We all live our lives and the fact is that no body’s experiences can really help us in real sense. Here is a reflection on these realities. A lovely poem by Nida Fazli.
धूप छाँव में ढला नहीं जो
वह तेरा सच कैसे,
जिस पर तेरा नाम नहीं है?
तुझ से पहले बीत गया जो
वह इतिहास है तेरा
तुझको ही पूरा करना है
जो बनवास है तेरा
तेरी साँसें जिया नहीं जो
घरआँगन का दिया नहीं जो
वो तुलसी की रामायण है
तेरा राम नहीं।
तेरा ही तन पूजा घर है
कोई मूरत गढ़ ले
कोई पुस्तक साथ न देगी
चाहे जितना पढ़ ले
तेरे सुर में सज़ा नहीं जो
इकतारे पर बज़ा नहीं जो
वो मीरा की संपत्ती है
तेरा श्याम नहीं।
∼ निदा फ़ाज़ली
Born in Delhi, India into a Kashmiri family, Nida Fazli grew up in Gwalior, where he attended school and subsequently studied English literature. His father was also an Urdu poet. During the partitioning of India, his parents migrated to Pakistan, but Fazli decided to stay in India.
While still young, Fazli was passing by a Hindu temple where a bhajan singer was singing a composition of Surdas about Radha sharing her sorrow with her maids at being separated from her beloved Krishna. The poetic beauty of the Pad, relating to the close rapport and bonding between human beings, inspired Nida to begin writing poems.