Entries tagged with transliteration to: roman script

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another नज़्म

लुत्फ़-ए-मै तुझसे क्या कहूँ ज़ाहिद
हाय कमबख्त, तुने तो पी ही नहीं

lutf-e-mai tujhse kyaa kahun zaahid
hai qambakht, tune to pi hi nahin

what do i say to you of the lure of wine, o ignorant one
you fool, you haven't even wet your whistle

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दो नज़्म

Zaahid, sharaab piine de maszid mei.n baith kar
Ya woh jagah bata de, jaha.n khuda nahii.n hai

the reply:
Zaahil, sharaab pii le tu maszid mei.n baith kar
Gar dil mei.n khuda nahii.n hai, to kahii.n nahii.n hai

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Aaj Bazaar main by Faiz

Have some more Faiz!

I found a video of Faiz reading out one of his poems... only 'reading out' doesn't seem enough to describe a mushairah, with this intimate atmosphere, a responsive audience. It's too beautiful not to share.

( Aaj bazaar mein pa-bajolan chalo )

—–
( english translation )

I got the above translation in an email, and have not been able to track down who it's by. If anyone knows of a different/better version, please do share!

Current Music: Manic Street Preachers - I live to fall asleep

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Gruha Lakshmi by Volga

Volga is a Telugu feminist poet/novelist/short story writer, whose name I first heard in a whisper from my mother when we had one of our first discussions on feminism. She'd hid a novel of Volga's ('Sahaja') under her mattress to keep her family from knowing, and my grandfather made her throw her books and pamphlets away when marriage proposals started arriving for her.

I went looking for the Telugu original of a favourite poem, but stumbled upon this gem instead. It seems about impossible to find her poems online in Telugu script :(

( Gruha lakshmi )

( The Lady of the house )

On a side note, I've been really enjoying all the discussions on the nuances of translation here. Cheers to everyone who's been posting!

Current Mood: ecstatic
Current Music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0AlzoI_XZ0

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Bulleh Shah zindabad

parh parh aalim faazil hoyon tay naam rakhaya Qazi
seh wari Hujj Makkay da keeta naam rakhaya Haji
phharh talwaar dilawar ban-yon tay naaam rakhaya Ghazi
je ve Bhulliya kuch na khhatti-ya jay peer na keeta razi

they read all the sacred texts and call themselves Qazis

they make a hundred pilgrimages to Mecca and add the suffix Haji to their name

they wield their swords bravely, and call themselves Ghazi's

but Bulleh Shah says, you've done nothing, if you haven't pleased your Pir/Guru/Sensei/Master

[translation mine, original from the Internet, hence not verified.]

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Vo Billi Kis Kam Ke (of what use is that cat)

This is the original in Hindi by Avinash Dharmadhikari

The translation (done by me) goes something like this

(If I am going to stay with someone) Ill stay with that tiger
(Who) makes my garden into a jungle
O of what use is that cat
Who eats food from my hands

p.s Ive taken one liberty in this translation, wich is to replace 'sher' with 'tiger' instead of 'lion' wich is what sher means, as upon advice given the connotations of 'tiger' are truer to the connotations of 'sher' which the poet intended to convey.

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Di Goldene Pave

די גאָלדענע פּאַװע (Di Goldene Pave/The Golden Peacock) by Anna Margolin

( Yiddish Original )
( Transliterated into English )

( Translated into English )

Beautifully set to music on a recent album by Chava Alberstein and the Klezmatics called The Well, it can be listened to here on Youtube.

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Amir Khusrau's couplets

I'm sorry for not posting more often; clearly thirty poems in thirty days isn't going to be happening (unless a sudden burst of enthusiasm and new members arrives).

But here are some couplets by that pearl among poets - Amir Khusrau.

The original Farsi script can be found over here as image files.

Ba khak darat rau ast maara,
Gar surmah bechashm dar neaayad.

The dust of your doorstep is just the right thing to apply,
If Surmah (kohl powder) does not show its beauty in the eye!

Zabaan-e yaar-e mun Turkie, wa mun Turkie nami daanum,
Che khush boodi agar boodi zabaanash dar dahanay mun.

My beloved speaks Turkish, and Turkish I do not know;
How I wish if her tongue would have been in my mouth.

Current Location: New Delhi

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poetry by Paash

Paash was an Indian revolutionary poet of the 70's who wrote mainly in Punjabi. I haven't been able to find the Punjabi originals anywhere online yet, but here are the Hindi and English translations of one of his poems that I've always been in awe of.

( अपनी असुरक्षा से )

( English translation: )

This poem feels particularly burning and relevant to me as an Indian right now, as the government is getting ready to launch 'Operation Green Hunt', a massive military operation against Maoist rebels in Central India (read link for more). It is a horrifying, sickening thought, the thought of a state mobilising its coercive might against it's own people, and it's very obvious motivations behind it.