Musheer by Habib Jalib ..... This I said unto him

In times like these, I fail to find too many things that are as pertinent as this timeless piece of poetry by Jalib. Written in '60's, this is as relevant in our troubled land in 2009, as was back then.

The poem, "Musheer" (Advisor) is a collection of advices that are so characteristic of those held in consulation by the tycoons in power.

The band, Laal has really performed a commendable feat by bringing back to the 'asses, what should have never been left behind.

mein ne us se ye kaha

ye jo das crore hain,

jehl ka nichor hain

inki fikr so gayi

har umeed ki kiran,

zulmaton main kho gai

ye khabar darust hai,

inki maut ho gai

be shaoor log hain

zindagi ka roag hain

aur tere paas hai

inkay dard ki dawa

This I said unto him

These, who form a hundred million

Are an epitome of oblivion

Their thought is no more

Every ray of hope

Has been devoured by murk

True is the news

They have lost the life

Conscious less are they!

A curse to life!

And thou hath

What cures their ills

mein ne us se ye kaha
mein ne us se ye kaha

This I said unto him

tu khuda ka noor hai

aql hai, shaoor hai

qaum tere saath hai

tere hi!, hi!, hi!, wajood se

mulk ki nijaat hai

tu hai mehr-e-subh-e-nau

tere baad raat hai!

bolte jo chand hain

sab ye shar pasand hain!

inki khainch le zabaan

inka ghoont de gala

You are the Godly glow

Of brains and logic

The nation stands with you

Through your grace Alone,

The state can be salvaged.

You bring the dawn of a new day

It is dusk aft thou!

The few who grunt

Are all the hellions

Tear out their tongues

Strangle their throats.

mein ne us se ye kaha
mein ne us se ye kaha

This I said unto him

jin ko tha zaban pe naaz

chup hain wo zaban daraaz

chain hai samaaj main

bemisaal fark hai

kal main aur aaj main

apne kharch par hain log

qaid tere raaj me

Those proud of their eloquence

Hushed are all those boisterous

Order reigns the land

The contrast is unparalleled

Of bygone and current

Taken a hostage at their own expense

Are people in your empire

mein ne us se ye kaha
mein ne us se ye kaha

This I said unto him

cheen apna yar hai
us pe jan nisar hai
par wahan jo hai nizaam
us taraf na jaayio
us ko door se salaam
das crore ye gadhay
jin ka naam hai awaam
kia banain gsy hukmaran
tu!, tu!, tu! yaqeen hai ye gumaan
apni to dua hai ye
sadr tu rahe sada


China is the beloved chum

Precious than the dear life

But the setup that they run

Steer well clear of that

Without further ado, turn away

These hundred million asses

Which are named the masses

Naught deserve they to be a majesty

You alone are real; an image are they

All I plea for is

You remain President till eternity


mein ne us se ye kaha
mein ne us se ye kaha

This I said unto him

PS: The translation is mine, hence obviously lacks the same tanginess of flavour.

blue coupe rocks . . .

when i set ablaze an ashen sun.

Grey, cold, stony.


Even when theres life that beams, theres a sun that shines, and theres a feather that tickles.




But why depend on a sun that does not shine on thou?


The sun is the one that shines with or without reason; arises with or without reason. And is NOT cold!
Nay, I can't waste a second of my existence contemplating on what could never be mine. Its me and me alone who has to realize the worth of each second of this spell they call 'life', for it belongs to me! And how can I ever possibly let it be ruined if theres a sun that opts to go grey for me?


Be your own sun and life shall never be bleak. For the promise of each new day is as sure to be fulfilled as your own existence.


I choose to be my own Sun. My own Rain and my own Rainbow.
I am the Sky that shelters and I am the Earth that floors.
I am the Waters that flow and I am the Wind that blows.
I am the grain and I am the space.
I am the Seed and I am the Fruit.
I am the smile and I am the tear.
I am the joy and I am the fear.



I am.


For I choose to live my own life, without cursing each second for a sun that chooses to withhold its light from me.







I must.
So I am.

a PVC pipe relationship!

yes! you got it right! its the same PVC pipe. The Polyvinyl Chloride pipe. PVC is a thermoplastic polymer chemically identified as the chloroethanediyl. Well just to give you an idea, though its pretty implausible that you wouldn't have heard of the PVC pipes, these are chemically resistant, hollow, plastic pipes especially used for water distribution and sanitary sewer applications.

Hmmm..... so where does this fit in?

When I think of a relationship, I weigh it against the extent of strength it inculcates in both the partners. Greater the strength, stronger the relationship and vice verse. The strength of going across horizons, the strength of fighting with your personal demons, the strength of facing the challenges of financial problems, the strength of coping with the difficulties of family matters, the strength of going beyond one's means to facilitate someone less advantaged, even the strength of nursing cheerfully an ailing family member, all in all, the strength of facing everyday challenges that come along the package of an ordinary monotonous routine of each day. That is what I believe strengthens a bond, builds and nourishes a relationship; the realization that you have a support system in form of that one individual by your side. And that support system does not paralyze your own personal defense mechanism by making you dependent on it, instead it gives you faith in your own personal capacity to handle difficult situations, it makes you aware of your own depths and urges you to dive yet even deeper to seek out the unknown treasures of your self. It keeps you surefooted in an ever swaying world of continuous change.

This to me is what a relationship should do to you.

But alas, every "should" is actually a possibility that lacks any possibility of being materialized. So this is not what a relationship usually does.

So this is where, my aforementioned PVC pipe fits in.

When the relationship is not what it should be, it becomes a bond that asks one to stay in it, oblige a set of responsibilities; give somethings, and receive some others. Instead of intertwining the two personalities, the whole purpose becomes to re-cast one's self into the mold of the other(whoever is dominant in the bond). Personalities just cease to grow together, instead of building upon each other, the strengths of both the partners just wash away through the sanitary sewer, for the two are just too busy fighting their own personal issues that no one bothers to notice that collective energy could do wonders to them. The expected result is that each partner loses on personal front and the sense of 'personal' loss drives any possibility of mutual capacity growth even farther. The relationship, in itself, becomes a hollow facade of something far deeper, far stronger; a true depiction of what Emily Bronte' once called, "hollow, servile, insincere'.

Why?

Because the Relationship, the Bond, does not provide the necessary support infra structure for the people to grow and reach out, beyond horizons. It simply can't afford it. It is a drape around two different people so that they are assumed as one. It is a sphere that, though, holds them together, does not unite them. This sphere is not built to take loads. It is not meant to be subjected to pressures. It is built with just as much contribution from each partner so as to contain them within. That it does. Its hollow (and, weak), since its a drape. Its none porous, because it doesn't absorb anything anything from the two lives it contains. Its simply like a PVC pipe.

And PVC pipe relationships don't last forever.