ASAD [5]

As we have seen earlier in this series, some sh'ers have the nickname or "alias" of the shaa'ir in them. The Urdu term of a poet's pseudonym is 'taKhallus' (तख़ल्लुस). Couplets with a poet's taKhallus in them are usually the last in a Ghazal. A poet can use his taKhallus very cleverly to address himself, but it sounds still better when the thought is as clever as its presentation.

The sarcastic bitterness of the following sh'er will hit you hard and make you smile at the same time.

No difficult words this time :-) This sh'er is by (Jaan Nisaar?) Akhtar:

शे'र कहते हो बहुत ख़ूब तुम 'अख़्तर', लेकिन
अच्छे शा'इर, ये सुना है, केः जवाँ मरते है!
sh'er kahte ho bahut Khoob tum 'aKhtar', lekin
achchhe shaa'ir, yeh sunaa hai, ke jawaaN marte haiN

A clever way, indeed, to express the common belief about the fate of good poets!

- Abhay.
ASAD _also_ stands for "A Sher A Day"!

[(c) Abhay Avachat. Editor: U.V. Ravindra]

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EDITORIAL COMMENTS

[1] Perhaps an even cleverer example of the use of a poet's taKhallus is in the following by Dagh Dehlvi (दाग़ देहलवी). We all know that 'daaGh' means 'wound, sore' and दिल का दाग़ is a phrase we hear very often, associated with lovers. Now witness how दाग़ himself has used it:

कोई नाम-ओ-निशाँ पूछे, तो ऐ क़ासिद, बता देना:
तख़ल्लुस 'दाग़' है, और आशिक़ों के दिल में रहते है!
koi naam-o-nishaaN poochhe, to ai qaasid, bataa denaa:
taKhallus 'daaGh' hai, aur aashiqoN ke dil meN rahte haiN!

Wasn't he amazing?!

-UVR.