SAAHIRI (The Spell)

Speech Delivered at Jamia Millia Islamia On 8.2.2011 By Hon’ble Mr. Justice Markandey Katju, Judge, Supreme Court Of India Friends, I wish to thank Professor Akhtarul Wasey for having inviting me here today.  Jamia Millia is a prestigious Institution and I regard it a great honour to be invited here to speak before you. The topic for today’s talk is ‘What is Urdu’?  I have chosen this topic for a special reason which I would like to mention. Today our country, India, is facing great difficulties, such as poverty, unemployment, price rise, casteism, communalism, corruption, etc.  It is, therefore, important for the intellectuals to come forward now and show the correct path to the Indian people for overcoming their difficulties. Intellectuals are the eyes of society, and without intellectuals a society is blind.  You are a section of the intellectuals of India, and therefore a heavy responsibility lies on you to show to the Indian people the path by w...

फ़िक्र  कई  दिन  से  ये  बात  मैं  सोचता  हूँ  ऐ  मेरी  'सेहर ', ऐ  मेरी  ज़िन्दगानी ! (Since so many days I am thiking my love!) के  तुमसे  बता  दूँ  मैं  अपनी  हक़ीक़त , सुना  दूँ  तुम्हें, अपनी  सारी  कहानी .... (That I should tell you about my reality that I should narrate before you all my stories!) ये  दिल  कह  रहा  है  के तुमसे  बता  दूँ  के  तुमको  तहे -दिल  से  चाहा  है  मैंने . तमन्ना  मुसिर  है  के  अब  ये  जता  दूँ  हमेशा  तुम्हें  ही  सराहा  है  मैंने. (The heart says that I should tell you that I have loved you from the core of my heart. The yearning insists that I must express now that I have always admired you.) मगर  अक्ल  मेरी ...

[It's said that writers and poets are very apt at ascribing the feelings of others to themselves; they are also thought to be experts in attributing  their own feelings to others. The present poem  (an English translation of the one originally written in Urdu)  is an example of the same. I have myself  experienced some the feelings expressed in this poem while the rest of the situation has been  drawn from the experience of a fellow student (when things between a student and a teacher went wrong and their relationship got soured). I had recited this poem's original version at the Annual Function of the Department of Education, AMU. Aligarh in 2007, and the poem had been instrumental in bringing out a reconciliation between the teacher and the taught! The present English version was accepted for being published in the Annual Magazine of I. G. Hall, A.M.U. The magazine could not go for publication, perhaps, because of the sine die. ]  What an absu...

                           1 With such a severity I’ve strived to get you! That every particle of this world Has conspired for my cause, And I’ve met you!!              2 The destiny is glorified By the beautiful hands of the deed! When a man strives ceaselessly The  Nature too, helps him succeed!!             3 The sun itself receives a taint It’s the Nature’s miracle! The idol itself, calls me an idolater It must be the Almighty’s will!! -- Jawaid 'Saahir'