The word Kajri is possibly a derivative of Kajal – meaning Kohl or Black. In a country of sizzling hot summers – the black monsoon clouds bring with them relief and great joy – with a need to sing out loud. This is the moment for the Kajri to be sung.
Even though Kajri is sung in a large region – Mirzapur is considered the real home of the Kajri.
hain aur bhi duniya main sukhanwar bahut acchay
(There are other poets in the world that are very good)
kehtay hain ki ghalib kay andaaz-i-bayaan aur….
(they say but that the way Ghalib puts it, is something else..)
Har ek baat pay kehtay ho tum, ki tu kya hai
(on just about every thing u tell me who u are)
tumhi kaho ki, yeh andaz-i-guftagoo kya hai
(now u only tell what is this way to talk like this..)
Ragon mein daudtay firnay kay hum nahi kayal
(i am not fond of seeing them flow in the veins)
Jab aankh hi say na tapka to fir lahoo kya hai
(when it didnt dropped out of the eyes then may be its not blood)
chipak raha badan par lahu se pairaahan
hamare jeb ko ab haajat-e-rafu kya hai
(When my bloodied clothes are sticking to my body
…What is the use of mending/darning my pocket then)
jala hai jism jahan dil bhi jal gaya hoga
(when the body has burned now..
may be the heart would have burnt too)
Kuraidtay ho jo ab raakh justajoo kya hai
(now why do u scratch these ashes..wat do u really want now)
Har ek baat pay kehtay ho tum, ki tu kya hai
(on just about every thing u tell me who u are)
rahi na taqat-e-guftar aur agar ho bhee
(There remains none but little strength to speak)
to kis umeed pay kehiye ki aarzoo kya hai
(then on wat hope should i tell u wat is my wish)
Har ek baat pay kehtay ho tum, ki tu kya hai
(on just about every thing u tell me who u are)
tumhi kaho ki, yeh andaz-i-guftagoo kya hai
(now u only tell wat is this way to talk like this..)
Koi Ummeed Bar Nahin Aatee
koi ummeed bar naheen aatee
koee soorat nazar naheen aatee
No hope comes my way
No visage shows itself to me
ham wahaan hain jahaan se hamko bhee
kuchch hamaaree khabar naheen aatee
I am now at that point
That even I don’t know myself
jaanta hoon sawaab-e-taa’at-o-zahad
par tabeeyat idhar naheen aatee
Though I know the reward of religious devotion
My attention does not settle in that direction
kaaba’a kis munh se jaaoge ‘Ghalib’
sharm tumko magar naheen aatee
How will you face Mecca, Ghalib
When shame doesn’t come to you
maut ka ek din mu’ayyan hai
neehd kyon raat bhar naheeh aatee?
That death will come one day is definite
Then why does sleep evade me all night?
aage aatee thee haal-e-dil pe hansee
ab kisee baat par naheen aatee
I used to laugh at the state of my heart
Now no one thing brings a smile
hai kuchch ‘eisee hee baat jo chup hoon
warna kya baat kar naheen aatee?
It is for these reasons that I am quiet
If not, would I not converse with you?
kyon na cheekhoon ki yaad karate hain
Meri awaaz gar nahin aati.
Why should I not remember you?
Even if you cannot hear my lament
daagh-e-dil gar nazar naheen aata
boo bhee ‘ei chaaraagar ! naheen aatee
You don’t see the anguish in my heart
O healer, the scent of my pain eludes you
marte hain aarzoo mein marne ki
maut aatee hai par naheen aatee
I die in the hope of dying
Death arrives and then never arrives
I take a daisy in my hand and start plucking its petals one by one–
Valentine’s Day is good, Valentine’s Day is bad, is good, is bad…..
Why?
Despite being a person who holds strong opinions even on trivial issues, I am not able to decide yet if Valentine’s Day is good to celebrate or not.
The young girl in me, still alive, reminisces the time when my friend, now husband, used to send cards and dried roses from across the border, when we barely even heard of this day. So when I could get those roses two decades back, without a Valentine Day around, why cant these young girls now? At least on the Valentine Day if not everyday.
It isn’t a harmful day anyways, if one listens a bit less to one’s grey matter while listening to one’s ‘dil ki awaaz’. It doesn’t tell you to hate or kill anyone.
After-all, in this world loaded with hopelessness, despondency and uncertainty, the youth have so many insecurities these days. Hence, if they get one day even to blow their tops off with celebrations in the name of love, let them.
Tomorrow again it will be business as usual for them too.
Only if it hadn’t gone as commercial as it currently is–but then what else has not gone commercial–be it Eids, Ramadans, Milads and even Muharrams when people get made a wardrobe full of black dresses to wear during the 40 days of mourning.
How I wish that people did not confuse ‘love‘ from ‘lust‘ which is so selfish and pervert–exactly the opposite of what love is meant to be–selfless and pure .
But on the other hand, when one sees those numerous ads, of not just the innocent flowers, teddy bears or chocolates but of the products trying to boost one’s libido ahead of Valentine’s Day or even of those contraceptives–it feels sickening. As if those in need of this stuff wait for this single day out of all 365days in an year.
Hence I feel guilty of corroborating with the misdirected purpose of the day, and not vehemently opposing it with the loud mouth that I have.
There has also been research that if on one hand Valentine’s Day brings a tsunami of love amongst many, it erupts a volcano of dormant emotions in those who have either lost their loved ones, or were ditched by them or even those who never found their true love.
Valentine Day blues are real, not imaginary.
Yesterday I visited a seniors residence (an old home) in Mississauga to get the first hand feel of both these emotions.
The place was being bedecked in red frills, and balloons everywhere. It was a pleasurable sight to witness how enthusiastic some elderly( in their 80s) and the very elderly ( in their 90s or beyond) were about the Valentine Day. The zest with which they cleaned their rooms, and the gleam of youth in their eyes as they took out their best clothes to be ironed, even the most emotionally challenged could not miss.
But at the same time I was extremely pained to see the tearful emptiness in the eyes of a wheel chair bound woman who said her husband has passed away very recently and she has no Valentine now.
She is not alone. There must be millions all round the globe today feeling miserable, unlucky, left out, unwanted, unloved or whatever their depressed emotions would make them feel.
Joining in gloom, many young girls will fake and send themselves cards, chocolates or red roses to showoff to their friends what a ‘secret’ Valentine they are to ‘someone’ ‘somewhere’.
I do not feel sad for them, I feel helpless.
What if we could rise above our selfish love and make this feeling of ‘loved’ and ‘wanted’ so universal and selfless.
“When young girls can be innovative enough to fake Valentines Day for themselves, cant we just fake it for others too? ” Came the flash in my head as I was attending a meeting of an organization in this above mentioned ‘old home’s conference hall.
From that point in the meeting, I knew not what did they discuss –as there was another meeting progressing in my head.
As we finished, I approached the reception desk of the residence and asked the lady there if she had an idea, how many here would not be having any visitors or will not celebrate the Valentine Day.
After some reservation, and some explanation from me, she came up with a figure of about twenty or so elderly who have no visiting appointments booked for the day. I discussed a plan with her, which after a phone call from her Manager, she readily agreed to.
I rushed home in excitement and asked my husband for a deal–that instead of buying a bunch of beautiful red roses and shoving them into a flower vase in our living room and let it sit there till the last flower dries, we shall buy two dozen rose buds and as many chocolates and visit the ‘residential’ place in the evening to fake as Valentines for those who have no visitors.
And to make sure that none of those elders get overwhelmed and get a wrong message, we shall go together–my husband and me–to give them the roses and chocolates.
At least they will smile and feel wanted, be it for a few minutes. And hopefully the ‘feel good’ feeling will last as long as it will take the rose buds to dry in their vases.
I do not know how much of Valentine Day celebration is haram in my faith but I know that as part of our faith we are allowed to lie on three occasions–and one of them being when you want to please your loved one.
So today all these elderly men and women will have my husband and me as their Valentine. And we will ‘fake’ love to just please them.
In this world of recession and promotions, they will get a great deal–
BUY ONE VALENTINE, GET ANOTHER FREE ! 🙂
Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak, affectionately known as “Mama Suzanne” throughout Egypt.
Mubarak is a champion for the rights of children and women. She works to eradicate illiteracy in her country, supports health initiatives for mothers and children, and is a strong advocate of equal education opportunity for all boys and girls in Egypt.
She received a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and a Master’s degree in Sociology of Education. For the Master’s degree, her topic of study was “Social Action Research in Urban Egypt: A Case of Primary School Upgrading in Bulaq.”
Mrs. Mubarak understands the power of communication and education in changing the world and serves as a patron of the children’s television series, Alam Simsim, Egypt’s version of the American series, Sesame Street. She affects positive change in her country, boosting literacy rates in Egypt and preparing young children for school, particularly young women. Mubarak supports this program because “Alam Simsim is intelligent children’s programming that can instill certain ideas and values that are indispensable in today’s world.”
Suzanne Mubarak is the founder and president of EBBY, which is the Egyptian chapter of International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY). Mrs. Mubarak has arranged a campaign called Reading for All, which seeks to increase literacy by encouraging reading aloud to children. In addition, she has established portable libraries and published low cost books for children and adults.
Suzanne Mubarak is the technical advisor for the National Council for Motherhood and Childhood in Egypt. Some of the goals of the council include: the reinforcement of women’s roles in society, the study and resolution of problems confronting women, the improvement of women’s performance in society, the monitoring of education of children, and the establishment of a healthy environment for children.
The list of international awards that Mrs. Mubarak has received is long and includes:
*The International Tolerance Prize from the European Academy for Arts and Sciences,
*the Health for All Gold Medal from the World Health Organization in recognition for improving the quality of life for women and children,
* the Honorary Fulbright Award for commitment to education, and
*the International Book Committee,
* International Book Award for her work in promoting reading in Egypt.
*Making a Difference Award from iEARN, USA. iEARN is a non-profit global network that uses the Internet and technology to bring young people together for collaborative educational projects.
Excerpts from Community Heroes by Christian Walsh
http://myhero.com/go/hero.asp?hero=suzannemubarak
Bombs and bombs
One after the other
We still have mehndis with
Drumbeats and dandiyas.
Floods and floods
Wherever you saw
We still had iftaars
Table full and elaborate.
Destruction and demolition
Of homes and schools
We still rennovate homes
With Italian marbles and tiles.
Misery and poverty
From your door till mine
We still change wardrobes
With every changing season.
Hunger and malnutrion
As far your eyes can see
We still have overbooked tables
In buffets and gourmet restaurants.
Depression and despondency
In every household one knows
We still blowoff our tops on
Valentines Day celebrations.
Ask Why?
Kyonke, hum zinda qaum hain.
Jee haan, hum zinda qaum hain.
Yeah!
After Raymond Davis
Come one come all
Toms, Dicks, Harries
Sheelas, Veenas, Munnis
Come come come
Come and perform
Pakistan is a stage
We are a great Qaum
Of spectators only
We will watch surely
Your antics closely
Will boo oo a lot
And cheer somewhat
Then again we will go
Back to a deep sleep
Yupp, deep indeed.
Coming on to streets?
Ugh! Not f or us !
It suits so much
Those frickin Egyptians
And the silly Tunisians
Ehh, those chotey log.
HAPPY SLEEPING !
Blind to Bounds 
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