Maa

Hi All,

Please welcome the best shaayer of our times. In my opinion this man stands taller than Javed Akhtar and joins the ranks of Gulzar and Bashir Badr. He is Nida Fazli.

Here is a masterpiece by him called Maa.

The ghazal is,

besan ki sondhi roti par khatti chatni jaisi maan ,
yaad aata hai chouka-baasan, chimta phunkani jaisi maan.

baans ki khurri khaat ke oopar har aahat par kaan dhare
aadhi soyi aadhi jaagi thaki dupahari jaisi maan.

chidiyon ke chahakaar men goonje radha-mohan ali-ali
murge ki aavaaj se khulati, ghar ki kundi jaisi maan.

bivi, beti, bahan, padosan thodi-thodi si sab men
din bhar ik rassi ke oopar chalati natani jaisi maan.

baant ke apna chehra, matha, ankhen jane kahan gayi
phate purane ik album men chanchal ladki jaisi maan.
-Nida fazli

Glossary:
Sondhi = Earthy of soil
Chouka - Baasan = kitchen-utensils
Chimta - phuukni = small utensil to pick roti from tawa - a tube of metal to blow in chulha
Khurri = a bed which is woven with rope made of coconut hair
Kundi = chain of door of house
Natni = a female from a caste/tribe in India, whose business is to show such stunts on roadside.

what I like about this piece is the imagination, word selection, which is so apt, that it directly sends you to that era of rural India, from where poet has come. You don't even have to think about words and stop to understand them. They (words) spontaneously go deep down in you and stay there. Read it two three times. You fall in love with this poem.

Enjoy
Abid