ODE TO LYN, A WIFE, MOTHER, BAHU AND DAUGHTER

It is sometimes expedient to take women and what they do, for granted. However, it is high time that I acknowledge the enormous contribution made by Lyn (short for Marilyn), my wife, in my life and especially during the last few days of my mother. She is silent but sincere and dedicated (In a chorus, in the church, for example, she shyly stands in the rear row). On the day when I took my mother to the hospital in Shimla, Lyn sat holding her hand throughout the night even when I slept for two to three hours.

Here are a few lines I have penned for her:

एक औरत को औरत का एहसास है,
चाहे वह बहु है, बेटी है या सास है,
मेरे दोस्त राज ने बहुत खूब लिखा है:
“लिन साथ है तो लगता है माँ हमारे पास है I”

चुप चाप, बिना शिकायत वह करती है काम,
उसके लिए ना कहीं चैन न कहीं आराम,
कई बार दबे पैर मैंने आके देखा है,
धीमे धीमे माँ का वह लेती है नाम I

कैसे कहे प्यार की क्या होती है जुबां,
कभी सास न थी, थी वह उसकी भी माँ,
बार बार यही सवाल आता होगा मन में:
“माँ के बगैर जायूँ मैं अब कहाँ ?”

पैंतीस साल पहले, वह आयी थी इस घर में,
दो परिवारों का प्यार मिला, दोनों मुट्ठी भर के,
पहले अपने, फिर अपनाये माँ – बाप बिछड़ गए,
अब ना इधर के रहे, न रहे उधर के I

माँ और लिन में रिश्ता था घने प्यार का,
दो जिस्म एक रूह से बने घर संसार का,
लिन को देखते माँ यूँ समझती थी,
जैसे चमन में फूल खिल उठा हो बहार का I

छिप गयी माँ, लिन, पर अभी भी है उनकी ख़ुश्बू,
इस घर में बसती है अभी भी उनकी रूह,
हम मिलके रखेंगे माँ को ज़िंदा,
यहीं तो बहा है उनका पसीना और लहू I

आपका एहसान मंद हूँ, आप हैं मेरी ज़िन्दगी में,
जैसे कोई इबादत गुज़ार हो खुदा की बंदगी में,
आप अपने आप भी सजदे के काबिल हो,
आपके आगे सर झकाता हूँ मैं शर्मिंदगी में I

Ek aaurat ko aurat ka ehsaas hai,
Chaahe woh bahu hai, beti hai yaa saas hai,
Mere dost Raj ne kya khoob likha hai:
“Lyn saath hai to lagta hai maa hamare paas hai.”

Chup chaap bina shikayat woh karti hai kaam,
Uske liye naa kahin chain naa kahin aaraam,
Kayi baar dabe pair maine aake dekha hai,
Dheeme dheeme maa ka woh leti hai naam.

Kaise kahe pyaar ki kyaa hoti hai zuban,
Kabhi saas naa thi, thi woh usaki bhi maa,
Baar baar yahi sawaal aata hoga man mein:
“Maa ke bagair jaayun main ab kahan?”

Paintees saal pehle, woh aayi thi is ghar mein,
Do parivaaron ka pyaar mila dono muthhi bhar ke,
pehle apne, phir apnaaye maa-baap bichhad gaye,
Ab naa idhar ke rahe, naa rahe udhar ke.

Maa aur Lyn mein rishta tha ghane pyaar ka,
Do jism ek rooh se bane ghar sansaar ka,
Lyn ko dekhte maa youn samajhati thi,
Jaise chaman mein phool khil utha ho bahaar kaa.

Chhip gayi maa, Lyn, par abhi bhi hai unaki khushbu,
Is ghar mein basti hai abhi bhi unaki rooh,
Ham milake rakhenge maa ko zinda,
Yahin to baha hai unaka paseen aur lahu.

Aapka ehsaan mand hoon, aap hain meri zindagi mein,
Jaise koi ibaadat guzaar ho khuda ki bandagi mein,
Aaap apne aap bhi sajde ke kaabil ho,
Aapke aage sar jhukaata hoon main sharmindagi mein.

Some of you have asked me for the translation. So, here I go:

A woman feels for a woman,
She may be daughter-in-law, daughter or mother-in-law,
My friend Raj expressed himself well when he wrote:
“If Lyn is with us, we feel we have Ma with us.”

Silently, without complaints, she works,
For her, there is no relief nor rest,
Sometimes when I have tiptoed to her,
I have heard her whisper mom’s name.

How does one say, what is the language of love,
She was never her mother-in-law, she was indeed her mother,
Time and again, this thought must be in her mind:
“Now where do I go without Ma?”

Thirty-five years ago, she entered this home,
She was blessed to have abundant love from both families,
First her own, and then adopted parents departed,
Now neither hers nor mine are anymore.

Ma and Lyn had relationship of deep love,
A home-world made up of two bodies but one soul,
Looking at Lyn, Ma used to feel,
That a spring-flower had blossomed in her garden.

Ma has hidden, Lyn, but her fragrance still abounds,
Her soul still lives in this house,
You and I, we shall together keep Ma alive,
Here only she has shed her sweat and blood.

I am grateful to you, you are in my life,
Like some worshipper is there in worship of God,
You yourself are worthy of obeisance,
Hence, I bow my head to you in humility.