Memorable Last Words

This was supposed to be the previous post, but then I digressed.

The other day I was walking back from office singing, "Woh Kabhi Mil Jaayen to kya keejiye...raat din surat woh dekha keejiyee". As I sang I could not recollect one verse and I kept racking my brains for it. That sher was even more important because I could not sing the last verse, the one with the poet's name in it, without singing all the others. If I gave up trying to remember the missing sher and did sing the last verse and then remembered the verse that I had forgotten, it wouldn't be any good to sing it. It would be like eating the misplaced roti after dessert.

The last verse, I don't know if there is a technical term for it, is the ultimate thing in the Ghazal. It's the dessert, it's the climax, it's the summing up, the signature, it is so many things. To a singer, rather, to the person who is singing, it gives the maximum pleasure. One can almost feel the near organismic, unabashedly Freudian pleasure with which the poet had forged his name amongst beautiful words. Sometimes I don't like poetry when the Poet does not put his name in it.

Not just Ghazal, Bhakti poetry and Carnatic songs have this putting the name funda. "Kehet Kabir.." "Tuka mhane..." and "Purandhara Vitthala" and "Tyagaraja vinutha...". I only follow half of what follows "Tuka Mhane" but I enjoy the last words most all the same.

Okay, here follows some of my favourite last words of Ghazals, those that I can recollect now. I will give two or three verses from each Ghazal. One or two as a representation of the rest of the ghazal and then the last one. Believe me writing them down one after another is going to be a major self-indulgence. To start with "Woh Kabhi..."

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Woh Kabhi Mil Jaayein to Kya Keejiye
Raat Din Surat woh dekha keejiye

Waada tha unke raat ke aanekaa ae 'Qamar'
Ab Chand Chup gaya unhe aajaana chaahiye

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Qasid ke aate aate khat ek aur likh rakhoon (Qasid=messenger)
Main jaanata hoon woh joh likenge jawaab mein

Mujh tak na unki basm mein aata tha daur-e-jaam (basm=mehfil ; daur = turn)
Saakhi ne kuch mila na diya ho sharaab mein

'Ghalib' chuti sharaab, par abhi kabhi kabhi
Peeta hoon roj-e-abr o shab-e-mahatab mein (roj = day;abr=cloud; roj-e-abr=cloudy day; shab=night; mahatab=moon; shab-e-mahatab=moony night)

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Na nigaah, nay payaam, nay vaada
naam ko ham bhi yaar rakhate hain

Phir bhi karate hain 'Meer' sahab ishq
hain jawaan ikhtiyaar rakhate hain

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Ek ajnabi jhonke ne jab poocha mere gam ka sabab,
Sehera ki bhigi ret pe maine likha awaaragi (Sehara=desert)

Kal raat tanaha chand ko dekha tha maine khwaab mein,
'Mohsin' mujhe raas aayegi shaayad sada awaaragi

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Kaisi chali hai ab ke hawa, tere shehar mein,
Bande bhi ho gayeein hain khuda, tere shehar mein,

Shayad unhe pata tha ke 'Khatir' hai ajnabi,
logon ne us ko loot liya, tere shehar mein.

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Ji Dhoondata hai phir wohi fursat ke raat din,
baithen rahein tasavvur-e-jaana kiye hue,

'Ghalib' hamein na ched ke phir josh-e-ashk se
baithen hain ham tahayaa-e-toofan kiye hue (tahayya = determination)

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Hai bas ke har ek unke ishare mein nishaan aur,
Karate hain mohabbat to guzarata hai gumaan aur ( gumaan= doubt, apprehension)

Ya Rab! Na woh samjhein hain na samjhenge meri baat,
De aur dil un ko jo na dein mujh ko zubaan aur,

Hain Aur bhi Duniya mein, sukhanvar bahut acche, (sukhanvar = poet)
Kehate hain ke 'Ghalib' ka hai andaaz-e-bayaan aur,

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