it is interesting to see how the poet of urdu ghazal can talk about political matters under the cover of symbols and allegories....here is an example from Irfan Siddiqui..which seems to hint at the constructions and surveillance that characterizes the system of power...also note the speciously innocuous nature of the shair..
us ko rehta hai hamesha meri vehshat ka khayal
mere gum gushta ghazaalon ka pata chahti hai!
vehshat aur ghazaalon mein ek bahut interesting relation hai. The deer of the deserts (ghazaala, gazel in english) is an image that is very appropriate for the aashique (not the lover in the english sense), in its running after a smell(of love) that seemingly comes from outside but is actually coming from within(like the smell of musk). vehshat, has to do with madness, of a very different kind, it can only be understood, if at all, by visualising the running around of a trapped gazel or impala. To be able to know where one's gazels are, is an idiomatic phrase for knowing the reach and ability of one's mind. madness is threatening to institutions and establishments precisely because the gazels of the mind jump over the boundaries within which they are trapped.
there is another one by Irfan, which makes a similar political comment, Plato's cave appears in the background...this gives you an image of a dead society...completely incarcerated.
hoo ka aalam hai giraftaron ki aabadi mein
ham to sunte the ke zanjeer e giran bolti hai!
hoo ka alam means pin drop silence, and zanjeer e giran means the heavy chain of bondage.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Sunday, July 6, 2008
something new!
there are times when something comes back to one...almost as a revelation...the meaning of something dawns on one...as subtly as the flame of a newly lit candle grows in the darkness...this one had a similar effect on me...donno why? the theme ties up with different kinds of quests that echo within us...being articulated in different forms..
samandar ke safar mein, ek samandar hi nahin aata
bade naale, bade darya, bade taalab aate hain!
there is another one that probably explains or gives a mental scaffold to the one above...
aql main jo aa gaya, la inteha kyon kar hua
jo samajh mein aa gaya, phir woh khuda kyon kar hua!
like the immensity of the sea cannot be 'comprehended' by the human mind, but in the form of small water bodies, so is it that God cannot be 'comprehended' but only 'apprehended' in small measures...
and to top it all..Meer..on the same theme
kaash woh burqa moonh se hata de, warna phir kya haasil hai
aankh munde par unne jo deedar ko apne aam kiya!
samandar ke safar mein, ek samandar hi nahin aata
bade naale, bade darya, bade taalab aate hain!
there is another one that probably explains or gives a mental scaffold to the one above...
aql main jo aa gaya, la inteha kyon kar hua
jo samajh mein aa gaya, phir woh khuda kyon kar hua!
like the immensity of the sea cannot be 'comprehended' by the human mind, but in the form of small water bodies, so is it that God cannot be 'comprehended' but only 'apprehended' in small measures...
and to top it all..Meer..on the same theme
kaash woh burqa moonh se hata de, warna phir kya haasil hai
aankh munde par unne jo deedar ko apne aam kiya!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
poochte hain woh ke ghalib kauh hai...
- aahu e khutan
- Senior assistant professor at Zakir Husain Delhi College (Eve.) of the Delhi University
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
irfan siddiqui...here again.
it is interesting to see how the poet of urdu ghazal can talk about political matters under the cover of symbols and allegories....here is an example from Irfan Siddiqui..which seems to hint at the constructions and surveillance that characterizes the system of power...also note the speciously innocuous nature of the shair..
us ko rehta hai hamesha meri vehshat ka khayal
mere gum gushta ghazaalon ka pata chahti hai!
vehshat aur ghazaalon mein ek bahut interesting relation hai. The deer of the deserts (ghazaala, gazel in english) is an image that is very appropriate for the aashique (not the lover in the english sense), in its running after a smell(of love) that seemingly comes from outside but is actually coming from within(like the smell of musk). vehshat, has to do with madness, of a very different kind, it can only be understood, if at all, by visualising the running around of a trapped gazel or impala. To be able to know where one's gazels are, is an idiomatic phrase for knowing the reach and ability of one's mind. madness is threatening to institutions and establishments precisely because the gazels of the mind jump over the boundaries within which they are trapped.
there is another one by Irfan, which makes a similar political comment, Plato's cave appears in the background...this gives you an image of a dead society...completely incarcerated.
hoo ka aalam hai giraftaron ki aabadi mein
ham to sunte the ke zanjeer e giran bolti hai!
hoo ka alam means pin drop silence, and zanjeer e giran means the heavy chain of bondage.
us ko rehta hai hamesha meri vehshat ka khayal
mere gum gushta ghazaalon ka pata chahti hai!
vehshat aur ghazaalon mein ek bahut interesting relation hai. The deer of the deserts (ghazaala, gazel in english) is an image that is very appropriate for the aashique (not the lover in the english sense), in its running after a smell(of love) that seemingly comes from outside but is actually coming from within(like the smell of musk). vehshat, has to do with madness, of a very different kind, it can only be understood, if at all, by visualising the running around of a trapped gazel or impala. To be able to know where one's gazels are, is an idiomatic phrase for knowing the reach and ability of one's mind. madness is threatening to institutions and establishments precisely because the gazels of the mind jump over the boundaries within which they are trapped.
there is another one by Irfan, which makes a similar political comment, Plato's cave appears in the background...this gives you an image of a dead society...completely incarcerated.
hoo ka aalam hai giraftaron ki aabadi mein
ham to sunte the ke zanjeer e giran bolti hai!
hoo ka alam means pin drop silence, and zanjeer e giran means the heavy chain of bondage.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
something new!
there are times when something comes back to one...almost as a revelation...the meaning of something dawns on one...as subtly as the flame of a newly lit candle grows in the darkness...this one had a similar effect on me...donno why? the theme ties up with different kinds of quests that echo within us...being articulated in different forms..
samandar ke safar mein, ek samandar hi nahin aata
bade naale, bade darya, bade taalab aate hain!
there is another one that probably explains or gives a mental scaffold to the one above...
aql main jo aa gaya, la inteha kyon kar hua
jo samajh mein aa gaya, phir woh khuda kyon kar hua!
like the immensity of the sea cannot be 'comprehended' by the human mind, but in the form of small water bodies, so is it that God cannot be 'comprehended' but only 'apprehended' in small measures...
and to top it all..Meer..on the same theme
kaash woh burqa moonh se hata de, warna phir kya haasil hai
aankh munde par unne jo deedar ko apne aam kiya!
samandar ke safar mein, ek samandar hi nahin aata
bade naale, bade darya, bade taalab aate hain!
there is another one that probably explains or gives a mental scaffold to the one above...
aql main jo aa gaya, la inteha kyon kar hua
jo samajh mein aa gaya, phir woh khuda kyon kar hua!
like the immensity of the sea cannot be 'comprehended' by the human mind, but in the form of small water bodies, so is it that God cannot be 'comprehended' but only 'apprehended' in small measures...
and to top it all..Meer..on the same theme
kaash woh burqa moonh se hata de, warna phir kya haasil hai
aankh munde par unne jo deedar ko apne aam kiya!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)