daayraa

roz baRtaa huuN jahaaN se aage
phir vahii lauT ke aa jaataa huuN
barhaa toR chukaa huuN jinko
unhii divaaroN se Takraataa huuN
roz basteN haiN kaii shahar naye
roz dhartii meiN samaa jaate haiN
zalzalo meiN thii zaraa sii garmii
vo bhii ab roz hii aa jaate haiN
jism se ruh talak ret hii ret
naa kahiiN dhuup naa saayaa naa saraab
kitne armaan haiN kis sahraa meiN
kaun rakhtaa hae mazaaroN kaa hiisaab
nabz bujhtii bhii bhaRaktii bhii hae
dil kaa maamuul hae ghabraanaa bhii
raat andhere ne andhere se kahaa
ek aadat hae jiye jaanaa bhii
qaus ik rang kii hoitii hai tuluu'a
ek hii chaal bhii paimaane kii
goshe-goshe meiN khaRii hae masjid
shakl kyaa ho gayii maikhaane kii
kaun kahtaa hae samandar huuN maiN
aur merii jeb meiN qatraa bhii nahii
khairiyat apnii likhaa kartaa huuN
ab to taqdiir meiN khatraa bhii nahiiN
apne haathoN ko paRaa kartaa huuN
kabhii quraaN, kabhii giitaa kii tarah
chaNd rekhaaoN meiN siimaaoN meiN
zindagii qaid hae siitaa kii tarah
raam kab lauTeNge, maaluum nahii
kaash raavan hii koii aa jaataa

circumference

Everyday where I start from
Is exactly where I am back again
The walls I have broken again and again
Are the ones I bang against
Everyday new cities are formed
Everyday they cave into the earth
Earthquakes had a bit of heat
But they too now come everyday
Dust, only dust, from body to soul
No sun, so shade, no mirage
What hopes survive in which desert
Who keeps count of the graves?
The pulse dies and throbs too
The heart after all is wont to worry
Darkness told darkness at night:
To go on living is a habit too
The rainbow dawns with the same colour
The goblet too does the rounds in its own circles
At every corner stands a mosque
What has happened to the tavern's face?
Someone used to call me the ocean
And there's not a drop in my pocket
I am fine, I narrate
Now danger too is not in my fate
I read my hands
At times like the Quran or the Gita
Life's confined, like Sita
In a few lines, in a few boundaries
Don't know when Rama will return
O, if only a Ravana would appear!

Pathetic, hurried, literal, working and klutzy translation and transliteration by Sundeep Dougal. Please feel free to offer criticism and corrections.