Arziyan Maula (Song from Delhi 6 penned by Prasoon Joshi), (Lost in Translation)

Foreword: The song itself is a fine example of poetry in Sufi tradition, where love for God and for beloved (& everything else) is seen in the same light. Prasoon Joshi is an excellent lyricist and it is heartening to see that he has the range and calibre to write poems/songs that will ensure that our generation can match up to likes to Majrooh, Sahir, Gulzar and Neeraj. The following is an attempt to recreate the verse in English (actually it is a transliteration). There is no use of this translation for people who understand Hindi/Urdu, for others, it will give them a glimpse of what is actually impossible to translate.


All my requests I have brought, written over my face
What do I ask of you,/ you perceive it all yourself....
O Lord, lord, lord, my lord,
O Lord...

Fissures, all over my forehead are fissures
Repair my fortunes, oh my Lord..
O lord..

At your door I bow, I perish, I flourish,
Repair my fortunes, oh my Lord..

Whoever came to your door,/ to bow whichever head came,
Drunk, in a trance, dancing/ he appeared to everyone...
Whoever came in thirst,/ brimmed over rivers...
In the showers of light, drenched/ he swam out...
In the showers of light,
In the showers of light, drenched/ he swam out...

O Lord, lord, lord, my lord,
O Lord...

Fissures, all over my forehead are fissures
Repair my fortunes, oh my Lord..
O lord..

Whoever came to your door,/ to bow whichever head came,
Drunk, in a trance, dancing/ he appeared to everyone...

A fragrance used to come,/ And I used to roam, lost,
It was a silken illusion,/ And I used to gape, aghast,
When I came to your street,/ I saw the truth...
The fragrance lay within me,/ you introduced it to me...

O Lord, lord, lord, my lord,
O Lord...

Fissures, all over my forehead are, fissures
Repair my fortunes, oh my Lord..
O lord..

I surely know how to crack and shatter...
Else I know to wise up into your veneration...
Let me stay in prayer,/ now I won't go anywhere
If you abandon me now,/ I won't be able to recover...

O Lord, lord, lord, my lord,
O Lord...

Fissure, all over my forehead are fissures
Repair my fortunes, oh my Lord..
O lord..

By raising my head,/ how many things had I desired
How many dreams I saw,/ what all had I attempted
When you came face to face
When you came face to face,/ I wasn't able to look you in the eye
With my head bowed,/ in a blink of an eye, ...
With my head bowed,/ in a blink of an eye, ... What all did I not receive

O Lord, lord, lord, my lord,
O Lord...

My beloved returned home,/ my beloved returned home...

(Lyrics by Prasoon Joshi, Sung by Kailash Kher and Javed Ali, Music by A. R. Rehman)

Arziyan saari Main , chehre pe likh ke Laaya hoon
tumse kya maangoon Main, tum khud hi samajh lo..oooo

Ya Maula.. Maula Maula Mere maula..
Maulaaaaa…

Maula Maula Maulaa Mere Maula…-2
Maula Maula Maulaa Maula… -2
Darare Darare Hai Mathey Pe Maula
Marammat Muqaddar ki kardo Maula
Mere Maula….
Tere dar pe jhuka hun mitha hun Bana hun -2
Marammat Muqaddar ki kardo Maula -2

Jo bhi Tere Dar aaya..Jhukne Jo Sar aaya
Mastiyan Peeye Sabko..Jhoomta Nazar aaya.. -2
Pyaas Leke Aaya tha..Dariya Woh bhar Laya..
Noor ki Baarish Main bheegta sa tar aaya..
Noor ki Baarish Main Oooo
Noor ki Baarish Main bheegta sa tar aaya..

Maula Maula Maulaa Mere Maula…-2
Maula Maula Maulaa Maula… -2
Darare Darare Hai Mathey Pe Maula
Marammat Muqaddar ki kardo Maula
Mere Maula….

Jo bhi Tere Dar aaya..Jhukne Jo Sar aaya
Mastiyan Peeye Sabko..Jhoomta Nazar aaya.. -2

Ooo ek khushboo aati thi -2
Main Bhatkta Jaata Tha
Reshmi Si Maaya Thi
Aur Mein Takta Jaata Tha
Jab Teri Gali Aayaa, Sach Kabhi Nazar Aayaa -2
Mujhme Hi woh Khushboo Thi, Jise Tune Milwaaya

Maula Maula Maulaa Mere Maula…-2
Maula Maula Maulaa Maula… -2
Darare Darare Hai Mathey Pe Maula
Marammat Muqaddar ki kardo Maula
Mere Maula….

Tootke Bhikharna Mujhko, Zaroor Aata hai -2
Varna Ibaadatwaala Shaur Aata Hai
Sajde Mein Rehne Do Ab Kahin Na Jaaongaa -2
Ab Jo Tumne Thukraaya To Sawar Na Paaongaa

Maula Maula Maulaa Mere Maula…-2
Maula Maula Maulaa Maula… -2
Darare Darare Hai Mathey Pe Maula
Marammat Muqaddar ki kardo Maula
Mere Maula….

Sar Udhaake Meine To Kitni Khwahishein Ki Thi
Kitne Khwaab Dekhe The Kitni Koshishein Ki Thi
Jab Tu Roobaroo Aayaa…..
Jab Tu Roobaroo Aayaa, Nazar Na Mila Paayaa
Sar Jhukaa Ke Ek Pal Mein….Oooo
Sar Jhukaa Ke Ek Pal Mein, Maine Kyaa Nahin Paaya Maula Maula Maulaa Mere Maula…-2
Maula Maula Maulaa Maula… -2

Mora Piya Ghar Aayaa, Mora Piya Ghar Ayaa -6

Random Thoughts (18 Jan: 21 Feb 2009)

BIG NEWS: My first full length collection of English poems, "Saga of a Crumpled Piece of Paper" accepted by Writers Workshop, Calcutta. To be published in 2009.

Writers Workshop, Calcutta is an example of how one man's passion for poetry can sustain generations of poets and readers. Prof. P. Lal who has published new and unknown writers like me for last fifty years is an institution in himself. Remarkably, Vikram Seth, Agha Shahid Ali, Meena Alexander, Pritish Nandy, Chitra Banerjee Divakurni, Ramanujan, and so on. Prof. P. Lal is translating all of Mahabharata, which is another enterprise indicative of his devotion to the tradition and recreation of poetry.

On books I recently read:
The verses in Li-Young Lee's Rose: He writes incredibly well about father-son relationship, love and loss.
I was stumped by Guy de Maupassant's Pierre et Jean... a novella par excellence.
Balzac's Pere Goirot was entertaining through its portrayal of society, its follies and failings.
Reading The Sound and The Fury now. (Sorry Faulkner uncle, your sound and fury infuriates me & I don't like to hear it praised...)

I attended an awesome recital at Boston University, that featured Charles Simic and Robert Pinsky. I have often admired poems by Simic, especially the ones that are about his memories of his childhood or youth. One of things Simic mentioned about a poem is worth repeating to any writer or poet. He said that the first few stanzas were written in 1970s and it took him few decades to realize how the poem must end.