तुमसे कुछ बातें केहनी थी मगर मुझे बोलना नहीं आता।
तुमसे कुछ और बातें छुपानी थी मगर मुझे दफ़न करना भी नहीं आता।
तुम्हें रास्ता दिखाना था मगर मुझे चलना याद नहीं है।
क्या एक पैर के आगे दूसरा पैर रखूँ या दोनों को एक साथ आगे बढ़ाऊं ?
तुमसे कुछ रास्ते छुपाने भी थे मगर मुझे निशान मिटाने नहीं आते।
तुम्हारे लिए जो चीज़ें समेटकर रखें है मुझे उन्हें सजाने नहीं आते।
और तुम्हारी हर दी हुई चीज़ मुझे इस्तेमाल भी करना नहीं आता।
हम क्यों और किस तरह मिले थे वो मुझे समझाना नहीं आता।
लेकिन फिर भी कोई तुमसे पूछ भी ले तो उन्हें मेरे ही पास भेज देना।
हमारे बारे में किसी और से बात करते करते शायद खुद समझ आ जाए।
और तुम्हें भूलते भूलते ही शायद सब कुछ फिर एक बार सीख जाऊं।
P.S. This is my first attempt at writing in Hindi (if you don't count all the Hindi exams I took in school!) and if you think you're surprised, you should see how I feel right now! Although I've entertained the notion of writing in Hindi, I never imagined that I would actually do it. For one, it's like a kindergarten toddler wanting to play with adults. Secondly, I thought typing would be difficult without the appropriate keyboard. But life is full of surprises. Earlier this evening, just as I was finishing up washing the dishes, a thought (in Hindi) just popped into my head as it often does and I thought, let me see if I can actually flesh it out this time. I opened Blogger and clicked on the little Devnagari script icon out of curiosity, and was pleasantly surprised when I began typing and realized that it actually transliterates words phonetically typed in English! Not sure if it was the excitement of this little discovery or just a good day but once I got the first couple of lines out, it was surprisingly easy. I wrote the first draft at one go in under 30 minutes and then revisited a couple of times before finally posting. It may not be very good and is probably error-ridden as well but I consider it a big step for me, because I've always had a mental block about writing in a language other than English.
9 comments:
Bahot sunder likha hai aapne Gia. :)
Thank you so much Shruti. I'm so thrilled at receiving a comment on this post!
This is very nicely written G, first attempt or otherwise
Thank you Tarakini! I'm so glad you like it.
A couple of weeks ago, I read an article about writers choosing the write in another language [other than English], it was a glorious article. I'll look for it for you!
Tis why I experimented in Creolese...people only use it here to cuss, to speak crudely, and I thought, why can't it express beauty too? And some other level of communication, and no cussing, no crudeness...
Here! http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2016/03/speaking-tongues
And have you seen this? http://womanscream.blogspot.com/2016/04/woman-scream-2016-kolkata-india.html
Thanks for the links GG, will check them out. Hindi is not a language that I'm adept in or even very comfortable with. I've been exposed to it all my life but only started speaking it properly some years ago, although I'm very conscious of making mistakes even now! But I've always been drawn to it thanks to Hindi films and songs and I greatly admire those who express themselves effortlessly. I never imagined I would ever write myself but I often wished that I could because some things can only be articulated in Hindi. Much as I love the English language, it has its limitations and I think, for me, it's part of the Indian ethos... a feeling that's hard to define and even harder to escape.
I agree, the English language can limit us. I've learnt that in Arabic, for example, [I don't know the language, I know this through reading about it], one word can have SEVERAL meanings. And when people translate anything written in Arabic into English, they can choose the wrong English word, thus changing the meaning.
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