THE SONG OF SOLITUDE

Sometimes I want my shadow around
To make up for the lack of human sound,
He talks to me about whatever I wanted
So much that I covet the haunted.

I stare at my own reflection
If only he was another person,
We could meet up and see around the town
His cheer could make up for my frown.

I deliver monologues at the table
He listens as if they were a fable,
I cannot understand what he thinks of me
It is difficult to know the phony.

I hear random noises from nowhere
The talker seems to dissolve into thin air,
Every search for him goes in vain
Is he just a puzzling figment of my brain?

I touch the ventilator’s wire mesh
It is a poor proxy for living flesh,
My shins ache and my bums need a stool
But there is no one to do the needful.

Loneliness, you eat up all my time
Go away; be not a despondent prelude,
Company, I seek you in this rhyme
Come to me and rid me of solitude.

YAARI

Teri yaari mein yaar guzaara na hua,
Alvida kehne mein dard dobaara na hua.

Ek woh khushiyon ki daali thi,
Aur hatheli khaali thi,
Shazar ka bhi magar tujhe nazaara na hua,
Afsos mera khwaab tumhaara na hua,
Teri yaari mein yaar guzaara na hua.

Door kshitij ki bulandi thi,
Maana raftar mein mere mandi thi,
Par thoda sa intezaar tujhe gawaara na hua,
Khudgarzi se tera kabhi ubaara na hua,
Teri yaari mein yaar guzaara na hua.

Jad toh tera hi vaada tha,
Ki meri tanhayi mein shaqs ek zyada tha,
Vaadon ka magar mujhe sahara na hua,
Gham ke galiyon se kabhi chutkaara na hua,
Teri yaari mein yaar guzaara na hua.

Teri yaari mein yaar guzaara na hua,
Alvida kehne mein dard dobaara na hua.

EYES

Whenever I scan your face,
I am left with a query to raise:
Is your gaze my antidote
Or is it my malaise?

My mind dissipates into delirium,
My soul inseminates with a waking,
The lust of your look lynches me so
My life begs you its taking.

Were I to die unblinking, here and now,
Sloshed with the stare of desire;
What would it be if not my rebirth
At the smouldering funeral pyre?

Will your eyes be just my seduction,
Or will they be my love for the night?
What shall my stares accomplish,
What is the apogee of my sight?

BADLI

Raaston ki aadat hai raahi ko badalna,
Har mod pe manzil ke tassawur ko badalna,
Khud ki mazaar pe chaadar chadhaney mein hai khair mera
Ki Kafir ki fitrat hai apne Elahi ko badalna.

Har lamhe ki chahat hoti hai apne mustaqbil ko badalna,
Apni rukhsaton ke badnaseeb manzar ko badalna,
Inhi koshishon mein nikal gayi jo zindagani meri
Ki ab uski hasrat hai maazi-e-buzdil ko badalna.

Kuch rishton ki mashaqqat hai meri kaynaat ko badalna,
Chehre ke peeche ke insaan ko badalna,
Shukraguzar nahin main unka lekin khush hun unse
Ki kisi ki toh aarzoo hai mere haalat ko badalna.

Badli hi agar zindagi hai toh kya zindagi hai yeh,
Main chahta hoon iss maut ke aaghaz ko badalna.


English Translation: CHANGE

It is the habit of the roads to change the traveler,
To change the idea of destination at every turn,
It is in my interest to offer prayers at my own mausoleum
For it is the wont of the non-believer to change his God.

Every moment wants to change its own future,
To change the unlucky prospect of its departure,
My lifespan that was wasted in such pursuits
It now desires to change its cowardly past.

Some relations labour to change my world,
To change the person behind the face,
I am not thankful to them but I am happy with them
For at least someone aspires to change my situation.

If change is life, then what life is this,
I wish to change this beginning of death.

ILLUMINATION

Darting off the Sun God’s chariot mast
Towards an imperfect world, a spear
Of light into the glassy sphere,
Illumination is here.

The shadows are sharper, as is the shade,
The light is within and everywhere
That hazy crimson is now red, and clear
Illumination is here.

Black arrows of thought had wounded the heart,
A pain was sired to disorient and sear,
But now we shall steady the painful veer,
Illumination is here.

A thousand fires of hope were doused
By those who were distant and dear,
Yet those dreams are alive and near
Illumination is here.

The dawn wakes up to the morning dew,
Dew that is a delighted tear
Bled for this freedom from a dim, dark fear
Illumination is here.

A curse has been thrown off its gear,
And the Sun God’s racecar spreads cheer,
The stage is all set for the compeer,
Illumination is here.