जन-सेवा बनाम जन-सेवक

न तन सेवा न मन सेवा

न जीवन और धन सेवा

मुझे है ईष्ट जन सेवा

यही सच्ची भुवन सेवा

( अज्ञात )

सुनते हैं लीडरी की अजब आन बान है

जन सेवक आप किन्तु नवाबों सी शान है

नौकर हैं , चाकर हैं, बंगला है , लान है

देखें कि टोंड मिल्क में कैसा उफान है

घूमते हैं अब तो आपके कुत्ते भी कार में

लगता नहीं है जी मेरा उजड़े दयार में

( अज्ञात )

स्कूल की किताब से

" इक इलम दी ऊण है, मुंडे पढने पाइ
दूजा झस्स शराब दा, इस तों जान छुड़ाइ
तीजा ऐब कुमत दा खहि खहि मरो भराइ
फेर मुकद्दमा लड़देयां झुग्गा उज्जड जाइ
जे इनां दे पंजिओं पा जावें छुटकार
फेर वी पूरी न पवे तां 'चात्रिक ' जुम्मेवार "

-धनी राम चात्रिक

Shiv Batalvi

 This great poet of romance and pathos ,can be easily called the John Keats of Punjabi poetry , for celebrating beauty , love , and separation and also for the reason that both died young. Shiv Batalvi died this day in 1973, aged about 37. The lyrics of a song - Assan taan joban ruttey marnaa….. point to his premonitions of death at a young age. Again , famous song penned by him and beautifully sung by Asa Singh Mastana , without which the list of my favouites will be incomplete is – Mainu tera shabaab ley baitha , which sums up the poet’s life .

This is my homage and humble tribute to the Legend and the genius !

मई दिवस

" मज़दूर का वेतन उसका पसीना सूखने से पहले उसे मिल जाना चाहिए " , एक साधारण वाक्य जिसे हमें स्कूल के दिनों में अनुवाद के लिए दिया जाता था. बाद में 'श्रम की महिमा ' जैसे शब्दों से भी परिचय हुआ.
एक गीत जो कभी कभी कानों में गूंजता है - खून पसीने की जो मिलेगी तो खाएंगे- आत्मनिर्भर होने और आत्मसम्मान से जीने की प्रेरणा देता है. क्या यह हम सभी का दायित्व नहीं कि मज़दूर सम्मान के साथ अपना जीवन व्यतीत करे और हम मज़दूर को 'मजबूर ' न बनने दें !
आज मई दिवस पर मज़दूर व मज़दूर एकता को सलाम !

Habib Wali Muhammad

I am afraid I am no connoisseur of music so far as technicalities are concerned , but I can say that I can tell good music from bad – though my personal liking will have much to do with that ! As a school kid, when Radio receiver set or the transistor set were the limited options for listening to music, a bhajan “Shri Ramchandra kripalu bhajman haran bhav bhaya darunam…………,” particularly held me charmed and captivated due to beautiful voice of the singer as well as the composition. After some years, it was a revelation for me that the bhajan had been rendered in the voice of Habib Wali Muhammad, who migrated to Pakistan some ten years after partition.

Later on I came to listen and like many ghazals by him like , Yeh na thi hamari kismet ke visaale yaar hota of Mirza Ghalib, Lagta nahin hai jee mera ujdey dayar mein of Bahadurshah Zafar , Kab mera nasheman ahle chaman of Qamar Jalavi , Aaj Jane ji zid na karo of Fayyaz Hashmi , Gajra bana ke le aa, malaniya of Afshan Rana and some others also.

Thanks to Youtube and other music sites, it is easy to listen to these beautiful ghazals sung by the maestro !

The Eternal Bond We Tend To Forget

I have grown up listening to the bollywood film music, first on the Radio receiver set and later on transistor, cassette player . I particularly took fancy to a beautiful song in the voice of inimitable, Lata Mangeshkar- “O pawan veg se udne waley ghodey ………………..” . The song fascinated me as much for the lyrics as the sweet tune it has been set to The other day I watched and listened to a clipping of the song on Youtube , and once again it simply mesmerized me. This song is from the movie “ Jai Chittor ” and is an invocation to Chetak, the immortalized horse of Maharana Pratap just before the great warrior was to take on the Mughal Emperor Akbar, in the famous battle of Haldighati. Nirupa Roy, who enacted the role of Maharana’s Queen, looks majestic and graceful.

I am equally reminded of Kanthak, again the famous horse of Prince Siddhaarth, who after renouncing the world, sought enlightenment, became Gautam Budhh. and founded Buddhism.

The great Rani of Jhansi is always shown riding a horse, but there is no clue in history or folklore as to its name.

Again, Iam a reminded of the movie “ Teri Meharbaniyan ” a token of human gratefulness for the ever faithful companion, dog and “ Hathi Mere Saathi ” celebrating the bond between man and elephant.

Needless to say that the deities in Hindu mythology have various animals as their vahans or mounts , which calls for a separate detailed discussion.

Man and animal have had this inseparable bond since the advent of civilization, but the most selfish animal of all has to be reminded of the animal rights and his duties towards the animal world through various World Wildlife bodies and back home our own SPCA and PETA .

Birthday Blues

Many years ago, a veterinarian friend of mine who was a casual visitor to our home used to remark that we were an ideal couple. When asked how , he would say- na ek doosre ke bina reh sakte hain naa ek doosre ke saath . And he was not wrong , as my wife and I ‘have’ a strange relationship- I wonder if I can use the word ‘ enjoy’ in this context. We have nothing in common except our two kids .

It is natural that we never ever wish each other even when the occasion demands.

The other day was her birthday, and early in the morning, my daughter on seeing her said “ Wah Wah Birthday Girl ! Not one to miss an opportunity to tease her, I said - Birthday Girl or Birthday Budhia. ? A stern look and a rebuff “ Apni shakal dekhi hai kabhi ?” was the natural and expected reaction from the angry lady.

Later when I was about to leave for office, she said , “Aaj meri ek hi maang hai “. I was a bit taken aback thinking that when she herself held the purse strings , what she might demand from a kadka husband like me. But it was reassuring to think that being one who went to purchase dresses would instead return with curtains and bed sheets , no big deal was underway. It transpired that all she asked was to arrange for her to visit Hanuman Temple , i.e. Sankatmochan , some fifteen kilometer from my residence. Some how I was able to fulfill this small wish of hers. .

In the evening , a tongue - in - cheek remark awaited me as when I went back from office , she offered me the Prasad saying “ Bhagwan, sadbuddhi de !