by B. R. GOWANI
Pakistani poet Munir Niazi (1923 – 2006), equally loved and respected in India as in Pakistan, used to write in his mother tongue Punjabi as well as, in Hindi/Urdu, national languages of India/Pakistan respectively. He also wrote film songs such as:
jA apni hasratoN per ANsooN bahA ke sau ja / kahin sun na le zamAnA ae dil khamosh ho jA
cry your heart out over all your unfulfilled desires and go to sleep / the heart should remain silent lest the world comes to know your weep
Film: Susral. Playback singer: Noor Jehan. Music: Hassan Latif Lilak. Actress (on whom the song is picturized): Nighat Sultana.
kaise kaise log hamAre jee ko jalAne Aa jate haiN / apne apne gham ke fasAne humeiN sunAne Aa jAte haiN
to make my life miserable, strange sort of people come to me / to tell me their own tales of sorrows, they come to me
Film: Tere Shehr Men. Playback singer: Mehdi Hassan. Music: Hassan Latif Lilak.
(The above video doesn’t have the entire poem, for that visit Rekhta.)
us bevafA kA shahr hai aur hum hain dosto / ashq-e-ravAN ki nahr hai aur hum haiN dosto
this is my betrayer’s town and here I am, friends / a stream of flowing tears and here I am, friends
Film: Shaheed. Singer: Naseem Begum. Music: Rashid Attre.
(The above video doesn’t have the entire poem, for that visit Rekhta.)
Here is a translation of one of Niazi’s beautiful poems:
Original Urdu version:
hameshA der kar detA hoon meiN …
hameshA der kar detA hooN meiN har kAm karne meN
zaruri bAt kehni ho koi vAdA nibhAnA ho
usey AvAz deni ho usey wApas bulAnA ho
hameshA der kar detA hooN meiN
madad karni ho uski yAr ki DhAras bandhanA ho
bahot derinA rAstoN par kisi se milne jAnA ho
hameshA der kar detA hooN meiN
badalte mausamoN ki sair meiN dil ko lagAnA ho
kisi ko yAad rakhnA ho kisi ko bhool jAnA ho
hameshA der kar detA hooN meiN
kisi ko maut se pehle kisi gham se bachAnA ho
Haqiqat aur thi kuchh us ko jA ke ye batAnA ho
hameshA der kar detA hooN meiN har kAm karne meNO
Translation:
I always am late …
I always am late — in everything I do
in saying an important thing, in keeping a promise
in calling her, in asking her to return back
I always am late
when wanting to help a friend, when wanting to lift her spirit
when wanting to meet someone at a faraway location
I always am late
getting immersed strolling through changing seasons
wanting to remember someone, wanting to forget someone
I always am late
wanting to save someone from sadness before their death
wanting to inform her that reality was different than what she believed
I always am late — in everything I do
B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com