Remembering Parveen Shakir .
The very first attraction to the poetry of this poetess had come
to me when I first heard a
couplet in her own voice from All India Radio, sometimes in late seventies. The couplet was:
Jugnu ko din ke waqt parakhne kee zid Karein,
Bacche hamare Ahad ke Chalaak ho gaye
(They insist to test the fire flies during day time, This indicates that the children of our times{ present times} have grown wiser).
The best couplet is one which “clings” to ones mind…they say. This couplet stuck to my mind. A very beautiful couplet indeed; signifying and documenting the common feeling of elders about the next generation. The feeling was not new but the presentation of the common feeling was very natural, lucid, in a highly poetic manner. Even the other couplets of the same ghazal were worthy of the notice.
"
Basti ke jitney aab gazidah thhey sab ke sab ,
Darya ke rukh badalte hi tairak ho gaye"
(All those who were drenched and drowning due to floods, Became the best swimmers as soon as the river changed its course and receded ). This is also quite a common feeling that man boasts of too much when the danger is non existent. But the way she puts this common feeling in two lines, in easy to understand words with symbolic and poetic touch,was remarkable.
My interest grew in the
poetry of Parveen Shakir as time passed by.There had been many female poets in the past but none could compose so clearly and openly as women composesr as Parveen Shakir could do.
The poetry of Parveen Shakir brings in the feeling of the women masses as they are felt by them. Parveen has dicusseed and composed them very nicely without having an iota of hesitation for being a woman, who hitherto never discussed such matters openly in the poetry. For example :
1.The infidelity of male is somewhat pardonable in most of the societies but not of women. This fact has been accepted and assimilated by the women in such a way that they are contented even with the infidelity of their spouses… See how nicely Parveen has brought out the thinking of consolation among women in the following couplet.
“who kahin bhi gaya lauta to mere paas aaya,
Bas yahi baat hai achchi mere harjayee kee. ( Wherever he went but finally came back to me only, This is the most loving and good aspect about him ) 2. The over all prevailing character of males in our society has been presented nicely in the following sher.
Maien Sach kahoongi magar phir bhi haar jaaoongi
Who jhoot bolega aur laajawaab kar dega.
( I would loose even by speaking truth, for he is so dexterous and prevailing that, his lie will overshadow my truth )
This is a very candid admission by a woman of a very peculiar fact in the context of the women of the eastern societies.
3. The predominant emotional component among women makes it difficult for a man to really assess as to what exactly makes a women happy. Some times their sacrifice is greater than expectations and sometimes even a minor concessions are not allowed by them.
Ladkiyoon ke dukh ajab hotey hain sukh us- se ajab,
hans raheen hain aur kaajal bheegta hai saath saath
The plights of the womenfolk are quite strange,( strange in the sense what makes them unhappy is difficult to be decided at times) but their happiness are still stranger,for when they laugh or smile, tears also come in their eyes.
4.The ego of woman gets highly hurt in getting deserted by a man. So much so that she never admits of being deserted as this is a question on her femininity:
“Kaise kah doon ke mujhe chorh diya hai usn-e
Baat to sach hai magar baat hai ruswaee kee.
( How can I admit that he has deserted me though it is true but a matter of great disrespect )
Parveen Shakir was born in Pakistan(1952) and as such had no upbringing in Indian milieu, yet she has used the symbols of Hindu mythology and the words of hindi language in her poetry very dexterously. I quote a few lines from her poetry to bring home the point. She talks bout the devotion of an Eastern lady in these couplets:
“Aankh jab aainey se hatayee,
Shayam sunder se Radha mil Aayee,
(Whenever I took off my eyes from the mirror, I met with my beloved )
Aaye sapnon mein Gokul ke raja ,
dene sakhiyoon ko aayee badhayee, (He visited in my dreams and thus I came to congratulate my friends )
Main-en sakhiyoon ko kab kuch batayya,
baaree payal ne hee jaa lagayee,
( I did not reveal anything to my friends but the changed voice of my Payal revealed to them) Saar-e sure k murli kee dhun mein ,
Aisee rachanaa bhalaa kis ne gayee,
(He is an embodiment of all my happiness, for no one else has those tunes which could please me)
There are other beautiful aspects of the poetry of Parveen Shakir, but words limit for this abstract, limits my writing. Parveen died at the age of 42 in an accident on 26th December in the year 1996 and could not deliver many more things expected from her.