Who is Who?

Twinkling bright it says
I shine apart, not in a quest to
it is how I survive
brightest when the world sleeps
preparing in the king's presence

A distance apart we are
still you could see me
for the inspiration you are lit with
you could only have had it after seeing me

It smiled, not in sarcasm
to appreciate makes one happy
to encourage and pat for persistence
may kindle something more

Through a window it happened
we both being on each side
it may not be difficult for you to make
who said which of these lines

Doesn't really matter
we both shine equally bright
nature was enthusiastic
to fuel us for eternity

-G Singh, Philadelphia, 22nd Nov 2007

Timeless Demystification

Its like water in the palm,

left open feels cool and calm,

childish of me to try to possess it forever,

tried to close the fist, forgetting it will seep and will stay there never.



Its like the beauty of the flower,

beauty filled in the air trying to defeat the beauty in the color, to get higher,

infantile of me, plucked it, desired to keep it with me,

it spread its fragrance only with its roots, as crafted by its Saviour – Thee .



Its like the play of a child,

described by innocence and steps that go wild,

childish of me to confine it in the discipline defined by emotion,

forgot that though small and frail , the child is an impression of His execution.



Its like the river that flows swiftly,

supported by the mountains, holding them tightly,

infantile of me to ride on religion to take Ganges in a container,

for it was Ganges only with the stream and I remained as always, a mere complainer.



Life has always been beautiful,

only the emotion tank has been at times empty, half or full,

childish of me to measure life in terms of happiness and satisfaction it gave,

for it was meant to be cherished let free, allowed for its own ways to pave.



O Lord, Life seems to be Demystified,

the mist has cleared and nothing feels like sacrificed,

I have grown up to reality now,

childish was I, help me improve, make me understand how?



Gursharan, 10th June, 2006.

The Great Uprising and the Parliamentary Mutiny

In the late afternoon of 10th May 1857, Mangal Pandey, known as Amir Khan amongst the younger generation of my India, was the man who rose first against the invaders. And it marked the beginning of a seemingly endless struggle. It was nice to see the 150 year commemoration ceremony in the Lok Sabha, with the members in full attendance; a rare event. Gulzar Sahib read a beautiful poem on the free yet held India: held in religion, hatred and obstreperous politics. The Lok Sabha television also showed a 10 min documentary on the revolt. It was well scripted and cinematographed: background narration by the Lal Quila itself.

I had two qualms after the whole 2 hour program. First one is more serious. There was no originality, vigor, passion and respect in our parliamentarians. Somnath Chatterjee, the hon’ble speaker(please allow me to say) gave a rotten speech. It seemed that whosoever writes his speech hasn’t been paid from long, and he also discovered it amidst the words. The members of the house yawned, laughed, chatted with the neighbors, and did everything, but listening to Chatterjee felt like a dog bite to them. He took 15 minutes to relieve the crowd. Next was our Vice President, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. His poor health didn’t allow him to speak much, and he leveraged the fact pretty smartly. I can’t, even in my dreams, imagine on this earth that how somebody can be so dotingly lost while talking about the 1857 Revolt! They were 85 who initially revolted, and this was a house full of over 800 people. Sitting in the House of India, wallowing in all luxuries of life, were the sons and daughters of the Mother paying homage to their brethren of 150 years ago. Dr. Singh, Dr. Manmohan Singh I should say, failed to moh anybody’s mann. I am finding it hard to say anything for a man of that intellect, but it hurts to realize that he ordered his speech with a class 8th history text book to the writer. With almost no content of substance, he finished by saying something like: I call my countrymen to align their vision towards the development of Our India. Independence Day and Republic Day also hear the same line every time, just that its position changes in the speech. Now comes the Son of this land, the person who should actually be called punjab da puttar (and not Dr. Singh), His Excellency,Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. This man is a bombshell. Azad, truly. He is. His words can really ignite something under you. Only 10 words spoken, and everybody woke up to a thunderous applaud. He addressed initially in Hindi, struggling a bit. When he came to form, he switched to English and Oh my! I was all stoned. My dear friends, especially my younger friends, there lies a responsibility in front of us, more so in front of you, to realize the dream of my father, Rabindranath Tagore, who said: I dream of an India where the mind is without fear, and the head is held high. Note that he addressed Shri Dr. Tagore as his father. With the longest speech from amongst the multitude sitting on the elevated stage, with a jack under their butts, he finished in an emphatic voice with his face red, smiling and shining with pride.

Secondly, I was thinking after the speech, that the first revolt of Indian freedom was rooted at religion. The beef oil cartridges and the pork sheath kindled the fire. In terms of Sabhayata and culture, religion seems to have some pros on what India today is. But, the cons outweigh the pros by tonnes of ignorance, darkness and feuds. Though the voices of the man made sects known as Hindus and Muslims were in unison at that time, but why is this so important to say that Hindus and Muslims revolted together? Why not, every son of this land revolted for his Mitti? It appears that it is hard for us to jettison communal inspiration. If every kid of India grows up as a Hindu/Muslim/Sikh/Isai, it would be the ill-fate of nobody else, but the Mother and Her children.

Mitti...

After an 18 hour long air haul (yes that seems like a haul, time fails to pass and you feel like being dragged), I touched on Land, my Motherland. With a thought of kissing the land after getting off the jet, it was a moment of dismay for me when the transfer was directly into the lobby from the jet. No worries, the aanchal is a span outside... Picked up by family, it was ecstatic to be back home, home, that Is. Everything was same, the sweet hot weather, the raunak on the Delhi airport (that I missed at the philly airport) and of course, the family receiving me. The sultry play between the smiling moon and the moving clouds, the not so cool breeze trying its best to make you feel cool and the car passing by on the road that shakes off your sight when you try to find the horizon. Yes I am Home.

Albeit it has only been close to 9 months since I left home, I was floating on oozing joy after stepping into the same house where I spent the formative years of my career. Ma, keeping it neat as ever. It was a strange feeling to meet parents after some time. I had never stayed out of home for more than 3 weeks. The inexpressible joys were not fathomable. Dad, calm as ever and mom emotional, as ever. Soon, a strange feeling started gripping me, I am *visiting* my home? Countable days. Sad. I am writing this post sitting in one corner, trying to make no sound from the keyboard, so that nobody wakes up and says, "are you jetlagged" and make me feel like an outsider. Life is strange. Hits you with a brick on head at times, and makes a bed of roses some other times. And this human is even more strange - writes his fate with indelible strokes of stupidity.

Am I so limited by thoughts and vision? Is Jonathan Gull correct in saying that don't believe your eyes, they always make you see the limitations? Am I really limited by space and time? Is this body - reckoned to be the best of all creatures on earth, really so tied? I think I am evolving, realizing, growing and this Mitti has always been auspicious for me.

-G Singh, New Delhi, 4th May 2007, 4:20 AM.

Somebody on Somebody

Somebody calls an abstract thinker,
somebody laughs on the poet's tinker,
somebody pulls a poor grad student
and somebody obliges this mortal human.

Somebody asks if I am a Sikh,
somebody questions if I like life on pitch,
somebody queries how was the day,
and somebody wants the evening plans, to my dismay.

Somebody asks for work everyday,
somebody expects me with the readings of the day,
somebody calls me for the lead and tablet itching,
and somebody for the everyday moon hitting.

Someone dear knows me as son,
someone near loves me a ton,
someone dear wants me to do well in life rather,
and someone sharing childhood memories teases a younger brother.

Somebody is there not some but every tick,
some ticks I feel like giving life a kick
somebody might be anybody, somebody could be me,
this is the maze of my life, I long for the moment of glee

I made a promise to the soul,
soul asking me to be cautious of the cajole,
soul that seems still inside,
that I will not live Somebody's dream.

-G Singh, 7th April 2007, Philadelphia.

I wonder why?

A recall to the bleeding humanity, written by a disheartened frame.

Khoon apna ho ya paraya ho
Nasle-adam ka khoon hai akhir
Jung maghrib mein ho yaa mashriq mein
amn-e-alam ka khoon hai akhir.

Tank aage badein ya peeche hatein
kokh dharti ki baanjh hoti hai
fateh ka jashn ho ya haar ka soq
zindagi mayaaton pe roti hai.

Soon the world will witness history
but why they are chopping each other still remains a mystery.

The gold has tarnished-
Mazhab nahin sikhata aapas mein bair rakhna
the feeling of love has vanished.

Oh thee,the proud humane fraternity on this earth,
knows nothing of humanity, worthless is in worth

Par kyon insaan usko ko
yaad nahin rakhta
Jo zarre ko aftab aur
aftab ko zarra pal mein hai bana sakta

-G Singh

Life in womb

Youth I am, a seed of knowledge
I can sweat, to help myself harvest
Bird is my mind, thoughts my sky
Ideas I ignite, with wings of fire

Innovation my playground, creativity the game
fairness my stick, winning my sole aim
Humane fraternity the spectator, they shall enjoy
Ash may I become, to fly in rejoice

Youth I am, united I should stay
diminishing for equality, would make my day!
Equality in society, equality in thought
equality in life's and on globe's every spot

I am the world, the world is in me
I am the God, the God not outside me
Effort my worship, result Thee's grace
from earth's womb, I will take birth after I ace

Youth I am, a seed of knowledge
I will grow and form the truth
May I perish, manure I would become
The meaning of me is to contribute and flow

-G Singh, 20th January, Place: Somewhere in the US (exact:United Airlines jet :) )

The Ottawian composition

With two little angels we started the day,
the air chilly and snowy was the way,
after the nice drive and some car sways,
we ended up at one of those cafes.

Nice indian lunch we had,
all were happy, but the weather still a bit sad,
but they say determination is in a good man's gene,
and then it was the turn of the parliament, with statues and some leans.

With some random river in the background,
and that half hourly bell sound,
it was fun with those inanimate humans(statues),
we saluted the canadian democracy, and those braves ones.

Last was the mall's turn,
the mall seemingly big like the rings of saturn,
After getting a cute muffler for "mou"
we were back to sixteen thirty two.

Nice was the day with cutie sippy and mani,
bidding good bye to 2006, welcoming 2007 with a huggy,
Nice things should not come only once,
Oh God, please get everyone this bunce!

Mou:- The latin for me

-G Singh, Ottawa, 6:07 PM, 31st December, 2006.

Life. Period.

Somebody said loneliness is dangerous. And yes I can feel that. IT is dangerous because you talk with yourself, introspect, and end up measuring your life in terms of what you did/did not. I ended up concluding the reason for human existence. Please proceed only if you are a firm believer in Almighty- the timeless. Human- the only living creature that has got inspired from the creation of the universe and is constructive. The immaculate and flawless nature is an inspiration to this creature, that he has to be perfect, and in his efforts moves more towards perfection with his frail attempts. But, what is he actually doing? What is the reason for his existence? What is he at all? Just another form of life, that comes into the world from void. He has no control on his birth, death, and not even on his bowel movements for God sake! Then what is this human proud of?

"Maati ka putala kaise nachat hai" -SGGS, (Look, how this creature made of mud is dancing> is an apt description of this creature. Whatever he builds his whole life can be destroyed overnight. When he dies, hes burnt, and even if he comes into the thoughts of his wife later, hes regarded as a Ghost! What a misery. Point blank insult. Then what is he doing the whole life. Whats the truth? Whats His hukam?

"Jag rachna sab jhooth hai jaan leyo eh meet"-SGGS, (this so called world is the biggest fallacy, please understand mu dear friend).

Can this creature ever realize what he is doing is not what he should do, or if what he is doing is right? Yes he may, but does he really?

Halwa Poori Aaloo and Heaven

Today Salman and Me after a bad day in the lab decided on a feat with the frying pan and some ingredients lying in the refrigerator. By God's grace, the ingredients turned out to be potatoes, indian store rolled pooris and Suji lying in the kitchen shelf that mom said to use quickly to avoid spoiling it with moist worms. Armed with these, and a call to Saurabh we went on the cooking spree. As saurabh said, Aaloos were superb, and halwa was sweet too :). With a perfect backdrop of thanksgiving, it was a wonderful dinner we all had and enjoyed and thanked Thee for everything. The only way for you all to get along with our celebrations is the pic below and on the left.



-G Singh, Philadelphia, 23rd Nov. '06

Why? Why Not? Yes.

From past few days, I have been feeling away from myself. I can't concentrate, I can't feel my inner self, I can't do Dhyaan, something bad is going on. Trying to find the answer, I tried pinning these lines down-

Why? Said the Satan inside.
Why do you remember Lord,
Where is He,
Who is He,
How can you feel Him?

I said, so you too believe that I remember someone?
that He is in "Where" too
that he is He and not he,
that I try to feel Him.

Came the reply, yes but show me who's He.
Said the Guru, Amitoj He is,
that He is in me, and hey Satan! in you too,
can you see?

Fiery red, the Satan said, you defy reality, practicality
and live in an illusion, and what your Father (GGS) said is not proved.
Seeing the red Satan, peace dawned inside me,
proud to have tight roots, I gave the answer,
your existence is His proof, my existence is His proof,
the world's existence is his proof, why do you goof?

Satan turn-coated into a scientist and now said,
I discovered and know an atom.
I discovered the wave.
I dug oil, I dug coal.
I did so much work that humanity has forgotten your Thee and I made so easy to earn bread!

Oh, said I. Poor Mr. Scientist,
can you invent an atom?
have you seen an atom?
You are in a deluge by your attempted experiments that its an atom,
can you tell me how smart an electron is?
And hey, it is He, who has been kind to you, in making the atom as you think.
Can you create a wave from your hand? Can you make wheat without the land?
Can you make coal in microwave? Can you make oil in your own cave?

Satan now fading away, with his last attempt,
you are ruining life, don't waste time, do something good.

Ahh...now you came on the right path, said I.
Good has God in it, and so I reach Goodness directly,
I have a Master to follow, who will take me to Him swiftly.
He inculcates those qualities in me, taking me closer to Him,
His hand is always above my head, helping me to ride the bicycle of life with a strong rim.

This was the conversation I had with the Satan,
with he running away into darkness and glowing up inside of the True lantern.

Hide and Seek

I see out of the window, the wind- you are travelling,
I see in the eyes of a child, you are twinkling,
I see the water of the sea, you are flowing,
I see the standing tree, you are patiently serving,
I see the grass beneath, you are never complaining,
I see the Sun shining, you are beautifully warming,
I see the moon at night, you are a mother's lap,
I see clouds gathering, you are containment and unity in yourself,
I see you happening everywhere around,

I see around, you are everywhere,
you are infinite, limitless, sempiternal but hey, I am greedy too.

O Lord, you have ruined me,
You play hide and seek and it seems fun to you,
But its an eternal loss to Mou,
Help me realize the light thats in,
find you, catch you, bottle you and enshrine you in the beating mass within.

-G Singh, 25th October, 2006, Philadelphia.

The limitless...

This is what gazes at me from outside the window on my left in my apartment, or am I gazing at it? This is the limitless, the "beant", the lap of nature where nature holds calmly the sun, the moon, the stars and several other creations yet unexplored. Despite having a large number of "energetic" objects inside, the serenity that embraces you, actually literally hugs you if you allow it to, is nothing but the the revealation of One in it. Everyday, every morning, every afternoon, every evening and every night, I feel so good talking to it in heart, the feeling is ineffable. No more words for it, just that the revealation is great! :).

Tum Ek Gorakh Dhanda Ho

Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Qawwal & Party. Live performance U.K early 1990s singing Tum Ek Gorakh Dhanda Ho. I listened to this when Jaspreet forced me to but I enjoyed it. This is really amazing and true devotion. Enjoy!

The way I reach home....

Some of my friends (Saurabh, Gurpreet, ..) have been asking me to write a blog post since I ve landed in this new country. I never felt like writing anything from the day I stepped on the land I never wanted to come to. But then, its just for studies, as I have always said and it seems I will live with this pillar of strength for the time to come. Anyways, sitting in the living room and having breakfast cooked by myself at noon with Jaspreet bhaji (whos always lost in the songs of Nusrat and Shiv kumar batalvi or is playing with assignments and books) is an experience that makes me feel away from home. As a punishment for getting up late, I had to cook my breakfast at home and burnt the bread in the toaster/tawa and then mom showing sympathy that followed the punishment ( a human virtue) gave me yummy paranthas and coffee. So, looking out of the window, I see the blue cloudy sky- clouds moving slowly in a direction nobody knows, taking my hand out of the window I feel a breeze, I see the rain water dripping down my face at times when its raining, far away from the buildings the greenery in abundance and farther the horizon and farther.....What farther? Oh, farther must be my home, home sweet home and Delhi, and my folks, friends, and everyone else who matters. Now comes the feeling. I see the sky and everyone else in Delhi must also be seeing it, so I reach their eyes and talk to them. The breeze touches me, it will touch them too, so I hug them. The rain water, they must be also getting dripped in, and hence we feel the same at some times and share. The greenery in the far must be soothing to their eyes too, and lastly far from the horizon, they can reach me too. Hence, I am always at home.

This brings me a better perspective of life. God never made countries, he made land, earth. He still has everything common for every being on earth. The flora, the fauna, the land, the sky and the air, the essential nature for us is still with me. Only material world has changed. The buildings have changed, cooked food (raw food by nature is still the same) has changed, the technology affecting and enhancing human lives has changed and least importantly, the dialect and language has changed. But, if I see the broader picture, nothing has changed. Everything that should matter the most is still the same, Thee still appears to me in the blue sky that I see out of the window, I can still feel the same thinking of Him and I still chant his name as I did with my folks back home.

The essence of all this is, I am still human, and I can't remember the Truth always that I should to remain happy in His will, always.

As Nusrat sings beautifully relevant to the same feeling-

Aag ko khel patangon ne samajh rakha hai, sabko anjaam ka dar ho yeh zaroori to nahin.

and

Sheikh karta to hai masjid mein khuda ko sajde, uske sajdo mein asar ho yeh zaroori to nahin.

So, I try to be like a patanga playing in this world of fire and worrying about the consequences, forgetting the presence of Thee. The belief that shows that I have faith in Thee, is like the sajda that Sheikh offers to khuda, but then, the sajda that I should offer from heart following His will with happiness is missing.

I am still learning how I should discover His will more, to understand the happenings and simply live in the "razaa".

-G Singh 16th September, 2006.

Let the feeling sink!

Let the feeling sink in! This is what I say to myself each day after I wake up, and after I have spent a decent amount of money in preparations to go to US for my Masters. The feeling is ineffable, wholly and truly. It is sad to realize that I will be leaving my parents, my siblings, my nieces, my friends and some other people I would tend to miss. At the same time, I am happy to know that I will meet and become part of a multi-cultural student fraternity. I will be meeting people from different continents and countries. I would love to know more about their motherlands. At the same time, I also feel bad about missing food that I get in India. By and large, these two forms of emotions are the perpetrators that make me think all time during the day and night. Anyway, what I am most concerned about is my time to come back to India. I should not get settled in US and would just be there for studies and some work experience. It shouldn’t be much difficult to do that, God willing. I wish and pray to Almighty, and in the feet of my motherland, that I remain firm in my thoughts, that I remain confident on my stand, that I never forget my roots and move ahead successfully in life and in my career, on the new land.

-G Singh, 19 August 2006.

Individual's heart to the World!

When there is truth inside, and you speak your heart
There is goodness in character.

When there is goodness in each character,
There is happiness in family.

When there is happiness in each family
There is prosperity in society.

When there is prosperity in the society
There is progress in the nation.

When there is progress in each nation,
There is peace in the World.


-Gursharan Singh, 29th July, 2006.

Read it ANYWAY...

Though falsehood may prevail for a small time, truth is immortal. Trying to gather some more thoughts on similar lines, I was just trying to write something on the co-existing forms of life, some lead it with truth, some in falsehood, and some with both with the motive of defining everything as it suits them. It is not that I am shooting spearheads on humanity, I am no less and may be worser than anybody. Though I try to be a truth follower, I am too human to always remain one. Life plays smartly, never letting you know that it made you do your chance – and you can’t do a look ahead. Amidst all this slurry of thoughts, I can recall Mother Teresa writing beautiful principles of life. If we try to circumscribe our living within these simple facts, it appears that we win over life. Else, line of fire always passes from between your toes. As some say “Larger than life”, these principles teach us to be ignorant about certain things and happenings and the power of the word “Anyway”. Here goes the fragrant bouquet of couplets -

People are unreasonable, illogical and self centered, love them Anyway.

If you do good, people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives, do good Anyway.

If you get success, you win false friends and true enemies, succeed Anyway.

The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow, do good Anyway.

Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable, be honest and transparent Anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight, build Anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you may get hurt, give the world the best you have Anyway.

My frail minded extension:

People favor underdogs, but follow only topdogs, fight some underdogs Anyway.

If you try to be honest, chances are that you will be exploited, but be honest Anyway.

If you do good, you will be kicked in teeth, do good Anyway.

If you speak truth, you may be regarded a blunt and straight shooter, speak truth Anyway.

If you express your true self, you will often be misunderstood, speak your heart Anyway.

If you fail, it may be difficult to proceed, but spin back with more force Anyway.

If you fall, rise and again fall, rise again Anyway.

Success, failures and happiness are too small metrics to measure life, be confident, cheerful and live life ANYWAY.


-G 29th July, 2006.

Life goes on....

To start, allow me to use the metaphor “war”. My enemy is my thought. It’s so painful to be misunderstood and then toiling hard in the hope that things will be fine, believe me, they do not. They never will. The same old one liner – “God helps those who help themselves” strikes again and bangs right into my face. At times, you feel so energetic that you feel you can move anything that comes in front, but pity, not your own heart. Feelings and thoughts that have hung for long, these rascals just won’t quit. You try hating what you loved, just to forget it, but it spins back, harder. Just when you decide on something, you realize you have experienced a pitfall camouflaged by your dreams and the endless quest to chase them. Bah, humbug! Then where flew the principles? You behaved vociferously with them, lacking discipline in thought?

People who have loved me for what I am, people who always stood behind me, people who I know will miss me (and me will miss them too), when they encourage me, I just fall short of crying. I also feel like missing them - I have lived with them for long, for the life that is said to be lived by me till today.  And some who were into my life for not so long, but left their footprints for me to cherish, with a belief that I will remain happy in ignorance and falsehood in the guise of a satisfied human being. I am sorry, I can’t be like that. I would request you to make me understand how should I? Lighting up a candle and expecting it doesn’t melt surely is a sign of living in falsehood. I don’t have anymore words on this.

May I dare say that I love the darker side of life? Yes, I do. But I feel its truth. Atleast I am sure to myself for accepting it? Or not? At times I am so bogged down and pessimistic that if someone got me the Kohinoor, I would throw it away feeling its thickness encloses a bomb. But then the posterity that follows in thought, the kindred spirits that I feel enchanted with, everything seems so beautiful, but sadly, short lived. I tend to over-analyze things, and often end up with word-beatings from friends and family, but I feel happy about the way I think and take decisions. Over the past few months, I have felt so confident professionally, taking extreme and bold decisions. At the same time, I have felt so weak emotionally. It seemed that I had a general stock of confidence that could be castled into confidence in profession and the confidence in thoughts & emotions. I overused it on the former one, and now facing lurking dangers because of the latter.

I love saying this “ I am feeling so numb”. I wrote it earlier and I write it again – “I love life for the numbness that it gave, taking the hits feeling that I am brave”. There are a plenty of things that pester me day and night. Where am I heading, what is going to happen in future, what about making it big, how big? What about losing someone in the time, no looking back, can I live without that someone, do I really need to think on it, or is it really too early, or, or, or? Seems I have been a false believer in the almighty, but nevertheless, in the end, I understand in sound state of mind that it’s all up to Thee. No matter how smart I try to be, the grey cells in quantity I invest, things that will finally happen, it’s all going to be in His will. It has to happen; I have to be a part of it, grown up me if I can enjoy it or childish me if I crib over it.

I feel so good after writing. I feel it’s the best way to vent ones feelings without letting them explode. But I do not expect it to be interpreted in my favor, always. It’s just a piece writing, a wanderer’s thoughts, but its neither too unrevealing. And I live in the hope, that I will understand myself one day, before anyone else does so.

-G    

Inspiration-e-Ghalib

Saurabh writes a beautiful four liner with inspiration from Ghalib. While roving through that post, I felt like extrapolating the feeling he tries to make effable. So without his permission :P,  here it goes:

Saurabh:

muddat baad hi sahi, aap humein milne to aaye.
kaayal hum bhi hain mehmaan-nawaazi ke,
par is kabr mein se,
paani bhi poochein to kaise poochein...


Gursharan:


kabr mein hain to zarra mat samajhna,
aftab banne ki to chaah hi na ki,
aapne agar aakar awaz di hoti,
to khuda kasam, khuda ko khaak kar ke palkein bichaate.

eh khuda muafi tujhse maangenge nahin,
tune gar kabr mein jaan di hoti,
us zindagi ki to chaah hi na karte,
agar is bani-raun pal khwahishe-deedar hote.

bani-raun : that happens, existing in time.

Even I burst into laughter after writing words like palkein bichaate, khwahishe-deedar but this is the way Ghalib wrote. Each word he used to use would carry the meaning of a whole sentence that another poet will write. I remember him using some really complex vocabulary that made me leave the book ‘Urdu-i-Muallah’ mid way ( but I am gathering confidence again to start it).

Cheers!

-G