Saturday, May 16, 2009

For Mother, To My Mother

Once, for two years or so, Delhi the capital of India was my abode. I use to live in Safdurjung as a paying guest. One night I dreamed that I am at home and laying in the sun on the terrace. My mother comes and ask me to have lunch. I replied in a little irritated voice that Mother I am writing a poem for you so don't disturb me. She went away and I stood murmuring looking at the sun सूरज की राख .....

I wake up from my dream as an air bubble comes to surface in a fish tank. The words which I was murmuring in my dream were right on my lips. I could not go to sleep again. I lay there repeating these words to myself and thus the following poem was born. It was a trans like situation... the words were just flowing through my mind and I was not aware of what I am writing or whether it make sense or not. when I finished with it, it was about 4 am in the morning, I put the notebook and pen aside and went through the chores of the day. In the evening when I came back to my room, I picked up my notebook, I read what I had written and I was pleased to see that this poem is nothing short of a biography of my mother....

Many a times, I have seen in my dreams, pages of some notebook that I am reading poetry written on it or have found myself writing poem or murmuring words. This is the only occasion when words actually followed me out of the dream.


अपने भीगे पल्ले के छोर से इक गांठ खोल कर
आज धुप में सुखाने डाली है उसने,
कुछ भीगी हुई किरिचे धुप की,
चौके में जो भीग गया था पल्ला उसका

बरसों पहले जब लांघी थी, इस घर की चोखट उसने
एक चुटकी किरिचे धुप की लेकर, देहरी से,
अपने पल्ले में गांठ लगायी थी

सूरज के पल्ले में भी है इक गांठ
मेरी माँ की मिटटी की
कहीं जलकर, राख न हो गई हो, अबतक ,
बरसो आग देती आई है सूरज को , माँ अपनी मिटटी की

From the Genie Corner

I am actually trying to blog most of my nazams and here is one of them which I said long ago. Also with this poem, I am trying to revive my Genie corner.

Well, I have, sometimes written poems for my friends, which mostly they wanted to include in their love letters. I found this situation very poetic and shoved it back in my mind to write about it when my mood ripes. Sometimes when I am itchy to write but no specific subject in mind, I recollect all those situations on which I wanted to write. One such day I resolved to write on this situation of love letters ( ख़त ) and here it is

कलम उठाया होगा जब ताब - ऐ - दस्त खो गई होगी
और उठाया होगा जब हर बात खो गई होगी
ख़त लिखने बेठी होगी जब बैठा न जाता होगा
देख के सादा कागज खला आँखों मै पड़ गया होगा

सलाम पर ही रो रो के ऑंखें सूज गई होंगी
अभी लिखा न होगा की साँसे फूल गई होंगी
जुबान पे आया होगा नाम जब बोला न जाता होगा
हाथों को जुम्बिश दी होगी जब लिखा न जाता होगा

हाल पुछा मेरा अपना अहवाल न लिखा गया
और तो सब कुछ कहा मामूल न लिखा गया
कुछ न बन पड़ा जब गर्मी - ऐ - वफूरे अहसास बढ़ी
दो भीगी ऑंखें अपनी ख़त में रख कर भेज दी

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Gustakhiyan ....

हर्फ़ तुम्हारी उम्र लेकर जाविदाँ हो जाते है
तुम्हारी साँसे लेकर धड़कते रहते है
तुम्हारे ख्यालों की रानायियतें पैकर इनका
तुमसे पैदा हुए है तुम्हारे जुड़वां कहलाते है

तुम भी तो जुड़वां हो इन्ही हर्फों की
तुम्हें इन्ही में धड़कता पाया है मैंने
जो रह गया था इनकी आँखों में
वही तुम्हारा उजाला देखा है मैंने

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Aarz Kiya Hai - 2

Just now recollected a nazam, which I wrote some 4-5 yrs back. Thought Just to blog it and would worry about translation and how it was conceived, all but later (Almost time to bed, if I have to be awake to enter the whirlpool (office) tomorrow)

Shaam hui dhaal chala hai aaftaab,
hum bhi ghar jakar apne, aab dhaal jayenge |

door talak hayaat ke koi sarsarahat nahi,
sanson ka jism mai dhasne ka aahsaas bhi nahi |

na deer se khayaal koi pahlu se uth kar gaya ,
hasraton ne karwat badli, na koi armaan he dukha |

ujalon ke gard bhi jhadai nahi paeraahan se aab taak,
murda saaya bhi jism ka mitti se uthaya nahi aab tak |

na kuch yaad aata hai, na hamari he sai-aa-taab rahi,
jaahan bujh chuka hai na aab aag mai aag rahi |

badaan ka aalav bhi dhanda ho chala hai aab uth jayenge,
hum bhi ghar jakar apne, aab dhaal jayenge |


Monday, May 11, 2009

Aarz Kiya Hai....

I have been thinking to pen religiously something for my blog. However I am aware of my limitations in prose. I feel at home in expressing myself through poetry especially urdu poetry.. in forms of Gazals/Sher/Nazam.

Well, today while cooking dinner (some two hours ago), the chain of my thoughts revealed a Sher to me, which I had said (wrote) long back [ in urdu poetry you don't write a Gazal/Sher/Nazam you always say for example you will hear people saying "maine ek sher kaha ...."

I remember I was in Pune (India) and I took the public bus to home from work. As I had to pass my time and also I was itching to say something....before I reached home, I came up with following couplet actually a "Makta"....

es ko bhala kahon  "Amit", ya usko bura kahon,
ye jo bijali giri ghar pe, ya wo jo ghar khaak hua ||

(Well let me try to translate it in English.....give me a hand please ........will you ?

What shall I consider of these two act "Amit",
is it good, the striking of lightning on my house, or is it bad, that my house turned charred  
)  -- oh well I tried at least......:)

CHOICES - Sometimes, its hard to distinguish between good and bad effect of a choice and sometimes, its hard to distinguish between good choice and bad choice. The couplet is my humble attempt to capture that very nature of choices that we face daily in our life.