Raaz-e-Ulfat chhupa ke daikh liya - Masood Khan

Dast-e-tanhai mein

Bahaar aayi toh

bahaar aa_ii to jaise ek baar
lauT aaye hai.n phir adam se
vo Khvaab saare, shabaab saare
jo tere ho.nTho.n pe mar miTe the
jo miT ke har baar phir jiiye the

nikhar gaye hai.n gulaab saare
jo terii yaado.n se mushk_buu hai.n
jo tere ushshaaq kaa lahuu hai.n
ubal pa.De hai.n azaab saare
malaal-e-ahavaal-e-dostaa.N bhii
Khumaar-e-aaGosh-e-mahavashaa.N bhii
Gubaar-e-Khaatir ke baab saare
tere hamaare
savaal saare, javaab saare
bahaar aa_ii to khul gaye hai.n
naye sire se hisaab saare

[mushk_buu = musk like fragrance]
[ushshaaq = lovers; azaab = difficulties/pain]
[malaal-e-ahavaal-e-dostaa.N = sorrow at friends' condition]
[Khumaar-e-aaGosh-e-mahvashaa.N = intoxication of being in one's beloved's embrace]

A must watch documentary on Faiz Ahmed Faiz.

Pablo Neruda

SONNET-49

It's today: all of yesterday dropped away
among the fingers of the light and the sleeping eyes.
Tomorrow will come on its green footsteps;
no one can stop the river of the dawn.

No one can stop the river of your hands,
your eyes and their sleepiness, my dearest.
You are the trembling of time, which passes
between the vertical light and the darkening sky.

The sky folds its wings over you,
lifting you, carrying you to my arms
with its punctual, mysterious courtesy.
That is why I sing to the day and to the moon,
to the sea, to time, to all the planets,to your daily voice, to your nocturnal skin.

It's today: all of yesterday dropped away
among the fingers of the light and the sleeping eyes.
Tomorrow will come on its green footsteps;
no one can stop the river of the dawn.

It's today, it's today...

"Arre Yaar, kya sunte ho tum?"

Isn’t there a discipline in medicine called ‘Music Therapy’? I guess there is. Now trust me, this is no quixotic discipline. I can vouch that music does bring smiles on the visages of men. Now this is no abracadabra and I speak with full conviction. Every time I switch on my music system or take out my I-Pod, my friends holler, “Arre Yaar, kya sunte ho tum?”, but the smiles on their faces and glints in their eyes never escapes me. Their smiles may be derisive, but does it really matter? Isn’t any smile better than no smile at all?

So,I Heil thy power, ‘Music’. You spread happiness all round. You bring smiles on the faces of even those who are on the other side of the divide, i.e. who use you to improve their ‘Motor Skills’ on the dance floor rather than to stir their souls and soothe their wits. Don't get me wrong you dance lovers, am not complaining, merely stating a fact.

Though still some years away from being ‘Over the Hill’, my taste in music, you may say, is way-way ‘Over the Mountain’. While songs of KL Sehgal and Begum Akthar may be food for quiz-masters in their quiz shows, for me they define what music is all about; soothing and soul-stirring. So when I discovered a huge collection of Begum Akthar on Youtube, (so painstakingly compiled into a playlist by contributors Mahakavi and Shaukeentabiyat (God bless them)), needless to say, I was ecstatic. I was inspired to add a video of this Goddess of Indian Music on my blog.

So here it is, a video for you to savor. Getting into dreary details, it happens to be one of my all time favourite ghazal. While the Begum lends her voice to the ghazal, the great Faiz Ahmed Faiz pens the qalam.

One way or the other, you will smile, I know..I know...

Great Falls Park, Virginia

How I have changed! God, I really have. Those who know me will vouch that my idea of fun is not really going out. Taking all the trouble of getting out of my cozy bed, moving my big fat bum and taking all the trouble of getting ready to visit a place which, objectively speaking, in some way or the other, always resembles a place you have already been to. After all, I believe, places one visits generally fall in the following categories, (a) Cities; neat or not so neat, lots of high-rises or slums, bazars or malls, pubs or restaurants (depending on the part of the world you visit; first or the third). (b) Beaches; on seas or oceans (named differently but as they say in Hindu philosophy, their ‘atman’ always the same, waves striking against sands or cliffs). (c) Mountains; rocky surfaces with or without snow, having a cold climate with less or more trees thrown in for some greenery. (d) Historical; ruins of one kind or the other.

Well, so something must have changed inside me when I did want to get up early and visit a place. I don’t know, if I am becoming more human (I say so, because I always believe that seeing me confirms the theory that men have certainly descended from apes).

So when I asked ‘I’ if we could visit the Great Falls Park and spend a day there, she could hardly believe her ears. She was game, as always, but I guess was pretty skeptical about the sincerity of my offer. BUT, folks’ today was the day when 'THIS MAN' did move his butt, got ready, took to the steering wheel and did drive down to the Park (another matter that it was only a 20 minutes drive but he missed the exit and had to take a detour). Being a working day, the place was not very crowded and as it is, how crowded can an 800 acre park in the heart of Washington, DC be? The view of Potomac River was breathtaking and we in our true blue Hindustani tradition completely disregarded all signboard warnings forbidding people from going too close to the river, lest they may be swept away by it's strong currents, trekked right up to it's banks. ‘I’ took off her shoes and soaked her feet in the river (a kind of ritual she can’t do without whenever she sees a water-body). ‘S’ seemed to be enjoying himself too, and to tell you the truth, so was I. The whole atmosphere was picturesque and serene. The walking trail in the forest overlooking the Potomac flowing in full force, soothed one's frayed nerves. I was carrying my book (just in case the trip turned out to be a bore) and plonked myself on a rock next to the guys’ busy fishing in the river. It was fun to see their delight when they did manage to catch one. The fit bodies of guys’ and gals’ cycling and rock-climbing made me feel envious, so I decided to ignore them. What do they call it? ‘Ostrich like attitude’ I guess. I won’t see fit bodies and so won't feel conscious about my rotund belly. After all, is it not said that the world is nothing but a reflection of how you see it? How very profound.

Hope my new found enthusiasm is not a flash in the pan, but a ‘jhalak’ to some more ‘butt shaking trips’ in the future…