CHANDRAYAAN

Moon is our ancestral home
Where elder souls go to live
That's why it's so bright
My grandmother belived so

(Not really! We're not so simpleton
Illiterate or superstitious
We never have been
We the nation of Kalhana
Abhinavagupta,and Budshah
But it fits your narration of us
We the uncivilized, gullible
Terrorist nation
So be it)

As you expunge violently
Lynchings, custodial killings, mob violence
Rape cries, witch-huntings, justice
And launch your backwardness into space
I hope you've spacetech advanced enough
To hear the slogans of our ancestors
On Moon

معجزہ

کائنات کی تصویر کو
کچھ وسیع کر کے دیکھو تو
وجود ایک معجزہ لگتا ہے
اور انسان اس لا انتہا خلا میں
ایک دھول, ایک تنکا
اور اس تنکے کے کاندھوں پہ
پوری کائنات کا غم
پوری کائنات کا بوجھ
جسے لے کر یہ دربدر گھومتا رہتا ہے
یہ تنکا سوتا ہے, جاگتا ہے
دفتر جاتا ہے, لوٹ کر آتا ہے
بسوں میں پھرتا ہے, جہازوں میں اڑتا ہے
ہمسفر ڈھونڈتا ہے
مکان کو گھر بناتا ہے
بچے جنتا ہے
جشن مناتا ہے
سماج کو جنم دیتا ہے
جیتا ہے, مرتا ہے
مگر یہ بوجھ کبھی کم نہیں ہوتا
کبھی کم نہیں ہوتا
کبھی کم نہیں ہوتا

کچھ اس طرح دیکھو تو
انسان معجزوں میں ایک بڑا معجزہ ہے

MAUJZA

Qainat ki tasveer ko
Kuch wasi kar kay dekho tou
Wajood ek maujza lagta hai
Aur insaan is la-intiha khala mein
Ek dhool, ek tinka
Aur is tinkey kay kaandhon pe
Poori qainat ka gham
Poori qainat ka bojh
Jise ley kar ye darbadar ghoomta rehta hai
Ye tinka Sota hai, jaagta hai
Daftar jata hai, laut kar aata hai
Buson mein phirta hai, jahazon mein udta hai
Humsafar dhoondta hai
Makaan ko ghar banata hai
Bacche Janta hai
Jashn manata hai
Samaj ko janam deta hai
Jeeta hai, marta hai
Magar ye bojh kabhi kam nahi hota
Kabhi kam nahi hota
Kabhi kam nahi hota

Kuch istarah se dekho tou
Insaan maujzon mein ek bada maujza hai

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow

Today I can cut open my veins
With a cheap shaving blade
And watch the west of my life
Set in blood red
Today I can leave my home
And not worry about anyone left behind
Family, friends, relations, lovers
Office, colleagues, students
Traps
Today I can leave myself
As everyone left me
Suddenly, violently, painfully
And never looked back
Today I can return God's holy gaze
As blankly as I recieved it
Today I can burn every book
That ever taught me something
Burn it to ashes
And smear the ugly face of earth
Today I can go on ranting
And no one will fucking care
No one should
Today I can even end this poem
Here at this line
At this
Word

THE LOVE BETWEEN FLUTE AND THEREMIN

It rains sunlight
Heat dusts everywhere
She comes to me
With wet hair dripping loose
Over her white silk shirt
That has started to blush
In her skin colour
And I think
How criminal is it
Not to undress her
My lips and fingers throb like a flautist

Most of the days she comes to me
Adoring her favourite dress
Wearing it as comfortable as her skin
Fitting in as her soul inside her body
Such that one cannot know
What was trimmed for what
And I believe it is
A sin to disrobe her
I raise my hands as in prayer
And play her like a Theremin

GHUTAN

Din ho na raat
Door ek pahaad par
Bus tumhare saath -

Jiski choti
Baadlon ka seena cheerti ho
Us pahaad par
Mai tumhara haath pakad kar
Chilaana chahta hoon

ILLAT

Mai ki ek khasta makaan
Har tarah se toota hua shaks
Zindagi ki ek aur baarish
Dukhon ki ek aur aandhi
Khushiyon ki aur ek tez dhoop ka saaya hai ki
Tootna hai mujhe
Mar Jana hai
Bus mere andar ki ek aurat hai jo
Marne nahi deti mujhko
Bikharne nahi deti mujhko

India vs Pakistan

In the game of hate
(If ever you want to be in)
Be like England
Let the enemies bleed red
Playing your game
While you still retain
The greenery of your field

ILTIJAA

Aey munkir e kalima e wafa
Aey tabeer e 'laa'
Aey haqeeqat ko meri
Khawab bananey wali!
Khwabon mein tou
Muskura kar mila kar mujhse

التجا

اے منکرِ کلمہ وفا
اے تعبیر 'لا'
اے حقیقت کو میری
خواب بنانے والی!
خوابوں میں تو
مسکراکر ملا کر مُجھسے

"MERI JAAN"

"Meri Jaan"
Kabhi Mai bus itna kahun
Aur tumhe sab qabool hojaye

INTERVAL

(Translation of the poem "Darmiyani Waqfa" by Nomaan Shauqe)

Life
Begins from a cipher
And vanishes
Into another
In the meantime
We eat popcorn
Enjoy paintings by Fida Hussain
Blow atom bombs
Bed woman
Some our own
Some not
And sleep
To wake into another morning!

FOR THE LOVE OF ANIME

Let's go then
You and I
When the world hangs low
And interrupts the vision
Like glass shards of reality
Embedded violently in Retina.

Let's jump then
From the concrete lines
Of this physical world
Into the world of anime
Where I can weep buckets
And you can sleep with me
Without any sexual connotation.
A world where
Every expression has music
Chasing cats can lead
To strange lands.

Let's cycle the cities romantically.

Let's go then
You and I
Into a world
Still in its adolescence.

KAMBAKTH

Aakhrash mera Dil Bhi Tumhara Nikla
Tum Naraz Ho Tou
Yeh Kambakth
Mujhse Bhi Nahi Bolta

کمبخت

آخرش میرا دل بھی تمہارا نکلا
تم ناراض ہو تو
یہ کمبخت
مجھ سے بھی نہیں بولتا

MY AIM IN LIFE

Tumhare Seene Pey
Beparwah soye duppate se mukhtalif
Mere Khwaab nahi

SANIHA

Woh ki har waqt
Dupatte ko sanbhala karti
Mai ki khandar
Udti rahi har waqt hawa mujh mein

Uska milna
Kisi kitabi sanihe se kam na tha
Warq dar warq khulta raha woh lams mujh mein

سانحہ

وہ کہ ہر وقت
دوپٹے کو سنبھالا کرتی
میں کہ کھنڈر
اڑتی رہی ہر وقت ہوا مجھ میں

اسکا ملنا
کسی کتابی سانحے سے کم نہ تھا
ورق در ورق کھلتا رہا وہ لمس مجھ میں