Cuppa Coffee and some Shayeri (2)

Welcome to this space today. If you like Shayeri, I am quite sure you will have a good time reading this one. Don’t be scared that you will be limited by language because I am also putting up translations of these. So whether you understand Urdu/Hindi or you enjoy poetry in English, this post might have something for you. So grab your coffee and put your feet up and get cozy on that couch and then read more. And don’t forget to tell me in the end how you found these. Feel free to add more lines or to translate it into a different language if you think that might help these reach out to more people.  And if you want to read more of these, click here to read my previous post which also has a little about Shayeri as a form of poetry and a couple of links where you can find more about it. 

Khaabon ko insaani bandishon se qaid kar rakha kyun,

Jab vo khaab hi daayre se nikalkar udane bharne ke hon?

I lock them in cages made up of uncertainty,

I shove them behind walls of my own mediocrity,

Yet soon as I lay peaceful, defenceless in my slumber,

These dreams of greatness overcome the dread of reality.

*****

Thak kar, haar kar, maayus hokar baitha hoon,

Ki zindagi jeene ke chakkar me sare khaab kharch ho gaye.

In the corner of gloom, under the shadow of defeat,

I sit, I reminisce, I fret at the futility,

In living the life that I could not repeat,

I spent all my dreams, in pursuit of reality.

*****

Muhabbat kehkar meri dosti par yun ilzaam laga diya

Kya tum kabhi muhabbat kar bhi paoge jo dosti hi na samajh paye?

Accusing my friendship of being something more,

You tore down its innocence and rattled its core,

You say you want our friendship to be something beyond it,

But I feel uncertain that you even understand it.

*****

Khwabeeda aankhon ka dastoor yahi hai,

Ki ve posheeda junoonon ko rang-o-roop den!

They say that dreams are make believe,

But sight itself could do no better.

For dreamy eyes give life and light,

To those deepest desires that matter.

*****

Mohtarma aapko apni khoobsoorti ka ilm tak nahin,

Kyunki muqammal chaand ki bhi aapko sirf khaamiyaan nazar aati hain!

My love, I wonder if you ever see,

How poignantly flawless are ye,

You see the freckles upon its visage,

But don’t you see its perigee?

*****

PS, Thanks to Archit for the translations 🙂

Pic credit, Linguistic Society of America