WHY I LIKE URDU POETRY OTHER THAN ANY OTHER FORM OF POETRY?

First of all, A word of notice. 

दुनिया ने तेरी याद से बेगाना कर दिया
तुझ से भी दिल-फ़रेब हैं ग़म रोज़गार के

~ FAIZ

So, there are some regular readers of my blog. And with some deep regret, and a feeling of sadness, a sort of like, when a child has to go to school and with an eye of sadness, he looks at his toys and says, "Goodbye, I will meet you after 2:30 PM", I will also have to tell you people that this will be the last blog of mine after which I will stop, halt for some time, since the pressures of exam has got the best of me, and I think this is the right time to cut all ties and sit down and do your Rozgar. 

I plead guilty. I really enjoyed writing them and if you say, using second law of dialectics, I could actually see the change in quantity being manifested in my quality of writing over these 4-5 months. 

I will start, probably now, after I end this cycle this year. Let's see when it happens. If you are my well-wisher, you will want that I come back to my blogs in November or December when I get selected for interviews this year. And if you are not, then why should I even think about you, right? fair enough. Now, let's come back to the content. 

गंगा जमुना एक है, होने वाला हर वज़ू जनता हो,

मुझसे हिंदी में वो बात करे जो उर्दू जानता हो ! 

This couplet I wrote some 6 years back. In love of this beautiful language and a cousin of my own language Hindi, who I fell in love with around that time only. The kind of love we have with our family members, often unexpressed but very visible through inexpressible gestures. My usage of Urdu couplets to express philosophical concepts, My usage of it in day-to-day life. 

I thought I should pen it down, what things did I learn from Urdu poetry and its nature. 

First thing that I learnt, is the importance of Discipline in creativity. If you consider creativity as an expression of freedom, you should know without discipline, you are not free. You are your own slave.

The rhyme schemes, bahr, meter, of Urdu Ghazal is one of a kind. No stricter discipline of poetry exists in any other language. And this gives the permission to experiment a lot. 

Like this, sher of Muztar Khairabadi, the grandfather of Javed and Salman akhtar, 

Wafa kya kar nhi sakte wo? Magar nahi karte!

Kaha, "kya kar nhi sakte wo? Magar nahi karte!"

Here, understand that in Urdu ghazal there are four things that are important, namely, 

1. Qaafiya, or rhyming word

2. Radeef, or the phrase that comes in the end and gets copied in every misra or line. 

3. Bahr or prescribed meter for every Ghazal. 

4. Mauzoon, or the mini fiction that constructs the psychological imagery of the couplet. 

Here, the whole misra or line is dominated by Radeef, and there is no other word than a qaafiya word and rest is radeef. 

Wafa is the Qaafiya, and then "kya kar nhi sakte wo? Magar nahi karte!" is the radeef. And then "Kaha" rhymes with Wafa, and then again "kya kar nhi sakte wo? Magar nahi karte!" 

This experimentation is possible only when this much structure is pre-defined in the constitution of Urdu Ghazal. 

Second thing, The Mauzoon, the pre-defined psychological space in Ghazal is so large. Let me explain it again with a sher, 

न हारा है इश्क़ और न दुनिया थकी है
दिया जल रहा है, हवा चल रही है


~ Khumaar Barabankhavi 

Here, the image of a diya burning and wind blowing comes to mind, this psychological picturesque is typical of Urdu poetry. Very rare in other languages will you see this extensive use of images as metaphors. Metaphors are there, but only things and objects are metaphors in other poems. In Urdu poetry, a whole scene, like a film scene, is taken as a metaphor. 

Like this one Sher, 

"Itna kahan aazaad hai, ki jo chaahe wo kar sake, 

Dil ke dasrath ko mili hai Kaikayi Majbooriyaan!" 

Here, a scene from Ramayana pops up where Kaikeyi is demanding exile for Dasrath's son Ram. 

This is wonderful. This is like writing a research paper and citing a reference in support of your argument. 

Third, probably most important insight. In poems all around the world, very rarely do we find a whole genre of poetry that is solely hypothetical. Let me develop on that. 

There are two ways a poem progresses. One, is what I call argumentative. It seems like a lawyer arguing, like a mathematical proof progressing, like a C++ code. These poems are too much burdened by the weight of logical reasoning. Poetry is not about correct logic. That is why, too much analytical people cannot write creatively. Nida Fazli once said, "Urdu shayari ke kamzor kandhe Mantak ke bojh tale dabe hote hain". 

Let me give an example from my poem, My Nazm, "Kya hi Desh Hain hum?" 

हमने पेड़ों पर कविताएँ लिखी, 

पेड़ काटकर फैक्ट्री में बने पन्नों पर, 

हमने ये स्कूल आकर सीखा, 

कि गरीब लोग स्कूल नहीं जा पाते , 

पापा ने पीएचडी कर रहे बेटे को

 ये सीखाया कि बचपन में, 

 उसमें और उसकी बहन में, जिसकी शादी 

बी कॉम के बाद कर दी गयी थी, 

कोई अंतर नहीं था! 

और शर्मा जी के लड़के

 और उस महतो के लड़के में,

कोई भी बेहतर नहीं है! 

ये बात सीखने से पहले सीखा शर्मा जी के लड़के ने, 

की बाबा साहब छोटी जाति के थे |

और देशप्रेम सीखने के लिए हमने 30 जनवरी को, 

गांधी की प्रतिमा पर गोली चलाने का अभ्यास किया |

हमने सरस्वती पूजा के दिन

 कलम पकड़ने से पहले पकड़ी अगरबत्तियाँ, 

और हमने हर उस कवि को कह दिया 

सूडो सेकुलर, 

जिसने हिंदू धर्म की कुरीतियों को बताते बताते 

एक बार भी नहीं लिया इस्लाम और जिहाद का नाम, 

नहीं किया मदरसों को बदनाम, 

देवदासियों को देशवासियों से दूर रखकर खत्म हो जाने दिया, 

26 जनवरी को तिरंगे के आगे खड़े होकर कहा ढ़ाँचा गिराने की बात! 

और संविधान पर इतराये कि क्या ही देश हैं हम!

Now, let me give an example of a hypothetical poem. The real poems, poems which are not obliged to be factually correct, poems that are not written to prove a point. 

I have a Nazm, "Pedon ko chalna nahi aata". 

पेड़ों को चलना नहीं आता, 

और मुझे ठहरना, 

परिंदे पेड़ों पर, 

बिल्कुल ऊपर, 

घोंसला बनाते हैं, 

मुझ पर कोई घोंसला नहीं बनाता, 

मुझे कोई अपना घर नहीं कहता! 

ठहरना क्यों ज़रूरी है, कोई मुझसे पूछे, 

पर सब पेड़ों से पूछते हैं, 

पेड़ क्या बताऐंगे, 

उन्हें तो चलना ही नहीं आता!

This also becomes sort of like, "hence proved" in the end. This is because I am not a good poet. I have this lawyer, orator, politician like writing style that I do not like. Let me give you a good example. Any nazm of Gulzaar say, 

बीच आस्मां में था
बात करते- करते ही
चांद इस तरह बुझा
जैसे फूंक से दिया
देखो तुम…
इतनी लम्बी सांस मत लिया करो!

These are random lines from a nazm of Gulzaar. There is beauty without logic in these poems. The real of poems are the imaginations without the need to validate it with reality. 

In Ghazals, that is also the central feature that you cannot be argumentative in ghazals. Only content of poetry possible, regardless of form, it will be hypothetical. 

For example, take a ghazal, say of Daag Dehelvi, 

अच्छी सूरत पे ग़ज़ब टूट के आना दिल का

याद आता है हमें हाए ज़माना दिल का

तुम भी मुँह चूम लो बे-साख़्ता प्यार आ जाए

मैं सुनाऊँ जो कभी दिल से फ़साना दिल का

निगह-ए-यार ने की ख़ाना-ख़राबी ऐसी

न ठिकाना है जिगर का न ठिकाना दिल का

पूरी मेहंदी भी लगानी नहीं आती अब तक

क्यूँकर आया तुझे ग़ैरों से लगाना दिल का

ग़ुंचा-ए-गुल को वो मुट्ठी में लिए आते थे

मैं ने पूछा तो किया मुझ से बहाना दिल का

इन हसीनों का लड़कपन ही रहे या अल्लाह

होश आता है तो आता है सताना दिल का

दे ख़ुदा और जगह सीना ओ पहलू के सिवा

कि बुरे वक़्त में हो जाए ठिकाना दिल का

मेरी आग़ोश से क्या ही वो तड़प कर निकले

उन का जाना था इलाही कि ये जाना दिल का

निगह-ए-शर्म को बे-ताब किया काम किया

रंग लाया तिरी आँखों में समाना दिल का

उँगलियाँ तार-ए-गरेबाँ में उलझ जाती हैं

सख़्त दुश्वार है हाथों से दबाना दिल का

हूर की शक्ल हो तुम नूर के पुतले हो तुम

और इस पर तुम्हें आता है जलाना दिल का

छोड़ कर उस को तिरी बज़्म से क्यूँकर जाऊँ

इक जनाज़े का उठाना है उठाना दिल का

बे-दिली का जो कहा हाल तो फ़रमाते हैं

कर लिया तू ने कहीं और ठिकाना दिल का

बा'द मुद्दत के ये ऐ 'दाग़' समझ में आया

वही दाना है कहा जिस ने न माना दिल का

There are ghazals that are argumentative, but these ghazals are the worst ghazals I have ever read. These ghazals, are like Naaras. These ghazals are like Political propaganda. Let me quote Gauhar Raza's ghazal, my one of the favorites, but this ghazal lacks the essential qualities of ghazals, 

यूरोप जिस वहशत से अब भी सहमा सहमा रहता है

ख़तरा है वो वहशत मेरे मुल्क में आग लगाएगी

जर्मन गैस-कदों से अब तक ख़ून की बदबू आती है

अंधी वतन-परस्ती हम को उस रस्ते ले जाएगी

अंधे कुएँ में झूठ की नाव तेज़ चली थी मान लिया

लेकिन बाहर रौशन दुनिया तुम से सच बुलवाएगी

नफ़रत में जो पले-बढ़े हैं नफ़रत में जो खेले हैं

नफ़रत देखो आगे आगे उन से क्या करवाएगी

फ़नकारों से पूछ रहे हो क्यों लौटाए हैं सम्मान

पूछो कितने चुप बैठे हैं शर्म उन्हें कब आएगी

ये मत खाओ वो मत पहनो इश्क़ तो बिल्कुल करना मत

देशद्रोह की छाप तुम्हारे ऊपर भी लग जाएगी

ये मत भूलो अगली नस्लें रौशन शो'ला होती हैं

आग कुरेदोगे चिंगारी दामन तक तो आएगी

Now, see, this is a very good message. But as a poem, I am skeptical that this has any quality. 

Protest poetry tends to become that. The progressive writer's movement was the reason why argumentative poems became a trend. Now, I also write them, I do not condemn them, I am just saying, If you ask me about poems, Hypothetical poems are better in quality. Like, Even in Protest poetry, Habib Jaalib was there, who used to write hypothetical poems to show protest. That is why, I claim, he was the best protest poet of all times. Let me put one of his Nazm here. 

Nazm: Bande ko Khuda kya likhna?

ज़ुल्मत को ज़िया सरसर को सबा बंदे को ख़ुदा क्या लिखना

पत्थर को गुहर दीवार को दर कर्गस को हुमा क्या लिखना

इक हश्र बपा है घर में दम घुटता है गुम्बद-ए-बे-दर में

इक शख़्स के हाथों मुद्दत से रुस्वा है वतन दुनिया-भर में

ऐ दीदा-वरो इस ज़िल्लत को क़िस्मत का लिखा क्या लिखना

ज़ुल्मत को ज़िया सरसर को सबा बंदे को ख़ुदा क्या लिखना

ये अहल-ए-हश्म ये दारा-ओ-जम सब नक़्श बर-आब हैं ऐ हमदम

मिट जाएँगे सब पर्वर्दा-ए-शब ऐ अहल-ए-वफ़ा रह जाएँगे हम

हो जाँ का ज़ियाँ पर क़ातिल को मासूम-अदा क्या लिखना

ज़ुल्मत को ज़िया सरसर को सबा बंदे को ख़ुदा क्या लिखना

लोगों पे ही हम ने जाँ वारी की हम ने ही उन्ही की ग़म-ख़्वारी

होते हैं तो हों ये हाथ क़लम शाएर न बनेंगे दरबारी

इब्लीस-नुमा इंसानों की ऐ दोस्त सना क्या लिखना

ज़ुल्मत को ज़िया सरसर को सबा बंदे को ख़ुदा क्या लिखना

हक़ बात पे कोड़े और ज़िंदाँ बातिल के शिकंजे में है ये जाँ

इंसाँ हैं कि सहमे बैठे हैं खूँ-ख़्वार दरिंदे हैं रक़्साँ

इस ज़ुल्म-ओ-सितम को लुत्फ़-ओ-करम इस दुख को दवा क्या लिखना

ज़ुल्मत को ज़िया सरसर को सबा बंदे को ख़ुदा क्या लिखना

हर शाम यहाँ शाम-ए-वीराँ आसेब-ज़दा रस्ते गलियाँ

जिस शहर की धुन में निकले थे वो शहर दिल-ए-बर्बाद कहाँ

सहरा को चमन बन कर गुलशन बादल को रिदा क्या लिखना

ज़ुल्मत को ज़िया सरसर को सबा बंदे को ख़ुदा क्या लिखना

ऐ मेरे वतन के फ़नकारो ज़ुल्मत पे न अपना फ़न वारो

ये महल-सराओं के बासी क़ातिल हैं सभी अपने यारो

विर्से में हमें ये ग़म है मिला इस ग़म को नया क्या लिखना

ज़ुल्मत को ज़िया सरसर को सबा बंदे को ख़ुदा क्या लिखना

He is not writing to prove a point here. It dwells on one hypothesis, and just a suggestion. The hypothesis being, "Why to worship a man?" 

And then goes on giving suggestions. There is a difference between suggestion and assertion of a proof. 

Reason destroys the essence of a poem. Stay away from reason while writing poems. Don't let reason destroy your moments of ecstasy with reason. 

So this ends our last blog for the time. But. Just remember,

कहानी कल फिर वहीं से शुरू होगी,

दादी माँ को बस नींद आ गई है 

~ Vibhat 

ZEN KOANS: THE OLD LADY AND THE STRAIGHT PATH TO TANZAAN SHRINE

सबसे पहले जो छोड़ा तुमने, वही रास्ता सही था,
जिसको तुमने मूर्ख जाना, वही सही आदमी था |

There is a Zen story. There was a wanderer Zen monk who asked an old lady, "What is the way of TANZAAN Shrine?" 

The old lady replied, "Keep moving in the straightest path you know and keep moving till you reach there, there are no bends in the way to Tanzaan!" 

This, the monk started moving. Then the old Lady murmured, "This monk will also reach Tanzaan temple, not the ultimate Tanzaan!" 

Master Joshu heard this line and wanted to test the lady. Joshu asked her, "Where is the path to Sumiyoshi Taisha shrine?" 

The old lady replied, "Keep moving in the straightest path you know and keep moving till you reach there, there are no bends in the way to Tanzaan!" 

Joshu wrote in his memoir, "The old lady knew the path, she was already present at all the Shrines I know and probably where I have not been as well!" 

The problem with people everywhere, who are unhappy, unwise and full of conflict and no peace, is that they think that they are too smart, that they can be happy and there can be a conflict less peace. 

A mixture of confusion and misunderstanding along with the sheer arrogance of wisdom is what keeps the man in the perpetual space of sadness. 

The Egyptian story of God says, that when you will meet God, you will be surprised to see him. You will say, "Oh! I have seen you 100 times! You were God! all my life I searched for you, but I never asked you!" 

This is the state of affairs in this world. Man thinks he is so smart, and other people are not. This feeling of uniqueness is so common in everyone. Everyone thinks he is unique, and this sole feature makes them common and mediocre. 

What does the old lady mean by "Straightest path"? 

Which temple she was talking about? 

The knowers will not say, the pretenders will think its common sense, the non-knowers will pretend they know it. That is how different people treat truth. 

Let me be the fourth category, the fourth Wayer. I will say it, I will try. But then I will leave in hope that those who know, do not need it, those who do not know, will never know. Those who pretend, they cannot know. Those who are seekers will one day find it and say, Oh yes. I know. 

Straightest path is the one you say is of naive. Straightest path is the one you left long back. Straightest path is one you said, "Chutiya log chalta hai iss par", or "only fools travel on these paths". Straightest path is the path of honesty, integrity and content with existence. Running but inside, standing still with a feeling of duty towards life. I am running because in running I can feel myself standing still. Soul is always felt in transit. 

Your observation has been, only fools are honest. Dishonest people get posts, get likes, get money, get everything they want. Honest people suffer. That is what you saw. 

But just introspect, whosoever you met, were any of them honest? They were honest sometime back and now they were repenting for their honesty. That man is not honest who regrets being honest. That man is a pretender. 

A true honest man is not a pretender. He is innocent. He does not have in his mind, interpretations of his sorrow. Not futile explanations to explain, "Why is he sad?" He remains content in his actions and intent. He says, "I mean well". He says, "If that is how honesty is reciprocated in this world, so be it, I do not do it for reciprocity, I do it for pleasure!" 

"My Pleasure!" says the honest man, after every honest confession. He says the harshest words in such s sweet tone that the people he criticizes, get confused whether to be angry or whether to introspect. 

सबसे पहले जो छोड़ा तुमने, वही रास्ता सही था,

जिसको तुमने मूर्ख जाना, वही सही आदमी था |

The Tanzaan temple means, a temple where eternal and perpetual peace prevails. Where the man reaches to stay not to deviate or move away from. There is no destination other than Tanzaan. 

Human beings, till the point they depend on Dopamine for their pleasures, they will never reach a destination. 

They become bored of their own destiny, their destinations. 

Mahatma Gandhi writes, "All my life I have wandered and reached nowhere but returned back to home!"

Then why you moved away? Why you could not be satisfied with the destination when it was your beginning? 

Because human beings always try to externalize happiness. 

"Mai ye paa lunga, phir dekhna meri khushi! "

"Mai bas ye ban jaaun, phir dekhna mera rola"

And then you achieve it, and then you complain about the same thing. An IAS complains about the harshness of his job. A researcher complains about the mental stress. 

A non-acheiver lives in a perpetual state of loss. An aspirant who could not be IAS lives in perpetual loss. Why does he do so? He never had it, how did he lose it? 

Loss is strictly something which was yours in the first place. He did not lose it. It is just, he could have got it, but he did not. 

Is this that a worry? Probably it is for the person. Tanzaan is not for those people, who will treat Tanzaan just like a normal worldly goal. 

Tanzaan is for the one, who has understood the nature of achievements and non-achievements. Whose source of validation does not exist external to himself. 

This one will remain the same inside even after becoming IAS, even the same after becoming the best researcher in the world, the best thinker in the world. Even in the palace that he owns, will he live like it is not his, but it is. 

The wise never own anything. The wise only owns the Tanzaan. 

And the way of Tanzaan, as the old lady says, is straightest path you know. 

With the most clear intent in mind, without thinking what will happen, who will be happy, who will be angry, what will be the outcome, he does what he intends, is the man who resides perpetually in the Tanzaan. 

Sumiyoshi Tasha shrine, Tanzaan shrine, all are same. 

The shrine-ness Or the temple-ness is important. Not the exact temple. If you could not make your mind a temple when visiting a temple, no use of visiting a temple. 

The region above you eyes is called temple in anatomy. There lies the visible effects of stress, pressure, happiness, sorrow, joy, pleasure. 

To make your temples, a temple is the task of spirituality. It is the task of Reaching the Tanzaan temple. 

Master Joshu instantly tested the old lady and found that they Lady was enlightened. She knew what she was talking about. She had in her heart, the Ultimate Tanzaan. 

Fools will reduce this story again to idealistic or faltu-gyan. Fools will again try to reduce this such that, they somehow already knew it. How do you know it, if you do not have it? 

But the master can only try. The knowers don't even try to educate the fools. The unknowers never seek. The seekers only wander and never reach. And Finally the majority, The pretenders die trying to convince others that they know.