Poem: Till We Meet Again…

by Harleen Kaur (India)

Now

Now, that borders have distanced

Us,

I wonder,

How am I ever going to see you again?

 

Maybe

Maybe, I’ll become air and

Cross those wires.

I’d caress your hair as I used to

With my delicate hands,

Under the moonlight.

Do you remember my touch?

 

Or

Or, I’ll become a fish and run with

Chenab or Jhelum.

I hope when you see me

You’ll hold me with your manly hands,

Like you used to clench my waist.

(I won’t fear death now,

Because in a jiff I’ll wake up to eternity).

 

Or

Or, I’ll become a bird,

I’d carry oomph of this land in my feathers

And

Bring it to you.

I hope you’ll run your fingers through those

Feathers and feel it,

As you used to…

I’d sing songs of freedom.

 

Freedom

Freedom, well, I still wonder,

How people confined in barbed wires be free?

So,

Now,

I’ll live in the air.

Hanging from this tree of love.

With a two metres of clothe around my neck,

That couldn’t save me from fiends.

 

I’ll be hanging here.

Till the land underneath both of us become one.

Till we meet again.

 

*This Painting has been made by Saurabh Singh, a student of Gujarat Public School (Vadodara, India) and is a copyright of Aaghaz-e-Dosti.

---

Harleen Kaur has pursued English literature from University of Delhi. She curates time in pictures and prose.

Advertisement

Poem: Toba Tek Singh…by Kishor Pahuja (India)

टोबा टेक सिंग

मंटो का बिशन
टोबा टेकसिंग  वाला बिशन
ऐसा लगता है
कि 
मैं ही वो बिशन था

मेरे दिल ने तब भी
विभाजन
स्वीकार नहीं किया था

मेरा दिल अब भी
विभाजन को नहीं मानता
फर्क
सिर्फ इतना है 
तब मैं कहता रहता था
ओ पड़दी गिद गिड दी
मुंग दी दाल दी ऑफ़ लालटेन
तब लोग
उसे बडबडाना कहते थे
लोग कहते थें
मुरख  है 

और अब
मैं बोलते बोलते चुप हो जाता हूँ
बोल नहीं पाता 
लोग कह नहीं पाते हैं
समझते हैं कि मूर्ख  है 

तब का बडबडाना जो कुछ भी था
अब कि चुप्पी  कुछ भी है
विभाजन तब भी गलत था
विभाजन अब भी गलत है

– किशोर कुमार पाहुजा, उदयपुर (राजस्थान) 

Toba Tek Singh

Manto ka Bishen

Toba Tek Singh wala Bishen

Aisa lagta hai

ki

Main hi wo Bishen tha

 

Mere dil ne tab bhi

Vibhajan (taksim/batwara)

Sweekar nahi kiya tha

 

Mera dil ab bhi

Vibhajan ko nahi maanta

Fark

Sirf itna hai

Tab main kehta rehta tha

O Parhdi gid gidh di

Moong di dal di of laltain

Tab log

Use badbadana kehte the

Log kehte the

murkh hai

 

Aur ab

Main bolte bolte chup ho jata hu

Bol nai pata

Log keh nai pate hai

Samajhte hai ki murkh hai

 

Tab ka badbadana jo kuch bhi tha

Ab ki chuppi kuch bhi hai

Vibhajan tab bhi galat tha

Vibhajan ab bhi galat hai

– Kishor Pahuja, Udaipur (Rajasthan)

Poem: Sarhadein Peeche Reh Jaati hai… by Ravi Nitesh (India)

Khyber ki Pahariyo ko chhu kar,

Peshawar ke Bazaro ki khushbho le kar,

Raavi ki Lehron se Uthti Khanak le kar,

Milti Himalaya ki Baraf se Chamak le kar,

Aati Punjab mei Gehu ki Faliyo se mil kar,

Ye Hawaein Pahunchti hai Kayi sandese le kar,

Kabhi Ardaas, Kabhi Azaan ki Awaazein le kar,

Hamari Tumhari Kabhi Hasi titoli le kar,

Kheton mei Hariyali ki Raunak le kar,

Suhani Yaadon ki Aahat le kar,

Ye Hawayein Har Roz Chali aati hai,

Sarhadei Peeche Reh jaati hai…

*This painting is by Maham Gulzar, a school student from Toba Tek Singh (Pakistan). Copyright of the painting is with Aaghaz-e-Dosti

---

Ravi Nitesh is from Delhi. He is the founder of Mission Bhartiyam and Aaghaz-e-Dosti