~Swargaza (English)

Hindi is my first love. Yes, I mean it! And this blog is a dedication to my Hindi teacher and is exclusively for Hindi content. The last poem I wrote- 'SWARGAZA'- got a very good response in certain communities, something I had never imagined. A group of doctors working at very good positions in the field of Public Health (which also happens to be my area of specialization) offered to send this poem to health professionals working in Gaza  for its message and impact, provided I translate it to English, as the populations there read primarily Arabic and English. The message is to see truth as it is, to end war, spare innocent lives and understand that an eye for an eye can make the whole world go blind! I hope these words reach far and wide and bring about a positive change in some corners of the world.

Hence, I choose to translate it to English and feature it on my blog as an exception. A request to those sharing this poem- do not violate the copyrights. A lot of effort goes in writing the posts. Thank you.

~स्वर्गाज़ा

मैं भूखा हूँ यह सच है, तुम भी भूखे हो यह सच है|

मुझे जीने की प्यास मार रही, तुम्हें जीतने की यह सच है|

गुनाहों से न मिटती है सत्ता की भूख, क्या यह तुमको ज्ञात नहीं?

काया को मेरी तुम निचोड़ रहे हो, क्या यह सच्ची बात नहीं?

अस्त्र तुम्हारे प्राणों से बड़े, जो मार दिए कितने बच्चे-बूढ़े,

करने जयजयकार अब तुम्हारी, देखो कितने हैं शरीर पड़े!

कहीं खून की बाढें, तो गिरी बारूद की बरसातें कहीं!

ग़म किसी मौत का तुम्हें भी था, क्या यह सच्ची बात नहीं?

क्या अंतर तुम में-मुझ में, और ख़ुदा में तुम्हारे-मेरे?

डर रूह पे दीमक है बना, आतंक ने घरों में बनाये हैं बसेरे!

सीमाएँ देशों की बदल के, स्वर्ग तुम जाओगे सही...

पर मिलोगे उन्ही बेकसूरों को वहाँ... क्या यह सच्ची बात नहीं??

झाँको अपनी रूह के अंदर... बोलो, यह सच्ची बात नहीं?

#WednesdayWordplay is a poem-series in which readers send me a topic, a line, a picture or simply anything, which I complete/ interpret my way and present my interpretations through poetry! The idea is to present a perspective that is different from the reader's through interactive poetry.

This week's #WednesdayWordplay  theme was given to me by my colleague, Dr. Navneet Kaur Sandhu. Dr. Navneet is pursuing MD in Community Medicine and is very passionate about serving the lesser fortunate sections of the society. The word was 'truth' and she spoke to me about how people create different 'versions' of truth and use those to fulfill their vested interests. I used this central theme to portray the war-situation in Gaza Strip and sensitize readers of my blog to issues of terror, war and peace.

Note: The title 'Swargaza' is a word I invented myself. It could mean 'swa (self) as in 'Gaza herself', or 'swar' (voice, tone) of Gaza or swarg as in 'the heaven, Gaza'. In poetry, when the poet cannot find an appropriate word, he/she has the freedom to create words like these relevant to the theme. Suggestions and criticism is welcome and ideas for the next #WednesdayWordplay poem are invited too.  Please post your comments in the space below.