When Farida Khanum
sings now
she does not hide the age
in her voice
she wraps it in paisleys
instead
and for a moment
holds it in both of her hands
before
drowning it in our sky.
When she sings now
she knows
at the end of that note
when her voice breaks
like a wishbone
he will stay.
November 17, 2018,
Akhil Katyal
Poetic licence, India, TOI
Tag: Farida Khanum
dil jalaane ki baat karte ho
āshiyāne kī baat karte ho
dil jalāne kī baat karte ho
saarī duniyā ke ranj-o-ġham de kar
muskurāne kī baat karte ho
ham ko apnī ḳhabar nahīñ yaaro
tum zamāne kī baat karte ho
zikr merā sunā to chaḌh ke kahā
kis divāne kī baat karte ho
hādsa thā guzar gayā hogā
kis ke jaane kī baat karte ho
you talk of shelter
you talk of hurting the heart
after giving me a world of grief and sorrow
you ask me to smile
I have no clue about myself
and you talk about the world
when she heard a mention of me
she was irked and said:
Which madman do you talk of?
It was an accident and must have passed
whose departure do you talk of?
