One of my goals for the year has been to share more of my poetry. Interlinked with that goal has been a project to originally write poems in Hindi/Urdu and offer English (possibly other) translations. Interestingly, coffee from Subko served as a reminder and inspiration for this project, with the intent and hope behind what I create always being that it holds the capacity to touch or move everyone.
I am super excited to share the first of these with you.
हम आपसे मुख़्तलिफ़ हैं
हम आपसे मुख़्तलिफ़ हैं ।
हम सब लोगों से मुख़्तलिफ़ हैं ।
इतना ही नहीं,
हम तो अपने आप से भी मुख़्तलिफ़ हैं ।
ढूँढो तो शायद मधुर मिल जाएगा,
लेकिन हम अब आपको तभी मिलेंगे
जब आप खुद सेन मिलोगे ।
ہم آپ سے مختلف ہیں۔
ہم سب سے مختلف ہیں۔
یہی نہیں ہم خود سے بھی مختلف ہیں۔
تلاش کرو شاید تمہیں مدھر مل جائے،
لیکن اب تبھی ملیں گے۔
جب آپ خود سین سے ملیں گے۔
I am not the same as you.
I am not the same as anybody.
Heck, I’m not even the same as myself!
Your searches may lead you to Madhur,
But I will only meet you when you have met yourself.