How do you compare two blocks of poetry? Two pieces of poems that have striking similarities:
सब कुछ है अपने देस में रोटी नहीं तो क्या
वा'दा लपेट लो जो लंगोटी नहीं तो क्या
आलिम बड़े बड़े हैं तो लीडर गली गली
बारिश है अफ़सरों की तो दफ़्तर गली गली
शाइ'र अदीब और सुख़नवर गली गली
सुक़रात दर-ब-दर हैं सिकंदर गली गली
सब कुछ है अपने देस में रोटी नहीं तो क्या
This was penned by a poet whose recitation skills I wish I had. And he's amongst a select group of poets who can recite their poems in ways better than other professional reciters can. Shamsi Minai wrote these unforgettable lines to describe the typical atmosphere of election times.
हाकिम हैं ऐसे देश का क़ानून तोड़ दें
रिश्वत मिले तो क़त्ल के मुजरिम भी छोड़ दें ....
सर्जन हैं ऐसे पेट में औज़ार छोड़ दें
When I recited Bhupi Serchan's opening poem of his award-winning collection "घुम्ने मेचमाथि अन्धो मान्छे" called "मेरो चोक"
साँघुरो गल्लीमा मेरो चोक छ
यहाँ के छैन? सबथोक छ
असङ्ख्य रोग छ,
केवल हर्ष छैन,
यहा त्यसमाथि रोक छ
साँघुरो गल्लीमा मेरो चोक छ
यहाँ के छैन? सबथोक छ...
a an acquantance of mine asked me if I had read Shamsi Minai's "सब कुछ है अपने देस में रोटी नहीं तो क्या". Years later when I compared the two poems, one might have been the other's rendition- so much so that you wouldn't know which inspired which.
So how do we compare two poets and decide who is better? I have long ago given up on trying to decipher the meanings behind poems. I read them for what they are- delightful squiggles across the page that often mimic music.
Bhupi's music is something I live with, by, and for. He was the first writer whose work, after I had read it, hurt my soul so much so that sleep- that sister of death- evaded me, making me less dead of a dud than I would have been. Cigarettes and alcohol are some of the other things that often help in this cause. Whenever someone confronts me about these two supposed ills, I am quick to retort with Bhupi's final poem:
मैले पिएको मा रिसाएका साथी हरु
पिएर त हेर, पिउन झन गाह्रो छ
But this poem ends with Bhupi's contrarian position, as is the case with a lot of his other beliefs:
मरेर श हीद हुने हरु
जिएर त हेर,जिउन झन गाह्रो छ ।
Bhupi has to be one of the best in Nepalese poetry- he is, at least for me.
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