To Blog or Not to Blog is the Question

I have this unique knack of finding poetry and philosophy at very unexpected places and in very unexpected situations .

Here is what happened at work today . I usually listen to songs while at work. To kill some time , I decided to delete some very old mails from my yahoo a/c which I have kept for more than 4-5 years. As I was comtemplating deleting some very interesting mails, this song from Jagjit singh started playing .

tere khushboo mein basay khat main jalata kaisay
pyaar mein doobay huye khat main jalata kaisay
teray haathon ke likhay khat main jalata kaisay

(How can I light the letters from you , which remind me of you , are full of love ,were written by you)

jinko duniya ki nigaahon say chupayey rakha
jinko ik umar kalayjay say lagayay rakha
deen jinko jinhay imaan banaay rakha

( How can I light the letters from you , which I have kept as a secret from everyone, have kept close to my heart and r like religion to me )

jinka har lafz mujhay yaad hai paani ki tarah
yaad they mujko jo paigaam-e-zubaani ki tarah
mujko jo pyaarey they anmol nishani ki tarah

( How can I light the letters from you ,whose every word and sentence I remember , and which I treasure)

tune duniya ki nigaahon say jo bach kar likhay
saal-ha-saal mere naam barabar likhay
kabhi din mein to kabhi raat ko uth kar likhay

(How can I light the letters from you , which you wrote secretly for years day and night)

teray khat aaj main Ganga mein baha aaya hoo
aag behtay huye paani mein laga aaya hoon

( In Hindu religion , when one dies one’s dead body is burned and ashes are immersed in the holy Ganges River, the poet here says that he has done a similar thing to the letters from her , he let go the letters in the Ganges river and thereby lighting Ganges river)

What this whole poem says is the inability of the lover to let go of the love that he still has for a untrustful person. He tried to let go of it lot of times but everytime he kept falling back thinking of all the good old days, but finally he decides to put an end to his love as it only caused him pain.

Gulzar , the Indian poet wrote this

wo khat ke purze udaa raha tha
hawaaon ka rukh dikha raha tha

(Gulzar says that by tearing off the letters and letting go his love for an untrustful person he is changing his life )

Finally a poem from Mirza Ghalib

Hamko unse hai wafa ki ummeed
jo nahi jaante wafa kya hai .

(Ghalib writes I am expecting trust from someone who doesnt know the meaning of trust)

Poets always had revolutionary ideas. They believed in God but have spoken against religion, in anger and the way religion is taken in contemporary society.

Kabir, the great Indian saint and poet wrote this against Hindu religion

Paahan pooje hari miley to mai pooju pahaad
tat yad chakki bhali pis khaaye sansar

(He says that if by praying to an idol (stone) leads to God then I will pray to a mountain and ridicules the concept of God in Hindu religion by saying that a stone flour mill is better as it feeds people)

Likewise Kabir takes pot-shot at Islam too.

kankar pathar jod ke masjid liya banaay
ta chad mullah baang de kya behra hua khudaay

The priest calls for prayer by calling out for followers 4-5 times a day.

(Kabir says why is the mullah(priest) shouting at the top of his voice. Has his God become deaf ?)

Kabir takes a blanket pot-shot at all religions by saying this

jyu naino mein putli, tyu maalik ghat maahi
murakh log jaahi, baahar dhondan jaahi.

(Kabir says that God resides inside us like pupil in our eye. All the followers of religion are ignorant as they try to search for God outside while He resides inside us.)

Another of great poets Mir taqi Mir ,considered Khuda-e-sukhan(God of Urdu poetry), also wrote against religion

Mir ke deen-o-mazhab ab poochte kya ho, unne to
qashqa kheencha dair mein baitha kab ka tarq islam kiya.

(Mir, here says dont ask me my religion I have relinquished Islam long back and have accepted Hinduism.).

This poem has to be understood in the context of Islam. Converting from Islam to any other religion is considered blasphemy and in Islam the person is condemned to death for having done so. One cannot convert from Islam to any other religion without facing wrath of Islamists even now in India. Mir here challenges all the Islamic religious fanatics by openly claiming that he has relinquished Islam and accepted Hinduism.

Another famous poet , Sir Iqbal, one of the founding fathers of Islamic state of Pakistan, wrote this and created a furore. If I remember correctly this is from his book Shikva(complaint against God).

Kabhi hamse kabhi gairo se shaanasai hai
kehne ki baath nahi par tu bhi to harzaai hai .

(Sir Iqbal complains to God that sometimes He is with us(Muslims) sometimes with others(other religions) and calls God unfaithful for doing so.)

Now can anyone dare to call God Unfaithful ?