When it all ends!

One thing which I like about problems are that they are solutions of their own... I don't mean to confuse you right in the first line of the post but then it is interesting how problems can lead to their own solution... Whosoever created the concept of PROBLEMS needs to be credited.. The thing is, I recently reread one of my favorite lines from Ghaalib..

Kaid-e-Hayaat aur Bandh-e-Ghum Assl me dono Ek Hain...
Maut Se Pehle Aadmi Ghum se Neezaat Paaye Kyon?

Dil Hi to hai naa Shang-O-Khist, Dard se Bhar Na aaye Kyon,
Royenge hum hazzaar Baar.. Koi hume Rulaaye Kyon..


I remember paraphrasing it in one of my last posts here.. The fact is.. problems keep you alive.. and they definitely do... but the most interesting thing which I like about problems is that they solve themselves.. how they do that?? Well.. its put really well by Ghaalib again..

RunnJ se Khugar Hua Insaan to Mitt jaata Hai RunnJ..
Mushkilen Mujh par padi itni ki Aasaa Ho gayin..

Yun hi gar rota raha Ghaalib to ai-Ehale-Jahaan,
Dekhna in bastiyon ko tum, ki Viraan ho gayin....!

Once used to pain, the pain cease to exist....
The troubles so many, befell on me... that everything got solved...!

If Ghaalib continues to cry this way O dwellers of this world...
See then how all these settlements full of life lose their lusture for ever...

Ask me how true is that??? Well while I am typing this post out I am preparing a presentation which I need to give this Sunday... Chatting to two of my friends (which is equally important), replying to some important emails and fighting the mosquitoes and frogs who want their share of my attention! And its weird how I am swiching contexts... from Ghalib to OpenSource to marketing to day to day life to blowing away mosquitoes... whatever the case may be I am asking everything for time... and because other side of each of these conversations are giving me that **TIME** which I need, I think I am doing them all...

But then again, I said I am doing them all.. that reminds me the role of my mind in solving my problems.. reminds me how I can think of my problems (or whatever I am calling to be my problems... FYI nothing which I am doing right now is my problem) can be so easily redefined as **No Problems**! Reminds me of what Ghalib says about the optimistic lover..

Unke Dekhe se jo aa jaati hai muh pe Raunak..
Wo samajhte hain Ki Beemaar Ka Haal Achha hai..

Dekhiye Paate Hain ussaak Buttoon Se kyaa Faiz..
Ek Brahman ne kaha Hai ki ye saal Achhha Hai...

Hamko Maaloom hai Jannat ki Haquiqat Lekin...
Dil ke Khush Rakhne ko Ghaalib ye Khayaal Achha Hai..


Looking at my flushed face on their arrival...
They think that the condition of this deseased soul it fine..

Lets see what yields these lovers get out from these stones..
For, a brahman has claimed this year to be good...

I know the reality of the heavens but then..
Its a thought, great to keep my heart entertained...!


Sometimes, thoughts can do wonders.... questioning their reality or validity can prove to be sheer stupidity, or might be suicidal if I can call happiness to be purpose of living... So problems are just thoughts after all.. and their definition still remains in the confines of my mind.. so be it..

As I said before.. while writing this (or rather scribbling this) post, i have been juggling in between many tasks.. and at the same time my laptop battery has been threatening me.. but whatever the case may be.. i am done with this post.. i am also almost done with my presentation!!

Decision to write again...

I don't remember when I wrote something last... in this mechanical life, things of intellectual value now seem to elude me or should I say, ignore me. This transition from ardent poet to ardent programmer happened so fast that I could hardly even realize that it happened! But then again, I have been trying to convince me for some time that I still have it in me... It might be just a belief which I am entertaining in my head or it might be true that I have still got it.. but whatever the case may be, its equally true that it has been long when I wrote last... I wish writing was like wine, (I know it for a fact that poetry and writings are but not so sure about the art itself) which could become more desirable with time.. but whatever it is, i am happy that I have decided to write, or at least read again...

Well nevertheless, here is something which i scribbled on my organizer during one of my those "lonely" travel...

Ishq ki zid kar baitha hai dil aaj ki shab,
Koi to mehsoos kare iski khalish aaj yaa rab...

Rote rahe ham hizr me mushtaaq bane,
Bezaar hue baithe hain jo, wo aayenge kab...

Khaton ka har zarf geela hai mere ashqon se,
Unke jwaab ke do lafz hum paayenge kab...

Roye, cheekhe yaa chaahe jo bhi apna haal kare,
Shama ki tapish numayan hogi partav-e-khur aayenge jab!

The adamant heart is insisting on falling in love tonight,
Someone at least, should feel its pinch today oh lord...

Crying is all what I did while being a suitor of love left in separation,
When would they come who are sitting ignorant of me and my love...

Every inch of the letters are wet with my tears,
When will I find those two words of their reply...

Cry, shout or make anything out of its existence...
The candle put to flames would find peace, when rays of sun would hit...

A nazm little known

This perticular sher Jagjit ji didn't include in his song Kabse hun kya bataaun... in the album Mirza Ghalib, but it carries a lovely meaning and i like it a lot.. so its here for u all :)

Milti Hai Khushbu-e-yaar, naar Iltehaab me,

Kaafir Hun Jo na Milti ho Raahat ajaab me!

Kaasid ke aate aate khat ek aur likh rakhun,

Mai jaanta hun jo wo likhenge jawaab me!

The second sher is ofcourse sung by him in the song...

The meaning goes this way...

I get the fragrance of my lover in the flames of hell,
I am not on the true path of my religion (here the religion being love) if I don't get relief in this pain!

By the time the messenger returns, I will keep one more letter ready,
Because I very well know what is going to be the reply!


I hope you guys like this one and appreciate the meaning and feelings of the nazm :)

Few of my favourite nazms with meaning!

The best ghazals I have heard till this date are mostly by Mirza Ghalib. He is one of the best poets urdu ever saw! He had a bleeding heart of a lover and thoughtful mind of a saint. I love his works and Jagjit ji has done a great job singing some of Ghalib's best nazms. I am putting down a few of my fav. lines and for the convenience of those who are not very well versed in Urdu i am also giving an english translation (My Urdu sucks so please forgive me for being so audacious )Works of Mirza Ghaalib need very careful reading in order to understand them, but trust me, the meaning they carry make them worth the pain


1. Ye na thi hamaari kismat ki visaal-e-yaar hota,
agar aur jeete rehte to yahi intezaar hota!

Koi Mere dil se pooche tere teer-e-neemKaSH ko,
Ye khalish kahaan se hoti jo Zigar ke paar hota!

Kahun kisse mai ki kyaa hai, shab-e-ghum buri balaa hai,
Mujhe kya bura tha marna agar ek baar hota!

Meaning goes something like this:

->This was not my fate that i get to see my love (visaal - to come face to face)
If i had been living any further, this same wait would have continued.

->Some one should ask me about the half pulled arrows which you hit,
Where would have been this pinch if the arrow would have went across my heart!

->Whom should i go and complain what a curse this night of seperation is?
What bad it would have been for me to die if only it was for once!


2.
Dil hi to hai na sangh-o-kisht, dard se bhar na aaye kyon,
Royenge ham hazaar baar koi hame rulaaye kyon?

Kaid-e-hayaat aur band-e-ghum asal me dono ek hain,
Maut se pehle aadmi ghum se nizaat paaye kyon?


->Its heart only, not some stone or brick, why souldn't it get overwhelmed with pain and chagrin?
I will cry thousand times why should some one make me cry?

(this line describes life the best!)
->The bondage of life and bondage of pain (stuggle, dejection) is the name of the same bondage,
Why should some one be liberated from this struggle and dejection before his END?


The peotry of Mirza Ghalib is very deep and requires lot of efforts to understand.... for example in the verse Koi mere dil se pooche tere teer-e-neemkash ko... the reader will have to comprehend that if a arrow is hit with only stretching upto half on the bow, it will not go with full force and will only get fixed in its target instead of coming out from the other end of it... thus it will create a prick when it will hit!

If any poet in Urdu did the best justice to love, romance and emotions with words... it was no doubt Mirza Ghalib!