Varun Tipnis

“Unending Love

I seem to have loved you in numberless forms, numberless times...
In life after life, in age after age, forever.
My spellbound heart has made and remade the necklace of songs,
That you take as a gift, wear round your neck in your many forms,
In life after life, in age after age, forever.

Whenever I hear old chronicles of love, it's age old pain,
It's ancient tale of being apart or together.
As I stare on and on into the past, in the end you emerge,
Clad in the light of a pole-star, piercing the darkness of time.
You become an image of what is remembered forever.

You and I have floated here on the stream that brings from the fount.
At the heart of time, love of one for another.
We have played along side millions of lovers,
Shared in the same shy sweetness of meeting,
the distressful tears of farewell,
Old love but in shapes that renew and renew forever.

Today it is heaped at your feet, it has found its end in you
The love of all man's days both past and forever:
Universal joy, universal sorrow, universal life.
The memories of all loves merging with this one love of ours -
And the songs of every poet past and forever.”
― Rabindranath Tagore, Selected Poems

“The wise speak only of what they know, Gríma son of Gálmód. A witless worm have you become. Therefore be silent, and keep your forked tongue behind your teeth. I have not passed through fire and death to bandy words with a serving-man till the lightning falls.' There was a roll of thunder. The sunlight became blotted out from the eastern windows; the whole hall became suddenly dark as night. The fire faded to sullen embers. Only Gandalf could be seen, standing white and tall before the blackened hearth.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers

“Petyr 'Littlefinger' Baelish: The realm. Do you know what the realm is? It's the thousand blades of Aegon's enemies, a story we agree to tell each other over and over, until we forget that it's a lie.

Lord Varys: But what do we have left, once we abandon the lie? Chaos? A gaping pit waiting to swallow us all.

Petyr 'Littlefinger' Baelish: Chaos isn't a pit. Chaos is a ladder. Many who try to climb it fail and never get to try again. The fall breaks them. And some, are given a chance to climb. They refuse, they cling to the realm or the gods or love. Illusions. Only the ladder is real. The climb is all there is.”
― George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

“When Shivaji was barely fifteen, a Patil of a village called Ranjhe that fell into his jagir misbehaved with a woman. The Patil was summoned and the perpetrator could not believe that what he had done was indeed considered as a crime; it was his right, wasn’t it? First he started cursing, and then begging in the courtyard of Lal Mahal that was filled with people who had come from far and near to witness the court proceedings. With his mother sitting next to him and with Dadaji standing behind him, young Shivaji gave his verdict, pronouncing the Patil ‘guilty’ and handed over the punishment:‘Patil of Ranjhe, Taraf – Khedebare, Babaji Bhikaji Gujar, has committed an act of offence, while serving in his office as a Patil. The report of his actions has reached us – and his guilt has been proved beyond doubt. Thereupon, as per our orders, chop off his limbs, all four limbs.”
― Medha Deshmukh Bhaskaran, Challenging Destiny : A Biography of Chhatrapati Shivaji