ASAD - 45

Originally posted on rec.music.indian.misc in 1995

It is quite obvious and still it is often overlooked! That a Sher is a complete poem in itself !! Shers are self-sufficient in conveying the thought. Any couplet that is not self- sufficient, is not a Sher. Therefore all the Shers in a GHazal can be understood even when they are read as a single couplet. This is mandatory.

Very rarely I have heard Shers, which by themselves do not make any sense. One such Sher is given below.

hum bhi wahiN maujud the, hum se bhi sab puchhaa kiye
hum haNs diye, hum chup rahe, manzur tha pardaa tera
- Ibne Insha

I may be wrong, but this Sher (which is the second Sher in the GHazal) sounds senseless to me. Only when it is heard _AFTER_ the following one, (which is the first one) it makes any sense.

shab_bhar = raat_bhar

kal chaudaviN ki raat thi, shab_bhar rahaa charchaa tera
kisne kahaa ye chaand hai, kisne kaha cheharaa tera
- Ibne Insha

Now read the previous Sher again. Well, they were having a debate in this Sher, and in the second Sher (the previous one :-) ) the Shayar says, he kept mum about it.

Frankly I don't like such Shers. But the GHazal is sung beautifully by both GHulam Ali and Jagjit Singh. Another rare phenomenon, to like two tunes of the same GHazal.

- Abhay.
ASAD _also_ stands for "A Sher A Day" !