पहले…..

पहले तुम्हारे हाथ में थी बंदूक
तो ये तुम्हारी वीरता थी
अब मेरे हाथ में है बंदूक
तो ये मेरा जुर्म है

                                            –  कुलदीप प्रकाश

भूल सुधार

हमने कुछ दिन पहले नरेश सक्सेना की कविता जिंदा लोग इस ब्लॉग मे प्रेषित की थी इस कविता को देने मे हमसे कुछ भूलें हो गई थी. इसके कुछ अंश छूट गए थे.हमने अब उन अंशों के साथ कविता को फ़िर से सही रूप मे प्रेषित कर दिया है.
सही कविता नीचे दी गई है

ज़िन्दा लोग

नरेश सक्सेना

ज़िन्दा लोग ज्यादा देर इन्तज़ार नहीं करते
इन्तज़ार तो लाशें भी नहीं करती
एक दिन
हद से हद दो
बस
उसके बाद तो वे हवा में उड़ने लगती हैं
पीछा करती घेरती सीने पर हो जाती हैं सवार
वसूल कर लेती हैं
अपने सब जायज़ नाजायज़ हकों को
लाशों को हम से ज़्यादा हवा चाहिए
उन्हें हम से ज़्यादा पानी चाहिए
उन्हें हम से ज़्यादा बर्फ चाहिए
उन्हें हम से ज़्यादा आग चाहिए
उन्हें चाहिए इतिहास मे हम से ज़्यादा जगह
इससे पहले कि वे घेर लें सारी जगह
मैं कहता हूँ कि
इन्तज़ार करती होंगी नदिया बारिश का वर्ष भर
बसन्त का इन्तज़ार करते होंगे वृक्ष
लेकिन लोग
जिंदा लोग ज़्यादा देर इन्तज़ार नहीं करते
मुश्किलें मुसीबतें और मौत तो आती ही हैं
इससे पहले की कोई संकट उन्हें चुने
वे चुन लेते हैं
अपना मनचाहा संकट
वे चुन लेते हैं अपने मरने की सही जगह और वक़्त
बार बार नही मरते जिंदा लोग
ज्यादा देर इंतजार नहीं करते

a song on ‘education’

What Did You Learn In School Today?

Song by Tom Paxton

What did you learn in school today
dear little boy of mine?
What did you learn in school today
dear little boy of mine?

I learned that Washington never told a lie
I learned that soldiers seldom die
I learned that everybody’s free
That’s what the teacher said to me
And that’s what I learned in school today
That’s what I learned in school.

What did you learn in school today…

I learned that policemen are my friends
I learned that justice never ends
I learned that murderers die for their crimes
even if we make a mistake sometimes
And that’s what I learned in school today
That’s what I learned in school…

I learned our government must be strong
It’s always right and never wrong
Our leaders are the finest men
and we elect them again and again
And that’s what I learned in school today
That’s what I learned in school…

I learned that wars are not so bad
I learned about the great ones that we have had
We fought in Germany and in France
And someday I might get my chance
And that’s what I learned in school today
That’s what I learned in school…

a poem of varavara rao

 

 

NO CLASSES TOMORROW

Those kids helplessly stand
At the zebra crossing on the road
Hurry to hang on to mom’s neck fills their eyes

Weight of homework on the back pulls down the neck
Hair like fallen petals of withered flowers
Uniforms that drain all the colors in the face
Shoe that stop the mercuric feet running before time

Those kids are like listless vision of
The fallen stars amidst the urban forest

Vehicles stop only for red signal
But not for the kids

The hands that turn the wheel
That manage the handle and apply brakes
All the hands otherwise embrace those kids
But now no one looks at them

I waved my hand at them with affection
They looked at my hand strangely
As if thinking
What is this melody amidst this din?
Recognized the smile from within the police van
They sniffed a message in
My raised fist with heavy handcuff
“Tomorrow there won’t be any classes”

As they cross the road noisily and excited
The vehicles stopped like
Stones in the stream
They still run with wild joy without looking back

***

February 5, 1988
Translated by N Venugopal link:http://www.geocities.com/varavara_rao/home.html

two poems from pakistan

1)  how does it matter

so long we are forced to or free to
offer the best years of our lives 
at the altar of work
as slaves serfs or as wage-slaves
i ask my friends of economics and political science
how does it matter
if we produce more and consume more
if we produce less and consume less
if we produce  and consume more effectively
and distribute more equitably
if we produce and consume less effectively
and distribute less equitably.

so long we are forced to or free to
offer the most beautiful years of our lives
at the altar of work
as slaves serfs or as wage-slaves
i ask my friends of social science and history
how does it matter
if the human pyramids
countries firms families and identities
split or come together more peacefully
split or come together more violently.

time tells never anything
so long we are forced to or free to
worry to death
about the terms of offering
the most youthful years of our lives
at the altar of work
as slaves serfs or as wage-slaves
i ask my friends of literature and natural sciences
how is it going to matter
if we look at our present as living historical novel of future
or as science-fiction  of past.

July 2004

 

2) Bar Girls Movement
(on the demonstration of bar girls against
the ban on their profession in mumbai,
india, april 2005)

 

snatched away pains

turn into stuff of our yearnings

we long for it
fight for it passionately

 

 

this may explain

how they turn our fight for freedom

into our fight to

to remain bar girls

 

 

between

bar girls and others
name of the only difference is:

the frequency of job interviews

 

 

you think

we are alone when

we apply for jobs

looking for the highest bidder

for half an hour

three years

or half a life

 

market is glutted with

our lookalikes
now

we go on our all fours

cheap and desperate

that extra makes the difference

maket is not glutted with

our lookalikes
now

we do it with

self-respect and dignity

or something in between

dancing to the full glare of

board of  experts

our irrepressible smiles

do not forget to drop

your best lines

effortlessly

sir take a closer look at

my hair age and looks

height and colour

here is my bio-data

past records and future promises

hating my existence

as bar girl clutching at the length of chain

long before we notice

this length of chain has turned into

length of our  freedom

Gangadin Lohar
April  2005