Students seen as 'necessary nuisances' by top universities

Top-ranking universities regard students as "necessary nuisances" to secure research funding, but are failing young people when it comes to looking after their wellbeing, the incoming vice-chancellor at the University of Buckingham has said.

Sir Anthony Seldon, who recently left his post as Master of Wellington College, also said the lack of pastoral care by universities is leading to students' lives being wasted on drugs and alcohol.

His comments follow warnings of "barbaric and dangerous student club ceremonies, including drinking alcohol in industrial quantities and biting the heads off goldfish".

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Sir Anthony said: "I am sick to death of seeing the damage that drugs and alcohol abuse do to young people and I have seen far too many people at university go off the rails - and they and their parents sometimes never come back."

Whilst he had huge praise for some universities, he also said universities had failed to pursue proper pastoral care and their roles needed to include looking after young people on top of carrying out research.

"Many universities would say that they are primarily there to research but I would love to see this country develop a far more of a reputation for outstanding teaching and to take the focus of highly bureaucratised research which is becoming an ogre that feeds of itself.

"The balance has gone too far in favour of research and too little away from the undergraduate experience of life, the preparation for work, looking after their mental and psychological health."

He said great teaching in higher education was often sacrificed at the expense of academic research.Students seen as 'necessary nuisances' by top universities

Sir Anthony, who has turned out roughly 4,000 graduates during his time as headmaster, said: "Sometimes teachers find that they can't concentrate on the teaching because of the research.

"My experience of listening to my own children and those who have gone to university is that the lesser universities can often be better at teaching and can be better at pastoral care.

"The top universities focus too much on research and the students can be just cannon fodder - necessary nuisances - because you need the numbers.

"You speak to many university leaders and you ask them what they are trying to maximise and they would say research. Sorry chumps, it's not good enough, they need to be ranked equally on the quality of their teaching, which includes the whole experience.

"We have the total balance wrong that universities are being run in the interest of academics too much and university leaders are insufficiently in the interest of students.

"In the age of the internet where students can listen on line to the world authorities give lectures, students no longer need in the same way to be taught by great researchers - they want to be taught by great teachers."

Sir Anthony isn't the first one to express concerns about the transition from school to university.

Last month, William Richardson, general secretary of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses’ Conference, said that “low contact hours” and less demanding timetables in humanities and social sciences compared to medicine degrees result in students drinking to entertain themselves.

Mr Richardson also said there was “an unreasonable expectation of entitlement” to a degree from students with little work to do during the first semesters at university.

There have been recent reports of a worsening of the hard-drinking, drug-taking culture on campus that has led to the National Students Union to denounce British universities for failing to tackle lad culture.

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Being a University Education

There is no single idea of the university. Ever since its medieval origin, the concept of the university has continued to change. The metaphysical university gave way successively to the scientific university, and then to the corporate and the entrepreneurial university. But what, then, might lie ahead? Being a University both charts this conceptual development and examines the future possibilities for the idea of the university. Ronald Barnett pursues this quest through an exploration of pairs of contending concepts that speak to the idea of the university – such as space and time; being and becoming; and culture and anarchy. On this foundation is developed an imaginative exposition of possible ideas of the university, including the liquid university and the authentic university. In the course of this inquiry, it is argued that: Any thought that the idea of the entrepreneurial university represents the end-point of the evolution of the idea of the university has to be abandoned. The entrepreneurial university is excessively parochial and ill-matched to the challenges facing the university A responsibility of the university is precisely that of working out an imaginative conception of its future possibilities. The boldest and largest thinking is urgently required The fullest expression of the university’s possibilities lies in a reclamation of the universal aspirations that lay in earlier ideas of the university. The ecological university represents just such a universal aspiration, suited to the unfolding demands of the future. Being a University will be of wide interest, to institutional leaders and managers, higher education planners, academics in all disciplines and students of higher education, in educational policy and politics, and the philosophy, sociology and theory of education, and indeed, anyone who believes in the future of the university

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What is Computers Generation ?

Generation of ComputersBased on the characteristics of various computers developed from time totime, they are categorized as generation of computers. Generation of Computers First Second Third Fourth FifthGeneration Generation Generation Generation Generation

First Generation Computers.

                     The first generation of computers is said by some to have started in 1946 with ENIAC, the first 'computer' to use electronic valves (ie. vacuum tubes). Others would say it started in May 1949 with the introduction of EDSAC, the first stored program computer. Whichever, the distinguishing feature of the first generation computers was the use of electronic valves.

My personal take on this is that ENIAC was the World's first electronic calculator and that the era of the first generation computers began in 1946 because that was the year when people consciously set out to build stored program computers (many won't agree, and I don't intend to debate it). The first past the post, as it were, was the EDSAC in 1949. The period closed about 1958 with the introduction of transistors and the general adoption of ferrite core memories.

OECD figures indicate that by the end of 1958 about 2,500 first generation computers were installed world-wide. (Compare this with the number of PCs shipped world-wide in just the third quarter of 2006, quoted as 59.1 million units by research company Gartner).

Two key events took place in the summer of 1946 at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. One was the completion of the ENIAC. The other was the delivery of a course of lectures on "The Theory and Techniques of Electronic Digital Computers". In particular, they described the need to store the instructions to manipulate data in the computer along with the data. The design features worked out by John von Neumann and his colleagues and described in these lectures laid the foundation for the development of the first generation of computers. That just left the technical problems!

One of the projects to commence in 1946 was the construction of the IAS computer at the Institute of Advanced Study at Princeton. The IAS computer used a random access electrostatic storage system and parallel binary arithmetic. It was very fast when compared with the delay line computers, with their sequential memories and serial arithmetic.

The Princeton group was liberal with information about their computer and before long many universities around the world were building their own, close copies. One of these was the SILLIAC at Sydney University in Australia.

I have written an emulator for SILLIAC. You can find it here, along with a link to a copy of the SILLIAC Programming Manual.

Second Generation Computer

                         The transition from first generation to second generation of computers was not abrupt. There was all round development in technology, designs and programming languages. Diode and transistor technology formed the basis of the electronic switches and the switching time came down to around 0.3 microseconds.

Computers like TRADIC and TX-0 built in 1954 used this technology. During this span, the superior magnetic core memory was in use. Some of the significant innovations of this era are floating point units for the real number calculations and index registers for controlling loops. This saved the ordeal of writing self-modifying codes and made the access to successive elements easy.

In the field of programming languages, there were superior introductions like FORTRAN (1956), ALGOL (1958) and COBOL (1959). The second generation also witnessed the development of two supercomputers - i.e. the most powerful devices amongst the peers. These two were the Liverpool Atomic Research Computer (LARC) and IBM7030. These machines overlapped memory operations with processor operations and had primitive type of parallel processing. Some of the important commercial machines of this era were IBM 704, 709 and 7094. The later introduced I/O processing.

Third Generation of Computers 

In this era, there were several innovations in various fields of computer technology. These include Integrated Circuits (ICs), Semiconductor Memories, Microprogramming, various patterns of parallel processing and introduction of Operating Systems and time-sharing. In the Integrated Circuit, division there was gradual progress. Firstly, there were small-scale integration (SSI) circuits (having 10 devices per chip), which evolved to medium scale integrated (MSI) circuits (having 100 devices per chip). There were also developments of multi-layered printed circuits.

Parallelism became the trend of the time and there were abundant use of multiple functional units, overlapping CPU and I/O operations and internal parallelism in both the instruction and the data streams. Functional parallelism was first embodied in CDC6600, which contained 10 simultaneously operating functional units and 32 independent memory banks. This device of Seymour Cray had a computation of 1 million flopping point per second (1 M Flops). After 5 years CDC7600, the first vector processor was developed by Cray and it boasted of a speed of 10 M Flops. IBM360/91 was a contemporary device and was twice as first as CDC6600, whereas IBM360-195 was comparable to CDC7600. In case of language, this era witnessed the development of CPL i.e. combined programming language (1963). CPL had many difficult features and so in order to simplify it Martin Richards developed BCPL - Basic Computer Programming Language (1967). In 1970 Ken Thompson developed yet another simplification of CPL and called it B.

Fourth Generation of Computers 

In this generation, there were developments of large-scale integration or LSI (1000 devices per chip) and very large-scale integration or VLSI (10000 devices per chip). These developments enabled the entire processor to fit into a single chip and in fact, for simple systems, the entire computer with processor; main memory and I/O controllers could fit on a single chip.

Core memories now were replaced by semiconductor memories and high-speed vectors dominated the scenario. Names of few such vectors were Cray1, Cray X-MP and Cyber205. A variety of parallel architectures developed too, but they were mostly in the experimental stage.

As far as programming languages are concerned, there were development of high-level languages like FP or functional programming and PROLOG (programming in logic). Declarative programming style was the basis of these languages where a programmer could leave many details to the compiler or runtime system. Alternatively languages like PASCAL, C used imperative style. Two other conspicuous developments of this era were the C programming language and UNIX operating system. Ritchie, the writer of C and Thompson together used C to write a particular type of UNIX for DEC PDP 11. This C based UNIX was then widely used in many computers.

Another event that is mention worthy was the publication of the report by Peter D. Lax in 1982, which was sponsored by the US department and National Scientific Foundation. The Lax report, as it was called, emphasized on the need of initiatives and coordinated national attention in the arena of high performing computing in the US. The immediate response to the Lax report was the establishment of NSF Supercomputing Centers. Other centers that came up later were San Diego Supercomputing Center, National Center for Supercomputing Applications, Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, John von Neumann Center and Cornell Theory Center. These institutes had really been instrumental in providing computing time on super computers to the students, training them and also helping in the development of software packages.

Fifth generation of computers

In this period, computer technology achieved more superiority and parallel processing, which was until limited to vector processing and pipelining, where hundreds of processors could all work on various parts of a single program. There were introduction of systems like the Sequent Balance 8000, which connected up to twenty processors to one shared memory module.

This machine was as competent as the DEC VAX-780 in the context that it had a general purpose UNIX system and each processor worked on a different user's job. On the other hand, INTEL IPSC-I or Hypercube, as it was called, connected each processor to its own memory and used a network interface to connect the processors. With the concept of distributed network coming in, memory posed no further problem and the largest IPSC-I was built with 128 processors. Towards the end of the fifth generation, another parallel processing was introduced in the devices, which were called Data parallel or SIMD. In this system, all the processors operate under the instruction of a single control unit.

In this generation semiconductor memories became the standard were pursued vigorously. Other developments were the increasing use of single user workstations and widespread use of computer networks. Both wide area network (WAN) and local area network (LAN) developed at an incredible pace and led to a distributed computing environment. RISC technology i.e. a particular technique for the internal organization of CPU and the plunging cost of RAM ushered in huge gains in computational power of comparatively cheaper servers and workstations. This generation also witnessed a sharp increase in both quantitative and qualitative aspects of scientific visualization.

Sixth generation of computers (1990 -till date)

Of all those changes that have taken place in the field of computer technology, some changes are abrupt whereas others are defined. In the current period, this transition from one period to another is clear only in retrospect because most of them are gradual advancements of an already established system. This present generation of computer technology is highly related with parallel computing and several growth areas has been noticed in this area, in both hardware part and in the better understanding of how to develop algorithms to make full use of massive parallel architectures.

Though vector system is equally in use, it is often speculated that the future would be dominated by parallel systems. However, there are several devices where there are combinations of parallel-vector architectures. Fujitsu Corporation is planning to build a system with more than 200 vector processors. Another goal of this sixth generation is to attain Teraflops i.e. ten arithmetic operations per second and that can be done by building up a system with more than thousand processors. Currently, the processors are constructed with a combination of RISC, pipelining and parallel processing.

Networking technology is spreading rapidly and one of the most conspicuous growths of the sixth generation computer technology is the huge growth of WAN. For regional network, T1 is the standard and the national "backbone" uses T3 to interconnect the regional networks. Finally, the rapid advancement and high level of awareness regarding computer technology is greatly indebted to the two legislations. Just like the Lax report of 1982, the High Performance Computing Act of 1991, Information Infrastructure, and technology Act of 1992 have strengthened and ensured the scope of high performance computing. The former has ensured the establishment of high performance computing and communications programming (HPCCP) and the later has reinforced the necessity of making leading edge technologies available to academicians right from kindergarten up to graduation level.

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Muna Madan-Laxmi Parsad Devkota (poems)

Laxmi Parsad Devkota Born 1909 - 1959 was One of the Best and Most Known Poet in Nepali Literature Language. He is the Such a Legend in Nepali Literature and He is One of the Favorite and Best Inspiration of My Life therefore I Made this Blog For His Name Hope If There is Some Unknown Mistakes and Fault I am Apologies With All of all Visitors !!!!

 "Man becomes great by his heart not by his caste" 

Muna Madan is a short epic narrative (Khandakavya) written by the great poet Laxmi Prasad Devkota. Muna Madan is one of the most read books in Nepali literature. Many dramas are performed on Muna Madan. 

The rhymes of Muna Madan are song by many famous singers. Laxmi loved Muna Madan the most. Before his death once he mentioned " you can burn all my works but Never Burn My Muna Madan". 

Mahakavi gave local folk rhymes to the flavor of Muna Madan. Muna Madam was first publish on BS 1996, which was 1939 AD. After 70 years of first publication, it is as popular as it was at the time of first publication. 

Muna Madan is a story of a Nepali man who goes to foreign land in search of work leaving home his old mother and his loving wife. He becomes very ill on the way back home. His friends leave him in the middle of the forest and walk towards their destination. They reach home and convey false message of Madan's death on the way back home. 

However, a man comes to Madan's rescue and saves his life. The man happens to be from different caste (under old caste system on those days). Madan happens to be from a upper caste, he would even not drink water touched by that man. However, because the man takes care of Madan and takes him out of the mouth of death. Madan bow on him and touched his feet as respect. Madan then realize man becomes great from the heart and not from the race and ethnicity or caste. 

There Laxmi writes Meaning - "Man becomes great by his heart not by his caste". This is the best moral of the Muna Madan which is quoted in almost all article which mention the ill effect of caste system in Nepal. 

Muna when hear the news of Madan's death, she dies in despair. 

This is the story of each Nepali from hundreds of years. Because of poverty, now also we are working in foreign lands leaving our family behind at home. We are working thousands of miles away from our home to give our family a good food, shelter and better life ahead. The story of Muna Madan is repeating itself each day in our life somewhere with a Nepali.

The poems

[Muna] 

Fire, 

a fire burns in my mind. 

Don't leave, my life, 

don't leave. 

Brightness of eyes, 

my star of night, 

don't take your light. 

Tear open this chest of mine 

perhaps the pictures 

in my heart, 

when you see them, 

will change your mind. 

Give me poison 

to drink instead. 

See? My pain 

falls with my tears, 

but tears do not speak, 

thoughts stay within the mind. 

Love, even my tears 

fail to speak. 

[Madan] 

Darling Muna, 

don't speak like this, 

I will be returning. 

For twenty days 

I will stay in Lhasa, 

I will travel twenty days 

on the road. 

Smile at me, 

for if you would smile 

I could raise myself 

to Lord Indra's Heaven. 

My intentions 

are to achieve or to die, 

do not put a barrier of tears 

upon my roads. 

The cranes return 

with the sun. 

It will be a great day, 

the day of our meeting. 

[Muna] 

My Rama, my Krishna: 

the sun at night, 

smiles as you prepare your flight, 

how shall I combine these? 

Don't leave me here. 

I sparkle beside you, 

without you I am stone. 

Take me with you, 

hold my hands, 

we will face jungles, 

mountains, cliffs, 

and murderers. 

[Madan] 

Muna, my Muna, 

look at mother, look at her, 

the oil that feeds that lamp 

is about to dry. 

Both of us can't leave her, 

stay, care for her. 

Her eyes that have seen 

three twenty winters 

shine as she looks 

upon your face. 

[Muna] 

Pale hair, brittle body, 

a mother's love 

could not tie your feet. 

Shadows of her affection call 

but cannot hold you back. 

What will you gain 

in that land 

as precious as her love? 

Bags of gold, 

they are the dirt of hands, 

the soup of nettles, 

our vegetables, 

a peace in mind 

are better. Stay, 

satisfy your thoughts. 

[Madan] 

But what do I do? 

- a gulp of milk 

for my mother's throat, 

- her dreams to build a resthouse 

and taps for her people, 

- on your delicate hands 

pretty bangles, 

- a strong foundation for a home 

made insecure by loans 

these wishes sing in my mind, 

their voices are in my mind. 

The music moves my feet Muna. 

There is God above 

and I have a heart. 

I will cross those angry floods. 

I mean well, but if things go wrong, 

at least I will have died 

with a song. 

[Muna] 

You tighten the knot 

inside my heart. 

Do not return then, 

I will draw an unforgettable 

picture of your face 

for remembrance. 

The maidens of Lhasa dance, 

they seem as if they are carved of gold, 

their voices laugh like the streams 

as they play on barren hills and fields. 

Leave, my love, 

darkening the home and the city, 

even tears do not have strength. 

Maybe in darkness, 

memories will gleam 

or flash like lightning. 

And sorrow shower 

upon my clothes. 

[Narrator, describing Madan's journey] 

Naked earth, cloud mists, 

climbs are hot, flowers poison, 

poles with flags are death. 

There, see monasteries 

and Lamas with shaven heads. 

One day the roof of gold 

against the skies 

beneath the Potala Palace, 

Lhasa smiled. 

Yak skin walls, 

angels on cloth. 

Young Bhotenis white as bones, 

passers by bowing 

before gurus with sunken eyes. 

[Narrator, describing Muna at home] 

Pearls fell. Pearls fell 

when Muna smiled. 

But now she wilts. 

In sleep, tears wet her face, 

her days are long, 

her nights are long, 

her time is sad. 

In her voice, hear, 

there is a soft tearful drizzle. 

After the end of light, 

even a flickering lamp is bright. 

Women came with stories, 

men showed they cared, 

When you see a rose, brother, 

do not touch it. 

Do not with lust, spoil it. 

A wondrous being 

is a jewel of God 

do not try and corrupt it. 

[Muna] 

Go to the worms of the city 

and tell them your words. 

Make the moon fall, 

make mountains rise, 

I will wait for his feet 

and my Heaven, 

God has created 

four beautiful days, 

that is life, 

don't throw mud 

to spoil them. 

[Narrator, describing Madan's journey] 

Smooth pebble gold, 

new country, fresh light, 

the smell of musk. 

Madan stayed, six months passed 

before memories came like water: 

ill mother, Muna's eyes large with weeping. 

At night he was unable to sleep. 

Hiding a heavy bag of gold in clothes, 

gathering the musk, 

he met up with a few friends 

and left for home. 

[Muna] 

What a nightmare! 

A buffalo dragged me down! 

I fell in mud, mother, 

the darkest buffalo dragged me down. 

[Madan's mother] 

Come, darling, 

don't shiver with fear, 

I will take all the ill 

that comes to you 

upon my head, 

don't shake. 

[Muna] 

My eyelids quiver, 

my heart is pain, 

a shadow of evil 

has come into our home. 

Perhaps he has no time, 

perhaps he hopes to come soon, 

paths lead through high mountains 

maybe this is why he has not come. 

[Narrator] 

Madan falls ill with cholera on the road home. 

[Madan] 

Don't leave! Don't leave me 

to the crows and vultures! 

My friends, I will not die yet. 

I will stand, 

my throat is dry, 

my chest is burning, 

wipe these tears from my eyes, 

I still have breath. 

[Madan's companions] 

We have no medication 

and no one's here. 

Stay! Each of us 

has to leave someday, 

God will give you salvation. 

[Narrator] 

Madan wakes and leans on his elbows, 

his friends have left, the day drowns in red, 

wind sleeps, birds are quiet, it is cold, he falls. 

[Madan] 

What is this fire? 

Does the forest burn? 

Is this fire going to kill the dead? 

Is it a robber or a thief? 

Is it a demon? 

Madan decides to call for help. 

[Tibetan] 

Who cries?… 

Your friends are bad. 

My house is some miles away, 

you will not die. I will carry you there, 

you'll be all right. 

[Madan] 

Tibetan brother, you are a god, 

your words are wonderful. 

I have been told, 

I am a man of lineage 

and noble caste. 

I hold your feet with respect, brother, 

I am holding your feet. 

A man's greatness 

is determined by his heart 

not by the caste 

and the lineage he brings. 

[Narrator] 

The Tibetan carries him to his house, rests him on wool, gives him water and kindness, searches for herbs, crushes them, and makes him drink. He gives Madan yak milk and makes him strong. At Madan's home tangerines are in flower, thoughts are soft and sad. 

[Muna] 

You have forgotten me. 

Tell me, how could you forget? 

Which hateful god took you? 

I cannot see, hills are covered by curtains. 

The image I see of you is empty. 

Your voice is tells me stories of happiness 

in my sleep. I have no wings to fly with. 

I cannot search for my love. 

Why have you left our wealth 

and stayed in that city. 

Are you ill? Do your eyes fill up with tears 

when you think of me? 

Dust don't touch, thorn don't hurt. 

[Narrator] 

Madan wants to thank the Tibetan by giving him some of his gold, but the Tibetan refuses material rewards. 

[Tibetan] 

What will I do with yellow gold? 

My children can neither eat this gold 

nor will it give them warmth. 

My wife is dead, she is in Heaven, 

the clouds are her decoration, 

her jewels and gold. 

Madan weeps. 

[Tibetan] 

Chance blessed and I have helped. 

I will not barter goodness for wealth. 

Ask you mother, if you will, 

to pray for my children. 

[Narrator] 

Madan's mother sees a clear face 

and calls, the air responds, 

the breeze touches her. 

No tears in eyes, only a peace 

a softness of the evening 

reflected on that pond. 

She reaches out to Muna. 

[Madan's mother] 

My darling, it is time to leave, 

to cross the river, don't weep. 

Everyone walks this way, 

the rich and those who suffer poverty. 

Earth has to meet the earth. 

This flood of unhappiness, 

stand against it, do not fall. 

I saw the world flower, 

I saw it wilt, 

and I have known God. 

The seeds we plant here 

will grow in Heaven. 

What you have given, love, 

you will get back 

when you leave this place. 

Look at me, I take all 

I have done with me. 

The gold that you found in sleep, 

I will take with me. 

I want to leave now, 

but is Madan not coming? 

I want to see him before 

shutting my eyes to this world 

in case I die before I see him, tell him, 

the old woman asked him not to weep. 

[Muna] 

I will clean and shine 

the memories of you with tears, 

mother, don't worry, 

nothing has happened yet. 

[Narrator] 

Madan's mother begins to shake, 

her voice fades, 

she feels for Muna's hands at times 

and when she holds them, 

she asks in a faraway voice, 

"Where is my son?" 

A great wind shakes the branches, 

a crow screams, travelers stare at the peaks. 

Madan's head is on his palms, 

his arms rest upon his knees, 

the crow screams. 

Madan looks at the crow. 

[Madan] 

Did you see my city? 

My house is clean in that valley. 

Go to my mother, she has white hair, 

go to Muna, she is bright. 

Tell them that I am well, 

tell them not to worry about me, 

trees on the lawn must be ripe with fruit, 

go, eat, and tell them my story. 

[Narrator] 

There is strange screaming in the city tonight. 

wet eyes, dimmed lamps, strong winds, 

dogs cry, no moon. 

Rumor of Madan's death 

has reached home. 

See tears drip from leaves 

and a young broken tree. 

The old woman's breath struggles. 

Muna has fallen. 

[Madan] 

Why did I come, mother? 

What did I come to see? 

My mother, you have torn my chest. 

Look at my face, mother, look at me. 

I have come. I have sinned. Look at me. 

Why do you look afar when I am close, 

look at me. See me cry. Comfort me. 

Don't leave, come back, 

don't you recognize me? 

I could not even 

take care of you mother. 

What is this peace 

that has spread across your face, 

speak to me. How could I hurt 

that gentle heart of yours 

I have brought bags of gold, mother, 

I put them at your feet, 

we will make the resthouse 

and the taps, mother, 

where you point. 

Come back, don't look there, 

don't point towards the skies. 

[Narrator] 

Madan goes to his sister when he cannot find Muna. 

[Madan] 

Tell me, sister, tell me, where is my Muna? 

My mother is dying, but I do not see her. 

[Madan's sister] 

Your Muna went to her parents in sorrow, 

when you left and did not come back. 

[Madan] 

She left my mother alone? 

How could she leave her alone when I was gone? 

[Madan's sister] 

Muna went away from us 

when she was ill herself. 

She shone like a diamond 

among the daughters, 

she left because she was unwell. 

[Madan] 

How is Muna, who has been to see her? 

She must ask for water, 

who has given my Muna water to drink? 

[Madan's sister] 

She does not need water, she is cured and healed, 

she does not need your herbs. 

And my love, I would have met her 

but I could not find a road to take me 

to her parents' home. 

[Madan] 

If she is healed why hasn't she returned, 

why hasn't she come back? 

[Madan's sister] 

She searches for roads but there are no roads 

to lead her back from her parents' home. 

[Madan] 

This is strange, what do you mean? 

[Madan's sister] 

She is over the clouds, 

in that city heavy with light. 

[Madan] 

My sister, tell me Muna is here. 

Tell me she is upon this earth. 

Tell me when she will be back. 

[Madan's sister] 

She lives across the river. 

On the other side. 

But she laughs with the flowers, 

dances with water, 

blinks with the stars, 

speaks with the blackbird, 

and her eyes, they shine. 

She weeps with the dew 

and when she is sad, 

you will see the mist sinking. 

My brother, Muna is not dead, 

the birds have made songs of her, 

hear them sing. 

[Madan] 

Muna isn't dead, tell me she lives. 

Tell me she is at her parents' home. 

The roots of my hopes, 

the wings of my mind, 

tell me Muna is here. 

Tell me when she will be back! 

[Madan's sister] 

She is not here, on this side of earth. 

She lives where sorrow does not stain. 

Across imagination 

she picks flowers of happiness 

in the gardens of Heavens. 

[Madan] 

Cruel sister. Your words are death. 

Letting the buds of hope open, bloom 

and sway before my eyes. Making ears 

swallow gulps of poison. 

Muna, O Muna, you were the temple of worship 

and the chains of life. 

Life, why did you leave? 

My sister, let me look upon my Muna 

call her, sister, let me see her for a little while. 

O Muna, my Muna, come down to me, 

my queen, let me gaze upon you for a little time. 

[Madan's sister] 

My brother, my dear brother, take heart, 

this dirty life has to leave. 

In the end, the wind will take the fistful of ashes, 

this blossom of meat has to fall and wilt. 

[Madan] 

My sister, remember, "My chest wants to explode," 

she said. "What will we do with gold?" 

"It is better to eat nettles and satisfy our souls," she said. 

God, how could you create her 

and then ruin what you have made. 

How could you make this flower 

and then drag her down like this? 

You gave me this flower, 

how could you destroy her like this? 

My sister, when I first saw her, 

when I first saw Muna's face 

I never thought that Muna could die, 

sister, I thought she would never die. 

How could the fire take her? 

Where can I find her, 

hold her to my chest? 

Give me her ashes, sister, 

I want to rub her ashes on my chest. 

Mother, Muna, I will not stay here. 

I will not stay here sister, 

I will not stay. 

Do not look upon this earth Muna 

I am also coming. 

With token of tears, 

with the jewels of love 

that you left behind. 

The End

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