Me Pal do Pal ka Shayar Hoon
मैं पल दो पल का शायर हूँ
“The universe is a pretty big place. Our planet is just a tiny speck of dust in the grand scheme of things. And we humans are just a bunch of little ants crawling around on that speck of dust. We’re nothing special”
Carl Sagan
“Our lives are but a flicker in the timeline of the universe. We are born, we live, and we die. And in the end, it’s all for nothing.”
Stephen Hawking
“We are here for a brief moment in time, and then we are gone. We are nothing more than a fleeting memory in the grand scheme of things.”
Alan Watts
This idea of how our existence is fleeting and how we don’t matter in the larger picture, has been said by many astronomers, physicists and philosophers in many different ways. But have you ever wondered how a shayar (poet) would say this 🤔
Well your wait is finally over..
| मैं पल दो पल का शायर हूँ पल दो पल मेरी कहानी है | I am a transient poet, my story is fleeting |
| पल दो पल मेरी हस्ती है पल दो पल मेरी जवानी है | My existence is momentary, my youth evanescent |
| मुझ से पहले कितने शायर आए और आ कर चले गए | Countless poets have come and gone before me |
| कुछ आहें भर कर लौट गए कुछ नग़्मे गा कर चले गए | Some left with heavy heart, others delighted with their art |
| वो भी एक पल का क़िस्सा थे मैं भी एक पल का क़िस्सा हूँ | They were with us for a while, I, too, am here for a short time |
| कल तुम से जुदा हो जाऊँगा जो आज तुमारा हिस्सा हूँ | Tomorrow I’ll be out of style, though, today I am very much in vogue |
| पल दो पल कुछ कह पाया इतनी सआदत काफ़ी है | It’s my good fortune that I could write for as much time as I did |
| पल दो पल तुम ने मुझ को सुना इतनी ही इनायत काफ़ी है | And it’s your kindness that you heard my work for all this while |
| कल और आएँगे नग़्मों की खिलती कलियाँ चुनने वाले | Tomorrow, other lyricists will come, adding beauty to every song |
| मुझ से बेहतर कहने वाले तुम से बेहतर सुनने वाले | There will be better writers than me, better listeners than you |
| कल कोई मुझ को याद करे क्यूँ कोई मुझ को याद करे | Who will remember me tomorrow, why should I be remembered tomorrow? |
| मसरूफ़ ज़माना मेरे लिए क्यूँ वक़्त अपना बरबाद करे | The busy people of the world, why should they waste their time for me? |
| - साहिर लुधियानवी | - Sahir Ludhianvi |
English translation from the book: “Sahir Ludhianvi: People’s Poet” by Akshay Manwani
My favorite portions of the poem are :-
मुझ से पहले कितने शायर आए और आ कर चले गए
कुछ आहें भर कर लौट गए कुछ नग़्मे गा कर चले गए
वो भी एक पल का क़िस्सा थे मैं भी एक पल का क़िस्सा हूँ
कल तुम से जुदा हो जाऊँगा जो आज तुमारा हिस्सा हूँ
There are so many people who came before us trying to do the same thing that we are doing. Some were unsuccessful and left dejected, while some were successful and produced great work. But no matter what: their success, failure, all their work were just momentary. Similar to them, our existence is momentary as well.
पल दो पल कुछ कह पाया इतनी सआदत काफ़ी है
पल दो पल तुम ने मुझ को सुना इतनी ही इनायत काफ़ी है
We should be grateful to the opportunities that we are getting and the work that we are producing. We should be thankful to all those people who are consuming or appreciating whatever we are doing.
कल और आएँगे नग़्मों की खिलती कलियाँ चुनने वाले
मुझ से बेहतर कहने वाले तुम से बेहतर सुनने वाले
No matter how great we think of ourselves or the work that we produce, inevitably, there will be more talented people than us in the future. People who will be much more smart, intelligent and wise.
Somehow, this reminds me of the poem ‘Ozymandias’ that we had in the Class X CBSE curriculum. It was about this “great” king Ozymandias who introduced himself as king of kings and got a massive statue of himself erected for others to feel belittled in front of the mightiest king. But with the passage of time, nothing remained.. the statue broke down into pieces with just vast & endless desert around it.
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
All in All, I think what Sahir wants to say is that if we can accept or internalize the wisdom of being without expectations and attachments - much of our pain and disappointment would vanish.
Fun(?) Facts
- MS Dhoni used this poem in his retirement post 😢 on Instagram.
- (definitely not a fun fact; or a fact that anyone cares about 😛) Before MSD used it, I used a couple of these lines in my farewell speech on the last day of my first job 🤣 even though I had not done anything significant there.