Ghalib : A Discovery & His Ghazals

Well in my childhood I always thought the elders to be cuckoo when they discussed Ghalib, Kaifi Azmi and the like. Similarly I failed to understand all the commotion when a serial based on Ghalib was aired on DD national.Also I thought people to be bigger goner when they discussed english poetry by wordsworth or shelly or others. Little did I imagine it then that one day I would be smitten by the same verses of Ghalib on which I used to laugh. Time and age are funny things in retrospection.

Like many artists before and after him his life was not a smooth sailing.Born in 1797 in Agra he was a self taught person. Maybe its the pain that brings out such magical verses.A sample:-

Hain aur bhi duniya mein sukhanwar bahut acche
Kahte hain ki Ghalib ka hai andaaz-i-bayaan kuch aur
[ There are many good poets in this world, but they say Ghalib's telling is something else...] The funny part is Ghalib was aware of his talent and in many of his writings has indirectly said the same thing in a satirical tone.

Har ek baat par kahte ho ki tu kya hai
tumhi kaho ki andaaz-e-guftagu kya hai
Rago mein daute phirne ke hum nahin kaayal
Jab tapka hi nahin aankh se to lahu kya hai.

Well this is another beauty.One can read any meaning from this stanza but as one goes deeper a new meaning is bound to come.Maybe that's the beauty of master's: the literal meaning is good but hidden or deciphered meaning is better.
[Meaning :On every occasion you say- what are you?Please do tell what is this way of talk. I am not pleased by the mere running in veins;Till it flows from the eyes what sort of blood is that] Now it is crude and literal meaning of the sher. I am deliberately shying away away from proper translation for no matter how hard i try, i can't do justice to the words.

Hazaron khwaisen aisi ki har khwaish par dum nikle
bahut nikale mere armaaN lekin phir bhii kam nikale

nikalanaa Khuld se aadam kaa sunte aaye hain lekin
bahut beaabaruu hokar tere kuuche se ham nikale

muhabbat men nahiin hai farq jiine aur marane kaa
usii ko dekh kar jiite hain jis kaafir pe dam nikale

Khudaa ke vaaste pardaa na kaabe se uThaa zaalim
Kahiin aisaa na ho yaaN bhii vahii kaafir sanam nikale

KahaaN maiKhaane ka daravaazaa 'Ghalib' aur kahaaN vaaiz
par itanaa jaanate hain kal vo jaataa thaa ke ham nikale

Another beauty.But it looses all its sheen when u translate it.One has to know the language to appreciate the melody,the rhythm and the tongue in cheek approach of ghalib.
thousand desires rule, each worth dying for
Though many of them were fulfilled, but they were in minority.
We had heard of Adam’s expulsion from Paradise but
With greater shame (disgrace) I came out of your street.
In love there is no difference between life and death
I live by seeing her, the one, over whom I die.
Please in the name of God, don't pull the curtain off Kaaba (In Macca,sacred )
What if here too I see , my beloved (who has rejected me)
Where is the door to the bar,and where is the preacher
But I know this much, yesterday, when he was going, I was coming out.

How about one of my favorite ghazals:

Yeh na thi hamari kismat ki wisaal-e-yaar hota,
agar aur jeete rehte yahee intezaar hota!
[It was not my destiny that I unite with my beloved.
If i had lived more,I would have waited (for the moment)]

Tere wade par jiye hum toh yeh jaan jhuuth jana,
main khushee se mar na jaata agar eitabaar hota
[To think that I lived on your promise, that’s not true…
Wouldn’t have I died with joy, if I had trusted you!]

Terii naazukii se jaanaa ke ba.ndhaa thaa ahad buudaa
kabhii tuu na to.d sakataa, agar usatavaar hotaa

Hue mar ke hum jo rusawa, hue kyo na gharg-e-dariya
na kabhee janaaza uthata, na kahee mazaar hota..
[If I gain bad fame after death? Why didn’t I drown in sea
Coffin wouldn't be needed, no tomb would exist]

Koee mere dil se poonche, ki yeh teer-e-neem kash ko
Yeh khalish kahaan se hotee jo jigar ke paar hota
[Ask my heart- the way you have aimed the arrow,
How would i feel the sting, if it’d gone thru the heart(i.e. it's still there)]

Ye kahaa.n kii dostii hai ke bane hai.n dost naaseh
koii chaaraa saaz hotaa, koii gam gusaar hotaae
[ Where's friendship is that, who call themselves my friend & give me advice
When all i want is someone to listen, some one to soothe pain]

Kahoon kis se main ke kya hai, shab-e-gham buri bala hai,
mujhe kya bura tha marna ? agar ek baar hota
[To whom do I tell? Dark nights of sorrows (of separation) are difficult…
I would have better died; I would have suffered just once]

Ye masaa\-el\-e\-tasavvuf, ye teraa bean, gaalib
tujhe ham vaalii samajhate, jo na baadah khaar hotaa
[Galib, your thinking and phrases are great!
If we’d not seen your drunken side, we would have called you a saint!]

After reading through his poetry and going in a bit deeper you feel out for the shayar for despite all his fanfare with words, he knew in his heart that he was a loser in this world- maybe that's why he had taken to drinking. And maybe that's why the pangs of separation are so beautifully brought out.