Writer's block and Urdu poetry

Two years since I last posted. Quite a long time to suffer from writer's block!! I'd rather not write than write just to fill up the pages of my blog. So what prompted me to write now..is what brings us to the second part of the title to this post..Urdu poetry.


Disclaimer: If you don't know Hindi, you will not be able to appreciate the poetry I have shared.

I was reading a few couplets somewhere and I realised the power of Urdu poetry. It's amazing how two lines could convey so much more you could write a book on it. I haven't read such potent stuff in a long time and it's hard to recall if I ever read something like that in English.

My father studied in an Urdu medium school till Grade 6. I cannot even begin to imagine how I would have fared studying in an Urdu medium school, then a Marathi medium school and then doing an under-grad in Engineering in English! But my father did that and it somehow makes me envious of him. He grew up studying the language and learnt to appreciate it's intricacies. Imagine being exposed to Ghalib, Faiz, Rumi and Iqbal. Such rich prose and poetry.

At a lot of functions, I've noticed that most of our family friends have this knack of saying the right couplets at the right times. Almost always, the lines are followed by a slurry of "Wah Wah"s . Try as I may, I never remember nice lines from poems or novels. The only one at the tip of my tongue is this one by Ghalib:

"Masjid mein baithkar peene de ghalib
Varna aisi jagah bata jahaan khuda na ho."
(Let me drink in the mosque Ghalib,
or else tell me of a place where God does not exist.)

This is one of the easier couplets to understand. And again something I could probably devote a whole post to. What amazes me is how some of the couplets convey a feeling of extreme happiness, love, devotion or pain and disillusionment. Take for instance, the following lines by Ghalib:

'Mohabbat karnevaale kam na honge,
Teri mehfil mein lekin ham na honge.

Zamaane bhar ka gham ya ek tera gham.
Yeh gham hoga to kitne gham na honge.'

(You may have many admirers,
But I will not join them in your company.
It's either all of life's misfortunes or the misfortune of not having you.
If I choose the latter, then I wouldn't have so many(life's) misfortunes.)

Most Urdu poetry you read will probably go over your head unless you speak Urdu or have studied it. I don't understand most of it either but the shear beauty of it is enough for me to start learning it. Urdu shouldn't be an alien language for those who know Hindi which I think is a good starting point. I'll probably post a few couplets from time to time.

There's a whole body of literature out there that is too beautiful to be missed.