Songs of The Blue Hills

by Gurajada Apparao

Songs of The Blue Hills

Beautiful are the Blue Hills!

Chorus

Beautiful are the Blue Hills, and
Their beauty gladdens the heart.
Verily this is the garden of the gods, and gods
And sages love to roam here.
Everywhere the eye meets expanses of green grass. Birds sing sweetly
from every bush. The pine odours fill the air. Lovely drives sweep round limpid lakes.
In the masses of clouds that love to haunt the gardens on the hill
slopes, fish-eyed damsels flit about like lightnings.
Wheels that speed under tread, cars that mock the powers of magic,
and swift horses that race, move along in beauty.
On ridges and in valleys, in lakes and in forests, and in pots and in glass houses, flowers grow everywhere in profusion. So the quivers of the god of love are inexhaustible here.
May Siva, the Destroyer of the Puras, shower choice blessings on
Appala Kondayamba Devi, who is kind to her servants.

The Wonders of Ooty

                                 Chorus
Listen, friend, how can I describe
The wonders of Ooty?
Ooty has no equal.
Heaven itself is inferior.

Beautiful gardens cover the gentle slopes of the hills, and palaces glitter on the peaks. Like Ganga on Siva's head, a hundred lakes nestle in the valleys.

Here sunshine is mellow as moonlight, and at night, the fire god gives comfort in every home. Worsted by Summer on the plains, Winter has taken to these mountain fastnesses and holds sway here.

Silver clouds rest on the peaks like Kalpa blossoms on the head of Krishna, and manyhued flowers spread over the hill sides and shine like colours mixed by Evening to paint the dome of heaven.

Come, friends, our merit has attained fruition, and we are enabled to see the great Blue Hills by the kindness of the King's daughter Appala Kondayamba.

Worship the Lord of Uma

Chorus

Worship the Lord of Uma on the Blue Hills and you acquire merit a thousandfold.

White clouds envelop the peals and make moonlight-and gods take the Blue Hills for, the silver mountains and crowd with enthusiasm.

They witness Nature's worship of Siva there. The tall eucalyptuses form columns and the sky the awning. Lightning serves for lights and flower beds in the midst of green grass look like ornamentation of the floor by wood-nymphs in coloured powders.

The pines waft divine odours, and the birds sing as never nymphs sang. The thunder serves as the music of the conchshell and creeper damsels shed flowers.

May the Lord of Ambika who wears the moon-crescent as a crest-jewel save Maharani Appala Kondayamba, daughter of the great king, pleased with her devotion.

That Word of Long Ago!

Chorus

Can I forget your forgetting
That word of long ago?
You said I was your life.
You promised never to part.

(He): To treasure a word and to task you with unfaith is my fault. Of what count is a word to a great one like you?

Why should one seek in a word stability which one misses in Life? Women are to blame who turn thralls to words and ways that are not of the man.

(She): You said I had no equal. I now realise the truth of it. Where will one find another woman like me who trusted and suffered!

(He): How has compassion left the breast of a great one like you? Come to me but once and I will buy even your false word for a crore of gold.

(We supplied the words He and She for clarity. Eds.)

Is there no Magic?

Is there no magic that will transform you into a woman? Would then your courage become plain? Would you, entangled in the wiles of a lord like you, suffer pangs of the heart?

Not to consider good and bad, and honour, and to take to another man's wife, not to heed the talk of the world, and to grow little–was that wise?

Are you a foeman of a previous birth born as a husband to be revenged! Not too late. I shall not trust you, hereafter I shall trust in God!

I Took You for a Picture!

Chorus

I took you for a picture and looked.
You stole my heart.
Who may you be,
O gold parrot of the god of love?

If I pray to him will he send you to me? Beautiful one, at least giveme your heart.

To give and take is the rule of the world. Do the wise approve of stealth and silence? Is one to be cheated for going and seeing? Is open robbery a credit?

What do I want with a body devoid of mind? So take that also. In return for both I crave but a word. Oh, fair one, you may concede this much.

If you think the price small, I present to you lives to come, and I call the god of love to witness. May Vishnu who ruled the heart of Prince Anandaraja bless you!