It amuses me how once one starts loving a place, one wants to know everything about it…its joys and victory, pain and defeats. I always knew that Varanasi is a city situated between the two rivers varuna and Assi hence called Varanasi. That it is the oldest city in the world, Nothing could destroy it because it is balanced by lord Shiva himself on its own Trishul (Three spiked spear). I know Birmingham city as the back of my own hand, but not so much about its name or its origin till I digged in.
Birmingham means home (ham) of the people (ing) of the tribal leader Birm or Beorma.
City was established around late sixteenth century. It is the most populated city of U.K. after London and serves as the heart of the nation, with a strong industrial and commercial links. It has been the home of many literary and scientific geniuses and business ventures, who made the name worldwide. To name a few William Murdock, who worked for James Watt and Mathew Boulton another famous son and business pioneer of Birmingham invented the first gas light. Watts became immortal for his contribution to civilization as it is still used world-wide to measure electricity- 40 watts , 60 watts etc.
Another famous son of the region is William Shakespeare. Which literature lover does not know this towering Bard! George and Richard Cadbury are other two famous sons of Birmingham. Cadbury chocolate factory makes the city proud by its world famous cadbury chocolate. This area is also known as the black city has got a long reputation for arms, cars and engineering precision tools. World famous Rolls Royce and Jaguar as well as weberley scott pistol all had their home here .
Today it is a beautiful and thriving city with a diverse culture with many parks ,temples , Mosques which serve as the host of city’s’ diverse needs. Its Cenetary Squire is made up of more than half a million individual bricks – all hand laid !.
As it is centred on travel, In this special issue of Lekhni, we have assembled four beautiful poems describing Birmingham and Varanasi.
There is a beautiful selection of Ted Hughes poems and a thoughtful selection of quotes on travel by famous writers.
In kids Corner also there is some interesting stuff. Birmingham’s young and talented poetess Satchi Antoinette D’sa has joined us with a brilliant poem on mobile and love. It is a very fresh and modern , yet thoughtful poem for a thirteen year old. Enjoy a good read and please, please send your feed back for our guidance.
See you again in month of June with a fresh new Lekhni on ‘ disarmament’. Its’ merits and demerits.
Shail Agrawal