Words:

Now I’ve come to the cross-roads
In my life and I will say
I still dream of tomorrow
When the stars will show the way
Yes I say

Now we stand here together
Still apart, so far away
There’s a time there’s a season
When the feeling must go away
Yes I say

Oh the valleys and the sea
I long to be in arms of thee
I’ll sail away – hey wild and free

When the rain comes-a-calling
At my door – Yes I’ll sing
Sing to you – there’s a story
Of a Maiden & the king
Yes I’ll sing

Oh the forest and the stream
I wish I were in arms of thee
I’ll sing along, come sing with me

Here I stand at the cross-roads
In my life and I must say
I still dream of tomorrow
When forever we will stay
Yes I say.

-Gautam Dhar (12th Dec. 09)

Today and tomorrow, I’ll live with my sorrow
Light of my life now seems like it’s gone
Gone to the valleys, gone Oh forever
Lord, will there ever be a place to belong

It stirs up a storm as I lay at night
Staring at the stars that seem so blue
And I wonder about the songs I write
Oh, when I know she’s been untrue

Tonight, I’m leaving on the wings of a dream
So far away from these city lights
A place in the mountains, a place by the stream
For I just can’t bear these lonely nights

It aches my heart when I pass by
To see the old man trembling in the snow
Just playing his songs so high and dry
Oh, for the love he knew long ago

Tonight I’m leaving and don’t ask me why
So far away from these city lights
A place to lay down, place for to die
For I just can’t bear these lonely nights

As time’s gone by I’ve lived in the hills
Lord, in the shade of the love foregone
Lost in the valleys lost oh forever
But deep in my heart, the song carries on.

Gautam Dhar
12th December 2004
Lansing, MI

I was going through my old writing pads and found this that I had written in December 2005, towards the end of yet another Michigan Winter. I’d like to share this with you all along with a short melody I recorded this afternoon. I don’t know yet whether I will take it forward or keep ir where it is. I have no name for it yet.

I reckon I’ll just call it “The Final Hour” to match the story of a young stranger below. Hope you mates enjoy it. Click here for the MP3. Please bear with the noise during recording

It so reminds me of Beethoven, who said that the D minor is the saddest of all chords. No wonder so many of my songs are based on D minor including this melody. Here is the poem I wrote in Dec. 2005

The candle softly flickers before the final hour
A strong puff of wind whispers in the quiet
Somewhere in the forest down by the stream
A strange young beauty stumbles in the night

Back in the days I knew such a place
I too have seen it with my own eyes
Mist in the mountains, snow in the hills
Ye, I have seen a true paradise

But here I live away from my mountains
Friends and foes, they’re all long gone
Stay young stranger, light me a fire
Hand me the fiddle – I’ll sing you a song

Back in the wondrous days of my yore
Never did I know I’d be the one
Making people dance to an old melody
Sitting by the fire till the night was done

But here I sit in the shade of my dreams
Sure is kind for you to come along
Times are hard, but this I will say
Stay young stranger – I’ll sing you a song
Stay till the shades of night are gone.

Gautam Dhar
6th December 2005
Lansing, Michigan

P.S. The photo is of a lake in Ganges, Michigan. I took it during the Gita Retreat in September 2006.

It’s been chilly here in Mountain View for last few days (just the kind of weather I like). After almost more than a year of being immersed in the world of Urdu Poetry and Hindi Songs, I wrote something in English yesterday late afternoon and decided to give it a test run today. Wouldn’t really call it a song, but just a folk poem with some melody to it. Here is the MP3. Once again it came out of a conversation between me and The Old Man.

And me and the Old man, we sat down by the ragged old rest house on that narrow mountain path and I asked him…

Words:

Is she a dream or a story?
Is she a star in the sky?
“No, she’s a maid(‘en)”, he told me
So, said the old man with a smile

Pray – won’t you say, won’t you tell me
Tale of the Maiden of the night
“Yes, she’s a song, she’s a memory”
So, sang the old man with a sigh

“Scarred as the moon, all alone like the tree
When the birds have all gone away
Still there she waits in the valley
With hope and a tear in her eyes

Call her a dream or a story
She’s in my heart, on my mind
O’ Maid of the night, of the valley
Say it’s been worth every mile”
And so, said the old man with a smile.

Gautam Dhar
11th October 2008
Mountain View, CA

Recorded this using my Classical Guitar

There’s an old singing river that flows by my door
Each morning I wake and hear its tender song
As the water gently flows from the hills far away
Every bird in the valley, every heart sings along

There’s peace in the valley each hour of the day
Oh, serenity dwells while the blue-sky glows
The folks in the evening, sitting by the fire
They sing old songs while the cold wind blows

It wasn’t long ago when I was a child
I’d climb up these hills to the sky
Growing with the pines, sailing in the river
Here’s where I’ll live till the day I die

Sometimes I wonder about life in the city
Way they live every day and night
But, I’ll stay around in the green of my valley
Growing with the mountains so warm and bright

Though I have had my share of losing times
When tears don’t stop and words are few
Down by the shores of the sweet singing river
I’ve found faith in the early morning dew

Sometimes I lay listening in the night
As raindrops fall on my window pane
Like the night bird sings the last song of dusk
While the moon stands still in old lovers’ lane

So here’s to these hills and here’s to the river
Here’s to the winds that hold me tight
Oh Himalayas, I sing just for thee
Show me the path of evergreen light.

Dedicated to the Great Himalayas
Gautam Dhar
11th October 2005
Lansing MI

Stopping by the house on my way at night
I saw a lonely shadow with her arms open wide
On a night so warm when winds could make you sway
I could hear the summer trees softly whispering away

“Slow down young stranger won’t you sit and rest a while
You’ve traveled so far but there’s still another mile”
Then I felt the tender touch of soft southern breeze
Lord knows I saw her again with a smile

The house stood alone as time rolled by
In the chill of the night I could hear her soft sigh
To the stars she whispered, as her shadow grew deep
Then I saw a lonely tear as it fell from her eye

As the night said goodbye with coming of the dawn
I knew yet again, I had found another song
It’s the story of the house where she used to live
But the time just passed and her shadow is now gone

I am traveling still alone on this long and quiet night
Thought I saw an old shade calling me by her side
But the winds that surround just wouldn’t let me stay
Oh to hear the summer trees softly whispering away.

Gautam Dhar
August 25, 2003
Lansing MI

I purchased a book of poems and verses by Ruskin Bond last Summer while I was in India. The book is called Ruskin Bond’s Book of Verse. Here is a poem out of the book. It instantly reminded me of my old Himalayan roots. It almost feels like there is So much to do, so little is done…Another hill to climb, another road to run…Enjoy the poem!

Remember the Old Road

Remember the old road
The steep stony path
That took us up from Rajpur
Toiling and sweating
And grumbling at the climb
But enjoying it all the same.

At first the hills were hot and bare
But then there were trees near Jharipani
And we stopped at the Halfway House
And swallowed lungfuls of diamond-cut air
Then onwards, upwards, to thw town
Our appetites to repair!

Well, no one uses the old road anymore
Walking is out of fashion now
And if you have a car to take you
Swiftly up the motor road
Why bother to toil up ad disused path?

You’d have to be an old romantic like me
To want to take that route again.

But I did it last year
Pausing and plodding and gasping for air
Both road and I being a little worse for wear!
But I made it to the top and stopped to rest
And looked down to the valley and the silver stream
Winding its way down the plains.

And the land stetched out before me, and the years fell away
And I was a boy again
And the friends of my youth were there beside me
And nothing had changed.

From Ruskin Bond’s Book of Verse

I wrote this ballad back in late November of 2005. Nikhil had composed a melody for it back in January 2007 when he had come over. We never recorded it, but I found the tune last night and decided to give it a shot today. I changed the original song in B minor to E minor to suit my voice. It’s not a great recording, but I am glad it’s finally done and now I can eat my dinner! Hope I did some justice to your tune, Nik!

I dedicate every word of this song to Sapna. Here is the MP3.

Words:

I love you more than words can say
I love you more than yesterday
I love ah! Just because you’re you

My love is like the trembling rose
My love is summer breeze that blows
My love ah! If you only knew

I wonder if there’ll be a day
I wonder when I’ll hear you say
I wonder if you wonder too

My life is like an evening ray
My life’s a rainbow, fading away
My life, it longs for only you

I wait for you with weary eyes
I’ll wait till I’m up in the skies
I wait and watch the falling dew

My heart, it needs your tender touch
My heart, it loves you oh so much
My heart’s a flame with moments few

Dear, please come and hold me tight
I’m dying slowly day and night
Love me like I never knew
Love me ‘fore my time is through.

Written by: Gautam Dhar, 20 November 2005
Composed by: Nikhil Gupta, January 2007

I found this little something in my stack of musings. An old piece from my college days..

Last night while strolling through an alley
I heard the north wind blowing right around me
When all of a sudden I thought of you

Was it the chill of the night
Or just the silence in my mind
But I swear I saw you smiling at me

I did see you
Down that darkened alley
I heard ye’r footsteps fading away
And you were in my arms once more.

Gautam Dhar
2002
Lansing, MI

After The Road Not Taken, here is another one of Robert Frost poems presented in his own voice. I had not read this one before. I actually ran into it while I was in India. A great story, a great poem, a dilemma for the bridegroom! If you are having issues with the player, here is the MP3 link. Enjoy!

Words:

A stranger came to the door at eve,
And he spoke the bridegroom fair.
He bore a green-white stick in his hand,
And, for all burden, care.
He asked with the eyes more than the lips
For a shelter for the night,
And he turned and looked at the road afar
Without a window light.

The bridegroom came forth into the porch
With, ‘Let us look at the sky,
And question what of the night to be,
Stranger, you and I.’
The woodbine leaves littered the yard,
The woodbine berries were blue,
Autumn, yes, winter was in the wind;
‘Stranger, I wish I knew.’

Within, the bride in the dusk alone
Bent over the open fire,
Her face rose-red with the glowing coal
And the thought of the heart’s desire.

The bridegroom looked at the weary road,
Yet saw but her within,
And wished her heart in a case of gold
And pinned with a silver pin.

The bridegroom thought it little to give
A dole of bread, a purse,
A heartfelt prayer for the poor of God,
Or for the rich a curse;

But whether or not a man was asked
To mar the love of two
By harboring woe in the bridal house,
The bridegroom wished he knew.

Robert Frost. A Boy’s Will, 1915.