaches beyond private affection. In genuine devotion, the identities that keep people separated lose their authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This does not necessarily mean that every difference disappears or that all people become identical. Turmeric does not secretly become lime. Lime does not conquer turmeric. Something changes because they truly encounter one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n James Baldwin writes from a different historical and social world. His \u201cmasks\u201d are identities and defences that appear to protect us but eventually imprison us. He describes love not as easy happiness, but as a demanding state of grace that requires daring and growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kabir speaks through bhakti; Baldwin speaks through moral and psychological transformation. They are not making precisely the same argument. Yet they meet at one uncomfortable question:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Can I claim to love while refusing to be changed?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I often want closeness without permeability. I want to be heard without reconsidering myself. I want another person to understand my pain while I preserve every conclusion I have formed about theirs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then we may be standing next to one another\u2014but like two sealed bottles sharing a shelf!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Labels have practical value. Religion, culture, profession, nationality and personal history help us understand where we come from. The problem begins when I turn a label into a wall and decide, before listening, what another person must be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Love does not require abandoning discernment, accepting harm or agreeing with every opinion. Transformation is not submission. Kabir\u2019s image is mutual: both colours are affected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps I can begin with smaller encounters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When somebody disagrees with me, can I listen for the fragment of truth that might alter my understanding? When another person speaks of pain unfamiliar to me, can I resist converting it immediately into my own story? Can I enter a conversation without making the preservation of my opinion its hidden purpose?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Real meeting carries risk. Something I defended may soften. Something I ignored may become visible. Something new may emerge between us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If every encounter leaves all my certainties perfectly untouched, perhaps I have been near another person without ever meeting them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Love does not merely bring us closer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes, it changes our colour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cLove takes off the masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.\u201d\u2014 James Baldwin, \u201cLetter from a Region in My Mind\u201d (1962) Kabir \u2013 The couplet \u0915\u092c\u0940\u0930 \u0939\u0930\u0926\u0940 \u092a\u0940\u092f\u0930\u0940, \u091a\u0942\u0928\u093e \u090a\u091c\u0932 \u092d\u093e\u0907\u0964\u0930\u093e\u092e \u0938\u0928\u0947\u0939\u0940 \u092f\u0942\u0901 \u092e\u093f\u0932\u0947, \u0926\u0942\u0928\u094d\u092f\u0942\u0901 \u092c\u0930\u0928 \u0917\u0901\u0935\u093e\u0907\u0965 Transliterated Kab\u012br harad\u012b p\u012byar\u012b, c\u016bn\u0101 \u016bjal bh\u0101i |R\u0101m-saneh\u012b y\u016b\u0303 mile, d\u016bny\u016b\u0303…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-philosophy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.akella.org\/mani\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.akella.org\/mani\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.akella.org\/mani\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.akella.org\/mani\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.akella.org\/mani\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=873"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.akella.org\/mani\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":874,"href":"https:\/\/www.akella.org\/mani\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873\/revisions\/874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.akella.org\/mani\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.akella.org\/mani\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.akella.org\/mani\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}