Maqsood-e-zindagi (Aim of life via aims in life)...

Was going through my old diary entries and read this superb Faarsi (Persian) qalaam by Maulana Rumi Sahib...


Have put up a translation as per my li'l knowledge of Sufism. This is by no means accurate or authentic... Just a fragrance of my feelings and experiences... The qalaam flows as:


Shaad bashay ishq khush sauda'aye maa, Ae tabeeb-e-joomla-illat ha'aye maa...
(Khush raho ae Ishq hamare gham meiN kyuNki tum hamari har beemaari(pareshaani) ke tabeeb(doctor)/ilaaj ho... )
Jism khaaq az ishq bar aflaaq shud, Koh dar raqs aamad-o-chalaak shud...
(Khaak sa insaaN ka wajood ishq ki ba-daulat falak(aasmaaN) tak jaa pahuNchta hai aur pahaD ishq se itne hoshiyaar ho ja'atey haiN ke raqs(dance) karne lagtey haiN...)
Aqal aamad deen-o-duniya shud kharaab, Ishq aamad dard-o-aalam kaamya'ab...
(Jab aqal aayi tou deen aur duniya donoN hi kharaab hue matlabb main dono mein naa-kaamyaab rahaa aur ishq ke aatey hi dono jahaaN meiN kaamyaabi mil gayii...)
Zindagi aamad bara'aye bandagii, Zindagi be-bandagii sharmiNdagii...


The last two lines of this qalaam define "ecstatic bliss" for me... I take these as the motive of life...
Zindagi bandagii (ibaadat) ke liye milee hai, jiske baghair ye sharmiNdagii ke maaniNd hai... And this ibaadat here does not ask us to keep on worshiping Gods or idols... Whatever we do should be done if we perceive it as bandagii... Sums up success and perfection in life in a single sentence for me. Many such successes in small walks of life appear to me as the most probable way towards maqsood-e-zindagi... :-)

Allah Nigehba'an ..!

Aftermath: Khwaab interviewed by JunooN ...

Hello viewers,

Today "Magnet" channel brings you live to this rare occasion. On huge public demand, we have our esteemed guest Khwaab sahib... Despite his busy schedule, he has very kindly consented to be here with us today. Let us head straight towards him... Over to your host, Mr. JunooN...

JunooN: Khush-aam-deed viewers and Salaam Alaikum Khwaab sahib ... Long since you were last seen... Infact; hope, happiness, life, art... we all missed you a lot ! Where have you been all these days ?

Khwaab: Wa Alaikum Salaam. Well, am sorry... maiN kuchh masroof rahaa pichhley dinoN. Issi liye khairiyat jaan ne bhi naa aa sakaa. I did hear that Mr. Circumstances went against you and you guys are quarrelling a lot nowadays..? What's the matter..?

JunooN: ahh. Yeah, but I succumbed to certain wounds I had got long ago. And now, I am having a little indifferent view towards Mr. Circumstances. Moreover, Miss Life seems to be with me now, after a while and am more than glad for this. Anyways, you were after Miss Taabeer, any progress ?

Khwaab: As I had told you in an earlier conversation, "Mujhe zindagi saaf dhuNdlii dikhaayi daetii hai... Kuchh dhuwaaN-sa shayad dard ki tasveer chhupaaye baitha hai...". This makes me feel that Taabeer is like somebody's Sanaa or in simple words, a serene dream that can't come true. I have started to believe that realisation of a dream is itself a dream that can't get realised..!

JunooN: Sounds deep, Sir. But, don't you feel that the canvas of your thoughts has begun to have shades of pessimism ?

Khwaab: Well, you can coin any term for this, but when Miss Life reigns, we all have to just salute to her will. I tried to resist initially, but got shattered. Thus, retaliation is of no use.

JunooN: But Sir, they say you need to help yourselves before life or God helps you... (Himmati da himaayeti Rabb !) . If we just sit back and watch Miss Life's ways, won't that be giving no chance to Allah miyaaN to come to our rescue ?

Khwaab: Bhai jaan, I am trying to recollect my scattered bits and pieces. My role is just like that of a function in a large computer program. I know my next steps, but am unaware of my part in the large program's purpose in entirety.

JunooN: We all had lots more to ask. But, since the clock doesn't stop ticking...I'll quickly handover the mic to our studio audience for a small interrogation session.

From the Audience ...

Miss Anxiety: Aadaab ! Khwaab sahib. I am usually attributed as your consequence. Do you also think Dreams imply Anxiety ? In that case, I think we should give ourselves a chance to know each other since we seem to form a superb match ..?

Khwaab: Ohh... So, you are here too, miss ! You have a valid query as far as people's perspective is concerned. But, am afraid I disagree. Did I ever call you where I went to ? As per my memory books, no ! I never saw you spy and follow me too. I usually go to introduce people to Mr. HardWork, Mr. Honesty, Mr. CanDo and the likes, not to you Miss. Am sorry !

Miss Pain: Sir, by my very nature I go on to unintentionally hurt people at times. Aren't you supposed to help them then ? It is usually seen you don't pay a visit when I am around ? Am I repulsive for you, Sahib ? Do you think am just meant to be cursed ?

Khwaab: I wonder we have different lifestyles but can co-exist. As is evident from the fact, whenever you have paid a visit to great poets, composers, artists; they have met me in their respective domains and portrayed exceptional artworks. So, you have been playing an 'inspiring' role, to say the least. You are not meant to be cursed. You have been sent here for a reason that we might not comprehend, as such... Allah miyaaN has His ways, queer though ..!


JunooN: Sorry to interrupt, dear congregation ! I was having a wonderful time, too, listening to those enlightening words. But; when Mr. Time sings aloud, we have to calmly listen and applaud. Before that, kindly give a much deserved, huge round of applause to JunooN sahib, for sparing his priceless time to come here and be our Rehnumaa...

Shukriyaa for watching. Feedbacks Awaited ..!

I would like to make a special mention of our dedicated design artist, Mr. Dheeraj Gupta... He is the source of all designing and graphics marvels, you are seeing on our sets...

Shab-ba-Khair... Khuda Hafiz ..!

Khwaab aur JunooN... In conversation !

Visiting my blog after ages. Got reminded that I have a blog as well in a conversation with a friend yesterday. Life is depicting..., ahh..! The blog's editor has got me started again... :-)

So, life is depicting newer abstract patterns on my canvas. My old friends, Khwaab and junooN continue to be masroof (busy) in their arguments on my diary and some torn pages. Graphite is coming down in relatively large amounts on these bits of paper as I am having holidays for some 6 days. Holidays, from work... But, then I wonder... When will the holidays from life end ..?

Still awaiting the return of Nikhil... Still missing him !

As asked by friends, will put some of my Khwaab and junooN talks' excerpts here:
Zindagi saaf dhuNdlii dikhaayi daetii hai... KhwaaboN ka dhuwaaN shayad dard ki tasveer chhupaaye baitha hai. Ae junooN ! Kya lazzat bhi bas khwaab hai ..? Kya iss jahaaN meiN taabeer nahiN hua kartii..?

Khwaab. Meray dil ki parwaaz. Manzil shabd se naa-waakif lagtey haiN ye saarey ! Roz subha' maiN uthTaa... Ye so jaaya kartey... Abb din meiN bhi yaari nibha'atey haiN ye dost ..!

Khwaab ne aakar junooN ko soorat-e-haal dikha dii... Bas tabse ummeed kuchh khauf-zadaa hai...

Ae Khwaab ! Kya tum apne raqeeb waqt ke naa-qaabil-e-bardaasht sulook ki wajah se bikhar gaye ho..? Pehlay tou aate ja'ate khairiyat poochh jaaya kartey the. Ummeed bhi tumhe bahut yaad karti hai..! Ham kab mil saktey haiN ..?

... That's it for now... Going in the refuge of my piano for a while...! I hope 'Khwaab' miaN listens to my request... and finds my address once again someday..!

Hamd-o-Sanaa

It has been long since I was last here. But; I remember Nikhil Khullar was here, then... I have been missing him since many worldly days !

ahh... Life is playing a melodious composition on a sweet flute... My deeds have become synonymous to the master's hamd-o-sanaa.

I am lost in some exceptionally beautiful creations of God nowadays viz. compositions in raag pahaRi, superb poetry, serene souls etc. Hehe ! (Please don't ask me to elaborate on the third...)

A few days ago just after I finished performance, I remembered the lines as I went backstage:

"maiN tou ghazal sunaa ke akela khaDa rahaa,
sab apne apne chahne waaloN meiN doob gaye..."

This state of mild intoxication is addictive. Even if I am in an illusion, I would love it to last, at least till I do... :-)

Bahut Duur Hai

It was another beautiful night when I wrote this ghazal around 3 AM with a perfectly sharpened pencil in my hand. The pencil was sharpened to write code(pertaining to some web application), but this is what eventually came out of that graphite. So, here's how it goes:

DuayeiN be-asar hoke jab laut aayiiN, tou samjha zameeN se falak bahut duur hai ;
Teri tasveer bhi jab dhuNdlii nazar aayi, tou samjha zameeN se falak bahut duur hai ...

Yaad dard dilaata rahaa ke abhi zinda huN, Shayad manzil abhi bahut duur hai ;
Talaash abhi manzil ki kahaaN kar sakta huN, Jab raastey bhar ka nishaaN bahut duur hai ...

KarwatoN ke sehra meiN bhaTakti raat ko keh do, Ke neeNd ka aashiyaaN abhi bahut duur hai ;
MaiN kashti-e-hasrat liye jitna chale jaa rahaa huN, Bass lagta hai saahil utna hi duur hai ...

Haq ka raaz jaan lene ki baat nahiN ae dost, Haq ko raaz jaan lenaa abhi bahut duur hai ;
ZubaaN-e-yaar ki dhun meiN kho ke reh gaya huN, Rooh-e-yaar se guftgu tou bahut duur hai ...



PS: I still feel sad when I recall how profusely it bled in Srijan '10 because of the typo errors.

In the second line, the picture that seems hazy is her face in the moon. I have mentioned it explicitly here since I have been told by many friends that the aashaar is too abstract to convey what I intended to.


As they say, "This too shall pass !". Life goes on ...

Be-Inteha Dard Ki Lazzat

"Sabaa, lagta hai maiN abb bhi zinda huN ..."
Some words that I had put down on a torn piece of paper and later copied on my diary that stores many ashes from burnt pages of the book called 'Life', authored by Magnet miaN himself...

I still can't comprehend what exactly I am going through. It was exceptionally painful to begin with but now it's all very different, or maybe I have become indifferent...

I was bathing a few days ago. Had two buckets full of chilled water. As I was dropping mugs full of water on myself, I realised there was no sensation at all. I still wonder, "Who was colder ? The water or me..."

Off late, Ghalib Sahib has been answering many of my queer queries... How rightly he has written, "Mohabbat meiN nahiN hai farq jeene aur marne ka, usi ko dekhkar jeetay haiN, jis kafir pe dam nikle..."

Then, sometimes I strongly agree with Sajid ji's words,
"Ek ka'afir ke dar pe 'Sajid' huN, kya koi meri bandagii samjhey !"

Another magical couplet by Ghalib Sahib deserves mention here, "Ishrat-e-qatraa hai darya mein fana'a ho jaana , dard ka hadd se guzarnaa hai dawa'a ho jana..."
(The grandeur of drop of water is to dissolve in river, when pain exceeds all bounds it serves as medicine. )

I have extended the above marvel as:
Dard ata ki wo bhi be-inteha, log fir bhi kehtay haiN ke dawa'a nahiN diya kartaa ...
Khair, the candle continues to enlighten my path. Let us see what gets uncovered next. Waiting to hear the next note as you "strike" it !

Ek La'azmi Tasleem

"Koi rishtaa nahiN rahaa fir bhi, ek tasleem la'azmi si hai ... "

When a dream appears in front, again and again... I question myself( actually, the magnet within ) : Am I dreaming or is this a deeper dream, the earth's reality ?

Contentment can arise if the dream either seems to be unclear, fictitious, or in other similar cases...

What if the "khwaab" does not pertain to either of these... ?

Intoxicated still, I believe then the la'azmi tasleem is visible... Afterwards; the poem is seen, the flower is heard, the pain is smelt and the fragrance is felt !

What one feels to be meaningless can eventually turn out to be the most meaningful facet of life in under 50 days... Yeah, that's life and I owe a lot to you...

I think I should stop here reciting the couplet by Gulzar Sahib, after which I stand speechless:

"Shaam se aaNkh meiN namii si hai, Aaj fir aapki kami si hai..."


P.S.: A reply was received from magnet miaN, regarding love... I feel posting it here is in order... It did help me and I hope will help many others:

"And when his (love's) wings enfold you yield to him, Tough the
sword hidden among his pinions may wound you. "

After this, I would like to say to all who can feel the rhyme... Raqs-e-Bismil ( Dance of the wounded ) rocks !!!

Magnet MiaN: I have a request ...

Just like Google people keep on asking for suggestions for newer ideas; I would like to give mine for Him, for the inclusion of a specific feature in the next version of Homo Sapiens. Here is the exact request. Please forward this to any relevant address you feel like doing to :) ...

"Dearest Magnet,

Please create a switch, a simple on-off switch in the human body by using which his highness Mind Sahib can be asked to stop thinking about certain topics for more than 23 hours 59 minutes a day, specially if the thoughts bring nothing but serene pain...
Such an inclusion may harm the execution of punishment sub-routines on people at times, but I would request you to please give it a consideration since the merits attached seem to be far far heavier.
Science still has not been able to even comprehend the exact structure/functioning of human body, so for humans the question of such an inclusion is precisely impractical.

Thanking You in anticipation of favour !

Warm Regards,
Ali786"



In the end of this meaningless post, I would like to quote some lines as post script that I love and find apt here:

Rabba VichhaR jaawe kite yaar tera,
(O Lord ! If someday your beloved gets separated,)
Pataa lagg jaye vichhoRa ki ae...
(You'll realise what grief of separation is...)
Tainu kehna pae jaau duniya nu,
Maahi baajh na lagda jee ae...
(Believe me! You;ll be forced to say to the world, "It is real painful in the absence...")

Tainu waasta vichhReyaaN sajjnaN da,
(I beg of you in the name of my lost soul-mate,)
Dass ishq da daaru ki ae...
(Let me know what the medicine for separation is...)

Mera yaar mila nahiN te maar mukaa,
MaiN iss duniya toN laenaa ki ae ?
(Kindly either let me meet the one in whom I see you or finish me off yaar. What else do I want from this world ?)



Awaiting a reply soon, at least from you !

Life Rocks, So do "You" ...

A sweet blend of severe pain and ecstatic bliss ... That's what precisely life has to offer at times. But then, would the beauty have been so beautiful, had there been no ugliness ! This thought comes to my rescue whenever life's fast deliveries try to bowl me over ... I believe that the magnificence of the magnet owes a lot to the 'like' poles repelling each other ...
In such a state of duality, the following line comes to my rescue that I wrote long ago :
"Dard ki aadat ne mujhe dard ka ehsaas hi bhula diya, Kuchh iss tarah dard se bacha jaa rahaa huN maiN ... "






In a nutshell, "You" rock ... "You" simply do !

Well, the boat will continue to sail ... So, now I stand waiting for the magnet's next directive ...