Dil mein ek lehar si..

With apologies to other languages I will have to say that when the heart is heavy, when the head is muddled up with a million conflicting thoughts or when you don't know what really ails you..there's nothing like Urdu poetry to comfort the heart and soothe the soul.

Here is a ghazal for that kind of mood.

दिल में एक लहर से उठी है अभी
कोई ताज़ा हवा चली है अभी

भरी दुनिया में जी नहीं लगता
जाने किस चीज़ की कमी है अभी (Favourite)

कुछ तो नाज़ुक मिजाज़ हैं हम भी
और ये चोट भी नयी है अभी

शोर बरपा है खाना-ए-दिल में
कोई दीवार सी गिरी है अभी

तू शरीके-सुखन नहीं है तो क्या
हम सुखं तेरी ख़ामोशी है अभी

याद के बेनिशाँ जज़ीरों से
तेरी आवाज़ आ रही है अभी

वक़्त अच्छा भी आएगा 'नासिर'
ग़म न कर ज़िन्दगी पड़ी है अभी


Here is a Youtube link for this ghazal in ustad Ghulam Ali's voice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoAlBP16mG8

Random Ghazal - Tera Haath Zindagi Bhar

Gam-E-Ashiqi Se Kah Do Rah-E-Am Tak Na Pahunche 

Mujhe Khauf Hai Ye Tohamat Mere Naam Tak Na Pahunche !!!

Main Nazar Se Pee Raha Tha To Ye Dil Ne Bad-Dua Dee 

Tera Hath Zindagi Bhar Kabhi Jam Tak Na Pahunche !!!

Nai Subah Par Nazar Hai Magar Ah Ye Bhi Dar Hai 

Ye Sahar Bhi Rafta Rafta Kahin Sham Tak Na Pahunche !!!

Woh Nava-E-Muzamahil Kya Na Ho Jis Mein Dil Ki Dhadakan 

Woh Sada-E-Ahale-Dil Kya Jo Avam Tak Na Pahunche !!!

Youh unhe Apne Dil Ki Khabarein Mere Dil Se Mil Rahi Hain

Main Jo Unase Ruth Jaun To Payam Tak Na Pahunche !!!

Ye Ada-E-Beniazi Tujhe Bewafa Mubarak 

Magar Aisi Berukhi Kya Ke Salam Tak Na Pahunche !!!

Jo Naqab-E-Rukh Utha Dee To Ye Qaid Bhi Laga Dee 

Uthe Har Nigah Lekin Koi Bam Tak Na Pahunche !!!

Wahi Ek Khamosh Nagma Hai "Ashfaq" Jan-E-Hasti 

Jo Zuban Tak Na Aye Jo Qalam Tak Na Pahunche !!!

Jagjit Singh - Koi Chaudhvi Raat Ka

Koi Chaudhvin raat ka chaand bankar, tumhare tassavvur mein aaya to hoga.
Kisi se to ki hogi tumne mohabbat, kisi ko gale se lagaya to hoga.


कोई चौदहवीं रात का चाँद बनकर तुम्हारे तसस्व्वुर में आया तो होगा,
किसी से तो की होगी तुमने मोहब्बत, किसी को गले से लगाया तो होगा


It's a wistful ghazal. And a little bit vindictive. The poet is addressing a proud beauty who has been admired and proposed to by many including, presumably, by the poet himself. But the poet says that even she must have loved someone. Someone must have been on the receiving end of her hugs.

This is a ghazal from Jagjit Singh's album Mirage. And I will never forget that name because I had to hunt long and hard to find the name of the album from the song. And after that I had to hunt to find the song itself. All for this last sher:

NigahoN mein shamm-e-tamanna jalakar, taki hongi tumne bhi raahen kisi ki,
Kisi ne to waada kiya hoga tumse, kisi ne tumheN bhi rulaaya to hoga.


निगाहों में शम्म-ए-तमन्ना जलाकर, तकी होंगी तुमने भी राहें किसी की,
किसी ने तो वादा किया होगा तुमसे, किसी ने तुम्हें भी रुलाया तो होगा.

With the light of hope in your eyes you must have waited for someone.
Someone must have made a promise to you, someone must have made you cry.

Goes without saying that it's a million times more beautiful in the original Urdu. But the beauty of this ghazal is in the words that create an image in your mind. Just the words are enough to put you in a wistful mood but when sung by Jagjit Singh in his smooth, velvety voice, they come to life and become a thousand times more powerful!.

Finally, the video.

Two Obituaries

Despite not following the news I came across these two items.

Steve Jobs

Recently, Steve Jobs passed away. People, my friends who know only too well how much I hate Apple, expected me to have a position on it. I don't have one. Simply stated, I didn't hate Steve Jobs as a person, but I did hate what he stood for. Nothing has changed. He was good for Apple, he was good for the stockholders as he did the company good and made money for the stockholders. I can't deny that and I am not going to try. He was horrible to the users of his devices and perpetuated a shitty device or rather a piece of crap range of devices. I hated that and I hated him for it. Nothing has changed. So, I would say that it's a great loss to his family that he passed away. I refuse to accept that it's any loss to the technology world, in fact, nothing is going to change, for better or for worse.

Jagjit Singh

I came across this item through a friend's Facebook comment. And was shocked. Jagjit Singh, for those who don't know, was an Indian music composer and singer who was an institute in himself. He took the Urdu poems known as Ghazals, composed music for them and sang them. He made this form of poetry popular among the common man. Even before him, there were other composers, other artists who used to sing ghazals. The difference was that they selected ghazals that were in pure and difficult Urdu and they sang them in Indian Classical style. Both these things made it harder for the common man to understand and enjoy this form of poetry/music. But Jagjit Singh started the trend to select ghazals in simple langauge, so close to Hindi that anyone could understand them, and he composed the music for them that was close to the film music but retained its unique Indianness. He introduced Western instruments in his music which made it ever more popular without losing the original charm of the poetry or music.

I myself started enjoying his ghazals while I was very young and that made me a regular listener of ghazals. So much so that I started discovering and enjoying other artists as well and could even enjoy the classical style of ghazals, as sung for example, by Ghulam Ali.

Now Jagjit Singh I consider a real loss to Indian music and to humanity. I feel that artists are real humans, because they are not propelled by the primal need to feed themselves or to make loads of money. They are motivated by the inner spark, the urge to create something beautiful and that something connects them to the high spiritual powers. I just wanted to devote this space to Jagjit Singh and say that we will miss him terribly! May God bless him!

Random Ghazal from my favourites

एक पल में एक सदी का मज़ा हम से पूछिए  

दो दिन की ज़िंदगी का मज़ा हम से पूछिए 

भूलें है रफ़्ता रफ़्ता उन्हें मुद्दतों में हम 

क़िस्तों मे ख़ुदकुशी का मज़ा हम से पूछिए 

आगाज़-ए-आशिक़ी का मज़ा आप जानिए

अंजाम-ए-आशिक़ी का मज़ा हम से पूछिए  

वो जान ही गये कि हमें उनसे प्यार है

आँखों की मुखबरी का मज़ा हम से पूछिए 

जलते दिलों मे जलते घरों जैसा ज़व कहाँ

सरकार रौशनी का मज़ा हम से पूछिए 

हँसने का शौक हम को भी था आप कि तरह 

हँसिए मगर हँसी का मज़ा हम से पूछिए 

हम तौबा कर के मर गए कब्ल अज़ल-ए-क़ुमार

तौहीन-ए-मैकशी का मज़ा हम से पूछिए  

Shayri 101 - Faiz - Dono jahaan teri mohabbat mein

A ghazal from Ustaad Faiz this time. 

दोनों जहान तेरी मोहब्बत में हार के

वो जा रहा है कोई शबे-ग़म गुज़ार के

[शब्-ए-ग़म = दुःख की रात]

Dono jahaan of course refers to this world and the world of heaven and hell. When a man is in love, he cares nothing for the pleasures of the Earth or Heaven, other than the love of his beloved nothing else matters to him. And this man, poet says has lost both the worlds in one night, a night of sorrow. The lover knows only one sorrow - of not having his love returned by the object of his affections. So, he gives up Earth and Heaven in order to gain the love of his life but as the reference to the night of sorrow indicates, he doesn't receive that love from his beloved. 

इक फुर्सते-ए-गुनाह मिली वो भी चार दिन

देखे हैं हम ने हौंसले परवरदिगार के

This one literally amounts to blasphemy. The poet says that the God gave us life to enjoy, he calls it a leisure to commit sins (anything and everything that's considered pleasure by the people is usually classified as "sin" by a majority of the religions). But, according to the poet, this window of opportunity is so short like 4 days. That's a popular expression to call the human life four days long. I am reminded of another sher:

मेरे महबूब ने वादा किया है पांचवें दिन का, 

किसी से सुन लिया होगा कि दुनिया चार दिन की है 

Back to Faiz's sher. The poet says that God gave us time to enjoy ourself but only such a brief one and that in the poet's view shows the God's courage in entrusting the world to Man. God was afraid of what chaos Man might create on Earth if he had more time, so he gave him only a short lifespan. The synonym used here for God is "parvardigaar" which means the one who provides everything, think about the word "Parvarish" and you'll see what I mean. One of my favourite shers even though the whole ghazal is my favourite. 

वीरां है मैकदा खुम-ओ-सागर उदास है 

तुम क्या गए कि रूठ गए दिन बहार के

[मैकदा = शराबखाना, खुम =घड़ा, सागर=गिलास]

The bar is deserted, the pitcher and the glass are sad. Ever since you left the Spring has left. Pretty simple once you know the difficult words. 

दुनिया ने तेरी याद से बेगाना कर दिया

तुझ से भी दिल-फरेब हैं ग़म रोज़गार के

Another one of my favourites. Even though I love you dearly, the work of the world must be done and such absorbing and distracting is this work in fact that it has made me forget even you. 

भूले से मुस्कुरा तो दिए थे वो आज 'फैज़' 

मत पूछ वलवले दिल-ए-नाकर्दाकार के 

Faiz says that today she smiled by mistake and I cannot describe how many desires and passions that one smile stirred up in my useless heart. Why is the heart useless? Because its one job is to attract and entice the one I love and it's not able to do that. Hence dil-e-nakardakaar or useless heart. 

Well, that concludes the second lesson in Shayri :). Your comments and questions are welcome as always. 

Momin's Ghazal - रोया करेंगे आप भी पहरों इसी तरह

A ghazal from Momin. It's just a great ghazal, and I love it for the second last sher.

रोया करेंगे आप भी पहरों इसी तरह
अटका कहीं जो आप का दिल भी मेरी तरह


ना ताब हिजर में है ना आराम वस्ल में
कम्बख़्त दिल को चैन नहीं है किसी तरह


मर चुक कहीं कि तू गम-ए-हिजरां से छूट जाए 
कहते तो हैं भले की वो लेकिन बुरी तरह


ना जाए वाँ बने है ना बिन जाए चैन है
क्या कीजिए हमें तो है मुश्किल सभी तरह


लगती हैं गलियाँ भी तेरे मुँह से क्या भली
क़ुरबान तेरे, फिर मुझे कहले इसी तरह


हूँ जाँ-बा-लब बुतान-ए-सितमगर के हाथ से
क्या सब जहाँ में जीते हैं "मोमिन" इसी तरह?

Ghazal Ka Murabba

I was feeling strangely creative last night so I wrote a silly little ghazal. And what's the use of writing anything if I don't post it and let people make fun of it.


याद जी का जंजाल हो गयी है,
मोहब्बत अब मलाल हो गयी है,


तेरी हाँ में जवाब है इसका,
ज़िंदगी एक सवाल हो गयी है


सिर्फ़ एक तेरे इश्क़ की रूह से,
मेरी हस्ती कमाल हो गयी है,


यह कैसा इंतज़ार है यारब,
हर घड़ी एक साल हो गयी है,


सचाई आज के इंसानो की,
एक बुझती मशाल हो गयी है,


ये दुआ का असर है आख़िरकार
हिज्र की रात शब-ए-विसाल हो गयी है,


ज़िंदगी ख्वाब थी कभी "साहिल",
आज बस एक मिसाल हो गयी है.


Then I realized there were still possibilities in this rhythm so,


इसी ज़मीन में आगे हज़ल सुनें.


अर्ज़ किया है कि..


किस तरह इस्तमाल हो गयी है,
मेरी टाई उनका रुमाल हो गयी है,


लैला-मजनू सी दास्तान थी मेरी,
आज विक्रम-बेताल हो गयी है.


रोटी दाँतों-काटी थी जिनकी कभी,
उनकी जूतों में दाल हो गयी है.


पहले हिरनी सी चाल थी उसकी,
बाद शादी भूचाल हो गयी है.


जब से बीवी का फोन आया है,
उनकी हालत बेहाल हो गयी है.


पोलीस-वालों से माँगता है दाम,
पानवाले की इतनी मज़ाल हो गयी है.


भूल जा सुर और ताल को "साहिल",
अब सिर्फ़ एक हॅड-ताल हो गयी है.

Ghazal from Shamim Jaipuri

कितनी राहत है दिल टूट जाने के बाद
ज़िंदगी से मिले मौत आने के बाद


लज़्ज़त-ए-सजदा-ए-सन्ग-ए-दर क्या कहें (उसकी चौखट पर सर झुकाने का मज़ा)
होश ही कब रहा सर झुकाने के बाद


क्या हुआ हर मसर्रर्त (खुशी) अगर छिन गई
आदमी बन गया गम उठाने के बाद


रात का माजरा किस से पूछें "शमीम"
क्या बनी बज़्म पर मेरे आने के बाद

The image is another ghazal by Shamim Jaipuri.

Edit: My apologies. Now that I read the ghazal fully (my speed is pathetic) the Shayar's name is Hasan. But it's a lovely ghazal so I am gonna leave the image unharmed.

Kabhi kitaabon mein phool rakhna kabhi darakhton pe naam likhna,
Hamein bhi hai yaad aaj tak wo nazar se harf-e-salaam likna.

Ghazal - Farz karo hum ahle-wafa hoN

When I was buying that song - O des se aane waale bata...I saw this ghazal in the same album "Paigham-e-Mohabbat" by Abida Parveen and the mat_la (the first sher) seemed kind of cheeky, so I bought it.

This time the whole ghazal in Hindi script so it's easier to read.

फ़र्ज़ करो हम अहल-इ-वफ़ा हों, फ़र्ज़ करो दीवाने हों
फ़र्ज़ करो ये दोनों बातें झूटी हों अफ़साने हों

फ़र्ज़ करो ये जी की बिपता जी से जोर सुनायी हो
फ़र्ज़ करो अभी और हो इतनी, आधी हम ने छुपायी हो

फ़र्ज़ करो तुम्हें खुश करने के ढूंडे हम ने बहाने हों
फ़र्ज़ करो ये नैन तुम्हारे सच-मच के मैखाने हों

फ़र्ज़ करो ये रोग हो झुटा झूटी पीट हमारी हो
फ़र्ज़ करो इस पीट के रोग में सांस भी हम पे भारी हो

फ़र्ज़ करो ये जोग-बिजोग का हमने ढोंग रचाया हो
फ़र्ज़ करो बस यही हकीक़त बाकी सब कुछ माया हो

इब्ने इंशा