Terhi: [Teak Forest]
Hi !!
It must be nice to have such a meaninfull name! My whole name is Terhi Tuulikki Koivisto. My surname refers to a Finnish tree, koivu, which is birch. I have allready told you that my First name, Terhi, comes from Finland´s national epic. And my second name is Tuulikki. Tuuli is finnish and it means wind just like Pawan in Sanskrit!How old are you in that picture that you send me? That house on the background looks really nice! I have included my picture to this message. I hope you can open it. Mikko thinks that I look weird in that picture.. I don´t know why, but you just can´t take good pictures of me!
No, you didn´t tell me that you moved into a new house. Your home sounded really nice! Our new house is two-storeyd and it is wooden house. It has three bedrooms, kitchen, livingroom (=Drawing room), toilet and bathroom, porch and small hall. Finally enough space for all of us! This house is three times bigger than our previous home!
My sister Tiina went to England to stydy English. She left last monday, and she will be there for four weeks. I would also like to stydy something! I´m not even working anywhere.. In Finland it is very difficould to get a job..
Oh! I should have know that in India there are no manga! Manga is Japanese comic. The style of the manga is very distinctive. Manga comics can be about anything, even porn, but I´m not reading that kind of manga!
I have seen many animated movies. They are very common in here, and I like them very much. But earlier I was tolking about Anime, and that is the same as manga, but you can see it in TV!
It was really nice to hear more about Hyderabad. By the way, whai is that Almirah which consits of all your books? Your books "Meditation" and "Mind power" sound really interesting and fascinating! I love books.. I have many books, some are about India. I also have novels and art books and many more..
Tiina wants to know if you have read any books from Charles Dickens or Mart Twain! She is big fan of them.
Hey! Have you ever heard about this amazing English poet, Lowrence Hope, who lived most of his life in India. He was born in the late 19 th century. He wrote this wonderfull poem, colled Teak Forest:
Whether I loved you who shall say?
Whether I drifted down your way
In the endless river of Chance and Change,
And you woke the strange
Unknown longings that have no names,
But burn us all in their hidden flames,
Who shall say?
Life is a strange and a wayward thing:
We heard the bells of the Temples ring,
The married children, in passing, sing.
The month of marriage, the month of spring,
Was full of the breath of sunburnt flowers
That bloom in a fiercer light than ours,
And, under a sky more fiercely blue,
I came to you!
You told me tales of your vivid life
Where death was cruel and danger rife–
Of deep forests, of poisoned trees,
Of pains and passions that scorch and freeze,
Of southern noontides and eastern nights,
Where love grew frantic with strange delights,
While men were slaying and maidens danced,
Till I, who listened, lay still, entranced.
Then, swift as a swallow heading south,
I kissed your mouth!
One night when the plains were bathed in blood
From sunset light in a crimson flood,
We wandered under the young teak trees
Whose branches whined in the light night breeze;
You led me down to the water's brink,
"The spring where the Panthers come to drink
At night; there is always water here
Be the season never so parched and sere."
Have we souls of beasts in the forms of men?
I fain would have tasted your life-blood then.
The night fell swiftly; this sudden land
Can never lend us a twilight strand
'Twixt the daylight shore and the ocean night,
But takes — as it gives — at once, the light.
We laid us down on the steep hillside,
While far below us wild peacocks cried,
And we sometimes heard, in the sunburnt grass,
The stealthy steps of the Jungle pass.
We listened; knew not whether they went
On love or hunger the more intent.
And under your kisses I hardly knew
Whether I loved or hated you.
But your words were flame and your kisses fire,
And who shall resist a strong desire?
Not I, whose life is a broken boat
On a sea of passions, adrift, afloat.
And, whether I came in love or hate,
That I came to you was written by fate
In every hue of the blood-red sky,
In every tone of the peacocks' cry.
While every gust of the Jungle night
Was fanning the flame you had set alight.
For these things have power to stir the blood
And compel us all to their own chance mood.
And to love or not we are no more free
Than a ripple to rise and leave the sea.
We are ever and always slaves of these,
Of the suns that scorch and the winds that freeze,
Of the faint sweet scents of the sultry air,
Of the half heard howl from the far off lair.
These chance things master us ever. Compel
To the heights of Heaven, the depths of Hell.
Whether I love you? You do not ask,
Nor waste yourself on the thankless task
I give your kisses at least return,
What matter whether they freeze or burn.
I feel the strength of your fervent arms,
What matter whether it heals or harms.
You are wise; you take what the Gods have sent.
You ask no question, but rest content
So I am with you to take your kiss,
And perhaps I value you more for this.
For this is Wisdom; to love, to live,
To take what Fate, or the Gods, may give,
To ask no question, to make no prayer,
To kiss the lips and caress the hair,
Speed passion's ebb as you greet its flow,–
To have, — to hold, — and, — in time, — let go!
And this is our Wisdom: we rest together
On the great lone hills in the storm-filled weather,
And watch the skies as they pale and burn,
The golden stars in their orbits turn,
While Love is with us, and Time and Peace,
And life has nothing to give but these.
But, whether you love me, who shall say,
Or whether you, drifting down my way
In the great sad River of Chance and Change,
With your looks so weary and words so strange,
Lit my soul from some hidden flame
To a passionate longing without a name,
Who shall say?
Not I, who am but a broken boat,
Content for awhile to drift afloat
In the little noontide of love's delights
Between two Nights.
Laurence Hope
So, did you like it? I love it.. I think that poem tells about India.. What do yoy think?
Write me soon!
Thank you for being my friend!
Bye
Terhi
Re: Teak Forest]
Dear Terhi,
Reading your mails has become a pleasure for me.There is much to
learn from you. I have to tell this. It seems you have lot of patience and
very good natured in receiving others. I have become a fan of your
literature, I mean your writings, your mails. Lot of information will be
stored in each mail I receive from you. Time lapse doesnt take that
pleasure all the way. I enjoy reading your mail again and again. That
makes me to understand you better. I may not know you before but now I see
a genuine friend in you. I never get back in sharing with you
experiences I come across in day-to-day life. I feel revived and
energised by reading your mails after a weeklong workloads.
Yes, Terhi Tuulikki Koivisto!!!
I saw your picture. And I saved it in my Albums as a friend whom I can
never forget. You are very cool in that picture. Beauty is the other name
of a woman. So I need not tell that you look very sweet and beautiful in
that picture. You are well dressed in that photo. That may be the reason
for Mikko's comments. A cheer or a smile would have brightened the world.
Thats the only thing missing in it. There is not enough background in that
photo. May I know where it is taken? And also the photographer… I think
its a casual photo taken just like that…
In that picture I sent you, I was around 12 yrs. That pic was taken in
Bangalore in front of our house.
Ok, so you live in a two storeyed house. Thats great – too big house. I
never saw a wooden house so far except on TV.
Tiina went to England??? All alone or with somebody else…. And where is
she staying in England. May be she wants to be an English Teacher. Its a
good option. So for four weeks you miss Tiina in Finland….. Are you in
touch with her now… through email or phone….
Terhi, difficult… I dont believe in those words difficult and
impossible…. Make a decision and try to live upto it. It doesnt matter
whether you hit the target or not, what it matters is only whether you
tried to your satisfaction or not. Opportunities dont wait for us. We
should go and grab them. Similarly jobs, we should create the ways through
which we can grab them. We are our own enemies. You know how??? Our brain
generates so many thoughts and feelings that we get tempted to accept them
leaving our work halfway. This really spoils our chances. So whenever we
set a goal we should prepare a path or a plan to reach it. And once we
start our journey we should never look back or stop anywhere in the
middle. Complete the set plan and then only retrospect. That gives good
results.
I appreciate your desire to study. Then why dont you join in a course of
your interest. Its never late to start. Keep doing something all the time
and spend every moment with a wish to double your future chances.
Ok, so Manga is a comic. I too like to watch animated movies and cartoons.
By the way which channels do you watch on TV. I watch Mr. Bean on POGO and
other cartoons on DISNEY. I also watch MTv, CNBC, CNN-IBN etc.,
Almirah is an Anglo-Indian word which means a wardrobe or cupboard. As I
said I have my own wardrobe for my books.
So you and Tiina read novels……
Charles Dickens and Mark Twain are popular names in our Text Books at
School. Yes read few novels: The Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, Life
and Adventures of Nichola Nickleby etc.,
Lawrence Hope… Thats a nice poem. Touches the heart. I know him as L.Hope
Hey, Tiina might be having a big collection of Dickens then…..
If she wants to know something say to her that I will reply back. Anyhow
is Tiina interested in browsing and sending mails???
By the way do you like singing??? I dont sing a lot but love to cultivate
that art.
Yes Terhi I never mind if I get a late reply or mail from you. I
understand your concerns.
Be happy and keep smiling….
Yours Ever Pal