Kufr

Badal-ta Ras-ta by Neha 

aaj assa ek duniya vechi
aaj assa ek duniya vechi
te ek deen ve aaj le aaye
gaal kufr di kitti

today we sold one world
today we sold one world
then, returned with a new faith today 
we did a blasphemous thing

supney da ek thaan udhaya
supney da ek thaan udhaya
gaj ku kapda paad le aate
umar di choli sitti
aaj assa ek duniya vechi
gaal kufr di kitti

we picked a fabric of dreams 
we picked a fabric of dreams 
tore one yard of cloth,
sewed a blouse of the ages 
today we sold one world
we did a blasphemous thing

aaj assa ambar de kaliyon
baddal di ek chhapni layi
aaj assa ambar de kaliyon
baddal di ek chhapni layi
kut chandni pitti
aaj assi ek duniya vechi
te ek deen ve aaj li aaye
gaal kufr di kitti

today, from the sky’s pitcher
we lifted the cloud cover,
today, from the sky’s pitcher
we lifted the cloud cover,
and took one gulp of moonlight
today we sold one world
we did a blasphemous thing

geeta naal chuka javange
geeta naal chuka javange
ye jo assa maut deko nu
kadi udhari litti
aaj assi ek duniya vechi
te ek deen ve aaj li aaye
gaal kufr di kitti

we will pay the price in songs
we will pay the price in songs
for this, from death - you see, 
we have taken moments on a loan 
today we sold one world
we did a blasphemous thing

main shaah te shayad tu vi
main shaah te shayad tu vi
shayad ek shaah de vich dikhlota
shayad ek nazar de nere te baitha
shayad ahsaas de ek mod pe tola
aur wo pra aitihasik samay aadi gale
main shaah te shayad tu vi

ae meri te teri ho nashi
jo duniya di aad passa bani
main di pehchan de akhar manne
tu bhi pehchan de akhar manne
te o na o aad passa di aad pustak
likhi mai shah te shayad tu vi

ae mera te tera mel si
assi pathran di sej te sute
te akhaan hooth olam pokhate
mere te tere badan de akhar manne
te unnao naal pustak anuvad kitti
rig veda di rachna te bahoot pichhu di galle
main shah te shayad tu vi

that was our tryst, yours and mine
we slept on a bed of stones
and our eyes, lips and fingertips,
became the letters of your body and mine
they then made the translation of this first book
the rig veda was compiled much later.

shayad ek shaah de rith dikhlota
shayad ek nazar te nere te baitha
shayad ahsaas de ek mod te thurla
pur pra aitihasik samay saadi ghale

- Amrita Pritam 

Mera Pata (My Address)

Sky in by Neha

Aaj main apne ghar da number mittaiyan hai /
Today I have erased the number of my house

Te gali de matthe de lagaa gali da naam hataaiya hai/
And removed the stain of identity from my street’s forehead

Te har sadak di disha da naam punjh ditta hai/
And I have wiped off the directions on each road

Par je tussa mainu zaroor labhna hai/
But if you really want to meet me

Ta har des de, har sheher di, har gali da booha thakoro /
Then knock at the doors of every country, every city, every street

Ih ik sraap hai, ik var hai/
This is a curse, a blessing. 

Te jitthe vi sutantar rooh di jhalak paavey /
And wherever the glimpse of a free spirit exists
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........samajhna uh mera ghar hai /
Understand that as my home. 

- Amrita Pritam

Palanquin Bearers

Lightly, O lightly we bear her along,
She sways like a flower in the wind of our song;
She skims like a bird on the foam of a stream,
She floats like a laugh from the lips of a dream.
Gaily, O gaily we glide and we sing,
We bear her along like a pearl on a string.

Softly, O softly we bear her along,
She hangs like a star in the dew of our song;
She springs like a beam on the brow of the tide,
She falls like a tear from the eyes of a bride.
Lightly, O lightly we glide and we sing,
We bear her along like a pearl on a string.

- Sarojini Naidu

Lagta nahee hai...

(see image information below)

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lagata nahee hai jee mera ujadey dayaar mein

kis kee banee hai aalam-e-naa-paayedaar mein

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[ My heart is not happy in this barren land

Who has ever felt fulfilled In this temporary world]

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keh do in hasaraton se kahee aur jaa basen

itnee jagah kahaan hai dil-e-daaGadaar mein

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[Please tell my desires * to go away somewhere else

there is not enough room for them in my sad heart]

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bulabul ko baagabaan se na saiyyaad se gilaa

qismat mein qaid thee likhee fasal-e-bahaar mein

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[The nighthingale laments neither to the gardnerer nor to the hunter

Imprisonment was written in fate in the season of spring]

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umr-e-daraaz maang ke laaye the chaar din

do aarazu mein kat gaye, do intzaar mein

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[I had requested for a long life a life of four days

Two were spent in wishing* and two were spent in waiting]

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hai kitna badnaseeb zafar dafn ke liye

do gaz zameen bhee na milee ku-e-yaar mein

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[ How unlucky Zafar is !For his burial

he could'nt get even two yards of earth in my beloved country]

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- Bahadur Shah Zafar

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About the Poet: Bahadur Shah Zafar was the last Mughal King of India and is regarded as one of the greatest Urdu Poets in Indian history. The British exiled Zafar to Rangoon ( now Yangon, Myanmar ) where he lived the last few years of his years yearning to return to his homeland. He died in Rangoon in 1862 and is buried there. The above poem was written by Zafar as his epitaph

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References:

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1) Read more about Bahadur Shah Zafar at wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahadur_Shah_II

2) For a good collection of Zafar's poetry see http://www.urdupoetry.com/zafar.html

3) The English translation is from http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/zafar.html and wikipedia ( except words marked by * , which I find more closer to the intended meaning)

Image Information: This image if from http://www.flickr.com/photos/jzakariya/191481747/

Khusrau darya prem ka..

The edge of the storm by slack12

( see image information below)

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Khusrau darya prem ka, ulti wa ki dhaar,

Jo utra so doob gaya, jo dooba so paar

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[Oh Khusrau, the river of love Runs in strange directions.

One who jumps into it drowns, And one who drowns, gets across.]

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-Amir Khusrau

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About the Poet: Amir Khusro Dehlavi (1253-1325 AD) was a poet, musician, inventor, philosopher and linguist. Khusro was musician in the court of seven kings in Delhi Sultanat.He wrote poetry in Persian as well as what he called Hindvi ... a combination of local Bhojpuri and Persian, which later evolved into Hindi and Urdu languages.[1] Khusrau has been termed as the "father of qawwali" (the devotional music of the Sufis). He is also credited with enriching the Hindustani classical music by introducing Persian and Arabic elements in it, and was the originator of the tarana style of music. [2]

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Khusrau was a disciple of the Sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya who was his spiritual mentor. There is a legend about Khusrau's first meeting with Nizamuddin Aulia [3] .It is said that Khusrau, at the age of eight years, was coerced by his mother to visit the saint's khaneqah (monastary) for the first time . When he reached there, he didn't enter at once - he wanted to test him out. He sat down at the gate and composed the following lines in his heart :

Tu aan shahi ke ber aiwan-e qasrat Kabutar gar nasheenad, baaz gardad

Ghareeb-e mustamand-e ber der aamedBe-yaayad andaroon, ya baaz gardad

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(You are a king at the gate of whose palace / even a pigeon becomes a hawk. / A poor traveller has come to your gate, / should he enter, or should he return?)

It is said that Nizamuddin Aulia at once asked one of his servants to go out at the gate and narrate the following lines to a boy who is sitting there :

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Be-yaayad andaroon mard-e haqeeqatKe ba ma yek nafas hamraaz gardad

Agar abla buvad aan mard-e naadanAzaan raah-e ke aamad baaz gardad

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(Oh you the man of reality, come inside / so you become for a while my confidant /but if the one who enters is foolish / then he should return the way he came.)

Hearing this Khusrau decided that he has come to the right place and entered.

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References :

[1] See http://www.musicalnirvana.com/composers/amir_khusro.html

[2] Read about Amir Khusrau on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amir_Khusro

[3] (a) A very informative and good source for Amir Khusrau's work http://www.alif-india.com/

[3] (b) For more legends about Amir Khusrau see : http://www.alif-india.com/legend.html

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Image Information : This image is from http://www.flickr.com/photos/slack12/1087014722/

Where the mind is without fear....

Source: Bird of Paradise by Audi speed

( See image information below)

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WHERE the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

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Rabindranath Tagore

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Image Information : This image is from http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=446730983&size=m