Mian

Last post for today I swear (this is now like a torrent and is a happy less public outpouring compared to what I'd have done on twitter).

a poem I've been thinking about a lot - here:

Manash Firaq Bhattacharjee

NO URDU IN DILLI, MIAN

For Akhlaq Ahmad and Swen Simon

You can’t write Urdu

On Dilli’s walls, Mian1

There’s a saffron lock

On your zuban2, Mian

Horsemen of all faith

Plundered Dilli’s rūḥ3,

They only blame it on

Your ancestors, Mian

From Bīdel to Ghalib

Run rosaries in Urdu,

They embalm history

With rare attar4, Mian

You outlaw a tongue

By policing the wall?

The gardens, the air,

Breathe Urdu, Mian

In the heart of Dilli

Graves speak Urdu,

Even parrots, dusk,

And my jigar5, Mian

Notes:

1 Respectful address of a Muslim

2 Tongue

3 Soul

4 Fragrance made of rose petals

5 Liver, Shakespeare’s “seat of passion”