ASAD - 41

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

In connection to the discussion on name ASAD, let me present a Sher which emphasizes the usage of 'taKHallus'. Most of the Shayars write using an alias or "taKHallus". They are better known by their 'taKHallus' rather than by their orginal name. eg. Mirza AsadullaaKHaN used 'GHalib' and in his early days he used the name 'Asad', which I have been so shamelessly using in the catchline of this series.

The 'taKHallus' appears in the last Sher or 'maqta' of the GHazal. The tradition started, IMO, because in the past, this was the only way to claim the credit. It can appear in the 'maqta' without having any effect on the meaning of the Sher or a Shayar can use his 'taKHallus' to address himself.

But sometimes the usage is just brilliant. Following Sher presents a rare example, where the Shayar is using the MEANING of his 'taKHallus' !

qaasid = postman

koi naam-o-nishaaN puchhe, to ai qaasid bataa dena
taKHallus 'Daag' hai, aur aashiqoN ke dil me rehate haiN
- Daag Dehalvi

And with Shers like this, why not ?

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

ASAD - 40

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

I have deliberately kept low difficulty level for the Shers in this series. Because I do not want to scare away a casual reader :-) So I cannot include most of the Shers by GHalib.

But once in while, a difficult Sher may not be so harmful. Actually this Sher may not be difficult at all, given the poetic tastes of many RMIMers. But when I read it almost a decade ago, I was still in my teens. At that time it took me several minutes to understand it. But the "nasha" of such a Sher remains forever.

GHam_KHwaari = friendship
sa'i farmaana = to make efforts

dost GHam_KHwaari me meri, sa'i farmaayenge kya ?
zaKHm ke bharane talak, naKHun na baDH jaayenge kya !
- Mirza "ASAD"ullakhaN 'GHalib'

Here is my interpretation. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Ye dost meri kyaa madad karenge ? Wo haath, jinse meri zakhm ko raahat mil sakati hai, unhi haathoN ke naakhun, mere zakhm ke bharane se pehale hi badh jaayenge, aur mujhe dubaaraa zakhmi karenge.

My friends, who could support me, have a tendency to restart hurting me, when I am still undergoing the bad phase of my life.

What do you think ?

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

ASAD - 39

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

Why have you people left India and started living abroad ? What is the reason for the brain-drain from India ? Why is a "foreign-returned" so envied in India ? :-) :-) I have no intention of making a SCI out of RMIM. There are enough number of others trying to do so. All I wanted was a preamble to this Sher, which you NRIs may find interesting.

izzat use mili, jo watan se nikal gayaa
wo phool sar chaDHa, jo chaman se nikal gaya
- ??

Not bad :-)

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

ASAD - 38

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

"Hello", "Hi", "Good Morning" etc. etc. When too persons meet each other, how warmly they offer greetings. They smile at each other, shake hands and what not. But is this all just a "dikhaavaa" or there are really some nice feelings in the hearts ?

It does make sense to ask such questions while living in a Western Society where such protocols are followed religiously but, I suspect, these are often shallow. At least my experiences during the 2 years of stay in Europe confirmed it. Not that we Indians are any better, but it struck me most in a Western Society.

So we come back again to Ahmed Faraz.

tahazeeb = etiquette
iKHlaas = sincerity

tum tahazeeb ko bhi iKHlaas samajhate ho, 'Faraz'
dost hota nahiN har shaKHs, haath milane_waalaa
- Ahmed Faraz

Next time you shake hands with somebody remember this Sher :-)

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

ASAD - 37

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

The credit for making GHazals popular in the Indian subcontinent also goes to the singers who made it their profession. Without them GHazal would have remained accessible only to the elites. In the early days of Hindi Movies, GHazals were used quite often. But with the changing times, GHazals started becoming rare and rare. Perhaps this was bound to happen as GHazal is a very very restrictive form of Poetry. I mean the structure is very rigid for a GHazal.

During the early 80s, GHazal was revived again. Not by the Hindi Movies, but essentially by the likes of GHulam Ali, Mehdi Hasan, Jagjeet Singh, Anup Jalota and Pankaj Udhas.

I was introduced to GHazal by Pankaj Udhas who was the first one to shot to fame in the masses. I still remember the first Sher I heard and liked from the GHazal "THandi hawa ke jhauNke" ....

bistar ki silbatoN se, ye mehasoos ho raha hai
toda hai dam kisine, karawat badal badal ke
- ??

Pankaj Udhas's choice of GHazals was substandard and I soon graduated to GHulam Ali. But still, I owe a lot to Pankaj Udhas. Because ot him, started my lifelong obsession.

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

ASAD - 36

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

Shayars can go to any extent to praise their "mehaboob". There are infinite examples of comparisons with "chaand" being used to describe the beauty. But not always! If the "mehaboob" is too proud of her beauty, then the Shayars do not hesitate in being ruthlessly realistic. How about the following Sher ...

aaj wo kaali ghataaoN pe haiN naazaaN lekin
chaand si roshani baaloN me utar aayegi !
- Dr. Zarina 'Sani'

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

ASAD - 35

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

Very rarely Shers DO NOT contain any Symbolisism. The concepts like "Shama- parwana" are in existence for centuries. But when a Shayar uses unconventional similes, he should be praised for being innovative. This is the 20th century trend in Shayari, where importance is given to using "Symbolic hint" or in Urdu "alaamati ruj'haan".

Here is an amazing example. No difficult words this time :-)

wo to bataa rahaa thaa, bahut door ka safar
zanjeer kheeNch kar, jo musaafir utar gayaa
- Mid'hatul AKHtar

Without explicitly mentioning anything about "loss of a beloved", the Sher manages to hurt you. And that's why this Sher is a great Sher !

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

ASAD - 34

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

Today's Sher has not so much of an intrinsic value, as the historical importance it has. It's a substandard Sher. But ... but it is of importance to this series, as it is from the first "deewaan" ever to be published !! The Shayar was a king of Deccan, Mohammed Quli Qutubshah. Shayari at his time was quite primitive and this is clear from the following Sher.

piyaa baaj pyaalaa piyaa jaaye na
piyaa baaj yak til jiyaa jaaye na
- Mohammed Quli Qutubshah

The local language, Deccani, has a strong influence on this couplet. So if you have any questions, ask Sami. He is from Hyderabad where this language is spoken. :-)

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

ASAD - 33

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

Explaining a Sher is worse than explaining a joke. :-) You have to understand it yourself, to appreciate it. Therefore in this series, I never attempted to give translation of the complete Sher. I restricted myself to giving only the meaning of the difficult words and occasionally some pointers to the interpretation.

Shers falling in this category are not necessarily difficult. They can be extremely simple too, and therefore perhaps difficult to appreciate.

Here is another Momin gem, which is so simple that, if it touches your heart the instant you read it then you will like it. Otherwise you will say, "Hey what's so great about it ?" !

nibaah karana = waada nibhaana

ham bhi kuchh KHush nahiN wafaa karake
tumane achchha kiya, nibaah na ki !!
- Momin

Actually it is deceptively simple. There is a nice little twist in it. If you get it, then great , otherwise just forget it. I just can't explain the greatness of this gem.

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

ASAD - 32

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

If you remember the tele serial GHalib, then perhaps you remember a scene in which a Mehfil was shown. In this Mehfil GHalib is ridiculed due to the difficulty of his Shers. But there sat a Shayar whose GHazal receives praise from GHalib himself and others too. He was much more famous than GHalib at that time. His name is Momin !

Momin is famous for his legendary "nazaakat" , a quality which at time, were considered as must for becoming a good Shayar. He displayed a lot of "subtlety" also at times. His Shers can really touch your heart.

Here is a little Momin gem.

kyuN_kar = kaise

haal-e-dil yaar ko likhu kyuN_kar
haath dil se judaa nahiN hota !!
- Momin

Here is my interpretation.
Dil me dard itna hai, ki haath bas dil pe rakhkha hai. Use ye fursat hi kahaN ki wo dil se
judaa hoke likhane ka kaam kare!

Please suggest any better interpretation.

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

ASAD - 31

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

Iqbal! A very very famous and prominent figure in Urdu Shayari. Although I do find it ironical that this great poet, after writing "saare jahaaN se achchha, HindostaN hamara", supported creation of Pakistan; there is no doubt that he was a Shayar of top rank.

His Shayari has his own unique style. Thought provoking, asserting importance of self- realization and never never gowing down to the level of cheapos. He writes with his head held high, and asks the reader to do the same.

His Shers many times contain hidden attacks on the British Govt. Which is but natural considering his support for the freedom movement. So many of his Shers sound attractive only if one makes this connection.

aa'ine-zabaaN_bandi = "aa'in" means 'law' and "zabaaN_bandi" means "restriction on
speech". So the entire thing means 'law against freedom of speech'.

ye aa'ine-zabaaN_bandi hai kaisa teri mehfil me
yahaaN to baat karane ko tarasati hai, zabaaN meri
- Iqbal

"There is so much to speak about, and the law doesn't allow it"! Had it been any other Shayar, I would have thought it as just another typical Sher. But Given that it is by Iqbal, I think it has a connection to the freedom struggle.

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

ASAD - 30

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

Since the Sahir-Gulzar discussion was going on a couple of days back, let me present a very famous Sher by Sahir. As far as my knowledge goes, Sahir wrote very few GHazals compared to his many Nazms.

"How do you write such nice Shayari?" is a question asked to many Shayars. Sahir answered the question for once and all. This famous Sher of his, has been used by many Shayars to answer such questions.

tajurbat = plural of "tajurba" meaning experiences
havaadis = occurrences/mishaps

duniya_ne tajurbat-o-havaadis ki shaql me
jo kuchh mujhe diya hai, wo lauta raha huN maiN
- Sahir Ludhiyanvi

A Shayar reflects the real world in his Shayari ! So apt !!

I thought of including another Sher in the light of recent discussion on Sahir v/s Gulzar.

KHaar = thorn [kaaNtaa]

maanaa ki is zamiN ko na _gulzaar_ kar sake
kuchh KHaar kam to kar gaye, guzare jidhar_se ham
- Sahir Ludhiyanvi

Interesting ? :-)

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

ASAD - 29

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

Shayari has its fans in all the sections of the society :-) Have you ever read Shers written on trucks, auto-rikshaws and paan-shops ? :-) They are so atrocious that they start sounding funny! There is no thought, no emotions, no nazaakat etc. In short they contain absolutely nothing. Except perhaps stupid rhyming.

But still, such Shers are constructed and used. In a Vividhbharati program for anti- pollution propaganda (sponsored by Govt. of India), following Shers are presented.

--------------------------------
In a mehfil, one person says ...

sonaa diyaa sonaar ko, paayal banaa diyaa
dil diyaa dildaar ko, GHaayal banaa diyaa

Everyone exclaims ... "wah wah ! wah wah !" As if this is not enough, another one
hurries to say "ab meri baari, ab meri baari" and then

pyaar ka phool, prem ki maalaa
buri oil waale, teraa engine kaalaa

Matalab bura oil istemaal karoge to ....

--------------------------------

:-)
Ab kyaa kareN ? Every week, I hear the same thing, and still every time I hear it, I cannot help but laugh. :-)

- Abhay.

ASAD - 28

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

The famous love-stories have always been used by the Shayars. Sometimes one needs to know the story before one can appreciate the Sher.

Shirin-Farhaad is one such famous love story. Farhaad was asked to dig a mountain using a small pick-axe in one night, so as to be able to marry Shirin. So he is also known as "kohakan" or "mountain-digger". What did he do before starting such an
impossible task ?

sang-e-mazaar = tombstone
teshaa = small pick-axe [chhota kudaal]

mere sang-e-mazaar par, Farhaad
teshaa rakh_kar kahe hai, "Ya Ustaad" !
- 'Mir' Taqi Mir

Before starting, he came to receive blessings from Mir! What a way to proclaim one's own "aashiqi"!!

- Abhay.
ASAD _also_ means "A Sher A Day" !

ASAD - 27

Sahir once said "raat bhar ka hai mehamaaN andheraa". And indeed, the concept of morning is always used to denote a happy begining, or end of unhappiness. Well, not always :-) The great Mir did not become famous for "dard" for nothing. He provided a
counter-example.

gor = grave [qabr]
yaaN = yahaaN

gor kis dil-jale ki hai ye falak
shola ik, subah yaaN se uthata hai
- 'Mir' Taqi Mir

It took me some time to realize that, Mir is talking about sunrise! EVERY morning a fire comes out of the sky. So the sky MUST be a grave of some "diljala"!! "My God", I exlaimed, and became a fan of Mir !

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

ASAD - 26

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

Who is known as "Shehenshaah" of GHazal? No. It's not GHalib, as many would like it to be. That includes me too. So I was surprised, when a very kowledgeable person told me that it's "'Mir' Taqi Mir"! Do you remember yesterday's Sher ? :-)

Why? Because Mir was the "chief" architect responsible for giving GHazal the beauty it has. With him started the Golden Period of GHazal. He gave it the present form, and induced the "dard" and "nazaakat" in GHazal. His Shayari was simple and elegant. It never fails to touch your heart.

Although it's not possible to include all the examples in this series, I will try to make the point with a couple of his Shers in coming days.

Isaa = "Isaa Messiah" or Jesus Christ. Here it should be taken as just Messiah or "healer".

baad marane ke, meri Kabr par wo aayaa 'Mir'
yaad aayi hai, mere Isaa ko dawaa, mere baad
- 'Mir' Taqi Mir

This idea of "bahut der karadi" has been used quite often since this Sher, but still the Sher has the power of "dard" to touch you.

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


UPDATE : Ali Sardar Jafri in his compilation of Deewan-e-Mir casts doubts on this sher being written by 'Mir' Taqi Mir.

ASAD - 25

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

This is the quarter century of this series. It's time to have a GHalib's Sher. It's also time to have a Sher praising some great Shayar. Now it will be great, if we have both. It's possible, because GHalib was not just proud of his own greatness, he also had the rare ability to recognize someone elses greatness. So here it goes.

In his tele serial "GHalib", Gulzar coceived a nice situation for this Sher. GHalib is going somewhere, when he hears a begger singing a GHazal. He gets mesmerised by the Poetry, and asks the name of the Shayar to the begger. The begger tells him. GHalib, still under the magic spell of the GHazal, thinks of the following Sher.

reKHta = an old name for the Urdu Language

reKHta ke tum hi ustaad nahiN ho, 'GHalib'
kehate haiN, agale zamaane me, koi 'Mir' bhi tha!!

Yes! The GHazal sung by the begger was by "Mir Taqi 'Mir'" who is often called as "Shenhenshah" of Urdu GHazal. And the GHazal was "patta patta, buta buta" !! A real tribute by Gulzar to the greats !

This is the best compliment I have ever heard. A great person praising himself and another great person in one shot. GHalib ko hamara salam!

BTW, "GHalib" means "conqueror" while "Mir" means "chief/leader"! Does it add to the beauty of the Sher ? :-)

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

ASAD - 24

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

Shayari is profession to some, while hobby to others. Many famous personalities wrote Shayari in free time. In context of Hindi Films, there are many who do that. Perhaps the most famous of these is the late actress Meenakumari.

aabalaapa = having blisters on the feet [jiske paaNvoN me chhaale pade ho]
dasht = veeraanaa

aabalaapa koi is dasht me aayaa hogaa
warnaa aaNdhi me diya, kisane jalayaa hogaa
- Meenakumari

The concept "aabalaapaa" is used quite often in Shayari to denote an unhappy yet trying person.

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

ASAD - 23

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

RMIM is a music group. But it has shown patience and tolerence towards this series, which has nothing to offer except Poetry. Thanks a lot! So for once let me try to relate this series to Hindi Film Music.

Sahir, Shakil, Majrooh, Gulzar, Kaifi Azmi are not just lyricists, they are Shayars in their own right. Often they take inspiration from famous GHazals and use it for film songs. The best example is Gulzar's song

dil dhundata hai, phir wohi, fursat ke raat-din
baithe rahe, tasavvur-e-jaanaaN kiye hue

This starting of the song is a GHalib's Sher. No plagiarism. Gulzar gives the credit to GHalib.

Sahir used many of his Nazms in movies. "Kabhi Kabhi" is a well known example. A not-so-well-known example is "jinhe naaz hai, Hind par wo kahaN haiN" from "Pyasa". Everything is same, but in the original Nazm called "Chakale" Sahir had writeen "sanaa- KHwaan-e-taqdis-e-mashriq kahaaN haiN" in place of the words mentioned. Naturally, he wanted to use simple language in the movie. :-)

There was an early Amitabh-Jaya movie, in which Jaya was a "tavayaf". The movie name eludes me, and so too the p-stats of this nice song

patta patta, buta buta, haal hamara jaane hai

This line is taken exactly from the famous GHazal by the great Mir

patta patta, buta buta, haal hamara jaane hai
jaane na jaane, gul hi na jaane, baag to sara jaane hai

I don't have the data to say whether this is plagiarism or not.

Other examples are not so nice. They are not only plaigiarisms, but they distort the original Sher. The worst example is the copy of a fantastic Sher by Momin (a contemporary of GHalib)

tum mere paas hote ho goyaa [=jaise]
jab koi dusaraa nahiN hota

This extraordinary Sher is a typical Momin gem ! Full of "nazaakat" !

Can you guess the song in which this Sher was lifted? It's taken as a second line in this song from "Love in Tokyo".

O meri shahe-KHuba ...
tum mere paas hote ho, koi dusaraa nahiN hota

It's horrible. The lyricist [Hasrat Jaipuri ?] not only blatantly lifted the Sher, but also removed the words "goyaa" and "jab", thereby distorting the original beauty. I can say @#$%^&*!~ to the lyricist.

Another nasty example is also from a SJ-Rafi song. Consider this as a RJGK clue, and guess the song. [Because I have forgotten it :-)]

teerachhi nazar se na maaro, aashiqe-dilgir ko
kaise teerandaaz ho, seedha to kar lo teer ko
- KHwaaja Vazir

It's taken as it is in the song. Pure shamelessness !

I remember seeing a song on TV almost 10 years back, which had Dharmendra and Zeenat. It was a parody. And the second line of the following Sher was lifted in it and sung to the tune of "khilauna jaankar tum to mera dil tod jaate ho".

janaaza rok kar mera wo kuchh is andaaz se bole
"gali humane kahi thi, tum to duniya chhod jaate ho"
- Safi Lakhnawi

It will take a real guru to find out the movie song. I myself have forgotten.

Those who like Marathi songs, must have heard the famous Lata solo, a very very fanous poem by the famous poet BhaRa Tambe

jan paL_bhar mhanatil haa'y haa'y
mi jata rahil karya kaa'y

Well friends, you are in for a shock. Tambeji indulged in Plagiarsim! It's a striaght lift from none other than GHalib's philosophical Sher

GHalibe-KHasta ke baghair, konase kaam band haiN ?
roi'ye zaar zaar kya, kiji'ye haaye haaye kyuN

Gives a bitter taste ! I hate it.

There can be many more examples. Others can add. But IMO, Lyrics Plagiarism is much much worse than Music Plagiarism. It's very difficult to detect and once detected it's always outright disgusting. As it usually distorts the original beauty, and insults the original Shayar. This, but, is never a topic of discussion on RMIM.

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

ASAD - 22

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

What is it that I like about Shers ? I have often been asked that question by my friends, whom I bored till death by telling Shers. :-) It's a difficult question to answer. There are many reasons, not just one. One such reason I want to point out here.

The reason is - suspense ! Ever seen a 'mushaira' on TV ? How does the Shayar read out his Sher. Typically the first line is repeated more than once, before the Shayar completes the Sher by reading out the next line. Why is this done ? It's done to create a special effect !

When you hear the first line once - then you start wondering what could be there in the second line, you anticipate something. This suspense is increased, if you hear the line more than once. When you hear the next line, you suddenly burst out saying "wah wah", ONLY if what you heard, is something you did not anticipate OR if it's more beautiful than you thought. That's due to the suspense !

An example follows. Decide why you like this Sher.

aaNkhoN me jo bhar loge, to kaaNtoN se chubhenge

OK ? Make sure you have got the first line :-) What can be there in the next line ? :-)

aaNkhoN me jo bhar loge, to kaaNtoN se chubhenge
ye KHwaab to, palakoN pe sajaane ke liye haiN

Never mind this suspnese business. The Sher is beautiful by itself.

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