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Sunday, July 12, 2009

Hindi Vaadi (Poem in Hindi)

मेरा बचपन हिंदी में है, उसे अंग्रेजी-उर्दू संवाद नहीं आता,
माँ की लोरी, थपकी का मुझको अनुवाद नहीं आता |

मुझसे क्यूँ चाहती हो अदब विलायती या लखनवी,
छोटे शहर के लड़कों को देना दाद नहीं आता |

अशिक्षित हूँ, फ्रेंच, बंगाली, मराठी, तमिल, हिब्रू में,
मेरी कमी है कि मुझे इनमें करना विवाद नहीं आता |

लिखता, कहता हूँ कई आधी, सीखी जुबानों में,
पर विवशता है, परदेसी परोसी में वो स्वाद नहीं आता |

तुम जाओ जिस राह जाना चाहो, मेरा सुख मेरी मिट्टी में है,
मेरी सृष्टि है मेरी जन्मभूमि, मुझे बनना अपवाद नहीं आता |

भुला-सा दिया है तुमने इस विवेक को, कह मेरी सोच पुरानी है,
सहस्त्रों वर्षों की संस्कृति का मुझको करना त्याग नहीं आता |

(Paraphrase (I have made no attempt to write English poem here, as even in paraphrase the ideas are preserved and the rhyme, wordplay present in the Hindi Ghazal will be lost):

My childhood is in Hindi, it doesn't converse in Urdu or English,
I cannot translate the *songs and pats of my mother. (lori is sung to put babies to sleep)

Why do you desire Western or Lucknowi style from me,
Boys from small towns don't know how to give compliments.

I am uneducated in French, Tamil, Marathi, Bengali, Hebrew,
It is my shortcoming, that I can't argue in these tongues.

I write, speak in many half-learned languages,
But its my failing, the foreign helpings don't have that taste.

You can go whatever way you wish to go, my comfort is in this land,
My universe is my motherland, I don't know how to become an exception.

You have almost forgotten Vivek, saying my thinking is traditional,
I don't know how to part with few thousand year old civilization.
)

4 comments:

mridula pradhan said...

nicely written poem.very good.

Anonymous said...

while saying that you don't know other languages, you use zubaan (Urdu) instead of bhasha(Hindi).

Vivek Sharma said...

@Mridula: Namaskar and dhanyavaad
@Anon
Yes "aadhi seekhi zubaane"; I chose to keep the urdu word here for emphasizing the point.

Thanks for visiting and close reading of the poem.

Regards
Vivek

jain said...

This one is one of the best in your "Devnagri" collection...very touching...