Kaagaz
Poem
Muskurahat
Khat jo tum nazrano ke saath likhtein ho,
Un lafzoon main jo ehsaas bayaan kartein ho,
Us waqt shayad mehsoos na ho,
Par aane wale paloon par ek muskurahat chodh dete ho.
Ehsaas
Ek ehsaas hai,
jo humein insaan banata hai
Is kudrat ke karishme se, kab tak aankh churaoge?
Jab chu jayengein ruh ko jazbaat,
Tum beetein hue rukhe pal na badal paoge.
Sabr
Nivrtti
Rukhi aidiyoon main ab bas rahi hai duniya,
Aankhein jee rahi hain, roz ek naya qissa.
Naye log, naye hai ehsaas,
Jeevan jeene ka yeh nav-abhaas
Drishy jo kitni bar-dekh, bhi andekhein the,
Saamay ki ankahi dhool main, dafne the,
Muskaan ki jhurriyoon main aaj ubhar rahe hain.
Meri gheri, pehli, swach swaas.
Nivritt, here, implies freedom from responsibility, retirement.
BANDISH
Ek bewafaai aur mili tumhari jeb se,
Siahi ke nishaan, ek muchade hue bill pe.
Kuch der sambhale rakha unhe,
Maine apne mathe ki shikan pe.
Befikr nazar churai tumne,
Main bhi muskura di,
Tumhare lateefe ki ot main,
Din ka varnan, awaaz main hasee aur ulass.
Chaha tumse pooch hi lu aaj,
Laboon tak laakar, rukh gayi kitni baar.
Goonj us sawaal ki,
Shanka mere mann Ki
Kitne kadam door ho tum, es dayere paar
Us siahi ko toh baha diya maine,
Katra katra kar, jeeni hogi, ab yeh daraar.
Kaal
You know its been a great weekend, when on a Monday, you pull out the scribbling on the back of an industry report, to update a long forgotten blog. An inspired moment, unedited, a first in hindi for me.
Kaal
Is shor main jo ulajhta ja raha hoon,
Apne mann ke dhagaon ko-bun,
Kabhi udhaidta ja raha hoon
Zindagi ke pal jo beet ja rahe hain
Unhe samait,
Sulajhta ja raha hoon.
Seekh raha hoon,
Sambhal raha hoon.
Apni ki hui galtiyoon pe kabhi itra,
Kabhi sukhoon bhi pa raha hoon.
Mudh ke dekhna, galat nahi.
Aage jo hai, uske beetne pe,
Apne kal ki udharana pata ja raha hoon.
Meri lakiroon main, meri gaatha nahi.
Khud ki jeevani, main likhta aa raha hoon,
Guroor ya abhimaan hai,
Vidhata ki kuch dain bhi.
Karamoon ke upkaar,
Aage apne soch ke buland iraadon pe chaltein ja raha hoon.
Spoken Word: Hindi Playlist
My blog Spoken Word: Jugalbandi of Words and Art was about my journey discovering this beautiful art form, a confluence of poetry, storytelling & music.
I shared an English playlist with you and promised a Hindi one too.
Here are the gems I found: Playlist Â
- 4 beautiful poems written by Javed Akhtar recited by Farhan Akhtar in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
- Apne Hone Par Mujhko Yaqeen Aa Gaya | Yeh Jaane Kaisa Raaz Hai | Dil Aakhir Tu Kyun Rota Hai | Toh Zinda Ho Tu
- An all-time favorite from a movie which is poetry in motion, Rituparno Ghosh’s Raincoat. The movie is an adaptation of O’ Henry’s short story “The Gift of Magi“. Enjoy the recitation in Gulzar’s baritone and Shubha Mudgal’s voice in Piya tora kaisa abhiman.
- Calling Amitabh Bachchan fans. Silsila scores high on music  and poetry. Yeh Kahaan aa gaye hum has Amitabh Bachchan’s monologues and Lata Mangeshkar singing to Javed Akhtar’s  lyrics.
- Jab Tak Hai Jaan, the last of legend Yash Raj Chopra’s direction opens with a poetry penned by his son Aditya Chopra, delivered by Shahrukh Khan to the background score of A.R. Rahman.
- Sanjay Gupta paired a Gulzar’s poem to each of his stories in the movie Dus Kahaniyan. Soliloquized by Nana Patekar-Tere utare hue din, Naseeruddin Shah-Der Aayad | Poore ka poora aakash, Dia Mirza-Khudkhushi, Sanjay Dutt-Chaal Chal, Amrita Singh-Raat Tamir Kaarien, Anupam Kher-Bauchar, Sudhanshu Pande-Tallaq, Neha Dhupia-Hatak and Manoj Bajpai-Khali Samunder | Taalash | Chaal Chal to a background score by, wait for it, Bappi Lahiri.
- Madhushala the epic metaphorical writing by Harivansh Rai Bachchan sung by Manna Dey.
- Mirza Ghalib is the “God” of this art form and one can’t attempt to recount his works.
- This one dates back to the days of Doordarshan, Ek Anek Aur Ekta , an animation by Film Division of India narrated a story on unity, sung by Sadhna Sargam at 5!
- A powerful description by Gulzar in Aastha: Pyaar wo beej hai.
- The trailers  of Dhoom 3 were abuzz with Aamir Khan reciting Bande hain hum uske written by Aditya Chopra.
- Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna by Ram Prasad Bismil  is an ode to young freedom fighters  of Indian Independence Movement.
All of this needn’t be serious and romantic. The genre lends itself to comedy and in my humble opinion rapping should qualify too. So here are some of the unconventional ones.
- Ek Rahen Eer by Amitabh Bachchan
- I am Mumbhai by Javed Jaffery in Bombay Boys
- Thanda Thanda Pani by Baba Sehgal
- Khat: Emotionalfulls
…and many more HereÂ
With your suggestions this list could only get better. Do drop in a comment if you enjoyed discovering some of these tracks and share the ones you love.
Spoken Word: Jugalbandi of Words and Art
Love of poetry and storytelling made me stop flipping radio stations and listen to “The deck of cards” by Tex Williams;
Experiencing a Haruki Murakami moment “Whatever it is you are seeking won’t come in the form you are expecting.” I discovered a form of art, Spoken Word.
An estuary of narrative and music for the soul.
A confluence of words and performing art, dance and theatre.
All this, over a banal trip, ridden with gnarling Delhi traffic, browsing through FM channels indifferently, driving back across 3 states from work.
I was in the throes of a scripturient urge to celebrate my finding. The drive seemed longer than usual, there was so much to do; quench my curiosity by reading more, attend to a deluge of examples, listen to new finds and compile a playlist. Most of this though, was curtailed to the luxury of late evenings that afforded time for myself.
Political motivations, social causes, religious discourses, leadership speak, life experiences, stories, folklore and many more expressions have found themselves in this experimental art form. Examples of which will follow.
Sunscreen, Are you lonesome tonight, Yeh kahan aa gaye hum, have been all time favorites, only today I know better, I can flaunt the genre of music they belong to and discover more such gems.
Here is a playlist
- Baz Luhrmann: Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)
- Johnny Cash: What Is Truth
- James Brown: King Heroin
- The Shangri-Las: Past, Present and Future
- Tex Ritter: A Deck of Cards
- Elvis Presley: Are you Lonesome Tonight
- William S. Burroughs and Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy: Words of Advice
- National Lampoon – Deteriorata
- Kenny Rogers: Coward of the County
- Dolly Parton & Kelly Rogers: We got tonight
- Gil Scott-Heron: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
- John Cooper Clarke – Evidently Chickentown
- Jim Morrison: A Feast Of Friends
- Material: Seven Souls
- Jim Backus & Friend: Delicious
- Laurie Anderson: O Superman
- Jimmy Dean: Big Bad John
- Paul Hardcastle: 19
- Maya Angelou: Ain’t I a woman
- A Life Story: Look at yourself after watching
- John Cooper Clarke: Beasley Street
- Slint: Good Morning
- Prince Buster: Judge Dread
- Talking Heads: Seen and Not Seen
- Ballboy: A Day in Space
- Ballboy: I hate Scotland
- Ivor Cutler: Life in a Scotch Sitting Room- Check out the entire series
- The Velvet Underground: The Murder Mystery
- Abba: I have a Dream
- Loudon Wainwright III: History
- Buddy Starcher: History Repeats Itself
- Jimmy Dean: Big Bad John
- Byron MacGregor: The Americans
- Victor Lundberg:Â An Open Letter to My Teenage Son
- Obama: Yes We Can
There are several songs with parts in spoken word. Explore the musicians in the list. Drop in a comment if you like any of these or have suggestions.
Coming up: A playlist for Hindi spoken word songs. Stay Tuned!
Light
Heavy head,
Heavy heart.
Eyes wide open,
Before the crack of dawn.
Flashes intermittent, with blankness.
Stillness on face.
Silence in person,
Chaos within.
Time ticks,
Time paces.
Self, a basic instinct.
Boundaries blur,
Walls emerge.
Impregnable future,
Fragile past.
Getting ahead?
With open eyes,
At the crack of dawn.
Curio-Cities by Dilpreeta Vasudeva 