An expression of human suffering through Kahan To Thay Tha - Dushyant Kumar

About poet


Popular Hindi ghazal writer Dushyant Kumar Tyagi was born on September 1, 1933 in Bijnor district of Uttar Pradesh. He started his poetry writing with the name of Dushyant Kumar Pardeshi. From early on in class ten, he showed his flair of poetry which further got a new dimension during his studies at Allahabad University. He was also active with organizations like 'Parmal' and 'Naye Patte' and he got the company of active litterateurs in Allahabad. This friendship and camaraderie gave rise to many fellow poets and authors like Kamaleshwar and Markandeya.

Though Dushyant was prolific in poetry, drama, one-act plays and novels, he gained timeless popularity from ghazals. His expressions questioning the ironies of the times, state of poor in the society, class division with lines like 'creating a ruckus is not my intention' echo from the Parliament to the streets and the common man is able to find his voice in him. His ghazals were a song of cry and weapon of expression.

'Surya ka Swagat', 'Awaoz ke Ghare', 'Jalte huye van ka vasant' are his poetry collections, while in the form of 'Chhote-chhote saval', 'Aangan mein ek vriksha' and 'Duhri Zindagi' he has worked in the novel genre. Have contributed. 'And Messiah Mar Gaya' is his famous play and 'Mann Ke Kon' is a one-act play written by him. He has also composed a poetry-drama titled 'Ek Kanth Vishpayee'. The basis of his lasting fame is his only ghazal collection 'Saye Mein Dhoop', dozens of ghazals of which play a daily part in the dialogue and address of Hindi-country.


He died on 30 December 1975 at the age of just 42. A postage stamp has been issued in his honour by the Government of India. An effort has been made to preserve his heritage in the 'Dushyant Kumar Memorial Manuscript Museum'.


Context of the poem

The ghazal Kahan To Thay Tha is an expression of human suffering. The poet has described the strains of human living in both a pessimistic as well as in a positive manner. The poet states that even after Indian independence, the majority public is still under poverty and lacks development. He laments that the basic needs of food, clothing and refuge are not being provided adequately to the commonplace man.

Full text of the poem in Hindi

कहाँ तो तय था चराग़ाँ हर एक घर के लिए

कहाँ चराग़ मयस्सर नहीं शहर के लिए

यहाँ दरख़्तों के साए में धूप लगती है

चलें यहाँ से चलें और उम्र भर के लिए

न हो क़मीज़ तो पाँव से पेट ढक लेंगे

ये लोग कितने मुनासिब हैं इस सफ़र के लिए

ख़ुदा नहीं न सही आदमी का ख़्वाब सही

कोई हसीन नज़ारा तो है नज़र के लिए

वो मुतमइन हैं कि पत्थर पिघल नहीं सकता

मैं बे-क़रार हूँ आवाज़ में असर के लिए

तिरा निज़ाम है सिल दे ज़बान-ए-शायर को

ये एहतियात ज़रूरी है इस बहर के लिए

जिएँ तो अपने बग़ैचा में गुल-मुहर के तले

मरें तो ग़ैर की गलियों में गुल-मुहर के लिए



Literal line to line meaning


There was fixed pasture land for every house.

Where there is no light for the city

Here the sun shines in the shade of the trees

Let's go from here and forever

if you don't have a shirt, you will cover your stomach with your feet.

How suitable are these people for this journey?


God is not right, man's dream is right

There is a beautiful sight to behold.

They are sure that the stone cannot melt

I am desperate for impact in voice


If you live in your garden under the gulmuhar

If I die, I will die for Gulmuhar in other streets.


Further explanation of the poem

Dushyant ji satirises politics and says that politics shows people big dreams. He says that the leaders had announced that they will provide some lamps which is also symbolic of basic necessities and facilities in every house of the country. But the real situation is such that even in the big cities, there are no lamps i.e. facilities available. The leaders' announcement is on paper that it will bring prosperity in the lives of the people living in the houses, but their assurance remained in vain.


Imagery used in the poem


चिराग़
Lamps which are also symbolic of light removing darkness (poverty) and also of basic necessities and facilities.

दरख़्त
Tree. The poet says that a tree which is supposed to give shade has now become a provider or cause of corruption. He refers to politicians who promise something but perform something else , contrary to ideals and needs of the larger society. These institutions and establishments have started exploiting the common man. Corruption is spread everywhere.


The poet wants to spend his life living away from all these pains and sufferings and voices what every common man in these situations will feel.

कमीज़
Shirt or clothing - another basic necessity for humans. The poet says that this is also something that a leader should provide. But with the corrupt ways of the leaders and politicians, they are unable to do so. So the people have also lost the will to live in the place and want to go away and they have lost the will to fight. So they come up with their own solution - If they are without clothes, they will happily cover their stomachs by folding their legs on top. The people will have to come up with ways to survive.


सफ़र
Journey - in the context of the poem it means that the life journey of the people and their existence will not be long or will not be sustainable if this kind of corruption exists around them.


हसीन नज़ारा
Beautiful scene. At this point of the poem, the poet expresses further loss of hope. He says that there is no God in the whole world. But it doesn't matter for him, as he believes that God is just a figment of man’s imagination. It is likely that he expresses his anger and disappointment that God who could have helped the poor from the corrupt ways of the leaders and from the poverty, hunger and homelessness, is just a static being without action. He states that God is just a common man's dream. He states that if some people feel happy to have that beautiful scene in their minds for temporary happiness and consolation, so be it.


पत्थर
Stone - The poet says that the politicians and corrupt leaders are secure and overconfident in the feeling that stone cannot melt, which is to say that the state of life will be the same - people won't protest, people are tired, there is no God to punish these leaders nor to save the helpless poor.


आवाज़ में असर
Impact in voice. But the poet also has hope and desire. The poet is waiting for an impact and a spark of revolution in the voices of common people. He hopes that their voices will be loud and common people should organise and protest.

सिल दे ज़ुबान शायर की
Stitch up the mouth/voice of the poet. Powerful and corrupt leaders will always have an arrangement and system to use their money and power to try to trample upon the protests of people - whether poets or the public.


The poet shows an ironic similarity in the way minds think - minds of poets in comparison to minds of politicians - he says that just as caution is necessary for a ghazal verse, in the same way rulers also need to suppress opposition to maintain their power.


बग़ीचे में गुलमोहर
Our own garden of gulmohar


गलियों में गुलमोहर
Streets of gulmohar


The poet ends by saying that as long as we live in our garden, we live under the Gulmohar (here symbolising good values and rewards of hard work and values ) and when the season is ended , we die for the Gulmohar in the streets of others. In other words, as long as we live, we live for others as well, helping them and helping those who less privileged than us.

Brief on Our Hired Girl - a poem by James Whitcomb Riley

Our Hired Girl - a poem by James Whitcomb Riley

About poet

Born in Indianapolis in 1853 James Whitcomb Riley's popularity is largely based on his poetic portrayal of the common man and his hardships whether he is working on the farm or in the workshop.

Riley was born in the little country town of Greenfield, twenty miles east of Indianapolis in 1853. He dabbled with being a painter first painting advertisements for patent medicines and then for the many local business firms. Later on he tried his hand at writing for newspapers. Eventually he broadened his worksphere to and became a travelling lecturer, and reader of his penned poems.

Much of his poetry charms us with its presentation of rural life. The Old Swimmin'-Hole and 'Leven More Poems (1883), is a purely delightful poem collection. Our Hired Girl is one from this collection.


About poem


Although Riley also wrote on important subjects, he is best remembered as the poet of Indiana’s ordinary people. Two such people are the Raggedy Man and ‘Lizabuth Ann, the hired girl. Unlike Little Orphan Annie, who is working for her keep, the hired hand and the hired girl are working for a busy farm family and receiving wages. The Raggedy Man was a real person that Riley knew as a boy. As in many of Riley’s poems, we see the hired hand and ‘Lizabuth Ann from the perspective of the child who narrates the poems. Both The Raggedy Man and Our Hired Girl offer insight to the type of work done on farms and in farm households during Riley’s youth. Although they are humble people, it is clear that they are kind, good humored, and willing to take time out from their work to pay attention to children. They are people who will shake a crunchy apple down from the apple tree or offer a child a slice of warm custard pie.

Entire poem can be found at -
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44954/our-hired-girl

Glimpse into Hindi poem Manushyta - Maithili Sharan Gupt

About poet


Maithili Sharan Gupt


Swarnalata, Rasikendu, Dadda or Rashtrakavi. So many salutations to a writer who was a pioneer in Khari Boli (plain dialect) . These were the names that were used to address the great Hindi poet and novelist Maithili Sharan Gupt. Born on 3rd August 1886 in Chirgaon near Jhansi, Gupt and the written word couldn't be separated for long. Books and newspapers influenced him a lot and so in his childhood, he used to write chhappay (A simple verse poetry with six stanzas)

Under the name 'Swarnalata' (literal meaning lustrous). When that became popular locally he was guided by his teachers to write more. In his adolescence he started using the names 'Rasikesh' or 'Rasikendu' (literal meaning lord of the senses),etc. He diversified his writing into translation work under the name 'Madhup' (literal meaning Honeybee).

He got inclined towards poetry while reading 'Laghu Siddhant Kaumudi'. Also guided by a learned scholar Acharya Mahavir ji, his poetry got published in the then popular magazine ‘Saraswati’. Initially he composed poetry in Braj language and wrote many aphorisms in Sanskrit verses.


Agitated by the atrocities of the British government and heavily affected by the freedom struggle, Gupt wrote poems against the British under the names 'Bharatiya' (literal meaning Indian) and 'Nityanand' (literal meaning Perennially Happy ). The Indian literary world of the time used to call him 'Dadda'. (literal meaning - a learned elder person )

Gupt was one of the most important modern Hindi poets. He is considered one among the pioneers of Khari Boli (plain dialect) of literature of poetry and wrote in pure dialect as well. He distinguished himself as a writer of elitism in language rather than the commonly used language. Most Hindi poets favoured the use of Braj Bhasha dialect. He was a recipient of the third highest (then second highest) Indian civilian honour of Padma Bhushan. For his book Bharat-Bharati (1912),widely quoted during India's freedom struggle, he was given the title of Rashtra Kavi by Mahatma Gandhi. He passed away on 12 December 1964.


He was awarded Mangala Prasad Award for 'Saket'. The President had nominated him as a member of the Rajya Sabha. The Government of India decorated him with 'Padma Bhushan'. His birth anniversary on 3 August is celebrated as 'Poet's Day' in India every year.

Maithili Sharan Gupt's contribution to Hindi Literature

Two epic poems - Bharat-Bharati (1912) and Saket (1931)


Other Poetry - Khandakavya: Rang Mein Bhang (1909), Jayadratha-Vadh (1910), Shakuntala (1914), Panchavati (1915), Kisan (1916), Sairandhri (1927), Vaksanhar (1927) ), Van Vaibhav (1927), Shakti (1927), Yashodhara (1932), Dwapar (1936), Siddharaj (1936), Nahusha (1940), Kunal Geet (1941), Karbala (1942), Ajit (1946), Hidimba (1950), Vishnupriya (1957), Ratnavali (1960), Urmila (unpublished, 1908-09)


Story-based essay poetry: Patravali (1916), Vikat-Bhat (1928), Gurukul (1928), Arjan and Visarjan (1942), Kaaba (1942), Pradakshina (1950), Yudh (1950), Kavi Shri (1955), Nal Damayanti (unpublished, 1910-11)


Essay-poetry: Bharat-Bharati (1912), Hindu (1927), Raja-Praja ( 1956


About the poem Manushyta

The poem Manushyta is essentially a poem which calls out and inspires humans to live selflfessly and to understand the true purpose of life - which is sacrifice for the fellow being.

Maithili Sharan Gupt brings in many elements of the world and compares them to humans. He does this to ultimately say that there is only one duty of man and that is to die for a fellow man.

The poem is available in the orginal language at 
https://www.hindikavykosh.in/2022/02/maithlisharan-gupt-kavita-manushyata.html


English literal verse by verse translation of the poem -


Die, but die in such a way that everyone remembers.

If it is not a good death, then die in vain, live in vain.

Not the one who didn't live for you.

This is the animal instinct to graze on your own.

He is the man who died for man


Saraswati Bakhanavi is the story of the same generous person.

The earth feels grateful for that generosity.

The living fame of that generous person always shines;

And the entire creation worships that generous person.

The unbroken soul that fills the infinite world.

He is the only man who dies for man.



Sympathy is needed, he is a great personality;

bewitchment is always made by itself.

Contradiction flowed in the flow of Buddha's mercy.

Should the polite people not bow before you?

Aha! Only he who does charity is generous.

There is a man who dies for man.


Infinite Gods are standing in infinite space.

The great ones who are raising their arms in front of us.

Everyone should rise and grow with mutual support.

Now all of you should get tainted in the immortality mark.

Live as if you are of no use to anyone else.

He is the only man who dies for man.


“Man is only a friend” This is great wisdom.

Old scriptures’ self-proclaimed father is a famous one.

There are definitely external differences in karma according to its results.

But in inner self there are authentic scriptures.

It is unfortunate that there are no brothers and the pain of the brother is not there.

He is the only man who dies for man.


Let's play happily in the desired path.

Pushing away whatever adversities befall them.

Yes, there should be no difference, no difference should ever increase.

Everyone should be a vigilant sect of the same sect.

Only then is there a strong feeling that one can shine.

He is the only man who dies for man.


Don't ever forget to be intoxicated with trivial finances.

Saints should make you proud.

God is here at the end

The kind poor brother has big hands.

Too unfortunate to be filled with dark feelings

He is the only man who dies for man.

Manushyta Summary

Maithili Sharan Gupt compares humans to other creatures in nature and says humans have greater power of thinking, understanding and analysing the sorrow of others. Man is not merely a physical animal . He further explains that the mundane activities of animals like daily grazing, aimless wandering in the fields is all just play in the eyes of a capable human. He rises above all this when he does his duty which is capable only of him.

When animals go to pasture, they graze only for themselves, but humans are not like that. Whatever he earns, whatever he creates, he does it for others and also with the help of others.


Gupt considers those who are concerned about the happiness and sorrow of their loved ones as humans but is not ready to accept that those humans have all the qualities of humanity. The poet considers only those people as great who worry about others before the happiness and sorrow of their own. He expects a human to have those qualities by which the man remains in the memories of others for centuries even after leaving this mortal world, that is, he remains immortal even after death.
Manushyta Stanza explanation

Stanza explanation

In this poem the poet is trying to explain the true meaning of humanity.

In the first stanza, the poet says that we should not be afraid of death because death is certain but we should do something so that people remember us even after death. A real man is one who learns to live and die for a fellow human.

In the second stanza the poet says that we should become generous and giving.

In the third stanza, the poet says that there are many examples in the Puranas (scriptures / holy books) of those people who are still remembered for their sacrifice. A true man is one who knows the value of sacrifice.


In the fourth stanza, the poet says that there should be a feeling of kindness and compassion in the minds of human beings, the one who lives and dies for others is called a human being.

In the fifth stanza the poet wants to say that there is no orphan here because we are all children of that one all-knowing God. We should think about discrimination.

In the sixth stanza, the poet wants to say that we should be kind because even God welcomes all kinds of nature in humans - bad or good.. Therefore, we should do charity and welfare for others.

In the seventh stanza, the poet says that the external actions of human beings may be different, but the holy books testify that everyone's soul is one, we are all children of the same God, hence all human beings are brothers. And man is the one who helps other humans in their sorrow.

In the last stanza, the poet wants to say that man should walk on his chosen path while removing the calamities and obstacles, should maintain mutual understanding and should not increase discrimination. Only a person with such thinking can bring welfare and salvation to himself and others.