Untranslatable Shayari – II

This post is the second installment of a collection of untranslatable Shers that I talked about earlier. Let me share a very famous Ghazal of Dr. Nawaaz Deobandi from the times when he looked like a young Anji (from Rurouni Kenshin).

वो रुला कर हँस न पाया देर तक
जब मैं रो कर मुस्कुराया देर तक

भूलना चाहा कभी उसको अगर
और भी वो याद आया देर तक

भूके बच्चों की तसल्ली के लिए
माँ ने फिर पानी पकाया देर तक

गुनगुनाता फिर रहा था एक फ़क़ीर
धूप रहती है न साया देर तक

कल अँधेरी रात में मेरी तरह
एक जुगनू जगमगाया देर तक

–नवाज़ देवबंदी

Nawaaz Deobandi, Anjum Rehbar and Waseem Barelvi, Bulandshahar, 1990.

This is Quintessentially Dr. Nawaaz Deobandi's Shayari. It is recognizable instantly and remains with you देर तक. It is so emotionally charged that it does not just pull at your heart strings that your eyes flood, but it wrenches your guts so viciously that you lose your appetite देर तक. This रदीफ़ (refrain) of देर तक (till late) is so commonplace a phrase, yet in this Ghazal it weaves a magic carpet that lifts you up, flies you at breakneck speed through a desolate scenery and flings you right at the edge of a poignant precipice that leaves you gasping for breath देर तक. The five Shers seem to paint five different scenarios but for me the common thread easily jumps out: hardship; be it hardship involving interactions, feelings, responsibility, livelihood, or just finding one’s place in this world. Among them, the third Sher is the pinnacle of showcasing the author’s command over his craft.

I can hardly keep my watering eyes open while I’m typing this (also the reason why I never “translated” this Ghazal even though I wrote about Dr. Nawaaz Deobandi as early as 2009!), but I do want to highlight the one word that punches my stomach so hard every time I read the third Sher: फिर (again). This Sher paints a very grim picture of a mother “cooking” water to “pacify” her hungry kids. Again! Those who haven’t understood this Sher yet or those who simply don’t understand Hindi, picture this: as the Sher is being read, the scene is being populated with characters (kids & a mother) and you hear – in the second line – the word “फिर” first (without much effect, as expected) and then the whole scene comes to life with the ultimate phrase comprising of four words “पानी पकाया देर तक” (cooked water till late) and Boom!, the aftershock of that single word “फिर” hits you so hard, you can hardly control your body’s reaction. That single word multiplies many-fold the effects of the rest of the words that have forced you to conjure up a world that should not exist, yet you know somewhere deep down, is part of the grim reality we live in!

Well, this is more than enough of taking apart a Sher and explaining its meaning and/or the author’s feelings. This seems like it should be a question (involving भावार्थ or something similar) for Hindi exam in Class X. And I don’t think I would do a good job even then. So, I leave you to tackle another video of

Nawaaz Deobandi from 1994