when there's no pain

Far from the skies that pour nothing but pain

The seas flow wildly but all is in vain

There was a time when the trees with flowers swayed

But the dark night dawned to take all glory away

There's a long lost voice in these valleys

a shadow in the clouds, calls out for me

Will the forest ever blossom again?

orange has vanquished the green

Why this heart aches with sorrows?

when there's no pain

The sand castles broke, the rivers now are dry

more haunted are days and sleepless are nights

Ears strain to hear the carrage come along

on a path that has never been walked on

Will the forest ever blossom again?

orange has vanquished the green

Why this heart aches with sorrows?

when there's no pain

दिल की चाहत-ए-ज़बान हो

पर किस ज़बान से बयां करें

कोई जुस्तजू सही न सही

किस समां का इंतज़ार करें

जुम्बिशों में है दिल रात दिन

स्थिर है सदा लेकिन काया

बेशुमा दिल को थी मोहबत्तें

समय पर अब तक है क्या लाया

जान ही तोह है, चाहत नहीं

दर्द ही तोह तोह, कारण नहीं

कैसी यह मंजिल है, कैसा यह रास्ता

सितम भी है, पर वफ़ा नहीं

My First try at writing a hindi poem

baithe hai kiski taaq mein

aahat sunne ko bekraar

koi toh humein aawaz de

kitna karenge intezaar

na yeh jannat hai na hai dozakh

na dwar pe hain na kisi rah mein

is paidi pe matha teke khade hai

behte hai raste pe ashru

kaun hai yeh jaane, ki aarzoo kya hai

is bechen dil ki justajoo kya hai

kisi bahane se duniya humne dekhi

ya kisi bahane ne duniya ne humein dekha

Translation for my previous post

"ye na thee hamaaree qismat ke wisaal-e-yaar hota
agar aur jeete rehte yahee intezaar hota"

-----It was not in my fate that I should meet my lover
-----If I had continued living, the same anticipation would have existed

This is the literal translation for the first couplet, but I feel there is a lot more linked to it, I feel ghalib would never write something that straight forward.

From what I believe he is talking about life in general, how man is never satisfied with what he has, how you never get what you want, or on the contrary how you always want what you cannot have. And moreover even if you do get something, you feel you didn't really need that, it was something else that you had been craving all along for and the quest that you had just ended starts again just for a different goal this time.

In the second line what ghalib is referring to is, that if there is a life after death, he is sure, the anticipation would still not end, it would continue for more, if not earthly things then heavenly, but no desire will never die, till you are living in any form, in any world.

Another version that comes to my mind is that, he is trying to say that even if a person knows that his desires won't be fulfilled, he knows he won't get what he craves for, he would still yearn for it till the last breath remains in his body.

"tere waade par jiye ham to ye jaan jhooT jaanaa
ke KHushee se mar na jaate agar 'eitabaar hota "

-----That I am living because of your promise, then know this to be untrue

-----I would not have died so happily, if I had any faith in you

Along with the obvious translation I posted above, again ghalib so beautifully clubs and provides a similarity between love and life. He continues about the quest of man and his desires. He says, even though people yearn for these things, and would end up doing anything to achieve it, it would be untrue to say that its what they are living for. No matter how much you desire something, that is and can never be the sole goal for living, because its not one but many a desires man has, some of them get fulfilled, some of them don't and that is the truth of life. If it was true, if man had faith and a promise that whatever he would desire he would get, wouldn't we all just end it, wouldn't life be boring then, its the unsure nature of life and achievements that drives us, for we do not know the outcome, its the mystery that makes us live and work towards to see the end, without it, there is no sadness, if we are to get everything we want, its just a fairy tale, a happy ending, then why why would any one move ahead. We all would just die happily, to live happily ever after.

"teree naazukee se jaana ke bandha tha 'ehed_booda

kabhee too na tor sakta agar oostuwaar hota"

----- From your frailty I learnt that the promise was delicate

----- It would not stand broken had you been determined

Yet again, like the rest of the ghazal, ghalib points out the similarity between the thread of life and love. Just as in love, if any one of the partner is not in it full from his/her heart, the relationship is bound to fail. If any of the partners is not ready to stand there ground, not ready to hold his relationship in the light of the tests thrown at it by the world and the circumstances, it is to break. If such is not the case and both partners are strong in their will, the love can never break, similarly in life, till the person is confident of himself, of his abilities, no power, no circumstance can break him, he his bound to succeed if not today then tomorrow, but you would not see him broken.

By the greatest poet that ever lived .... Mirza Ghalib

ye na thee hamaree qismat ke wisaal-e-yaar hota

agar aur jeete rehte yahee intezaar hota

tere waade par jiye ham to ye jaan jhoot jaanaa

ke khushee se mar na jaate agar 'eitabaar hota

teree naazukee se jaana ke bandha tha 'ehed_booda

kabhee too na tor sakta agar oostuwaar hota

koee mere dil se pooche tere teer-e-neemkash ko

ye khalish kahaan se hotee jo jigar ke paar hota

ye kahaan ki dostee hai ke bane hain dost naaseh

koee chaarasaaz hota, koee ghamgusaar hota

rag-e-sang se tapakta wo lahoo ki phir na thamta

jise gham samajh rahe ho, ye agar sharaar hota

gham agarche jaan_gulis hai, per kahaan bachain ke dil hai

gham-e-ishq gar na hota, gham-e-rozgaar hota

kahoon kis se main ke kya hai, shab-e-gham buree bala hai

mujhe kya bura tha marna agar ek baar hota

hue mar ke ham jo ruswa, hue kyon na gharq-e-dariya

na kabhee janaaza uthata, na kaheen mazaar hota

usay kaun dekh sakta ke yagaana hai wo yaktaa

jo dooee ki boo bhee hotee to kaheen do chaar hota

ye masaail-e-tasawwuf, ye tera bayaan 'Ghalib'!

tujhe ham walee samajhate, jo na baada_khwaar hota

My interpretation soon to follow...

Joy is the goal of existence, and joy is not to be stumbled upon, but to be achieved, and the act of treason is to let its vision drown in the swamp of the moment's torture

There exists two kind of people one for whom joy exists and for whom joy is nothing but mere abscence of pain. This nuance can very easily and quite markedly describe the state of mind and the line of thought of the people under question.

Those who feel joy exists, are the one's for whom the stat of joy does not stay for long, for as soon as they achieve what their heart desired, they do not waste time to sit back and cherish it. It does not mean that they do not cherish their achievement, they hold it high, amongst the lights of the heaven, but they soon set their hearts on something else, and set out on another journey, to achieve what to them seems a source of even more happiness. Such people hardly realize that its not the goal they cherish, its the path, its the journey to the cave of light, to the apparent source of heavenly joy. And those who overlook this joy of day to day life, remain sad, remain lonesome, for they feel they can never be happy, nothing can bring to them what their heart desire the most, eternal peace.

Over the other side we have those who have no precise definition of joy in their dictionary, these people feel life is nothing but a train to be run on a fixed schedule, who feel life is a timeline that is to be followed. They do not have any desire that erupts out of their heart, there is nothing, nothing that brings exhilaration in their life. These people are as good as zombies, they have a soul that was dead before they even took birth.

Prisons of Life

The day it starts, the day it ends

Never present to be seen again

Cloudless skies over parched earth

Flowers blossom in desert land

Faithless winds break the dawn

A hopefull smile may be lost

Carrying voices past the oceans

Whirlpools swirling, drowns the gay

Above the mountains the golden core

Hearts set on fire in a waging war

May thy peace never rest

May the ranger never reach

May the anguish never end

May the souls never sleep

The wait of life

Alone I walk on these roads again

Gazing to find my star

All the dreams, broken and shattered

Crying alone I am scared

Lost before and never found

outside in rain, it could never survive

Dark and alien shining through the silence

I was waiting long for something broken

While the false prevaled

the day became dark and dusky

While the nights slipped by

you planted the seeds of something but not life

The days came near,

The days of our, of our heavenly ride

silence tore apart, tore apart what was waiting

The wait of life had begin

New year Eve at Times Square

Hmm... Where do I start writing about one of the most stupidest idea I was a part of. Some would disagree with me over calling it a shear waste of time and energy and would call it an experience worthwhile. But for me standing amidst 1.5 million people in freezing cold for freaking 6 hours is nothing but idiotic nevermind it was waiting for new year and experience the atmosphere at Times Square... 

Plans changed for good for we had thought of spending it at the Brooklyn Bridge (which would have been even more horrendous mistake), seeing the people rush to get past the security barriers at various streets, we got excited too and started running for it. Finally after passing numerous streets we were able to get in and be over on the Broadway and started moving closer to the square. The zeal faded as we started realizing the extent of the cold and the ice chilled winds slapping our faces for our mistake. By 9'oclock, the zeal was so diminished that we were actually thinking going back would be a better idea, but it was not till 10'oclock that we actually spoke of it. Then it was the 4 hours wait that we had already been through that kept us there, the more the midnight came closer, the more cold we were, the more we thought going back was a better idea, but more was the wait we had been through, so we finally decided to stay back and curse every passing minute that seemed as an year in itself. With italians screaming "bello" in our ears, (I dont care what it means) a few curses were directed towards them too. Closer the new year came, the more moronic people tend to become. And finally it was there, the last 15 minutes of 2008, time for some pictures and videos (just to keep us busy and not think about the cold i guess). The new year came swift and finally we were running back. Legs were hardly supporting the walk, back was aching, and feet were so frozen that we were hardly feeling anything while walking.  But the glee of it all being over was overwhelming and we walked back as swift as possible, to get something to eat and restore the lost energy, only to find out that everything seemed to be closed . Poor us we satisfied ourselves with a piece of bread and waited for our train that was due 1:40 am. Going back to the station well, compartively was a piece of cake, but the wind was unforgiving, pushing us back in our way, kicking the ass out of our faces leaving it as if it was burried in snow. And soon enough there it was, the station and the train, a nice comfortable seat and some respite from the cold. 

We agreed that it was definitely most stupid thing we had done till now, and named it as the "first mistake of our lives" :P.