Introduction: Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Abdullah Al Lawati Al Tanji Ibn Battuta: أبو عبد الله محمد ابن عبد الله اللواتي الطنجي بن بطوطة or simply Ibn Batuta (February 24, 1304 – 1368 or 1369) was an Arabic traveler from Morroco, who traversed the entire Asia on foot, and wrote about his travels. He perhaps wrote a more comprehensive account that Marco Polo, who is perhaps more famous because he was Italian and got associated with Kublai Khan. In Invisible Cities, Italo Calvino imagines conversations between Kublai Khan and Marco Polo, and the impressions recounted there are as vivid in Western memory as they are fictitious and enjoyable. Somehow Ibn Batuta is less familiar, though in Boston, a cab driver from Morocco once started telling us that one man from his country walked all the way to India and came back thirty years later. Other friends in the car had forgotten about Ibn Batuta, and the cab driver spoke as if the travel was quite recent. We all remember Marco Polo quite well... But let us forget about the book of million lies, and return to the curious effect of having the 'joota', the Hindi word for shoe (called boot-aa hereafter) rhyme with Ibn Batuta.
Nearly two generations ago, Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena, wrote a poem for children titled 'Ibne Batuta ka Joota' and now Gulzar has penned lyrics for Ishqiya, which play on the lines that we commonly find on the sign painted at the roadside in India, or written behind trucks. Indian news channels accused Gulzar of plagiarism, but as the verses and their translation below will show, the similarity ends with words joota and Ibne Batuta. In poetry, it is always good to pick a line from other poets, and then use it in your own verse; this serves as a tribute to whoever wrote before you, and gives a distinct resonance for the reader familiar with other work. In Haroun and Sea of Stories, Salman Rushdie describes an ocean of stories, which originates all stories, and fish are continuously at work to ensure mixing and purity of narrative: but even in the title, I hear a resonance with Kathasaritsagar, the classical, twenty century or so old compilation of stories. In These Errors are Correct, our contemporary Indian poet Jeet Thayil starts some poems with first line picked from another poet; in Ghazals, Ghalib, Mir and Faiz are echoed by our contemporary poets, while the original poets picked influence from Hafiz and Sadi. Harivansh Rai Bachchan was so influenced by Omar Khayyam's Rubaiyat that he wrote his own Madhushala in the same vein, and yet those poems are all gems in their own right.
A note about translations: Translating poems from Hindi to English is always hard as both languages are born out of different cultures, and the impact of religion and symbolism makes Hindi quite different from German or French, which render easier transliteration into Western languages. One would think translating a nursery rhyme is easier, but it is not, for a poem for children needs to maintain the simplicity of sounds and rhymes, which make it memorable in original language. Gulzar's lyric has more mature ideas expressed in playful way, whereas Saxena ji's poem is written for primary school children. I tried to find a word in English that captures the meaning of "bagal" but failed to get anything apart from flank as a word close enough in meaning. I will be happy to hear suggestions about the translations, as it is an exercise in learning the craft, and all criticism will only help my future projects.
Ibn-e-batuta...
with slinging boot-aa
ibn-e-batuta…
with slinging boot-aa
on wearing, it squeaks churr
It comes, flap, flap, flying
pecks the seed,
It comes flap, flap, flying
the sparrow flies away phurr
ibn-e-batuta…
slinging boot-aa
on wearing, it squeaks churr
It comes, flap, flap, flying
pecks the seed,
the sparrow flies away phurr
Ibn-e-batuta...
At the next curve:
Death waits.
What is the haste?
Blow the horn. Enter the garden.
Better late than never.
Go fly away, fly away, phurr
ibn-e-batuta…
with slinging boot-aa
on wearing, it squeaks churr
It comes, flap, flap flying
pecks the seed
the sparrow flies away phurr
Gets pounded from both sides,
Oh man! This life is a curious drum.
Gets pounded from both sides,
Oh man! This life is a curious drum.
Blow the horn. Enter the garden.
Coming up. Speed-breaker, just ahead.
ibn-e-batuta…
with slinging boot-aa
on wearing, it squeaks churr
It comes flap, flap flying
pecks the seed
the sparrow flies away phurr
ibn-e-batuta… इब्न-ए-बतूता …
ibn-e-batuta ta ta… इब्न-ए-बतूता ता ता…
bagal mai jutaa ta ta… बगल में जूता ता ता…
ibn-e-batuta ta ta… इब्न-ए-बतूता ता ता…
bagal mai jutaa ta ta… बगल में जूता ता ता…
pehne toh karta hai churrr…. पहने तो करता है चुर्र....
ibn-e-batuta ta ta… इब्न-ए-बतूता ता ता…
bagal mai jutaa ta ta… बगल में जूता ता ता…
pehne toh karta hai churrr…. पहने तो करता है चुर्र....
udh udh aave aa aa.. उड़ उड़ आवे आ आ...
dana chuge aa aa.. दाना चुगे आ आ...
udh jaave chidhiya phurr… उड़ जावे चिड़िया फुर्र
phurr फुर्र …. ibn-e-batuta… इब्न-ए-बतूता…
ibn-e-batuta… इब्न-ए-बतूता ता ता…
ohhh agle mod pe pe.. ओ अगले मोड़ पे पे
maut khadi hai मौत खड़ी है
marne ki bhi kya jaldi hai मरने की भी क्या जल्दी है (२)
horn bajake aa aa bagiyan में होर्न बजाके आ आ बगियाँ में
durghatna se der bhali hai दुर्घटना से देर भली है
chal udh ja udh jaa phur phurrr.. चल उड़ जा उड़ जा फुर्र..
ibn-e-batuta ta ta… इब्न-ए-बतूता ता ता…
bagal mai jutaa ta ta… बगल में जूता ता ता…
pehne toh karta hai churrr…. पहने तो करता है चुर्र....
udh udh aave aa aa.. उड़ उड़ आवे आ आ...
dana chuge aa aa.. दाना चुगे आ आ...
udh jaave chidhiya phurr… उड़ जावे चिड़िया फुर्र
ibn-e….-batuta… इब्न-ए-बतूता…
ibn-e….-batuta… इब्न-ए-बतूता…
dono taraf se bajti hai yeh... दोनों तरफ से बजती है यह
aaye haye zindagi kya dholak hai.... आये हाय ज़िन्दगी क्या ढोलक है.
horn bajaake aa bagiyan mein होर्न बजाके आ बगियाँ में
arre thoda aagey gat rodhak hai ... अरे थोड़ा आगे गत-रोधक है
arre chal chal chal udh jaa udh jaa phur phurr… अरे चल चल चल उड़ जा उड़ जा फुर फुर्र
ibn-e-batuta ta ta… इब्न-ए-बतूता ता ता…
ibn-e-batuta ta ta… इब्न-ए-बतूता ता ता…
bagal mai jutaa ta ta… बगल में जूता ता ता…
bagal mai jutaa ta ta… बगल में जूता ता ता…
pehne toh karta hai churrr…. पहने तो करता है चुर्र....
udh udh aave aa aa.. उड़ उड़ आवे आ आ...
udh udh aave aa aa.. उड़ उड़ आवे आ आ...
dana chuge aa aa.. दाना चुगे आ आ...
udh jaave chidhiya phurr… उड़ जावे चिड़िया फुर्र
Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena's Ibne-Batuta ka joota
Ibn-e Batuta, wearing a boot-a
steps out into a storm
some wind gushed into his nose
some rushed into his ears
at times rubbing his ears, at times his nose
ibne batuta..
in the meanwhile comes off,
his foot's boot-a
on wing, flying his boot-a
reached the Japanese shore,
Ibn-batuta, was left stranded
in a shoemaker's store!
सर्वेश्वर दयाल सक्सेना:
इब्न-बतूता का जूता
इब्ने बतूता पहन के जूता
निकल पड़े तूफ़ान में...
थोड़ी हवा नाक में घुस गयी...
थोड़ी घुस गयी कान में...
कभी नाक को , कभी कान को मलते...
इब्ने बतूता...
इसी बीच में निकल पड़ा...
उनके पैरों का जूता..
उड़ते उड़ते जूता उनका ...
जा पहुंचा जापान में...
इब्ने बतूता खड़े रह गए ...
मोची की दुकान में....
ibne batuta pehen ke jootaa...
nikal pade toofan mein...
thodi hawaa naak mein ghus gayee...
thodi ghus gayee kaan mein...
kabhi naak ko, kabhi kaan ko malte...
ibne batutaa...
issi beech mein nikal padaa...
unke pairon kaa joota...
udte udte joota unkaa...
jaa pahunchaa japan mein...
ibne batuta khade reh gaye...
mochi ki dukaan mein....
