ASAD - 73

Originally posted on rec.music.indian.misc in 1997

A noted critic Allama Niyaaz Fatehpuri once said, "If I have all the Deewans, old and new, in front of me, and if I have to select only one Deewaan, apart from Meer's, then I will say that -- mujhe kulliyat-e-Momin de do aur baaki sab uTHaake le jaao" !! [Translation, mine] He was referring to the quality of the meter in Momin's poetry. It seems that people have found faults with respect to meter, in the poetry of almost all the major poets, including GHalib and Iqbal. But not Momin. He is supposed to have written technically perfect GHazals !!

But today, we are going to have a look at this sher from a different perspective. Find the keyword in this sher! :-)

taab = "chain" (in Hindi !) or patience [ It has other meanings too ].
hijr = judaai
wasl = milan

na taab hijr me hai, na aaraam wasl me,
kambaKHt dil ko chain nahiN hai, kisi tarah
- Momin

Be it "milan", be it "judaai", there is no peace of mind ! A typical state of anyone in love :-) Ok, now, what do you think is the keyword in this sher? In which word lies the power of the punch ?

IMHO, this is an example, where a sher has become great not by any novel thought, not by sticking to meter but rather by a great way of presentation. And in this great presentation, the word that strikes the most is "kambaKHt". Replace it by something like "paagal" (or a similar word which fits according to meter) and the grandeur is lost. Needless to say, this is IMHO.

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