Nuur-e-Faanuus / नूर-ए-फ़ानूस / نور فانوس

Thoughts and views on Urdu poetry.

February 22, 2006

The Project Manager's Life 14

A project leader’s job is not to be self-centered. He or she will make mistakes and learn from them. Those who excel in their jobs will not only focus on themselves but, as Sardaar Anjum emphasizes in the following sher, will watch out for and mentor their teammates.

हर क़दम पर गिरे मगर सीखा
कैसे गिरतों को थम लेते हैं

शायर : सरदार अनजुम


ہر قدم پر گرے مگر سيکھا
کيسے گرتوں کو تھم ليتے ہيں

شاعر : سدار انجم

The Project Manager's Life 13

Sometimes during a project as we approach a critical milestone and time appears to be running out, we wonder whether or not we are being given all of the facts. Nevertheless, the person responsible for the deliverable assures us that all is well. We then may ask ourselves the question being posed in this sher.

हमें सब्र करने को कह तो रहे हो
मगर देख लो खु़द ही घबरा रहे हो

शायर : सईद राही


ہميں صبر کرنے کو کہ تو رہے ہو
مگرديکھ لوخد ہی گھبرا رہے ہو

شاعر : سيد راہی
How much do we trust some people?

February 20, 2006

Mehfil-e-Mushaira

I recently discovered a great site, Mehfil-e-Mushaira. As they describe themselves, Mehfil-e-Mushaira is the first ever web site to present audio clips of Urdu poetry in poets' own voice. This collection of audio is from mushairas held all over the world and covers a wide range of poets. An English translation of the poetry is also provided for select pieces.

If you are interested, check the link in the left hand navigation column.

What can one say but wa, wa!

February 19, 2006

The Luster of the Mirror - आब-ए-आईना

आए जौहरी क्या आप ने एक मोती गुम कर दिया
इत्तिफ़ाक़न हमें यह हमारे लुग़त में मिला
- Bill Howard ‘फ़ानूस’

(इत्तिफ़ाक़न=सांयोगिक, अकस्मात से; लुग़त = शब्दकोश; फ़ानूस = Lantern, Bill Howard का तख़ल्लुस या उपनाम)

اے جوھری کيا آپ نے ايک موتی گم کر ديا
اتفاقا ہمیں يہ ہمارے لغت ميں ملا

' فانوس 'Bill Howard -

Quite by chance I stumbled across a sweet pearl of an expression in my Urdu dictionary. It goes quite well with our chain of shers, Reflections on Mirrors. The phrase is आब-ए-आईना (آبِ ائنہ), which I think is a beautiful metaphor. In Urdu and Hindi, if the gender of the word आब is masculine, it means water. If its gender is feminine, it means luster or brightness. When I think of the phrase आब-ए-आईना, however, to me it is a metaphor drawing on the different meanings of आब. I get a picture in my mind of the reflections off of the smooth surface of a pond formed by the frame of the mirror.

As I wrote in The Sweetness of Urdu, “हर एक लफ़्ज़ (शब्द) मोती होता है! हर एक शेर हार होता है!” !ہر ايک لفظ موتی ہوتا ہے! ہر ايک شعرہار ہوتا ہے

The metaphor of the pearl is used by Firaq Gorakhpuri in an anthology of his work that I am currently reading:

आब-ओ-ताब-ए-अशार न पूछो तुम भी आँखें रखो हो
यह जगमग बत्तियों की दमक है या हम मोती रोले हैं
- फ़िराक़ गोरखपुरी
(आब-ओ-ताब = beauty, grandeur; अशार = plural of शेर)

آب و تابِ اشعار نہ پوچھو تم بہی آنکہيں رکھو ہو
يہ جگ مگ بتيوں کی دمک ہے يا ہم موپی رولے ہيں

فراق
گورکھپوري

Certainly, in great अशार, we should be impressed by the मोती की आब.

February 17, 2006

The Project Manager’s Life 12

This is one of my favorite shers. In fact, it is like a motto for the way to approach challenges, especially when we never know what each new day will bring our way. If we approach our projects with this attitude we will always find the right road to success.


हम भी दरिया हैं हमें अपना हुनर मालूम है
जिस तरफ़ भी चल पड़ेंगे रास्ता हो जाएगा

शायर : बशीर बद्र

February 14, 2006

Reflections on Mirrors

Today we will return to take another look at mirrors as we near the end of reflecting on ourselves. I am presenting a pair of shers that seem to have a connection with each other although they are by different shaayars, the first by इश्रत आफ़रीन and the second by काशिफ़ इन्दोरी. The second misraa in each sher reminds me of the American (perhaps English) saying that people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, meaning that people should not criticize other people for faults that they have themselves. There seem to be so many stones, however, that the mirrors (or glass houses) are in perpetual danger.


अपनी आग की ज़िन्दा रखना कितना मुश्किल है
पत्थर बीच आईना रखना कितना मुश्किल है
शायरा : इश्रत आफ़रीन


सामने दुनिया भर के ग़म हैं और इधर इक तन्हा हम हैं
सैकड़ों पत्थर और इक आईना कब तक आखिर आखिर कब तक

तन्हा = अकेला
शायर : काशिफ़ इन्दोरी

February 12, 2006

The Project Manager's Life 11

Sometimes projects do get out of hand and we may frequently wish we could run away from the mess. We don’t, however, but rather we have to go about setting things right. The spirit of this dedication is adroitly captured in today’s sher.


अपना ग़म ले के कहीं और न जाया जाये
घर में बिखेरी हुई चीज़ों को सजाया जाये

शायर : निदा फ़ाज़ली

اپنا غم لے کے کہيں اور نہ جايا جائے
گھر ميں بکھري ہوئي چيزوں کو سجايا جائے

شاعر : ندا فاضلي

February 06, 2006

The Sweetness of Urdu


By Bill Howard ‘फ़ानूस’1

—उर्दू ज़बान की चाशनी में घुली महफ़िल-ए-सुख़न—

When one mentions Urdu to a Hindi speaker, it is not uncommon to hear him reply that Urdu is a sweet language. This association with sweetness to the ear stems from the fact that Urdu borrows words from many languages which in turn provides it with a richness of vocabulary, in particular words from Persian and Arabic. This in turn enhances its appeal as a poetic language, especially given the fact that many early Urdu poets studied and composed works in Persian.

Many noted masters of Urdu poetry take pride in utilizing Arabic and Persian words, expressions, and phrases in their compositions. These poets and writers, as do poets and writers in all languages, are proud of their skill with words. In fact, Urdu even has a special word, तग़ज़्ज़ल, to describe this. It connotes a poetic touch. “A poet with such a touch can turn an ordinary thought or observation into a masterpiece of art. Such a poet has an outstanding control on language and a vast repertoire of words and idioms.”2

Aside from pure vocabulary, there are two grammatical constructs taken directly from Persian that are common in Urdu poetry forms such as ghazals. Examples of these constructs are दर्द-ए-दिल and शब-ओ-रोज़, which in normal Urdu or Hindi would be दिल का दर्द and शब और रोज़. In addition to the grammatical form, it is common for these constructs to use words of Arabic or Persian origin, some of which are very literary or obscure to someone who has not made a specific study of Urdu poetry.

These structures in themselves create a poetic effect because of their contrast to the standard Urdu or Hindi constructs. They tend to focus the eye or the ear on the particular turn of phrase, thus giving it an emphasis that it might not otherwise have. Beyond this, however, these constructs tend to become the poet’s tools. They allow the shaayar a freedom to play with his language.

Firstly, they give the shaayar an option to comply with the requirements of metrics (बहर) by using these forms in place of the normal Urdu constructs. Secondly, since these constructs usually consist of Arabic or Persian words, it is easier for the shaayar to play with style and vocabulary. A shaayar may simply be pedantic and want to show his knowledge of obscure words. On the other hand, he may need to substitute a more common word of one or two syllables with one of three or more syllables, or vice versa, in order to structure a misraa that meets the requirements of the poem’s bahar. A शायर, for example, may have to become a सुख़नवर (poet).

The shaayar may also be using his language and these constructs to poetically describe an object or a person rather than relying on the literal meaning of the phrase. Examples of this would be जान-ए-हयात or जान-ए-महबूबी [जान = life, spirit, beloved हयात = life महबूबी = loveliness, love, affection] for “beloved,” which is in a way a play on words given the various meanings of जान and its link to हयात and महबूबी. Another example is तेग़-ए-निगाह [तेग़ = sword निगाह = glance] for a cutting or piercing look.

Linked phrases of the type शब-ओ-रोज़ provide the shaayar with many options. These phrases frequently are used for joining linked pairs of words that are opposites, such as: शब-ओ-रोज़ [night and day] or फ़र्दा-ओ-दी [yesterday and tomorrow]. Shaayars may also combine word pairs that rhyme such as फ़र्श-ओ-अर्श [floor and roof], used in the sher to mean earth and sky, or रहीम-ओ-करीम [merciful and generous]. They may also play with words in different ways such as in this “reverse rhyme”: हमपेशा–ओ-हममशरब–ओ-हमराज़ [the same profession, the same sect, and the same secret]. Note that in this example, मशरब can also be a drinking place. Perhaps the shaayar’s intent is to create a double meaning leaving it up to us to decide. This attests to the तग़ज़्ज़ल of the shaayar.

It is also common for the shaayar to link pairs of words that are almost synonymous to create a sense of emphasis. For example, फ़र्याद-ओ-फ़ुग़ां [फ़र्याद = complaint, cry for help फ़ुग़ां = lamentation, complaint, cry of pain], प्याला-ओ-साग़र [cup and goblet], रंज-ओ-मुसीबत [grief and misfortune].

The shaayar is also not restricted to just linking pairs of words. As in the example above, हमपेशा–ओ-हममशरब–ओ-हमराज़, the shaayar has linked three words. Skilled shaayars may sting words together in many combinations like pearls on a necklace as the following examples demonstrate:
  • लाल-ओ-ज़ुमुर्रुद - ओ - ज़र-ओ-गौहर हूँ मैं
  • शौक़ हर रंग रक़ीब - ए - सर - ओ - सामाँ निकला
  • फ़िर देखिये अन्दाज़ - ए - गुल - अफ़्शानि - ए - गुफ़्तार
  • वाँ वो ग़ुरुर - ए - इज़ा’ज़ - ओ - नाज़ याँ ये हिजाब - ए - पास - एवज़’आ

हर एक लफ़्ज़ (शब्द) मोती होता है! हर एक शेर हार होता है! हर एक ग़ज़ल संदूक़-ए-ज़ेवर होती है! उर्दू ज़रूर मीठी ज़बान होती है लेकिन मिर्ज़ा दाग़ देहलवी इस शेर में हम को याद दिलातो हैं कि :

नहीं खेल, अए दाग़! यारों से कह दो
कह आती है उर्दू ज़बान आते आते

“फिरे राह से वह यहां आते आते”
[मिर्ज़ा दाग़ देहलवी]

نہيں کھيل ، اے داغ! ياروں سے کہ دو

کہ آتي ہے اردو زباں آتے آتے


پھرے راہ سے وہ يہاں آتے آتے
(مرزا داغ دہلوي)

1 I have realized that my Central Asian alter ego desired a तख़ल्लुस. I have chosen ‘फ़ानूस’.
2 “taKhayyul and taGhazzul : The Soul of Urdu Poetry,” Ifran ‘Abid’, July 2002, http://www.ebazm.com/abid2.htm.


Reflections on Mirrors

After finishing the series of shers as I interpret them regarding our roles as project deliverers or managers, I had intended to start a new series, the topic of which was to be “Reflections on Mirrors.” I have collected quite a few shers that reflect some poignant observations on human behavior by using references to mirrors. We will take a break from projects for a while to take a look at ourselves in the mirror.

कितना आसान है तस्वीर बनाना औरों की
ख़ुद को पास-ए-आईना रखना कितना मुश्किल है

शायरा : इश्रत आफ़रीन

----------------------------------------------------------------


ये आईना है ये तो सच ही कहेगा
क्यों अपनी हक़ीक़त से कतरा रहे हो
हक़ीक़त = reality

शायर : सईद राही

----------------------------------------------------------------

We continue to take a look at ourselves. Polish those mirrors! Make sure the spot is on the glass and not on what it reflects.


अंदाज़ अपने देखते हैं आईने में वो
और ये भी देखते हैं कि कोई देखता न हो।
शायर : इब्न-ए-इन्शा

अंदाज़ = From Persian: way, manner, style

----------------------------------------------------------------


जब किसी से कोई गिला रखना
सामने अपने आईना रखना

गिला = complaint

शायर : निदा फ़ाज़ली




جب کسي سے کوئي گلہ رکھنا
سامنے اپنے آئينہ رکھنا

شاعر : ندا فاضلي




----------------------------------------------------------------

Maybe this reflection is the reality of what others see rather than what we perceive ourselves to be. Is Sudarshan Faakir suggesting that we should reflect on our reflection, on what our true self is?

If you do rely on the mirror, make certain that its surface is not distorted.


अपनी सूरत लगी परायी सी
जब कभी हमने आईना देका


शायर : सुदरशन फ़ाकीर

ग़ज़ल की वर्गीकृति (Taxonomy of a Ghazal)

Those of you who know me well or who have worked with me know that as an information architect I have a passionate interest in the structure of documents and content in general, the reusability of content objects, and taxonomy. A ghazal, as a content document has excellent attributes of all of the above.


It appears that many people enjoy ghazals, but do not really know what the proper ghazal structure and rules are. As a result, there may be the tendency to unofficially classify certain shaayari as ghazals when they really are not.


I found four interesting articles that describe rules that apply to ghazals and from which I have taken this information. I am supplying the links in case you are interested in going into this more deeply.

  1. ग़ज़ल श्रेणी की प्रविष्टियाँ, http://www.kaulonline.com/chittha/index.php?cat=2
  2. What is a Ghazal?, http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~navin/india/songs/ghalib/ghazal.def.html
  3. Bah'r: The Backbone of Shaayari, http://www.urdupoetry.com/articles/art5.html
  4. Urdu Ghazal: An Introduction, http://www.urdupoetry.com/articles/art3.html


ग़ज़ल क्या है?


The following describes the structure, the taxonomy if you will, of a ghazal:

  1. A ghazal is a collection of shers which follow the rules of मतला, मक़ता, बहर, क़ाफ़िया and रदीफ़.
  2. A ghazal rarely has more than 10 or 12 shers, often fewer.
  3. The different shers of the ghazal are not necessarily bound by a unity and consistency of thought. Each sher is a self-sufficient unit, detachable and quotable, generally containing the complete expression of an idea. (ग़ज़ल का हर शेर अपने आप में दो मिसरों की पूरी कविता होती है। यानी हर शेर को अलग से प्रस्तुत किया जा सकता है। प्रायः ग़ज़ल में एक कहानी या कविता सा लगातार प्रवाह भी नहीं होता।) शेर का पहला मिसरा मिसरा-ए-ऊला कहते हैं और दूसरा मिसरा-ए-सानी कहते हैं।
  4. The shers of some ghazals are bound together by a unity and consistency of thought. Such ghazals are classified as नज़्म.
  5. A ghazal always opens with a rhyming sher called a मतला. This sets the mode for the ghazal. इसकी दोनों मिसरों का समान अंत (तुकबंदी) होता है।
  6. The rhyme of the मतला is repeated at the end of each succeeding sher. The pattern may be represented as AA, BA, CA, DA, and so on. वह रदीफ़ कहते हैं। Rarely a ghazal may have no radif. Such ghazals are classified as ग़ैरमुरद्दफ़.
  7. रदीफ़ से पहले आनेवाले मिलते जुलते शब्द को क़ाफ़िया कहते हैं। क़ाफ़िये हमारी मिसाल में (नीचे) सबब, अब, अजब, तब, जब, आदि हैं। सब क़ाफ़िये तुकबंदी करते हैं।
  8. There can be more than one matla in a ghazal. In such a case the second one is called मतला-ए-सानी या हुस्न-ए-मतला.
  9. The last sher of the ghazal is the मक़ता. It often, but optionally, contains the तख़ल्लुस (शायर का उपनाम) in either the first or the second line. आजकल कई ग़ज़लें बिना मक़ते के भी लिखी जाती हैं।
  10. ग़ज़ल का सब से अच्छा शेर हुस्न-ए-ग़ज़ल या बैत-उल-ग़ज़ल कहते हैं।
  11. Each line of a ghazal must be of the same length and meter. इस लंबाई को बहर कहते हैं। Bahar is a complex topic itself. If anyone is interested in the details, please see reference number 3, Bah'r: The Backbone of Shaayari, above.

The Project Manager’s Life 3 - 10

The following sher can describe the chaos that results when a key delivery date is missed and too many people try to micro-manage the problem and spend everybody’s time trying to track daily status. It makes me think of the days I spent more time trying to get detailed status updates and prepare lengthy situation reports to send out to everyone who was even remotely concerned with the project than the time I actually spent focusing on resolving the problem and getting back on schedule.


नतीजा न निकला थके सब पयामी
वहाँ जाते जाते यहाँ आते आते

[पयामी = messenger]

शायर : मिरज़ा दाग़ देहलवी




نتيجہ نہ نکلا ، تھکے سب پيامي
وہاں جاتے جاتے ، يہاں آتے آتے
شاعر: مرزا داغ دہلوي
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
At one time or another, we have all been pulled in too many directions and had demands made of us for which there just wasn’t enough time. I think this sher sums up how we must have felt.

इतने हिस्सों में बाँट गया हूँ मैं
मेरे हिस्से में कुछ बचा ही नहीं

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Every project manager has suffered because he could not find the right person to fulfill a specific roll on the project team. He has pestered the recruiters and explained his needs and wishes in great detail only to not see anyone who matches the requirements. This शेर written by मिरज़ा ग़ालिब in the late 1800’s describes the project manager’s plight. यह पुराना शेर अभी तक सच है ।
कोई उम्मीद बर नहीं आती
कोई सूरत नज़र नहीं आती

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
With projects, we all know the dangers of over commitment. This sher by Israr Ansari sums it up.

FYI, this sher comes from a ghazal about love that is full of daard-e-dil. Now that I think of it, a project manager frequently experiences his own type of daard-e-dil.

वादा उतना ही करो जितना निभा सकते हो
ख़्वाब पूरा जो न हो वो न टिखाना मुझको

ख़्वाब = dream

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
When it comes to our daily routine with projects, we all sometimes feel like we are being required to do this and do that without any respect for our bandwidth. The situation is often made even made worse when clients ask us for proposals to be submitted with ridiculous turn around times. Nazir Banarsi captured the feeling of desperation that these situations create very well, I think.

This sher, which is a matlaa*, is the first sher that I learned four or five years ago. When I translated it, the feeling that I stated above was exactly what it evoked in my mind. As my life as a consultant goes, I have frequently recited it to myself as if it were a mantra.

यह करें वह और करें, ऐसा करें वैसा करें
ज़िंदगी दो दिन की है दो दिन में हम क्या क्या करें


For those who might care this sher is a matlaa. ग़ज़ल के पहले शेर को मतला कहते हैं। The structure of a ghazal must follow some rigid rules, one of which is that each properly written ghazal must begin with a matla. By definition, a matla is a sher that has radiif (रदीफ़) in both lines. So, what is radiif? Stand by for a future piece on the “taxonomy” of a ghazal in which all will be explained.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

A project manager has to rely on the accuracy of the status information that is passed to him. On the basis of this information, he or she then reports upward. Unfortunately, we have seen times when deadlines arrive and the stories change for the worst.

Today, because I thought they support each other, we have two shers that can be applied to such a situation. The first, by Bekhud Dehlvi, describes the sense of broken trust when what one is told turns out to be untrue. The second, by Krishan Bihari Noor, puts the concept of truth in perspective. In a project, facts are facts, and therein is the truth.

जादू है या तिलिस्म तुम्हारी ज़बान में
तुम झूठ कह रहे थे मुझे ऐतबार था

तिलिस्म = enchantment (This is an Arabic word from which the English word talisman comes. Versions of this sher on the Internet in transliterated form using Latin characters render the word as “tilasam”. The Urdu dictionary shows the correct pronunciation as तिलिस्म.)

ऐतबार = trust, confidence


सच घटे या बढ़े तो सच न रहे
झूठ की कोई इन्तिहा ही नहीं

इन्तिहा या इन्तेहा = limit, end (मेरे उर्दू लुग़त [शब्दकोश] के अनुसार इन्तिहा सही है ।)

Devanagari

We owe this cultural contribution to our friend, Saurabh Thirani in the CTS office in Kolkata. हम सौरभ को बहुत शुक्रिया देते हैं।


Saurabh wrote:

The word Devanagari has its roots in the two words – Deva and Nagari. Nagari means script. Deva on the other hand literally means a being of light and is used to refer to a highly evolved being who exists at the etheric level with an analogy for a kind of a demi-god.

You might have seen a phrase called Mahadeva (Maha = Great) which means a great being of life i.e. used to refer to the trinity or the three aspects of the almighty -the Father (aka Brahma or the Creator), the Son (aka Vishnu of the Preserver) and the Holy Ghost (aka Shiva or the Destroyer).

Anyways no digressing so much… the devanagari script literally means the Script Of The Gods. Sanskrit (acknowledged by many including Max Mueller) as the most scientific of all languages is also written in devanagari. The idea behind this script is that it is the most complete and can be used to write down any language in the world taking into account aspects such as the phonetics of pronunciations.

The reason why the devanagari script is considered to be the most scientific is that if one were to create a hollow clay mould of any of the characters of this script leaving two ends open, and then if one were to blow into one of the open ends then a sound would get produced… and that sound would be the same as the pronunciation of that character.