Tag: poem

After I am gone…

There is this thing about being,
a fragile song that we all sing.
And then darkness comes beckoning,
for death is certain for all those living.

Here I have a request sincere,
when you are alone you must not fear.
So even when I am gone, my dear,
just look around and you will find me near.

You’ll find me in the pages that I write,
and in the poems that I recite.
In the sunshine bright,
and in the moonbeam at night.

It is possible that once in a while,
you will miss me halfway through a mile.
But you must then think of me with a smile
and my life would be worthwhile.

 

Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash

या मुझे अफसरे शाहा न बनाया होता – ज़फर

Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal king was also a poet. Though his literary standing was not as high as as his Ustad (Mohd. Ibhrahim Zauk) or his contemporaries Ghalib and Momin; his writings are much respected and appreciated. Zafar was a king (though in British raaj his kingdom did not extend beyond the red fort) and a freedom fighter.

This ghazal is one of his finest works specially when you read it in context to India’s freedom struggle and a helpless (and impotent when it came to doing anything for his country and men) king’s sentiments.

या मुझे अफसरे शाहा न बनाया होता
या मेरा ताज गदाया न बनाया होता

खाकसारी के लिए गरचे बनाया था मुझे
काश संगे-दरे-जाना न बनाया होता

नशा-ए-इश्क का गर ज़र्फ दिया था मुझको
उम्र का तंग न पैमाना बनाया होता

रोज़ मामूरा-ए-दुनिया में खराबी है ‘जफर’
ऐसी बस्ती से तो वीराना बनाया होता

अफसरे शाहा – शहंशाह
गदाया – भीख में मिला हुआ
खाकसारी – नम्रता, politeness
संगे-दरे-जाना – महबूब के दरवाज़े का पत्थर
ज़र्फ – योग्यता
तंग -छोटा, पैमाना – नाप actual meaning of paimana is wine goblet
मामूरा – शहर

चाँद का आइना

कल शब बड़ी देर तक निकला रहा चाँद
चाँदनी गिरती ओस को पिरोती रही
रात घिरती रही
कल शब तुम्हारी अलसाई बाहों में आने को
मचलता रहा चाँद
बेदम ठंड़ी साँसो को गर्म करता रहा चाँद
कल शब बहुत उदास था चाँद
सितारे थे तुम्हारी आगोश में
राह तकता रहा चाँद

-स्वाति सानी ‘रेशम’
کل شب بڑی دیر تک نکلا رہا چاند
چاندنی گرتی اوس کو پروتی رہی
رات گھرتی رہی
کل شب تمہاری السائی  باہوں مین آنے کو
مچلتا رہا چاند
بے دم ٹھنڈی سانسوں کو گرم کرتا رہا چاند
کل شب بہت اداس تھا چاند
ستارے تھے تمہاری آغوش میں
راہ تکتا رہا چاند

ؔسواتی ثانی ریشم –

Catharsis

Sunset at Ambazari lake Oct, 1991
Sunset - October, 1991

A long time ago, there was a young girl, in love with a boy who said he loved her but can not marry her for reasons not known. The girl was sad, disappointed and angry at being rejected and knew she must learn to deal with it. It was one evening in the month of October she stood on the lakeside and wrote these words…

Continue reading Catharsis

The Old Pier at Port Blair!






I wondered at the magnificence of the pier in eighteenth century made,

And thought why its beauty with passage of time does not seem to fade.

The pier stood proudly with iron legs embedded in waters oh so blue,

And the docks below came alive, spoke to me and offered some clue.

“Glorious ships, men and action I have seen” to me the old pier spoke,

Heroes and beautiful ladies as well as dastards who went plain broke.

My heart holds enchanting tales of success and defeat, sorrow and joy,

Many untold stories of romance and grandeur, of the great days gone by.

The grand and splendid memories of yore make me evergreen and gay,

The reminiscences of yesteryear act like magic, keeping old age at bay.

– Nadeem Sani

Covenant

Eons ago, a covenant made between us so true,

In every life and form, our meeting was to be due. 

Meet, befriend, love and be together in every life,

But this time you chose to be someone else’s wife.

Through different times we have nurtured this pact, 

And met in different lives, that’s an irrefutable fact.

For you my beloved, I have fought glorious wars,

And our name and fame had spread wide and far.

You were a princess and me an infatuated slave,

Contrary to the royal decree, for you I did crave.
Our covenant held true and when you  came to me,

Killed for love in that life, we were destined to be.

And once, a poor farmer I was who tilled the land,

Everyday you brought me lunch, fed me by hand.

Together we eked out a living from the fertile soil,

Happy and content, the whole day we did toil.

Throughout this life I have sought you far and wide,

Now that we met, by our covenant you must abide.

You are citing reasons, limitations and obligations,

And breaking our covenant without real justification.

This life is different, my endearments you don’t brook,

Violate all vows of togetherness you and I once took.

Covenant, promises, love, eternity don’t mean a thing,

You only look for security and comfort this life can bring.

Grant me a wish, let us meet once again I pray,

Let us keep the covenant even if only for a day.

Retrospection!

Like cats hissing and spitting in an alleyway dark,

Or dogs who snarl, growl and at each other bark.

With a feral, ferocious, unholy intensity we fight,

Trying to annihilate each other with all our might.

Of what use is this fierce battle, this pointless war,

                      Where both you and I are the losers by far?

Aasim’s poem on planets

Aasim’s Summer Holidays started from yesterday and as expected, the first day of staying home he got throughly bored -here’s a creative result of his boredom- he told me to write down (as he can’t write himself) a poem he made on planets

Mercury is the hottest planet
Venus is molten and very hot too
Earth is the third and we just live there
Mars has storms and no body can live there
Jupiter is medium temperature
Saturn is very little far from the sun
Uranus is cold planet and so is Neptune
Pluto is coldest planet and nobody can live there because they will freeze
Sedna is a very small planet
and Quaoar is a planetoid

P.S Aasim is 6.5 yrs old .