Some events are momentous. A day gets labeled with it. Forever.
Before 9/11/2001 happened in USA, India had its very own 6th December 1992. An entire generation of Indians has been shaped by that one day. It created divisions that are yet to be bridged. It afflicted wounds that yet to be healed. And it heaped insult upon the idea of India. It was a day when someone wrote in front of our house ‘hey Ram ye teri kaisi maaya, tere desh meN kaTuoN ka saaya’. A word added to my adolescent vocabulary. A slogan that will stay with me forever. May be that was the whole point.
Kaifi Azmi was speaking for a lot of us when he penned down Dusraa Banvaas (Second Exile). Indeed Ram has been exiled from his own city. 15 years have passed since then. The question we need to ask ourselves is how do we bring Ram back to Ayodhya?
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duusraa banvaas
Ram banvaas se jab laut ke ghar meN aaye
yaad jangal bahut aayaa jo nagar meN aaye
raks-e-diivaangii aaNgan meN jo dekhaa hogaa
6 December ko Shri Ram ne sochaa hogaa
itne diivane kahaaN se mere ghar meN aaye
jagmagaate the jahaaN Ram ke qadmon ke nishaaN
pyaar kii kahkashaaN letii thii angRaa’ii jahaaN
moR nafrat ke usii rahguzar meN aaye
(banvaas : exile; raks-e-diivaangii : dance of passion; kahkashaaN : string of stars; rahguzar : pathways)
dharm kyaa unkaa hai, kyaa zaat hai ye jaantaa kaun
ghar na jaltaa to unheN raat meN pehchaantaa kaun
ghar jalaane ko meraa log jo ghar meN aaye
shaakahaari hai mere dost tumhaare Khanjar
tumne Babar kii taraf pheNke the saare pathhar
hai mere sar kii Khataa zaKhm jo sar meN aaye
(shaakahaari : vegetarian; Khanjar : dagger)
paaNv Sarju meN abhai Ram ne dhoye bhii na the
kii nazar aaye vahaaN Khuun ne gahre dhabbe
paaNv dhoye binaa Sarju ke kinaare se uThe
Ram ye kehte hu’e apne dvaare se uThe
rajdhaanii kii fazaa aayii nahiiN raas mujhe
6 December ko milaa doosra banvas mujhe
(Sarju : River Saryu on whose bank is Ayodhya located; dvaare : door-steps)
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can somebody translate that…..I dont understand hindi/urdu……chennai influence
Mohib,
he’s long dead!
When Ram returned home from exile,
He found he missed the jungle dreadfully on coming to the city,
When he saw the fanaticism in his courtyard
On 6 Dec, Shri Ram must have thought
“Where did so many crazed men come into my house from?
Where the footprints of Ram had sparkled
where a universe of love had reigned (poetic licence here for meaning!)
Twists of hate have now come into those paths
What is their faith, what their creed, who knows?
If the house was not burning, would they even be visible in the dark?
Those who have entered my home to burn it down
My friends your daggers are vegetarian
When you threw all the stones at Babar
My injured head is at fault for being in the way”
Ram had not yet washed his feet in the Sarju
When he saw the deep stains of blood there
Without washing his feet he rose from the banks, saying
the atmosphere of the capital (Ayodhya) disagrees with me
On 6 Dec I have been exiled a second time.
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Beautiful poem, please listen to the audio!!.. Too good
राम बनवास से जब� लौट के घर में आये,
याद जंगल बहोत आया जो नगर में आये ॥
रक�स-�-दिवानगी आंगन में जो देखा होगा,
6 दिसेम�बेर को श�री राम ने सोचा होगा ;
इतने दीवने कहान से मेरे घर में आ� ॥
जगमगाते थे जहां राम के क़दमो के निशान,
प�यार की कहकशान लेती थी अंगदाईयां जहां,
मोद नफ़रत� के उसी राहग�ज़ार में आ� ॥
धर�म क�या उनका है, क�या जात है ये जानता कौन ;
घर न जलता तो उन�हे रात में पेह�चानता कौन ।
घर जलाने को मेरा लोग� जो घर में आये ॥
शाकहारी हैं मेरे दोस�त त�म�हारे खन�जर
त�मने बाबर की तरफ़ फेंके ते सारे पथ�हर
हैं मेरे सर की खता ज़ख�म जो सर में आ� ॥
पांव सरà¥?जà¥? में अà¤à¥€ राम ने धोये à¤à¥€ न थे ,
की नज़र आ� वहां ख�न के गहरे धब�बे ;
पांव धोये बीना सर�ज� के किनारे से उथे ॥
राम� ये केहते ह�� अपने द�वारे से उथे
रजधानी की फ़ज़ा आयी नही रास म��े ,
6 दिसेम�बेर को मिला द�सरा बन�वस� म��े ॥
Mohib bhai maaf kar dijiye agar koi galati ho gayi translation mein!!
Thanks a lot Shama. That was very nice of you.
मोकों कहा� ढूंढें बन�दे, मैं तो तेरे पास में
ना मैं देवल ना मैं मस�जिद, ना काबे कैलास में
ना तो कौन क�रिया-कर�म में, नहीं योग बैराग में
खोजी होय तो तà¥?रंत मिलिहों , पल à¤à¤° की तलास में
कहें कबीर सà¥?नो à¤à¤¾à¤ˆ साधो , सब सà¥?वाà¤?सों की सà¥?वाà¤?स में
Amit,
This was wonderful – simple but powerful thoughts. Is it an original Kabir composition?
Girish, I happened to read this book on Kabir and the first couplet jumped out, more so in the context of recent posts related to masjid-mandir issue.
It’s from the book “Kabir vaani” edited by Ali Sardar Jafri.