Songs That Tug At Your Emotions – Song #28

I am back after a long break caused by my blog having been hacked. It is absolutely alright now and back with you.

The twenty-eighth day of songs in this series.

In the last twenty-seven days, we have taken up songs of thirteen male singers: Talat Mahmood, Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar, Mohammad Rafi, Mukesh, Hemant Kumar, Mahendra Kapoor, SD Burman, KL Saigal, Pankaj Mullick, Jagmohan ‘Sursagar’, Hariharan and Yesudas. We also took up songs of eleven female singers: Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Suman Kalyanpur, Shamshad Begum, Geeta Dutt, Uma Devi (Tun Tun), Suraiya and Zohrabai Ambalewali, Sudha Malhotra, Amirbai Karnataki and Kavita Krishnamurthy. We took up a duet between Mohammad Rafi and Asha Bhosle in the last post. And lastly we took up a Talat Mehmood song: Phir wohi shaam wohi gham wohi tanhaayi hai. After that, on the twenty-sixth day we took up a Kishore Kumar song for Piya Ka Ghar: Ye jeevan hai. The twenty-seventh post was devoted to Shankar Jaikishan Foundation’s Mumbai Meet with the Lata Mangeshkar and Manna Dey song from Raat Aur Din: Dil ki girah khol do.

Today, I am back with Mohammad Rafi with one of the best of Laxmikant Pyarelal from the 1964 Satyen Bose movie Dosti, a movie whose songs made L-P one of the most loved music duos in India and a movie whose songs are still fondly remembered even today. Majrooh Sultanpuri penned the lyrics and L-P composed it in the raaga of my place: Pahadi.

(Poster courtesy: Wikipedia)

Lets start with the movie. Bombay based Rajshri was founded by Tarachand Barjatya in the year 1947. However, Rajshri Productions Pvt Ltd engaged in films production came about in the year 1962. Its first film Arti, in 1962 was highly acclaimed. However, the grand success of its second production Dosti in 1964 included winning the National Award for Best Feature Film and as many as six Filmfare Awards: Best Film, Best Music Director (the debut Filmfare Award for L-P), Best Story: Ban Bhatt, Best Dialogue: Govind Moonis, Best Playback Singer: Mohammad Rafi for the song I am giving you today, and finally Best Lyricist: Majrooh Sultanpuri for the same song.

Dosti was directed by Satyen Bose. It was Sanjay Khan’s debut film and had Sudhir Kumar Sawant, and Sushil Kumar Somaya in lead roles. The film focuses on the friendship between two boys, one blind and the other a cripple.

Laxmikant Pyarelal started off with 1963 movie Parasmani and they made such popular songs for their very first movie that these are fondly remembered even today:

1. “Hansta Hua Noorani Chehra” Asad Bhopali Lata Mangeshkar, Kamal Barot 3:40
2. “Mere Dil Mein Halki Si” Asad Bhopali Lata Mangeshkar 4:56
3. “Ooi Maa Ooi Maa Yeh Kya Ho Gaya” Asad Bhopali Lata Mangeshkar 3:24
4. “Salamat Raho Salamat Raho” Indeevar Mohammad Rafi 5:57
5. “Woh Jab Yaad Aaye” Asad Bhopali Mohammad Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar 4:43
6. “Chori Chori Jo Tumse Mili” Faruk Kaiser Mukesh, Lata Mangeshkar 4:01

The duet Woh jab yaad aaye was picturised on small time actors Mahipal and Geetanjali. However, even after 55 years, its popularity continues being as strong as it was when the film was released:

The duo that started off so outstandingly well in their very first movie had indeed great future ahead for them. Dosti was only their sixth movie (they did a total of 635 movies between 1963 to 1998) after Parasmani (1963), Harishchandra Taramati (1963), Sati Savitri (1964), Sant Gyaneshwar (1964) and Mr X in Bombay (1964). All these movies too had excellent and memorable songs; eg, Main ek nanha sa main ek chhota sa bachcha hoon and Suraj re jalte rehna from Harishchandra Taramati; Tum gagan ke chandrama ho main dhara ki dhool hoon, Jeevan dor tumhi sang bandhi, Sakhi ri pi ka naam naam na poochho, and Itni jaldi kya hai gori saajan ke sang jaane ki from Sati Savitri; Jaago re prabhat aaya, Jyot se jyot jalaate chalo, and Ek do teen chaar bhaiya bano hoshiyar from Sant Gyaneshwar; Mere mehboob qyaamat hogi, Khoobsurat haseena jaan-e-jaan jaan-e-mann, Chali re chali re gori paniya bharan ko, and Julmi hamaare saanwariya ho Raam from Mr X In Bombay.

The 1964 movie Dosti was a landmark for Laxmikant Pyarelal as the movie’s songs enabled them to receive their first Filmfare Award for Best Music Director. Out of the six songs of the movie, Mohammad Rafi sang six and Lata Mangeshkar sang one. These two playback singers, the best in their fields, stayed with Laxmikant Pyarelal till the end and even sang for them in low budget movies.

Laxmikant Pyarelal with Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar (Pic courtesy: Hamara Photos)

Here are the iconic songs that Majrooh Sultanpuri, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar made together for Dosti:

1. “Chahoonga Main Tujhe Saanj Savere” Mohammad Rafi 04:55
2. “Meri Dosti Mera Pyar” Mohammad Rafi 04:23
3. “Rahi Manwa Dukh Ki Chinta” Mohammad Rafi 04:07
4. “Mera To Jo Bhi Kadam” Mohammad Rafi 04:03
5. “Gudiya Humse Roothi Rahogi Kab Tak Na Hasogi” Lata Mangeshkar 03:31
6. “Jaanewalo Zara” Mohammad Rafi 04:06

Lastly, before we take up the song, lets for a minute talk about the lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri.

Presently, on my Facebook page Lyrical, I am engaged in covering Lyricist #5: Majrooh Sultanpuri under my Remembering Great Lyricists series. I have kept my favourite Shakeel Badayuni out of this series since I already have a number of articles and tributes on him.

Majrooh is the fifth of our lyricists who was a contemporary of Shakeel Badayuni. Out of all these six (*including Shakeel), three have been from Uttar Pradesh, which says something about that region producing some great poets and lyricists.

Majrooh Sultanpuri was born on 01 Oct 1919 as Asrar ul Hassan Khan in a Tarin Pashtun family, in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh. His father was an officer in the police department, but, preferred to send his son for traditional madrasa (Urdu school) rather than provide him with English schooling.

He tried his hand at being a quack until he was noticed in a mushaira in Sultanpur.

He was a disciple of the great Urdu poet Jigar Moradabadi. When he visited Bombay in 1945 to participate in a mushaira, the director Abdul Rashid Kardar noticed him and invited him to write for the movies. Majrooh turned it down as he looked down upon movies! He was persuaded through his mentor Jigar Moradabadi and then there was no turning back.

Many traditionalists of the Urdu literature, however, felt that Majrooh sold his soul to the Hindi films and that he could have emerged a great poet in the likeness of Ghalib and Jigar.

The takhalus Majrooh means “injured” or “wounded”.

Majrooh was awarded, in 1993, the highest award – Dadasaheb Phalke award – for his lifetime contribution towards lyrics and poetry. He was the first lyricist ever to be given that award. For the film Dosti, that made Laxmikant Pyarelal famous, he was awarded the Filmfare Best Lyricist Award for the song: Chahunga main tujhe saanjh savere.

For someone who didn’t want to join Hindi movies, Majrooh emerged as a natural lyricist, very popular, very romantic and enchanting.

Laxmikant Pyarelal and Majrooh Sultanpuri paired in a number of movies to make songs: Dosti (1964), Mere Lal (1966), Dillagi (1966), Shagird (1967), Patthar Ke Sanam (1967), Duniya Nachegi (1967), Mere Hamdam Mere Dost (1968), Wapas (1969), Pyasi Sham (1969), Meri Bhabhi (1969), Dharti Kahe Pukar Ke (1969), Abhinetri (1970), Jal Bin Machli Nritya Bin Bijli (1971), Bikhre Moti (1971), Ek Nazar (1972), Anokhi Ada (1973), Imtihaan (1974), Mere Sajana (1975), Anari (1975), Aaj Ka Mahatma (1976), Dus Numbri (1976), Master Dada (1977), Kali Raat (1977), Parvarish (1977), Swan Ke Geet (1978), Naach Utha Sansar (1978), Phaansi (1978), Prayaschit (1979), Ladies Tailor (1981), Ek Aur Ek Gyarah (1981), Watan Ke Rakhwale (1987), Janam Janam (1988), Humshakal (1992), Badi Bahen (1993), West is West (2011) and Soundtrack (2011).

These movies that Majrooh and LP did together produced some really enchanting songs such as Bade miyan deewane, Dil wil pyar wyar, Kanha kanha aan padhi, Woh hain zara khafa khafa, Ruk ja aye hawa, and Duniya pagal hai ya main deewana (all from 1967 movie Shagird); Koi nahin hai phir bhi hai mujhako, Tauba ye matwali chaal, Mehboob mere, and Patthar ke sanam (all from 1967 movie Patthar Ke Sanam); Chhalkaye jaam, Chalo sajna jahan taq, Na jaa kahin ab na jaa, Allah ye ada kaisi, Hui shaam unka khyaal aa gaya, Hamen to ho gaya hai pyaar, and Tum jao kahin (all from 1968 movie Mere Hamdam Mere Dost); and Ye kaisa gham sajna and Yaaro mera saath nibhao (both from 1969 movie Pyasi Sham).

Before we take up the song, let me tell you briefly as to how it came about in the movie. Ramu (Sushil Kumar) is a cripple and good at playing harmonica. Thrown out of his home, crippled and penniless, he roams around the streets of Mumbai. Here he comes across Mohan (Sudhir Kumar), a boy who is blind and has a similar tale of woe. Mohan is a singer. Both meet on the streets of Bombay and form a good pair. One day, Ramu gets into trouble for no fault of his own and is bailed out on the condition that he would keep no contact with Mohan. That’s how this song came about.

Please enjoy Mohammad Rafi sing a composition of Laxmikant Pyarelal on the lyrics of Majrooh Sultanpuri, a song from the 1964 Satyen Bose movie Dosti: Chahunga main tujhe saanjh savere….

चाहूँगा मैं तुझे साँझ सवेरे
फिर भी कभी अब नाम को तेरे
आवाज़ मैं न दूँगा, आवाज़ मैं न दूँगा

देख मुझे सब है पता
सुनता है तू मन की सदा (२)
मितवा …
मेरे यार तुझको बार बार
आवाज़ मैं न दूँगा, आवाज़ मैं न दूँगा
चाहूँगा मैं तुझे साँझ सवेरे

दर्द भी तू चैन भी तू
दरस भी तू नैन भी तू
मितवा …
मेरे यार तुझको बार बार
आवाज़ मैं न दूँगा, आवाज़ मैं न दूँगा

I have been giving you Songs that Tug at your Emotions, off and on, since 04 Oct 2017. However, I don’t think other songs would tug at your emotions as much as songs of the 1964 movie Dosti that made Laxmikant Pyaralal very famous indeed. It was, first of all, the unlikeliest of the stories to succeed: a cripple and a blind boy; hardly any entertainment there. However, Majrooh, Laxmikant Pyarelal, and Mohammad Rafi created songs that went deep and touched your heart like nothing had ever done before.

Another song from the movie: Jaanewalo zara mudh ke dekho mujhe main bhi insaan hoon was a pointer towards how we treat cripples on our streets.

Chahunga main tujhe not just tugged at our emotions but rightly won so many awards for all three who made it possible.

I know I can never forget it.

I hope you enjoyed it too.

Please await the next song in the series.

GUNNERS TOO ARE HUMAN – PART VI

I have recounted to you many tales about Gunners; an endless topic of mirth and bewilderment with me.

Today, after a few years, I return to this.

His name was Lieutenant B and he was the Gunnery Officer of the ship on which we were borne as Midshipmen (a rank between being Cadets and full-fledged commissioned officers).

He was as clear-headed as all the gunners that I have told you about in the anecdotes so far; gunners, as I told you, seek clarity at both ends.

Long before the Army’s Bofors guns landed into media controversy, the naval ships had guns from Swedish company Bofors. Indeed, Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft gun, designed by AB Bofors in 1930s, was a standard gun on all our ships and the gun was simply called Bofors. In 1934, Bofors improved this gun and came up with a model 40mm L/60. It was simply called Forty-Sixty on board the ships. All of us, whether gunners or not, have been trained on this gun. Here is a picture of this gun, many many years later on Sukanya class of Offshore Patrol Vessels:

Even after the gunners moved into the missile world, they continued playing with these toys.

Generally, evening twilight times used to be reserved for these AA Firing serials called CRAA Firing (Close Range Anti-Aircraft gun firing). As cadets and midshipmen we have often manned and fired these guns.

Gunnery Officers when they are conducting these serials, have an air of importance about them. After all, signals, navigation and other things are only supporting roles; the main role of the navies is to slam the daylights out of the enemy and that’s where gunners come in.

Lieutenant B, after his Policy orders for the firings by our Starboard and Port Bofors, called G1 (Starboard) and G2 (Port) started giving orders about the bearing and range of firing. To our horror, he had crisply (GO’s are always crisp), instructed the Port Gun (G2) to train to Green 90 (Right) and Starboard Gun (G1) to train to Red 90 (Left).

After that, he smartly saluted the CO and asked permission to commence firing. We were manning the guns and at that stage the logic of both guns firing at each other had totally beaten us. However, we had been trained in:

Ours is not to reason why,
Ours is but to do and die.

Fortunately, the Captain made a last-minute visual check and found both the guns pointing at each other and cancelled the firing.

Lieutenant B, incidentally, was the same officer, who angrily picked up a sound-powered telephone on the Bridge when he was on watch as OOW and barked out, “Engine Room, stop making black smoke”. From the other hand, Captain who had been woken up at two in the morning shouted, “Captain here; who is this idiot (who has picked up the wrong phone)?” And, Lieutenant B had the presence of mind to answer, “Sorry Sir; Midshipman of the Watch here.”

 

FACTS STRANGER THAN FICTION – PART IV – TACTICAL COMMANDER’S (OTC’S) SHIP AS FIRST CASUALTY IN WAR EXERCISE

(I started a new series recently on this topic. Many of you would be incredulous but I vouch for their factual correctness. All of these are first hand.)

The first one was titled: Facts Stranger Than Fiction – Part I –  Mister India And His Ship. This was about a Seaward Defence Boat undergoing refit and everyone just forgot about it. The second one was titled: ‘Facts Stranger Than Fiction – Part II – All Cats Are Grey In The Dark‘. This was about some of my course-mates mistaking another tanker at anchorage for my ship INS Aditya when they were invited by me on board. The third one was titled: ‘Facts Stranger Than Fiction – Part III – Huge Mirages At Sea’. This was about a visual encounter between INS Ganga and INS Viraat when both of them were 180 nautical miles apart.

Here is the fourth one. It is about an exercise nearly four decades ago in the Navy that I was part of (circa 1981, that is 37 years ago). The exercise was called Maghreb.

In Arabic, the word Maghreb means ‘the place where the sun sets’ or the West, whilst Mashriq means ‘the place where the sun rises’ or the East. The Maghreb or Maghrib is the name given in pre-modern times by Arab writers on geography and history to the northern part of Africa, that which Europeans often came to call Barbary. In modern usage the Maghreb comprises the political units of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Mauritania.

Now why would anyone give an exercise a mystical code-name Maghreb? Well, code-names are supposed to be like that; they shouldn’t ever give away what is actually happening.

But the Naval Headquarters authorities who code-named this exercise by this near occult name Maghreb won’t have ever known in advance what would happen during the first phase of the exercise, that is in the forces deployment stage.

Before the exercise, the available platforms of ships, submarines and aircraft were divided into two forces Blue (Friendly forces) and Red (Enemy forces); the colours that represent contenders all over the world and taken from the boxing ring. Neutral umpires were embarked on many of these platforms to decide on casualties during encounters. The Chief Umpire and his team operated from Bombay (now Mumbai). Every encounter between the platforms were to be signalled in a particular format. Based on the tracks of the platforms and other data, the Chief Umpire and his team would then signal Casualty by a pre-defined signal.

Despite all the modern means available such as radar, often ships would like to remain silent so as not to give away passive electronic intelligence to the other force. Even for a layman, it is easy to understand that in a radar (RADAR is actually an acronym that stands for Radio Assisted Detection And Ranging), radio signals have to travel two ways to and from an object for its detection to take place on the radar platform. However, for a passive detection (by another ship with Electronic Warfare equipment), it only has to travel one way. Hence passive detection ranges are anything between one and half to two times the radar ranges. Therefore, the radar ship, being active, loses the surprise element.

So, in the deployment phase of Maghreb, we had these two modern frigates, with (that time) state of art radars and other means, wanting to silently open out from each other and rejoin in wee hours. On one of these the OTC (Officer in Tactical Command; an admiral) Blue force was embarked.

Now, in case you have understood the scenario and the restrictions for both of them being silent on electronic means, the funny part starts. The funny part is somewhat similar to Spy versus Spy in Mad comics. To start with, here is the picture of both the ships about to part on opposite tracks:

They went their ways, silently, cautiously, thinking of enemy lurking in every part of the Arabian Sea, especially since the OTC had already made a signal to all the Blue forces to be extra cautious so that nothing untoward would take place during the initial stage of the war. Within two hours of their opening out from each other, the Naval Headquarters signalled commencement of the hostilities. The OTC patted himself on the back (I know it is not physically possible but in the Navy we do the impossible too) for having had the good sense to have given detailed orders before the commencement of hostilities so that no one would have to break radio and radar silence after that and thus give itself away.

Another two hours and now with their relative speeds away from each other, both the ships were more than a hundred miles apart. Each one had investigated suspicious contacts along the way and had to several alterations of courses to indulge in such investigations. The currents and winds played their parts too.

At the pre-planned time, they reversed courses so as to affect a rendezvous (RV) between the two. Lookouts with powerful binoculars had been placed on both the ships to scan the horizon all around. As Asrani would say in the movie Sholay: Hamari jail mein patta bhi pankh nahin fadfada sakta (Even a bird can’t flutter its wings in my jail). For the purpose of the remaining narrative, lets call them OTC Ship and Other Ship.

After about three hours of steaming (the world sleeps but we the guardians of the seas are forever vigilant), the Other Ship Lookout sighted a silhouette on the horizon and reported to Bridge: Bridge, Port Lookout, Red 20, a darkened ship on the horizon. The Bridge of Other Ship suddenly came into action. Action Stations were sounded and all sensors and weapons were manned. A similar scenario took place on OTC Ship too.

It occurred to both the ships that this could be friendly force. There was only one way to find out; which was to challenge the ship with a predetermined code on flashing light and receive either friendly reply or else.

A Signalling Projector is still a standard fitment on either Bridge Wing of ships.

Now, on the OTC Ship, the OOW (Officer of the Watch) of the First Watch (2000 hrs (8 PM) to midnight) hadn’t handed over these Challenges and Replies Codes and Replies to the OOW of the Middle Watch (Midnight to 0400 hrs (4 AM)). Hence, when the Other Ship visually challenged the OTC Ship with the Light as shown above, the OTC Ship’s OOW suddenly realised that he didn’t have the appropriate Reply Code to signal back. He sent for the First Watch OOW who had gone to sleep.

The delay in the challenged ship replying confirmed the suspicion of the Other Ship that this was indeed an enemy ship. To be on the safe side, she made another challenge on the Signalling Projector and still didn’t receive a reply. She remembered all the Principles of War and seized the moment and fired her Ship to Ship Missile at the ‘Enemy Ship‘ and then signalled Maghreb’s first encounter, within four hours of commencement of hostilities to the Chief Umpire.

You would recall Rudyard Kipling’s famous:

“Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgment Seat;”

In this case, it wasn’t even Mashriq meeting Maghreb; but, the Other Ship, that night, successfully fired at his own OTC and nearly sank him. Blue OTC’s Ship was the first casualty of war in Maghreb and after quickly analysing the tracks and getting inputs from umpires on both the ships, OTC’s Ship was declared out of the exercise.

When I was at the Naval Academy, many years ago, I had done a small parody during one of the outdoor camps in which the Passwords and Responses of Friendly and Enemy Forces happened to be the same (as a coincidence) one night and two soldiers encountered each other with comical consequences as a result of this.

Little did I know that my parody would actually come true at sea with equally comical but results with far more enormity.

FACTS STRANGER THAN FICTION – PART III – HUGE MIRAGES AT SEA

(I started a new series recently on this topic. Many of you would be incredulous but I vouch for their factual correctness. All of these are first hand.)

The first one was titled: Facts Stranger Than Fiction – Part I –  Mister India And His Ship. This was about a Seaward Defence Boat undergoing refit and everyone just forgot about it. The second one was titled: Facts Stranger Than Fiction – Part II – All Cats Are Grey In The Dark. This was about some of my course-mates mistaking another tanker at anchorage for my ship INS Aditya when they were invited by me on board. Here is the third one. It was about a strange encounter that a ship INS Ganga that I was the commissioning SCO (Signal Communication Officer) of had with the aircraft carrier INS Viraat that I was Ship’s Commander of.

INS Ganga, the ship I was commissioning SCO of

In the introduction to the series, I had brought out how Navy, as a service, is different from the service on land or in the air. It is not just because of the medium in which it operates. Unlike the other two services, naval platforms operate in all three media: the surface, underwater, and in the air. It is much more than that.

Although it doesn’t require great technical expertise to be at sea (you can be on a log that floats), the Navy continues being a quaint service. Some of the curious things that happen at sea often amaze people and they keep asking such questions as: How could they have missed such a huge ship at sea? How did the ship just vanish? Was it a submarine? If I was there, it won’t have happened this way.

The fact is that seas are associated with strange things happening and many of these anecdotes beat common sense and that’s why the title of the series.

To know about the sea, please read: ‘The Lure Of The Sea’.

Navy is a silent service that very few actually understand. Before we go into the third anecdote let me tell you how much people actually understand this quaint service.

I remember when I was undergoing the Army Higher Command Course in 1996-97 and it was being discussed how two-third of India’s energy imports are in the Gulf of Kuchh, within easy reach of the Pakistan Navy and PAF, it was discussed as to why should we have it imported there? Why can’t we transport it “by lorries” etc to safer places? When I mentioned that a lorry carried upto about 20 tons of fuel and that an average VLCC – just one VLCC that is (VLCC – Very Large Crude Carrier) being received at GoK ports was anything between 100000 tonnes to 250000 tonnes, this was the first time that their minds were exposed to something as large as this.

A VLCC at a Single Point Mooring (SPM) in the Gulf of Kuchh

There is, therefore, no shame in admitting that one doesn’t know. Even some of the Navy guys don’t understand the enormity of things of another branch or department.

A ship at sea wanted to exercise with a submarine that she had met by chance encounter. The submarine signaled back, regretting her inability to do so since ‘she was charging her batteries’. At this, the ship signaled to the submarine that she would approach close to her and batteries could be transferred for charging by the ship.

Didn’t understand the joke? Well, a subamarine displaces about 2000 tonnes. Roughly about one-fourth to one-third displacement of the submarine is her propulsion batteries. These are the batteries that the submarine charges whilst on surface or at periscope depth so as to provide her with underwater propulsion. And, the CO of the ship was asking her to transfer them to the ship for charging! A submarine’s battery is not a small, unitary device like a car battery, but a massive collection of huge individual cells gathered in a large compartment in the lower section of the hull. (See picture)

Viraat is a light aircraft carrier (only about 25000 tonnes). Yet she carries with her, in the form of her flight deck only, about 3 acres of Indian sovereignty wherever she goes. And she has done this, until 23 Jul 2016, when she sailed last, 1,094,215 kilometers of passage around the globe (Vikrmaditya is about twice her tonnage and more than 4 acres of flight deck). Viraat is about a quarter of a kilometre long and you add another about 60 metres for Vikramaditya. Anything between 28 to 33 feet of the ships are underwater. Vikramaditya, for example, has 22 decks (equivalent to ‘storeys’ of a building)

However large a ship may be, it can never match the enormity of the sea. Ask a pilot of an aircraft, for example, and he would tell you that at sea, landing on Viraat appears to be like landing on a match box.

In one of the theatre-level exercises, being the Director of Maritime Warfare Centre (MWC), my staff and I were in the Control Centre and also asked to analyse the exercise. One of the ships (my ex ship Ganga) sent a report from sea of not just detecting (on radar) Viraat, but actually sighting (imagine sighting with naked eyes) Viraat at close quarters. The CO asked his ship’s company to come up on the upper decks and they not just saw Viraat but some of them took pictures too. In that exercise Ganga and Viraat were enemies.

We married the tracks in MWC and found that Viraat was actually 180 Nautical Miles away at that time from Ganga. And yet, even in the debrief, Ganga CO insisted that they saw Viraat. The more we told him that he saw a mirage, the less he believed us. It is similar to Indian sages telling us that the whole universe is merely maya (mirage) and we think that the sages have gone bonkers.

This is just one example of illusions we see at sea.

And, these are not seen by commoners only but by hard-core professionals.

P.S. INS Viraat was decommissioned last year. It was sad to let the old lady go. INS Ganga would be decommissioned in end Mar 2018.

FACTS STRANGER THAN FICTION – PART II – ALL CATS ARE GREY IN THE DARK

(I started a new series recently on this topic. Many of you would be incredulous but I vouch for their factual correctness. All of these are first hand.)

The first one was titled: ‘Facts Stranger Than Fiction – Part I –  Mister India And His Ship‘. Here is the second one.

In the first one I had brought out how Navy, as a service, is different from the service on land or in the air. It is not just because of the medium in which it operates. Unlike the other two services, naval platforms operate in all three media: the surface, underwater, and in the air. It is much more than that. Although it doesn’t require great technical expertise to be at sea (you can be on a log that floats), the Navy continues being a quaint service. Some of the curious things that happen at sea often amaze people and they keep asking such questions as: How could they have missed such a huge ship at sea? How did the ship just vanish? Was it a submarine? If I was there, it won’t have happened this way.

The fact is that seas are associated with strange things happening and many of these anecdotes beat the logic of the common sense and that’s why the title of the series.

To know about the sea, please read: The Lure Of The Sea’.

I was commanding the tanker INS Aditya and whilst at anchorage in Mumbai: E3, (which is closer to Karanja than Mumbai because of a C-in-C who loved me intensely and hence kept me as far away from him as possible), I invited my course mates for dinner on board.

Someone commented: “I never knew that if you loved someone, you had to keep him at a distance.” I had only this to say: “Keeping distance from the loved one is part of Urdu folklore. Ever heard of Shama (Candle) and Parwana (Moth)? Parwana loves Shama but survives only if it keeps distance.

In order that the invitees won’t get lost, I sent the ship’s boat to fetch them. The engineering course mate Chaks, dutifully took the boat and arrived on board without much ado. But this is what three others, who were Fleet Commanding Officers, did: they refused to go by the tanker’s boat and said that they preferred to go by Brahamputra’s “more efficient and safer” boat. The subbie I had sent to fetch them offered to help with the navigation and Billoo, with the pride of a super navigator, declined the offer.

So, in order to cut a long story short, they ventured into the nightly Mumbai harbour with song on their lips and made fun of me, CO Aditya, for having lost his beans by sending my own boat for super-hot COs of the mighty Western Fleet. Luck favours the bold and sure enough on the horizon they spotted Aditya and asked the coxswain of the boat to steer a straight course for her.

However, as they drew closer, to their increasing chagrin, they discovered that Aditya had made no preparations to receive them. An averagely efficient ship would have hailed the boat at a distance of about five cables and established the identities of the passengers and guided the boat to the lower platform of the accommodation ladder. But, Ravi’s Aditya, might have had other fine qualities; but, they reckoned that receiving honoured guests on board in appropriate manner wasn’t amongst those.

The next horror was when they discovered that the ship hadn’t even lowered the accommodation ladder! “Aha” said my course-mates and their wives in unison, “For this slip, I think, Ravi would owe us drinks for the rest of their lives.”

Eventually, they did the opposite of good seamanship practice; and hailed the ship. For quite some time there was no response until one sleepy-eyed Officer of the Day (OOD) appeared on the upper deck. Three super hot course mates, on sighting the OOD, slanged him appropriately and told him to at least lower a jumping ladder for them. The dazed OOD had this going in about twenty minutes; in which time, my guests, nearly exhausted the expletives describing the ship Aditya and its Captain.

For my civilian friends, I must add here that a jumping ladder is normally used by such people as Pilots and Boarding Parties who board the ship at sea. These personnel are highly trained to board through this tricky hanging-by-ropes ladder; more so since the freeboard of a tanker is quite high.

Anyway, one by one three of my course mates and the ladies (in their high heels) eventually climbed on the upper decks. The OOD was now subjected to close quarters invective as opposed to the long-distance barrage that he was facing for the last about 45 mins. They pointed out all kinds of mistakes in the rigging of the jumping ladder and in other upper deck fittings. Still having no signs of their host appearing, they finally asked the OOD, “Where is your CO?” The OOD replied without a hint of remorse that CO was ashore!

“Ah” said one of them, “We should have known that Ravi has got the dates mixed up.”

At this, the OOD told them, “Sir, my CO is Captain Babu. Captain Ravi is CO Aditya, which is that ship beyond.”

The first one to recover from this faux pas was Bobby Chowdry who told the OOD, “Of course we know this is not Aditya; this is Shakti. But, on the way there we wanted to see for ourselves Shakti’s reactions. And, boy, you failed miserably. Now hurry up and help get the ladies back in the boat.”

I had no idea of the above snafu when I eventually received them on board about 90 minutes behind schedule. As Billoo stepped on board, I introduced my OOD, who was also the Navigating Officer of Aditya thus: “Billoo, please meet my NO, the second best Navigating Officer in the Fleet.”

This had an instant reaction on Billoo, “If you are mentioning tongue-in-cheek, that is, that I am the best Navigating Officer in the Fleet; you have another guess coming. First offer us a drink and then we shall tell you the story.”

The above story was then told to me. That night, we were into our fifth drinks when we hadn’t yet come to the end of the story and the laughter.

P.S. In the first anecdote in the series, you saw how a small Seaward Defence Boat became invisible. In the second you saw a huge tanker that became invisible. Wait for my third anecdote.

FACTS STRANGER THAN FICTION – PART I – MISTER INDIA AND HIS SHIP

(Starting a new series today on this topic. Many of you would be incredulous but I vouch for their factual correctness. All of these are first hand.)

Navy, as a service, is different from the service on land or in the air; and it is not just because of the medium in which it operates. Unlike the other two services, naval platforms operate in all three media: the surface, underwater, and in the air. It is much more than that. Although it doesn’t require great technical expertise to be at sea (you can be on a log that floats), the Navy continues being a quaint service. Some of the curious things that happen at sea often amaze people and they keep asking such questions as: How could they have missed such a huge ship at sea? How did the ship just vanish? Was it a submarine? If I was there, it won’t have happened this way.

To know about the sea, please read: ‘The Lure Of The Sea’.

I was on the staff of the FOC – in – C (East) as Command Communication Officer (CCO) and used to attend CinC’s Morning Briefings in MOR (Maritime Ops Room; now called MOC). Before the discussions would start, there would be a standard presentation regarding deployment of ships, submarines and aircraft and their operational readiness or otherwise. Platforms under refit or maintenance period would be displayed separately. Then there would be briefing for weather and other command activities such as visits of dignitaries.

In one of these, the ASD (Admiral Superintendent Dockyard) had to face unprecedented embarrassment for having an SDB (Seaward Defence Boat; these too are commissioned as Indian Naval Ships; please see the attached picture of SDB T55 at the time of her decommissioning recently in Mumbai) under refit for about four years!

Inquiry brought out that the ship was brought from Port Blair (where she was based) fot refit at Vizag. The CO (a Lieutenant Commander) had his family at Vizag (his last duty station before he was appointed CO of the SDB at Port Blair in Andaman & Nocobar groups of islands) and he was quite happy about the refit taking its own time. There was no attempt by him and his successor for expediting the refit.

Soon, everyone forgot about his ship and him. Like Anil Kapoor in Sridevi movie Mr. India, they just vanished from public eye.

HAPPY WOMEN’S DAY….WHERE DO SAD ONES GO?

Happy Women’s Day! But, are there any Happy Women somewhere? Where do the Sad Women go?

When I wished her Happy Women’s Day,
She said: “Why I am not included?
If Happy Women can have to themselves a day,
Why are sad ones like me excluded?”

“Shouldn’t it be just Women’s Day,
Whether they are happy or sad?
I have just this little something to say:
Women’s Day be for all, good or bad.”

I looked at her strange reasoning,
Ability to convert into argument everything;
And then I thought, without seasoning,
What flat taste a salad would bring?

So I bowed to her from below and above,
My dark cloud lined with a silver ray;
And I said, “You are right here too, love,
Have your kind of Women’s Day”!

(Pic courtesy: www.upcomevent.com)

HASYA PANKTIYAN OF THE DAY – BECHAARE FAUJI

Hasya Panktiyan of the Day #35

बेचारे फौजी अभी भी सोचते हैं कोई उनकी सुनेगा,
कोई तो हो जिसे उनके लिए हो इज़्ज़त और प्यार;
कोई तो होगा जो उनका भी दम भरेगा,
यहां तो, दोस्तों, एक अनार और सौ बीमार I

“मानते हैं देश की रक्षा की जान पे खेल के,
अब इस के लिए क्या दें हम लोग इन्हें इनाम?
मानते हैं फ़र्ज़ निभाया हर वक़्त दुःख झेल के,
सारी खुशियां और आराम हो गए हराम I”

“पर हम क्या करें हम नेताओं की है मजबूरी,
बहुत सारे लोग हैं इज़ाफ़ों के हक़दार;
सबसे पहले industrialists को देना है ज़रूरी,
Elections में भारी चंदा देके हम पे किया उद्धार I”

“फिर बढे छोटे contractors की आती है बारी,
जो हर प्रोजेक्ट में हमें देते रहे हैं हिस्सा हमारा;
उन्हीं के कन्धों पे तो चलती है पार्टी हमारी,
Elections में तो उनका बहुत ही है सहारा I”

“पुलिस और बाबुओं को तो देना ही पड़ता है,
हर बार तो elections जीती नहीं जाए;
उनको देने से हमारा यह हौंसला बड़ता है,
ना रहे हम पावर में फिर भी हमें न कोई सताये I”

“फिर बची है देश की आम जनता,
डाक्टर, इंजीनियर, दुकानदार और किसान;
इनको तो आपको पता है देना ही है बनता,
ताके elections के बाद वापिस लेने का हो सामान I”

“अब आप ही बताओ फौजी को क्या दे सकते हैं?
इनके लिए हमारा हरदम है झुक के सलाम;
हम हर स्पीच में इनकी इज़्ज़त में कुछ कहते हैं,
हज़ारों लिखे हैं इनके लिए हमने कलाम I”

“हमने इनको agitation पे मजबूर कर दिया,
पुलिस से भी करवाया इन पे attack;
आम जनता के दिलों से हमने इन्हें दूर कर दिया,
Naval Chief को भी हमीं ने किया था sack”.

बेचारे फौजी अभी भी लगाए बैठे हैं आस,
देश में कोई तो होगा उनका आभारी;
अभी भी उनको हुआ नहीं है विश्वास,
बाहरी battles उन्होंने जीती पर अंदरूनी हैं हारी I

GUM SHUDA KI TALAASH

मुझे मेरी गुम शुदा ज़िन्दगी की तलाश है,
वो जो कोने में पड़ी है, क्या उसी की लाश है?

सोचा था वक़त आने पे सब कुछ कर पाएंगे,
फिर ही हम इस दुनिया से हंसते हुए जाएंगे;
वक़त गुज़रता गया और एहसास तक न हुआ,
ज़िन्दगी के वो हसीन लम्हे फिर कभी न आएंगे।

मुझे मेरी गुम शुदा ज़िन्दगी की तलाश है,
आखिर में चले जाने पे अब उसका एहसास है।

सहर जब थी जवां तो कभी न सोचा शाम का,
काम में यूँ मसरूफ के कभी न सोचा आराम का;
कई सरगर्मियों का इतना दिलकश था आगाज़,
के सोते जागते उन दिनों कभी न सोचा अंजाम का।

मुझे मेरी गुम शुदा ज़िन्दगी की तलाश है,
मेरे आगोश से निकल गयी, नहीं अब मेरे पास है।

काश अब जो मेरा इल्म है वो तब मुझे मिला होता,
काश मैं अपनी बेखबरी में ज़िन्दगी से हाथ न धोता;
काश ज़िन्दगी के प्यार को समझ लेता मैं तब,
आखिर में उस के चले जाने पे इस तरह न रोता।

मुझे मेरी गुम शुदा ज़िन्दगी की तलाश है,
उनके यहां ही रहती है, जिनको यह रास है।

ज़िन्दगी और वजूद दोनों अलग चीज़े हैं यारो,
कुछ इस तरह से ज़िन्दगी के संग वक़त गुज़ारो,
ज़िन्दगी बन के रहे आपकी अपनी महबूबा,
बुढापे में भी अपनी माशूका को न हारो।

नहीं तो…

मुझे मेरी गुम शुदा ज़िन्दगी की तलाश है,
वो जो कोने में पड़ी है, क्या उसी की लाश है?

SRIDEVI – CHANDNI THAT WENT AWAY TOO SOON

दिल की धड़कन रुक गयी सुनके आपके मरने की खबर,
लोग चाहे कुछ भी कहें, आपकी अदाकारी रहेगी अमर I

लाखों हैं मेरे जैसे जिन्होंने देखी हैं आपकी सब फिल्में,
कैसे ब्यान करें क्या होता था हम पे असर?

आपका बांकपन, अनोखी मासूमियत और दिलकशी हुसन,
और आँखों को देखते ही कोई चाहे भूल जाये दर बदर I

हम सबके दिलों में आपने यूँ बना ली थी जगह,
आपको देखते ही वक़्त जैसे जाता था ठहर I

चांदनी को देख के फिर जब आपको देखते थे,
आपके चेहरे का नूर झलकता था रात भर I

आपके रक़्स में भी एक अलग सा लचकपन था,
माधुरी ने भी नाच बनाया आपकी ही नक़ल कर I

सदमा में आपकी अदाकारी इतनी हुई थी मशहूर,
लोग फ़िदा थे आपकी मासूम और सेहमी अदाओं पर I

जब आप पहली अदाकारा सुपर स्टार बनी,
जहाँ होना चाहिए था आप पहुंच गयीं वहां पर I

सब मायूस, उदास, मजबूर और सदमे में हैं श्रीदेवी,
यकीन नहीं होता आप ऐसे चले जाएँगी छोड़ कर I

खुदा गवाह है वक़्त चालबाज़ निकला हम नहीं हैं,
वहीँ हम आपको आके ढून्ढ लेंगे खुदा के घर I

और हम सब देखेंगे फिर से अपनी हवा हवाई,
लक चिकी लक चिकी चिकी लक चुम कर I

Dil ki dhadkan ruk gayi sunake aapke marne ki khabar,
Log chaahe kuchh bhi kahen, aapki adakaari rahegi amar.

Laakhon hain mere jaise jinhone dekhi hain aapki sab filmen,
Kaise byaan karen kyaa hota tha ham pe asar?

Aapka baankpan, anokhi maasumiyat aur dilkashi husn,
Aur aankhon ko dekhte hi koi chaahe bhool jaaye dar badr.

Ham sab ke dilon mein aapne youn jagah bana li thi,
Aapko dekhte hi waqt jaise jaata tha thhehr.

Chandni ko dekh ke phir jo aapko dekhte the,
Aapke chehre ka noor jhalakta tha raat bhar.

Aapke raqs mein bhi ek alag sa lachakpan tha,
Madhuri ne bhi naach banaya aapki hi nakal kar.

Sadma mein aapki adakaari itani hui thi mashhur,
Log fida de aapki maasoom aur sehmi adayon par.

Jab aap pehli adaakara super star bani,
Jahan hona chahiye the aap pahunch gayi wahan par.

Sab maayus, udaas, majboor aur sadme mein hain Sridevi,
Yakeen nahin hota aap aise chale jaayengi chhod kar.

Khuda gwaah hai waqt chaalbaaz nikla ham nahin hain,
Wahin ham aapko dhoond lenge khuda ke ghar.

Aur ham sab dekhenge phir se apni Hawa Hawai,
Lak chikki lak chikki chiki lak chum kar.

 

PYAAR SAZA BAN GAYA

Sher of the Day #35

किसने कहा था तुमसे प्यार करो,
उन्होंने रूखे से पूछा होके नाराज़?
अब चाहे तुम ग़म में घुट के मरो,
नहीं निकलनी चाहिए आवाज़।

मैंने सोचा अब इसका क्या करूँ,
दलील तो उनकी है लाजवाब;
फिर भी सोचा मैं क्यूं उनसे डरूँ,
देना तो चाहिए कुछ तो जवाब:

प्यार क्या करते हैं समझ बूझ के,
सारे नज़र में रख के अंजाम?
या फिर करते हैं सब को पूछ के,
दिल में रखके वजह तमाम?

हमने तो आपका न निकाला कसूर,
के आप क्यूं थे प्यार के काबिल?
हमें क्यूं लगा के आपसे हुज़ूर,
ज़िन्दगी की खुशियां कर लें हासिल?

पहले पता होता इसमें ग़म मिलेंगे,
कभी न करते हम आपसे प्यार;
आधे रस्ते ही हम मर मिटेंगे,
हसीन सफर के लिए न होते तैयार।

अब खत्म करो यह सिलसिला,
कर दो खंजर हमारे दिल के पार;
दोबारा कभी न करेंगे यह गिला,
क्यूं किया था सितमगर से प्यार?

KYA ELECTIONS HI SAB KUCHH HAIN?

Hasya Panktiyan of the Day #34

हर मुद्दा बन जाता है हमारा political,
इस लिए कभी नहीं होता उसका हल;
“BJP इतनी गलत नहीं जितनी Congress थी”,
यही बाद – विवाद रहता है आजकल।

एक ग्रामीण ने शिकायत की के गांव में पानी नहीं आता,
नेता बोले, “Congress के ज़माने में कौन था लाता?”
ग्रामीण बोला, “उस समय यह गांव ही नहीं था,
यह इल्ज़ाम मैं क्यूं कर किसी पे लगाता?”

यह सुनते ही मंत्री जी की खुशी की हद्द हुई पार,
और कहा, “देखा, मेरी government आई इस बार,
हमने आते ही नए गांव खुला दिए लोगो के लिए,
जो कभी न कर पाई Congress की सरकार”।

ग्रामीण बोला, “पानी के बारे क्या करें हुज़ूर?
क्या पैदा होना था हमारा सबसे बड़ा कसूर?”
मंत्री बोले, “अगले चुनाव में हमें फिर से वोट देना,
पानी क्या बिजली भी लगा देंगे ज़रूर”।

“लेकिन पानी तो हमें अभी चाहिए”, ग्रामीण बोला,
मंत्री बोले, “तू कुछ ज़्यादः ही है भोला,
देखा नहीं अमरीकी President मेरे खास दोस्त हैं,
उनसे तेरे लिए मंगवा दूंगा मैं Coca Cola”।

गांव वालों की थी बहुत ही बुरी हालत,
और फज़ूल गयी बूढ़े ग्रामीण की शिकायत,
वो बोला, “अगर यही राजनीति है हमारे देश की,
तो इस आपसी लड़ाई पे है सरासर लानत”।

“लोग मर रहें हैं और इनको सिर्फ वोट का है ख्याल,
कौन करेगा इस देश की देख भाल?
इनकी तू तू मैं मैं सुन सुन कर,
देश वासियों का है बहुत ही बुरा हाल”।

Apt Cartoon by the inimitable RK Laxman

Har mudda ban jaata hai hamaara political,
Is liye kabhi nahin hota uska hal:
“BJP itni galat nahin jitni Congress thi”,
Yehi baad-vivaad rehta hai aajkal.

Ek grameen ne shikayat ki ke gaanv mein pani nahin aata,
Neta bole, “Congress ke zamaane mein kaun tha laata?”
Grameen bola, “Us samay yeh gaanv hi nahin tha,
Yeh ilzaam main kyun kar kisi pe lagaata?”

Yeh sunate hi mantri ji ki khushi ki hadd hui paar,
Aur kaha, “Dekha, meri government aayi is baar,
Hamane aate hi naye gaanv khulwa diye logon ke liye,
Jo kabhi na kar paayi Congress ki sarkaar”.

Grameen bola, “Paani ke bare kya karen huzoor?
Kyaa paida hona tha hamaara sabse badha kasoor?”
Mantri bole, “Agle chunaav mein hamen phir se vote dena,
Paani kyaa bijli bhi laga denge zaroor”.

“Lekin paani to hamen abhi chahiye”, grameen bola,
Mantri bole, “Tu kuchh zyaadah hi hai bhola,
Dekha nahin Amreeki President mere khaas dost hain,
Unse tere liye main mangwa doonga Coca Cola”.

Gaanv waalon ki thi bahut hi buri haalat,
Aur fazool gayi budhe grameen ki shikayat,
Woh bola, “Agar yahi rajneeti hai hamare desh ki,
To is aapsi jhagade pe hai sarasar laanat”.

“Log mar rahen hain aur inko sirf vote ka hai khayaal,
Kaun karega is desh ki dekh bhaal?
Inki tu tu main main sun sun kar,
Desh waasiyon ka hai bahut hi bura haal”.

HASYA PANKTIYAN OF THE DAY – BAAL BAAL BACHE

Hasya Panktiyan of the Day #32

चोरी चोरी वो मेरा दिल ले गए,
जाते जाते मुझे ही यह बिल दे गए:
दिल आपका हमारे पास गिरवी है,
यह ना कहना कोई क़ातिल ले गए।

हम रखेंगे इसे खूब हिफाज़त से,
हो सकता है बगैर आपकी इज़ाज़त से;
यहां रखने में आपकी ही भलाई है,
हम नहीं कर रहे कुछ शरारत से।

हमने सोचा एक तो चोर उस पर सीना जोरी,
यह कुछ अजब सी लग रही है story,
हमारी चीज़ चुराने का ढंग भी निराला है,
मुझे ही बिल दे रही है चालाक छोरी।

हमें भी कुछ करना है यह हमने ली ठान,
और इस से पहले उसे कुछ होता ज्ञान,
हम उसका दिल ले के भाग खड़े हुए,
और जंग का हमने कर दिया ऐलान:

“दिल लेना है तो दिल दे जाओ,
हमारी चीज़ हमसे ही न चुराओ,
मंज़ूर है तो एक्सचेंज के लिए मिलो हमें,
नहीं मंज़ूर तो दरोगा को बुलाओ”।

तब कहीं जा के वापिस मिली अपनी चीज़,
और दोनों तरफ से जंग हो गयी cease,
अब दोनों दिल owners के अपने पास हैं,
ना के एक दूसरे को दे रखें हैं lease.

कहीं मैं अपना दिल उनके पास दे देता छोड़,
कहानी में आ जाता नया ही मोड़,
अच्छा भला मैं बेचारा रगड़ा जाता,
निम्बू समझ कर वो कर देती निचोड़।

Chori chori wo mera dil le gaye,
Jaate jaate mujhe hi yeh bill de gaye:
Dil aapka hamare paas girvi hai,
Yeh na kehna ke kaatil le gaye.

Hum rakhenge ise khoob hifaazat se,
Ho sakta hai bagair aapki ijaazat se;
Yahan rakhne mein hi aapki bhalaayi hai,
Ham nahin kar rahe kuchh sharaarat se.

Hamne socha ek to chor us par seena jori,
Yeh kuchh ajab si lag rahi hai story,
Hamaari cheez churaane ka dhang bhi niraala hai,
Mujhe hi bill de rahi hai chalaak chhori.

Hamen bhi kuchh karna hai yeh hamne li thhaan,
Aur is se pehle use kuchh hota gyaan,
Ham uska dil le ke bhaag khade huye,
Aur jang ka hamne kar diya ailaan:

“Dil lena hai to dil de jaao,
Hamaari cheez hamse hi naa churaao,
Manzoor hai to exchange ke liye milo hamen,
Nahin manzoor to daroga ko bulaao”.

Tab kahin jaa ke waapis mili apni cheez,
Aur donon taraf se jang ho gayi cease,
Ab donon dil owners ke apne paas hain,
Naa ke ek doosre ko de rakhe hain lease.

Kahin main apna dil unke paas de deta chhodh,
Kahaani mein aa jaata naya hi modh,
Achha bhala main bechara ragdha jaata,
Nimbu samajh kar wo kar deti nichodh.

 

MERE GHAMON KA ILAAJ

i-Peg Poem of the Week #5

These poems are for my close friend Maj Vishwas Mandloi’s delightful group of tipplers called i-peg. One has to raise a toast to the committed lot for their single-minded aim of spreading cheers!

दुनिया में कोई अपना है तो वो है शराब,
बाकियों ने तो मिल के ज़िन्दगी की है खराब;
एक एक के किस्से सुनाता हूँ मैं आज सब को,
सब के चेहरों से आज मैं उठाता हूँ नकाब।

पहले मेरी बीवी थी बहुत कमसिन और हसीन,
अब लगती है जैसे buffalo in tight jeans;
रवैय्या उसका अब ऐसे जैसे कोई सैय्याद हो,
हर एक बात पे create करती है scene.

बच्चे मेरे ऐसे जैसे अपने नहीं पराये हों,
जैसे ससुराल से श्रीमति जी ने दहेज में लाये हों;
लोगों को तो वो यूँ बताते फिरते हैं,
Daddy के ज़ुल्मों से बहुत तंग आये हों।

रिश्तेदारों के बारे आप को क्या सुनाएं,
ग़म के गीत बार बार क्यों हम गायें;
उन्हें ज़रूरत है तो आ जाते हैं खाली हाथ,
मेरी ज़रूरत में तो वो नज़र भी ना आयें।

दोस्त मेरे हैं एक से एक बड़ के,
आते हैं मेरे पास अपनी बीवियों से झगड़ के;
मेरी दारू, मेरा खाना खाने के बाद,
चले जाते हैं मूँह बनाये मुझसे ही लड़ के।

इस हालात में मेरे पास एक ही है सहारा,
बाकियों से तो हम कर बैठे हैं किनारा,
सारे ग़म, सारे गिले शिकवे हो जाते हैं दूर,
एक जाम को जब गले से नीचे उतारा।

इसलिए शराब बनी है सबसे बड़ी मीत,
ज़िन्दगी से हार के यही है मेरी जीत,
इसी से शामें जो पहले कभी कटती नहीं थीं,
अब तो पल भर में खुशी से जाती हैं बीत।

Duniya mein koi apna hai to wo hai sharaab,
Baakiyon ne to mil ke zindagi ki hai kharaab;
Ek ek ke kisse sunaata hoon main aaj sab ko,
Sab ke chehron se aaj main uthhata hoon naqaab.

Pehle meri biwi thi bahut kamsin aur haseen,
Ab lagta hai jaise buffalo in tight jeans;
Ravaiyya ab uska ab aise jaise koi saiyyad ho,
Har ek baat pe create karti hai scene.

Bachche mere aise jaise apne nahin praaye hon,
Jaise suasural se shrimati ji ne dahej se laaye hon;
Logon ko to wo youn batate phirte hain,
Daddy ke zulmon se bahut tang aaye hon.

Rishtedaaron ke baare mein aap ko kya sunaayen,
Gham ke geet baar baar kyun ham gaayen;
Unhen zaroorat hai to aa jaate hain khaali hath,
Meri zaroorat mein to wo nazar bhi na aayen.

Dost mere hain ek se ek badh ke,
Aate hain mere paas apni biwiyon se jhagadh ke;
Meri daaru pi ke, mera khaana khane ke baad,
Chale jaate hain moonh banaye mujhse hi ladh ke.

Is halaat mein mere paas ek hi hai sahaara,
Baakiyon se to ham kar baithe hain kinaara,
Saare gham, saare gile shikwe ho jaate hain door,
Ek jaam ko jab gale se neeche utaara.

Isliye shraab bani hai sabse badhi meet,
Zindagi se haar ke yahi hai meri jeet,
Isi se shaamen jo pehli kabhi katati nahin thin,
Ab to pal bhar mein khushi se jaati hain beet.

HASYA PANKTIYAN OF THE DAY – MAAKHAN LAL KO MAAKHAN KAUN KHILAATA HAI?

माखन लाल माखन के थे बहुत शौक़ीन,
रोज़ पांच किलो से कम खाने में समझते थे तौहीन;
बीवी और दोस्तों ने बहुत समझाया बस करो,
लेकिन लगता था भैंस के सामने बजा रहे हों बीन I

सरकारी दफ्तर में बाबू बनने का जब से हुआ सिलेक्शन,
तब से माखन के साथ उनका जुड़ गया कनेक्शन;
हर एक काम करने के लिए माखन हो गया ज़रूरी,
माखन है तो फाइल पास वरना हो गया रिजेक्शन I

लोगों को भी पता माखन से मिलते हैं सारे परमिट,
वरना लम्बे अरसे की हो सकती है खिटपिट;
वह सब भी शामिल हैं माखन लाल की हॉबी में,
खाने खिलाने की रीत से ही है सिस्टम अनफिट I

कब तक चलेगी यह सालों से चली आ रही रीत?
आज़ादी मिले भी ७१ साल गए हैं बीत;
कोई एक नहीं है जो यह साबित कर दिखाए,
माखन लाल की नहीं पर लोगों की हो जीत?

हम सब हिस्सेदार हैं माखन लाल के गुनाह में,
झट से उन्हें लाया जा सकता है सीधी राह में:
लेकिन हम सब भी माखन के संग शामिल हैं,
जुर्म पल रहा है हम सबकी पनाह में I

(Pic courtesy: post.jagaran.com)

Maakhna Lal maakhan ke the bahut shaukeen,
Roz paanch kilo se kam khaane mein samajhte the tauheen;
Biwi aur doston ne bahut samjhaya bas karo,
Lekin lagta tha bhains ke aage baja rahe hon been.

Sarkaari daftar mein babu banane ka jab se hua selection,
Tab se maakhan ke saath unka judh gaya connection;
Har ek kaam karne ke liye maakhan ho gaya zaroori,
Maakhan hai to file pass varna ho gaya rejection.

Logon ko bhi pata maakhan se milte hain saare permit,
Varna lambe arse ki ho sakti hai khitpit;
Woh sab bhi shaamil hain Maakhan Lal ki hobby mein,
Khaane khilane ki reet se hi hai system unfit.

Kab tak chalegi yeh saalon se chali aa rahi reet?
Aazadi mile bhi 71 saal gaye hain beet;
Koi ek nahin hai jo yeh saabit kar dikhaaye,
Maakhan Lal ki nahin par logon ki hogi jeet?

Ham sab hissedaar hain Maakhan Lal ke gunaah mein,
Jhhat se unhen laaya jaa sakta hai raah mein;
Lekin ham sab bhi maakhan ke sang shaamil hain,
Zurm pal raha hai ham sanki panaah mein.

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