Category Archives: Poetry Corner

I want to tell them frankly that mere declarations of loyalty to the Indian Union will not help them at this critical juncture. They must give practical proof of their declarations.

— You Cannot Ride Two Horses (Speech by Sardar Patel on 6 January 1948, in Lucknow)

Why did you sell your house now, O Khadim?

As hereditary guard of the Taj Mahal, must you not be prim

and proper, when for Pakistan has left,

all your family, most of your kin?

There are four reasons for the sale, Sahib:

I owed debts, and I have daughters to be married,

The refugees living in my house misused it,

My sons have gone, I need money, for when I die, to be buried.

III

Tut, tut, I am sorry, I am not convinced,

Why now? Never before you felt pinched?

Go fetch positive proof of your faith, in a month,

else lose your job, we believe in your guilt.

Here, Sir, I have brought back from Lahore,

my two single daughters, orphaned grandchildren—four.

The rest won’t come, they fear their old neighbours,

Please don’t fire me, by God, I could do no more.

Original published in EPW: http://www.epw.in/journal/2017/46/postscript/agra-1948.html

Poetry Corner

Poetry Corner: Since You Have Gone by Ribhu Singh

05/07/2017 Pippa Leave a comment

Since You Have Gone by Ribhu Singh

Since you have gone,
the birds have stopped pecking at my window
to wake me up,
mornings have lost their warmth –
day finds me trapped in the darkness of my small room,
nights have lost their darkness –
a faint light flickers in my room throughout the night,
keeping me awake.

Since you have gone,
the home-made sweets in pure ghee
have lost their sweetness and lay half-bitten,
attracting red ants,
flowers have forgotten to bloom –
my garden withered,
the trees have shed their leaves –
autumn knocks at the door.

Since you have gone,
the wind has stopped blowing –
singing in my ears –
everything is still like my thoughts

But now, I hear a bird,
singing its melodies alone
in a silent, quiet corner of my garden.
The crops are ripe and the farmers
blow their trumpet –
singing and dancing, in joy.

Do I hear your footsteps at the corner of my street,
turning towards my unfrequented door?

Oh do come, my visitor,
I have waited long for you.

Courtesy: Five poems of longing for the sizzling month of May. https://scroll.in/article/836073/five-poems-of-longing-for-the-sizzling-month-of-may

Poetry Corner

Poetry Corner: Serendipity

10/26/2016 Pippa Leave a comment

kerala boat — (c) Copyright 2016 Pippa Virdee. Boat trip in the backwaters of Kerala.

The Cloths of Heaven
Had I the heaven’s embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light;
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
By W. B. Yeats

Poetry Corner

Poetry Corner: Transience

10/23/2016 Pippa Leave a comment

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Transience by Sarojini Naidu and a glimpse of the moon to compliment her words.

Nay, do not grieve tho’ life be full of sadness,
Dawn will not veil her splendour for your grief,
Nor spring deny their bright, appointed beauty
To lotus blossom and ashoka leaf.

Nay, do not pine, tho’ life be dark with trouble,
Time will not pause or tarry on his way;
To-day that seems so long, so strange, so bitter,
Will soon be some forgotten yesterday.

Nay, do not weep; new hopes, new dreams, new faces,
The unspent joy of all the unborn years,
Will prove your heart a traitor to its sorrow,
And make your eyes unfaithful to their tears.

Pakistan, Poetry Corner

Poetry Corner: Lahore

09/04/2016 Pippa 1 Comment

Daal dus khaan shehar lahore e ander
(Tell me, in the city of Lahore)
Bai kinnein boohey tay kinnian barian nein
(How many doors and windows are there?)
Naley Das Khaan aothon dian ittaan
(Tell me also about its bricks.)
Kinnian tuttian tay kinnian saaran nein
(How many are still firm, and how many lie broken?)
Daal dus khaan shehr Lahore e Andar
(Tell me, inside the city of Lahore)
Khooian kinnian mithian tey kinnian khaarian nein
(How many wells have fresh water and how many are ruined with salt?)
Zara soch key dewien jawaab meinoon
(Think carefully before you answer.)
Aothey kinnian viyaeyan tay kinnian kunvarian nein
(How many are married and how many single?)
Daal Dassaan mein shehr lahore e ander
(I will tell you what lies in the city of Lahore.)
Bai lakhaan boohey tay lakhaan e baarian nein
(There are millions of doors and millions of windows.)
Jinnaan Ittaan tay tahar gaey paer aashiq
(The bricks burn in the memory of lovers’ footsteps.)
O heoon Tuttian tay baqi saarian nein
(Only those lie broken.)
Jinnaan Khooian toun paher gaey mashooq paarrien
(Only wells that quench a lover’s thirst)
Jerian behendian apnein naal sajraan dey
(Only those who sit with their lovers)
O heon viyaiyan teh baaqi kunvarian nein

Haji lok makkey nun jandey
(Pilgrims go to Mecca)
Mera ranjha mahi makkah
(My beloved Ranjha is my Mecca.)
Nein main kamli aan
(O! I am crazy)
Nein main kamli aan
(O! I am crazy)

Haji lok makkey nun jandey
(Pilgrims go to Mecca)
Mera ranjha mahi makkah
(My beloved Ranjha is my Mecca.)
Nein main kamli aan
(O! I am crazy)
Nein main kamli aan….
(O! I am crazy)

Ho Kajjal da ki pawana
(What is the use of wearing kohl)
Keh jeda athro wagan rurh jawey
(Which is washed away with streaming tears?)
Kach da key pehnana
(Why wear glass)
Jera Thece Lagey Tutt Jawey
(Which can shatters with a nudge?)
Rung da key Lawaran
(Why bother putting on color)
Keh Jera Boond Pawey Khurr Jawey
(That would melt away with every drop?)
Aashiq Noun Key Maarran
(Why bother killing the lover)
Keh Jera Cheherk Dawey Mur Jawey
(When he would die with the thought of your anger?)
Nein Mein Kamli Aan O!
(I am crazy indeed)
Nein Mein Kamli Aan O!
(I am crazy)

Ho Mein Tan Mung Ranjhan Di Hoean To Ranjha
(I am betrothed)
Mera Babul Dainda e Thaka
(My father pushes me)
Nein Main Kamli Aan
(O! I am crazy)
Nein main Kamli Aan
(O! I am crazy)
Nein Main Kamli
(O! I am crazy)

Jey Rab milda nahatian tohotian
(If God was to be found by bathing)
They milda daddoan machian
(Then fish and frogs would have found Him.)
Jey Rab milda jungle bailey
(If God was to be found by roaming jungles)
Tan milda gaoan wachian
(Then cows and calves would have found Him.)
Jey Rab milda wich maseetee
(If God was to be found in Mosques)
Tan Milda Chaam Charikian
(Then bats would have found Him.)
Bullia Rab aonan nu milda bullia!
(He is only found by those)
Bhai neetaan jinhan dian sachian
(Who are pure at heart.)
Nein Mein Kamli Aan
(O! I am crazy)

Parh Parh main hazaar kitabaan
(Yes, you have read a thousand books)
Kitabaan…
(Books…)
Parh Parh im hazaar kitabaan
(Yes, you have read a thousand books)
Kadee Aprain Aap Noun Perhia Nahein
(But you have never read your own self)
Jaan Jaan Warrdey Mandar Maseetee
(You rush to temples and mosques)
Kadee Mun Aprrain wich Warian Nahein
(But you never tried to enter your own heart)
Aewein Larrnaein Shaitaan Dey Naal Bundia
(All your battles with Satan are lost)
Kadee Nafs Aprrain Naal Larria Nahein
(For you have never tried to fight your own desires)
Aakhay Peer Bulleh Shah
(Saint Bulleh Shah says)
Aakhay Peer Bulleh Shah Aasmaani Pharr naen
(Saint Bulleh Shah says you try to touch the one in the sky)
Aakhay Peer Bulleh Shah Aasmaani Pharr naen
(Saint Bulleh Shah says you try to touch the one in the sky)
Allah…
Nein mein Kamli Aan
(O! I am crazy)
Nein mein Kamli Aan
(O! I am crazy)