23-05-2013published_dt 2013-05-23T00:00:00.000Z23-05-2013 05:30:00 IST
Updated On 03-11-2018 12:50:30 ISTmodified_dt 2018-11-03T07:20:30.867ZUpdated On 03-11-20182013-05-23T00:00:00.000Z23-05-2013 2013-05-23T00:00:00.000Z - 2018-11-03T07:20:30.867Z - 03-11-2018
{"history":[{"created_by":"5bdbf59db8fc62471b160869","created_dt":"2018-11-03T07:20:30.866Z"}],"comments":[],"video_status":"0","view_count":931,"status":"active","_id":"5bdd4c3e691f115e30757bfc","category_id":"5bdbf63bd07281474d08ae9a","category_name":"Literature","title":"Gorakh Pandey’s Lines","metatitle":"Gorakh Pandey’s Lines","metadescription":"Gorakh Pandey’s Lines","metakeywords":"Amitabh Bachchan, Gorakh Padey, Hindi Poetry, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Parakala Prabhakar","description":"<!DOCTYPE html>\r\n<html>\r\n<head>\r\n</head>\r\n<body>\r\n<p> I am posting a poem written by Gorakh Pandey.</p>\r\n<p>Pandeyji and I lived in the same hostel in Jawaharlal Nehru University. On the same floor, I remember. I too was a late riser like him. We often ran into each other while brushing at the washrooms when the entire hostel was quiet and everyone had either gone off to their classes or to the library.</p>\r\n<p>Pandeyji was a pleasant person. He did not interact much with people whom he did not know well, and who were outside the Uttar Pradesh- BHU-Hindi speaking circle.</p>\r\n<p>I didn’t socialize much with him. Not beyond ‘namaskar’, ‘kaise hai’ etc. He was very affectionate towards me. Language was a barrier between us. He was uncomfortable in English. And I hardly knew any Hindi those days to strike a meaningful conversation.</p>\r\n<p>He looked a troubled mind; a forlorn personality.</p>\r\n<p>I came to know later that he killed himself.</p>\r\n<p>A friend of Pandeyji, who was also in JNU, interviewed Amitabh Bachchan about his illustrious father Haribans Rai Bachan. And as a token of gratitude for the interview, he gifted Pandeyji’s poem to Amitabh. An impressed Amitabh translated it himself and posted it in his blog. And he humbly said that he could not do justice to Pandeyji in his translation.</p>\r\n<p>I want you to read Pandeyji’s original Hindi poem. If you can understand and appreciate Hindi and its idiom, you can skip the English translation.</p>\r\n<p>But if you are not sure that you have understood Pandeyji’s import fully, read the English translation. But quickly go back to the Hindi original with that help from the English translation to fully appreciate Pandeyji’s lines. </p>\r\n<p>Here it is.</p>\r\n<p>समझदारों का गीत </p>\r\n<p>हवा का रुख कैसा है, हम समझते हैं</p>\r\n<p>हम उसे पीठ क्यों दे देते हैं, हम समझते हैं</p>\r\n<p>हम समझते हैं ख़ून का मतलब</p>\r\n<p>पैसे की कीमत हम समझते हैं</p>\r\n<p>क्या है पक्ष में विपक्ष में क्या है, हम समझते हैं</p>\r\n<p>हम इतना समझते हैं</p>\r\n<p>कि समझने से डरते हैं और चुप रहते हैं.</p>\r\n<p> </p>\r\n<p>चुप्पी का मतलब भी हम समझते हैं</p>\r\n<p>बोलते हैं तो सोच-समझकर बोलते हैं</p>\r\n<p>बोलने की आजादी का</p>\r\n<p>मतलब समझते हैं</p>\r\n<p>टुटपुंजिया नौकरी के लिए</p>\r\n<p>आज़ादी बेचने का मतलब हम समझते हैं</p>\r\n<p>मगर हम क्या कर सकते हैं</p>\r\n<p>अगर बेरोज़गारी अन्याय से</p>\r\n<p>तेज़ दर से बढ़ रही है</p>\r\n<p>हम आज़ादी और बेरोज़गारी दोनों के</p>\r\n<p>ख़तरे समझते हैं</p>\r\n<p>हम ख़तरों से बाल-बाल बच जाते हैं</p>\r\n<p>हम समझते हैं</p>\r\n<p>हम क्यों बच जाते हैं, यह भी हम समझते हैं.</p>\r\n<p>हम ईश्वर से दुखी रहते हैं अगर वह सिर्फ़ कल्पना नहीं है</p>\r\n<p>हम सरकार से दुखी रहते हैं कि वह समझती क्यों नहीं</p>\r\n<p>हम जनता से दुखी रहते हैं क्योंकि वह भेड़ियाधसान होती है.</p>\r\n<p>हम सारी दुनिया के दुख से दुखी रहते हैं</p>\r\n<p>हम समझते हैं</p>\r\n<p>मगर हम कितना दुखी रहते हैं यह भी</p>\r\n<p>हम समझते हैं</p>\r\n<p>यहां विरोध ही बाजिब क़दम है</p>\r\n<p>हम समझते हैं</p>\r\n<p>हम क़दम-क़दम पर समझौते करते हैं</p>\r\n<p>हम समझते हैं</p>\r\n<p>हम समझौते के लिए तर्क गढ़ते हैं</p>\r\n<p>हर तर्क गोल-मटोल भाषा में</p>\r\n<p>पेश करते हैं, हम समझते हैं</p>\r\n<p>हम इस गोल-मटोल भाषा का तर्क भी</p>\r\n<p>समझते हैं.</p>\r\n<p>वैसे हम अपने को</p>\r\n<p>किसी से कम नहीं समझते हैं</p>\r\n<p>हर स्याह को सफेद</p>\r\n<p>और सफ़ेद को स्याह कर सकते हैं</p>\r\n<p>हम चाय की प्यालियों में तूफ़ान खड़ा कर सकते हैं</p>\r\n<p>करने को तो हम क्रांति भी कर सकते हैं</p>\r\n<p>अगर सरकार कमज़ोर हो और जनता समझदार</p>\r\n<p>लेकिन हम समझते हैं</p>\r\n<p>कि हम कुछ नहीं कर सकते हैं</p>\r\n<p>हम क्यों कुछ नहीं कर सकते</p>\r\n<p>यह भी हम समझते हैं</p>\r\n<p>And now, here is the English Translation by Amitabh Bachchan.</p>\r\n<p>THE SONG OF THE SENSIBLE</p>\r\n<p>What way the winds blow, I can understand</p>\r\n<p>Why we show our backs to it, I can understand</p>\r\n<p>I understand the meaning of blood</p>\r\n<p>The value of money I understand</p>\r\n<p>What is for and what is against, I can understand</p>\r\n<p>I even understand this</p>\r\n<p>We are scared to be able to understand, and remain silent.</p>\r\n<p>I can understand the meaning of remaining quiet</p>\r\n<p>When we speak we speak with thinking and understanding</p>\r\n<p>The freedom to speak</p>\r\n<p>Its meaning, I can understand</p>\r\n<p>For a pathetic and measly employment</p>\r\n<p>To sell our freedom, the meaning of that I can understand</p>\r\n<p>But what can we do</p>\r\n<p>When unemployment</p>\r\n<p>Rises faster than the injustice</p>\r\n<p>The dangers of freedom and unemployment, I understand</p>\r\n<p>We narrowly escape the dangers of terror</p>\r\n<p>I can understand</p>\r\n<p>Why we escape and get saved, this too I can understand.</p>\r\n<p>We remain disappointed and are pained by the Almighty if he does not just remain an imagination</p>\r\n<p>We remain disappointed and are pained by the Government why it does not understand</p>\r\n<p>We remain disappointed and pained by the common man because it succumbs to a herd mentality.</p>\r\n<p>We remain pained by the pain of the entire world</p>\r\n<p>I can understand</p>\r\n<p>But how much we remain pained by this pain this too</p>\r\n<p>I can understand</p>\r\n<p>That opposition is the desired step to take</p>\r\n<p>I can understand</p>\r\n<p>At every step we make compromising understandings</p>\r\n<p>I can understand</p>\r\n<p>We make deep commitments for this understanding</p>\r\n<p>Every deep commitment we present in ambiguous language</p>\r\n<p>I can understand</p>\r\n<p>The reason for this ambiguous language also</p>\r\n<p>I understand.</p>\r\n<p>Incidentally, we do not consider ourselves</p>\r\n<p>Less than anyone, I can understand</p>\r\n<p>Every black to white</p>\r\n<p>And white to black we are capable of converting</p>\r\n<p>We are capable of creating a storm in a tea cup</p>\r\n<p>If we want we can start a revolution also</p>\r\n<p>If the Government is weak and the common man understanding</p>\r\n<p>But I can understand</p>\r\n<p>That there is nothing that we can do</p>\r\n<p>Why there is nothing that we can do</p>\r\n<p>This too I can understand.</p>\r\n<p> </p>\r\n</body>\r\n</html>","tags":"Amitabh Bachchan, Gorakh Padey, Hindi Poetry, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Parakala Prabhakar","url":"/literature/gorakh-pandeys-lines","thumbnailratio":"16_9","english_url":"/literature/gorakh-pandeys-lines","created_by":"5bdbf59db8fc62471b160869","modified_by":"5bdbf59db8fc62471b160869","created_dt":"2013-05-23T00:00:00.000Z","img_alt_description":"","short_description":"I am posting a poem written by Gorakh Pandey. Pandeyji and I lived in the same hostel in Jawaharlal Nehru University. On the same floor, I remember. I too was a late riser like him. We often ran into each other while brushing at the washrooms when the entire hostel was quiet and everyone had either gone off to their classes or to the library.","embedded":"","english_title":"Gorakh Pandey’s Lines","modified_dt":"2018-11-03T07:20:30.867Z","__v":0,"editor_email":"","editor_phone":"","editor_description":"","editor_language_name":"","linkedin_profile":"","facebook_profile":"","twitter_profile":"https://twitter.com/parakala","insta_profile":"https://www.instagram.com/parakala/","user_name":"Parakala","user_img":"/images/author-deafault.png","aurl":"/literature/gorakh-pandeys-lines","published_dt":"2013-05-23T00:00:00.000Z","published_dt_txt":"23-05-2013","published_dt_time_txt":"23-05-2013 05:30:00 IST","updated_dt_time_txt":"03-11-2018 12:50:30 IST"}
I am posting a poem written by Gorakh Pandey.
Pandeyji and I lived in the same hostel in Jawaharlal Nehru University. On the same floor, I remember. I too was a late riser like him. We often ran into each other while brushing at the washrooms when the entire hostel was quiet and everyone had either gone off to their classes or to the library.
Pandeyji was a pleasant person. He did not interact much with people whom he did not know well, and who were outside the Uttar Pradesh- BHU-Hindi speaking circle.
I didn’t socialize much with him. Not beyond ‘namaskar’, ‘kaise hai’ etc. He was very affectionate towards me. Language was a barrier between us. He was uncomfortable in English. And I hardly knew any Hindi those days to strike a meaningful conversation.
He looked a troubled mind; a forlorn personality.
I came to know later that he killed himself.
A friend of Pandeyji, who was also in JNU, interviewed Amitabh Bachchan about his illustrious father Haribans Rai Bachan. And as a token of gratitude for the interview, he gifted Pandeyji’s poem to Amitabh. An impressed Amitabh translated it himself and posted it in his blog. And he humbly said that he could not do justice to Pandeyji in his translation.
I want you to read Pandeyji’s original Hindi poem. If you can understand and appreciate Hindi and its idiom, you can skip the English translation.
But if you are not sure that you have understood Pandeyji’s import fully, read the English translation. But quickly go back to the Hindi original with that help from the English translation to fully appreciate Pandeyji’s lines.
Here it is.
समझदारों का गीत
हवा का रुख कैसा है, हम समझते हैं
हम उसे पीठ क्यों दे देते हैं, हम समझते हैं
हम समझते हैं ख़ून का मतलब
पैसे की कीमत हम समझते हैं
क्या है पक्ष में विपक्ष में क्या है, हम समझते हैं
हम इतना समझते हैं
कि समझने से डरते हैं और चुप रहते हैं.
चुप्पी का मतलब भी हम समझते हैं
बोलते हैं तो सोच-समझकर बोलते हैं
बोलने की आजादी का
मतलब समझते हैं
टुटपुंजिया नौकरी के लिए
आज़ादी बेचने का मतलब हम समझते हैं
मगर हम क्या कर सकते हैं
अगर बेरोज़गारी अन्याय से
तेज़ दर से बढ़ रही है
हम आज़ादी और बेरोज़गारी दोनों के
ख़तरे समझते हैं
हम ख़तरों से बाल-बाल बच जाते हैं
हम समझते हैं
हम क्यों बच जाते हैं, यह भी हम समझते हैं.
हम ईश्वर से दुखी रहते हैं अगर वह सिर्फ़ कल्पना नहीं है
हम सरकार से दुखी रहते हैं कि वह समझती क्यों नहीं
हम जनता से दुखी रहते हैं क्योंकि वह भेड़ियाधसान होती है.
हम सारी दुनिया के दुख से दुखी रहते हैं
हम समझते हैं
मगर हम कितना दुखी रहते हैं यह भी
हम समझते हैं
यहां विरोध ही बाजिब क़दम है
हम समझते हैं
हम क़दम-क़दम पर समझौते करते हैं
हम समझते हैं
हम समझौते के लिए तर्क गढ़ते हैं
हर तर्क गोल-मटोल भाषा में
पेश करते हैं, हम समझते हैं
हम इस गोल-मटोल भाषा का तर्क भी
समझते हैं.
वैसे हम अपने को
किसी से कम नहीं समझते हैं
हर स्याह को सफेद
और सफ़ेद को स्याह कर सकते हैं
हम चाय की प्यालियों में तूफ़ान खड़ा कर सकते हैं
करने को तो हम क्रांति भी कर सकते हैं
अगर सरकार कमज़ोर हो और जनता समझदार
लेकिन हम समझते हैं
कि हम कुछ नहीं कर सकते हैं
हम क्यों कुछ नहीं कर सकते
यह भी हम समझते हैं
And now, here is the English Translation by Amitabh Bachchan.
THE SONG OF THE SENSIBLE
What way the winds blow, I can understand
Why we show our backs to it, I can understand
I understand the meaning of blood
The value of money I understand
What is for and what is against, I can understand
I even understand this
We are scared to be able to understand, and remain silent.
I can understand the meaning of remaining quiet
When we speak we speak with thinking and understanding
The freedom to speak
Its meaning, I can understand
For a pathetic and measly employment
To sell our freedom, the meaning of that I can understand
But what can we do
When unemployment
Rises faster than the injustice
The dangers of freedom and unemployment, I understand
We narrowly escape the dangers of terror
I can understand
Why we escape and get saved, this too I can understand.
We remain disappointed and are pained by the Almighty if he does not just remain an imagination
We remain disappointed and are pained by the Government why it does not understand
We remain disappointed and pained by the common man because it succumbs to a herd mentality.
We remain pained by the pain of the entire world
I can understand
But how much we remain pained by this pain this too
I can understand
That opposition is the desired step to take
I can understand
At every step we make compromising understandings
I can understand
We make deep commitments for this understanding
Every deep commitment we present in ambiguous language
I can understand
The reason for this ambiguous language also
I understand.
Incidentally, we do not consider ourselves
Less than anyone, I can understand
Every black to white
And white to black we are capable of converting
We are capable of creating a storm in a tea cup
If we want we can start a revolution also
If the Government is weak and the common man understanding
But I can understand
That there is nothing that we can do
Why there is nothing that we can do
This too I can understand.