Tuesday, April 16, 2013

दास्तान-ए-ताहिर...छोटी सी नुमाइश

( शायरी # 3 )


ग़ज़ल ~ 1


तू ख्वाब है, मैं ख्याल हूँ, तू है संग-दिल तो तराश दूँ॰

तुझे चाँद-तारों में ले चलूँ, तुझे चाँदनी का लिबास दूँ॰

यूँ मेरी नज़र से नज़र मिला, कि मेरी नज़र में नज़र भी आ.
तुझे आज तक ये खबर नहीं, मैं तेरी नज़र के ही पास हूँ.

तेरी जुस्तजू, तेरी आरजू, मेरे दिल में तू, मेरे रूबरू.
कभी घट गयी, कभी बढ़ गयी, जो बुझी नहीं, वही प्यास हूँ.

जिसे चाहा था, उसे माँगा था, वो मिला नहीं, तो गिला नहीं.
जो भटक रहा है, इधर-उधर, उसी हमसफ़र की, तलाश हूँ.

तू भी कम नहीं, कोई ग़म नहीं, मेरी आँख "ताहिर", नम नहीं.
ये ख़ुशी के मोती, उभर रहे, तुझे वहम है, मैं उदास हूँ.

_______________________________________________

दिल में हूँ, नज़रों से बहुत दूर नहीं हूँ.
ग़म के गलीचों में भी,  रंजूर नहीं हूँ.


महफिलों को छोड़ना, मेरा नसीब था.
मशरूफ हूँ ज़रूर, पर मगरूर नहीं हूँ.

___________________________________________

तेरी हसरत, मेरी उलफ़त, का सबब बन बैठी.
मेरी फितरत, तेरी नफरत, का सबब बन बैठी.

मैं भी शैदाई था तेरा, मगर था मुफलिस भी.
मेरी ग़ुरबत, मेरी तुरबत, का सबब बन बैठी.
_______________________________________

गलियों में भौंकने वाले, दरबार सजाये बैठे हैं.

दर-दर फिरने वाले, व्यापार जमाये बैठे हैं.

थी जिनके पास, खुद्दारी, ज़मीर की दौलत.

कितने अहमक थे, घर-वार गँवाए बैठे हैं.

_________________________________

ग़ज़ल ~ 2

वो इश्क फरमाने की बात करते हैं.
और दुनिया-ज़माने की बात करते हैं.

फितरत में वफ़ा का कोई वजूद नहीं.
और दिल लगाने की बात करते हैं.

चूड़ियों का बोझ संभाला नहीं जाता.
और ग़म उठाने की बात करते हैं.

लिबास तौबा! जिस्म की नुमाइश है.
और मुँह छुपाने की बात करते हैं.

काँच के पर्दों में क़ैद नशीली आँखें.
और जाम पिलाने की बात करते हैं.

उठ के जाना कुबूल नहीं पहलू से.
और हाथ छुड़ाने की बात करते हैं.

हासिल है शौहरत रकीबों में "ताहिर"
और साथ निभाने की बात करते हैं.

______________________________

ग़ज़ल ~ 3

तन्हाई में जब उसने, ख़त मेरा पढ़ा होगा.
दिल उसका भला कैसे, काबू में रहा होगा?

जब मेरी मुहब्बत में, दिल उसका जला होगा.
बहती हुयी आँखों से, काजल ना बचा होगा.

सखियों ने बहुत उसको, मजबूर किया होगा.
तब नाम मेरा उसने, शरमा के लिए होगा.

लुटने का मेरे उसको, जब इल्म हुआ होगा.
माथे पे हसीं आँचल, शायद ही रुका होगा.

जिस वक़्त किताबों में, ख़त मेरा मिला होगा.
सीने से लगाकर फिर, होठों से छुआ होगा.

मिलने की तड़प उसको, बेचैन किये होगी.
मजबूरी में फिर तकिया, बाहों में लिया होगा.

यादों में मेरी उसने, कुछ शेर लिखे होंगे.
और नामे-ग़ज़ल उसने, "ताहिर" ही रखा होगा.
____________________________________

( Disclaimer : All works above are creations of Mr. R.Tahir Khan )

Thursday, April 11, 2013

The end of eternity...and the end of a 'good sci-fi' drought

My first pleasant encounter with Asimov

The End of EternityThe End of Eternity by Isaac Asimov
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow! I am still reeling from the effect of finishing this one. This is just my second Asimov novel, which I picked purely because it was unconnected to any of his other series ( viz. the Foundation and the Robots ), and what a treat it turned out to be! Such an intriguing story full of every bit of concept and paradox possible within the purvey of time-travel and such delightful flights of speculations( which mind you are very logical ) into the human future! Truly Amazing!


Although I agree, to an extent, to the common criticisms leveled against Asimov's works such as the characters being caricatures and not very fleshed out and the story being plot-driven only. But I enjoyed so much and it was so stimulating to read this that I hardly noticed the above mentioned 'pitfalls'. I mean, does it really matter if the time-traveler guy behaves like a comic book character when you are travelling up-when to 30,000 centuries in the future or are pondering over such delicious questions as in what were the 'reality changes' induced due to your last visit to 275th century ? or what would be the minimum necessary change required to be effected in the space-time fabric of 95th century so as to prevent an imminent war ?
There is just so much to enjoy as well as to ponder over here : dilemmas like whether the opening of an 'eternity' channel and insistence on 'correcting' the past in order to get the best possible future will stifle the evolution of man as a species ? Whether the advent of time-travel totally undermine human advances into exploring the universe and colonizing the galaxy! Heady stuff.

Though I admit that I haven't read a lot of quality science fiction to boast about, but surely this is the best I have had so far.

And so this last query to Mr. Asimov, if he doesn't mind : Where have you been so far ? Why on earth and time had I not discovered you earlier ?
'Guess it's never too late', I can hear him whisper this reply. :)

View all my reviews

Monday, April 8, 2013

The legend of Chhath Puja

Abridged notes on its possible origin

    • Is only practiced in those areas where there was the rule of Chero tribes in the past.
    • The worship of Surya takes place twice a year on the 6th Chaitra Sudi and 6th Kartika Sudi. Every caste participates in it, even muslims in UP, Bihar. So there is no caste based allegiance, hints at tribal origin.
    • 'Chatth' is derived from 'Shashthi', the date of worship.
    • Brahmans have no role to play in the puja, almost, except for determining the tithi. ----> means non-Brahmanic origin of the worship.
    • Cheros were a group of tribes that had power over eastern UP and Bihar, belonged to the lower castes at one time. However, converted to higher caste by Brahman collusion. Later when they lost power ----> again to low castes, but some were able to retain power, hence high status (caste).
    • But the worship practice was retained, as it was something that the tribe indulged in and was independent of whether the tribe came or went out of power.

Caste system : myth buster and revelation session

Insightful excerpts from the book by Sachchidanand Sinha.

  • Man is born with certain predispositions to respond in specific ways to outer stimuli....one of the in-variants of human behaviour is the hostility of members of one human group towards another one.In fact inner cohesion and solidarity among men are observed to be directly related to their hostility towards other group.
  • The inherent superiority of 'Aryan race', 'middle kingdom', 'white-man's burden', 'socialist fatherland' have all been used to satisfy the tribal conceit of peoples or to act as camouflage for some murderous intention. This form of rationalization is common in group behaviour. 
  • Basic causes of caste or any other stratification :
    • Genophobia
    • Urge of status - domination of men over men in a group and by a group over another, which results in material advantages and prestige.
    • Myth-making, an innate compulsion of man. Every thing is considered a part of a grand design and plan. So even while acting in self interest, men feel that they are acting according to certain rules or ideology that has been pre-decided.
Specifically in case of Indian caste system, it may have been because of :
    • Excahnge relation between agricultural core surrounding pastoral and hunting tribes.
    • The Varna myth arising from the interaction of pastoral conquering horde with settled agricultural people.
    • The primitive fear of pollution enforced by the belief in philosophy of Karma, which became specifically prominent after Budhhism.
  • Dharmashastras' prohibition were no where really in operation, and it was possible for people in lower varna to acquire knowledge and wealth, and with connivance of Brahmans to acquire higher varna status. Because raising one's varna status was so easy with the collusion of brahmans that few who got the capacity to do so, found it futile to challenge the varna system.
  • In many cases where a tribe raised itself to Kshatriyahood, a Parsurama legend was invented.
  • Legend of Rajputs :
    As more and more non-Hindu tribes, in successive wars became dominant in north and west, a large warrior clan calling themselves Rajputs were accorded Kshatriya status, that was needed to protect the Brahmanical order. In the south or east, kings clamouring for Kshatriya rank were not grouped under one caste like Rajputs as there was more threat in the northwest, hence the need to group the warrior clan into a common caste.
  • Conditions of castes and their food habits and manners were a far cry from recent times, as also from the idealised picture of society that we get from Brahmanic literature. The forbidding moral codes enjoined by the Shastras were, in all probability, merely the fantasy of a frustrated minority of priests who found the goings in the world difficult for themselves, and hence carved out a dreamland.
  • Manusmriti myths
    • Since it was compiled between 200 BC and 200 AD, which was a period of turmoil, large parts of India was under attack by foreign hordes. There was hardly a stable empire. So, it is unlikely that Manu code could have been applied anywhere. It was hibernated, nourished perhaps on paltry paps from Brahmanical princes. 
    • The British rulers were the first to provide the code its large scale legitimacy. It also led to the festering of bitterness between the castes.
  • There was a greater mobility in the past, although without a smooth change over but rather through force, suddenly.
  • Reasons for persistence :
    • It was extremely adaptable, would accommodate new elements within its structure, making change of the system unnecessary.It may seem paradoxical for a system filled with rigidity, but whenever a new tribal element arrived at the scene, it was find a place near the bottom of the hierarchy, and later with the acquisition of power and influence, find its way up. So the need to destroy the system was not there. But the advent of British froze it and no further movement could happen.
  • Impact of industrialization under Britishers :
    • In the urban areas, where modern industries came up, there was a semblance of caste system dying out. But in the villages, caste oppression tended to increase  as the lower castes ( artisans and all) were rendered jobless and poorer. This gave caste system a new lease of life.
  • Rigid Varna system in South ?
    • Caste segregation much more rigid in south of Vindhyas as in the north the Dharmashastra dispensation against Shudras was just a product of fevered mind of Brahmans, anguished by their decline in power.They were merely giving vent to their torment. But in distant lands, the new converts might take these injunctions more literally and try to impose them zealously, a common feature of new converts to faith worldwide.
  • Karma theory :
    • It is likely that this theory predates Hinduism and Buddhism. Might have originated from the belief in mana. But then it got associated with castes.
  • There is persistence of belief that stratification in society arises through peaceful evolution. The truth is everywhere, whether it be slavery or feudalism, it was due to use of force. that a section of people were brought under obligation to serve another. Only in the capitalist system has the use of force been replaced by subtle socio-economic pressures.
  • Sense of Unity throughout India :
    • Continuity through the overlapping layers of tribal groups, that is otherwise difficult to explain. It is the tribal spread covering most parts of the country which works as the underpinning of the sense of cultural unity that so baffles people. It is this vague feeling of unity lingering though tribal tradition.
    • This sense of nationhood is not based on any imperial ambition, it is a search for identity, that he can find in when he identifies with all the places where his forefathers may have been.
  • Endurance of castes in spite of industrialization  as it seems to provide a sense of security to the members who are disadvantaged.
  • Even on changing religion, the caste affection remains :
    • Muslims : Sheikh, Sayyid -----> high castes, Momin ----> lower
    • Christians : Syrian ---> Nayars, Nmboodari brahmans ( high ), Latin ---> lower
  • Caste system served the purpose of composing the diversity of Indian people. Although it was a hierarchical system, it served its purpose as it had two safety valves in place :
    • possibility for lower orders to seek enfranchisement at the point of sword, by getting ruling status, by carving out a kingdom for itself.
    • Emphasis on the renunciation of worldly goods as the highest aim of man : so highest honour of society could be acquired by becoming a recluse : by both high and lower castes.

      So the tensions cause by frustrations never reached a flash point to cause disruption.