Ashaar #014 - 'gaam'

Date: 26th July, 2000
Topic: 'gaam'

Dear friends,

Thank you all for being so patient and for staying with me while I 
went through the upheaval of moving home and hearth. For those who 
have joined Ashaar in the past few weeks and have been wondering 
about the long silence, here is a brief recap. I just moved to San 
Diego with a new job and hence, was unable to post anything for a 
few weeks. I am happy to stay I am all settled in but I am certainly 
not looking forward to doing it again in the near future. Hopefully 
I won't have to. 

A special thanks to all San Diegans on my mailing lists for their 
warm welcome and innumerable offers of help.

Now its time to take up where we left off. I don't know how many of 
you remember but the topic under consideration was 'gaam' (step). 

Here are some of the ashaar (couplets) sent by our fellow subscribers:


Contributed by Farooq Siddiqui:
------------------------------

raah-e-vafaa me.n ham ko Khushii kii talaash thii
do gaam hii chale the ke har gaam ro pa.De
[Sudarshan Faakir]

[raah-e-vafaa = path of faithfulness; talaash = search]

This is from the Jagjit Singh ghazal "ulfat kaa jab kisii ne liyaa 
naam ro pa De".


The following is perhaps the most oft-quoted sher on this topic. A 
lot of people sent this sher:

ai jazbaa-e-dil gar mai.n chaahuu.N har chiiz muqaabil aa jaaye
manzil ke liye do gaam chaluu.N aur saamane manzil aa jaaye
[Behzad Lucknawi]


Contributed by Ajoy Bhatia:
--------------------------

manzil ke liye do gaam to kyaa ik gaam bhii chal kar na jaa_uu.N
jab Khvaahish-e-manzil paidaa ho Khud saamane manzil aa jaaye
[Unknown]


According to Ajoy, he heard this sher from his father. The wordings 
make me wonder if it is Behzad Lucknawi sher which got changed as it 
passed from person to person. That happens quite often when we pass 
things on verbally. Anyone who has played "Chinese whisper" can tell 
you that :-)

If it is indeed different, then it is an interesting counterpoint to 
the sher by Behzad Lucknawi.


Contributed by Deepak Purohit:
-----------------------------

har gaam par hai majamaa-e-ushshaaq muntazir
maqtal kii raah milatii hai kuu-e-habiib se
[Sahir Ludhianvi]

[majamaa = crowd; ushshaaq = plural of aashiq (lover); muntazir = 
waiting]
[maqtal = place of sacrifice; raah = path ; kuu = street; habiib = 
friend]

hamane har gaam pe sajdo.n ke jalaaye hai.n charaaG
ab terii rahaguzar rahaguzar lagatii hai
[Jan Nissar Akhtar]


Some famous ashaar were missed by our otherwise alert 
subscribers. Here they are: 

kabhii taqdiir kaa maatam kabhii duniyaaa kaa gilaa
manzil-e-ishq me.n har gaam pe ronaa aayaa 
[Shakeel Badayuni]

This is from Shakeel Badayuni's famous ghazal "ai muhabbat tere 
anjaam pe ronaa 
aayaa" immortalized by Begum Aktar.


is raah-e-muhabbat me.n tuu saath agar hotaa 
har gaam pe gul khilate Khushbuu kaa safar hotaa 
[Alam Tab Tashna]

Abida Parveen's rendition of this ghazal is one of my favourites.

jin ke liye mar bhii gaye ham 
vo chal kar do gaam na aaye 
[Jigar Moradabadi]

This is from the ghazal "saaqii par ilzaam na aaye" sung by Mohammed 
Rafi. 


apane hii saaye se har gaam laraz jaataa huu.N 
raaste me.n ko_ii diivaar kha.Dii ho jaise 
[Ahmed Faraz]


junuu.N kii ko_ii ma.nzil hii nahii.n hai 
yahaa.N har gaam gaam-e-avvalii hai 
[Shamim Jaipuri]



I hope you enjoyed this edition of Ashaar. The next topic 
is 'taqdiir' (fate). The deadline for sending in your 
contributions is August 2nd. 

Please take a moment to visit the Ashaar home page at 
http://www.geocities.com/urdu_poetry/ashaar/

The earlier posts on Ashaar are archived there. You can also find 
information about the other Urdu poetry mailing lists that I 
moderate. 

If you have any queries, please feel free to e-mail me at 
urdu_poetry@hotmail.com


Nita