Remembering A Poet Poem by Aniruddha Pathak

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Dr Rahat Indori (1950-2020) , a great Urdu poet.
He died recently, a Ph D in literature (1985) .
He loved his motherland, India, immensely.
It is a fact that comes alive in some of his couplets.
A few from a random selection are translated here.
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Mein mar jāun to merī ek alag pehchān likh denā,
Lahu se merī peshānīpe hindustān likh denā.

When I die, write who I had been in red,
In blood write Hindustan upon my head.(1)


Do gaj sahī magar ye merīmilkiyat to hai,
Ai maut, tune muzko zamīdār kar diyā.

Never mind if yards just two,
But still my very own clod!
O Death, thanks be to thee due,
Ye made me ah, a landlord.(2)


Ek hi nadī ke hai do kināre dosto,
Dostānā zindagi se maut se yārī rakho.

Two banks but of same river
O my friends to me so dear,
Life be or death, be ye clear,
Both thy comrades keep them near.(3)


Afvāh thī ke merī tabīyat kharāb hai,
Logo ne pūćh pūćh ke bīmār kar diyā.

It was not but a rumour
That I have been nigh unwell,
Oh these queries every hour
They made me really ill.(4)


Sabab vo pūćh rahe the udās hone kā,
Merā mizāz nahin be-libās hone kā.

Enquiring they're as to why
I look low, bogged down in wood,
But I am not in right mood
Let mysteries unwrapped lie. 5)

Ai zamīn ek roz terī khāk mein kho jāyenge, so jāyenge,
Mar ke bhī rishtā nahin ţuţegā hindustān se, imān se.

One day, O my beloved land,
I'll get lost laid in thine dust
To sleep a sleep so robust
That dying still as I must,
Our love just as ere shall rest,
Let me say true and honest.(6)
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Musings | 32.08.2020 |
Topic: poet, remember