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href="/web/20150711151020/http://www.caravanmagazine.in/fiction-poetry/poetry">Poetry</a></div> <h2>'Dara Shikoh' and Other Poems</h2> <div class="clear-block"> <style> .description, .form-required{ display:none; } </style> <script> jQuery(function ($) { $('#read-more-modal').click(function (e) { $('#basic-modal-content').modal(); return false; }); }); </script> <div id="basic-modal-content"> <div> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150711151020im_/http://www.caravanmagazine.in/sites/all/themes/caravanmag/images/cvn_login_modal_header.png" style="width:100%;"> </div> <div class="modal-bottom-row-container"> <div class="modal-bottom-column-left"> <a style="color:white;" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150711151020/http://www.caravanmagazine.in/user/register?destination=welcome-caravan"><button class="button-modal-register">REGISTER HERE</button></a> <img 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height:220px; left:0px; top:0px; padding:0px; background-image:url(http://www.caravanmagazine.in/sites/default/files/full_story_popup.gif); border:0px solid #B1470D; z-index: 899;'><div style='height:25px;padding-top: 5px; color:#990000;'><div style='float:right; padding:4px;'><a href='#' style='cursor:hand;' onclick='return floatingMenu.hide()'><img src='https://web.archive.org/web/20150711151020/http://www.caravanmagazine.in/sites/default/files/close.gif' style='border:none;' /></a></div></div><a href='https://web.archive.org/web/20150711151020/http://www.magzter.com/IN/Delhi-Press/The-Caravan/News/' target='_blank' style='cursor:hand;'> <div style='height:190px;'></div></a></div>"); } </script> <div class="subhheading"><a href="/web/20150711151020/http://www.caravanmagazine.in/poetry/dara-shikoh-and-other-poems"></a></div><div class="authorndate">By <a href="/web/20150711151020/http://www.caravanmagazine.in/profile/640">Abhay K.</a> | <span class="date-display-single">1 May 2014</span></div><div class="full-image-view"><div class="show-image" style="display:block"><div class="f-image"><a rel="lightbox[lightbox_full_image][<br /><br /><a class="lb-credit"> </a>]" title="" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150711151020/http://www.caravanmagazine.in/sites/default/files/imagecache/lightbox_full_image/poetry_may2014.jpg"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150711151020im_/http://www.caravanmagazine.in/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_carousel/poetry_may2014.jpg" alt="" title="" width="314" height="435" class="imagecache imagecache-story_carousel"/></a></div><div class="f-credit"></div><div class="f-caption"></div></div><div class="show-image-7583" style="display:none"><div class="f-image"><a rel="lightbox[lightbox_full_image][<br /><br /><a class="lb-credit"> </a>]" title="" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150711151020/http://www.caravanmagazine.in/sites/default/files/imagecache/lightbox_full_image/poetry_may2014.jpg"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150711151020im_/http://www.caravanmagazine.in/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_carousel/poetry_may2014.jpg" alt="" title="" width="314" height="435" class="imagecache imagecache-story_carousel"/></a></div><div class="f-credit"></div><div class="f-caption"></div></div></div> <div class="share-with"> <span class="st_facebook_hcount" displaytext="Facebook"></span> <span class="st_twitter_hcount" displaytext="Tweet"></span>  <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150711151020js_/https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js"></script>  <g:plusone href="http://www.caravanmagazine.in/poetry/dara-shikoh-and-other-poems"></g:plusone> <div class="print-email"><a href="/web/20150711151020/http://www.caravanmagazine.in/print/4434">Print</a>|<a href="/web/20150711151020/http://www.caravanmagazine.in/printmail/4434">E-Mail</a>|</div><div class="single-paged">Single Page</div></div> <script type="text/javascript">var switchTo5x=false;</script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150711151020js_/http://w.sharethis.com/button/buttons.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript">stLight.options({publisher:'8014eb0d-feae-4f08-9056-b8b78a153569'});</script> <div class="fullpage-body"><div class="detailBody"><div class="view view-story-page-views view-id-story_page_views view-display-id-block_1 view-dom-id-1"> <div class="view-content"> <div class="views-row views-row-1 views-row-odd views-row-first views-row-last"> <div class="views-field-body"> <div class="field-content"><p><strong>ABOUT THE POEMS</strong> Central Delhi now seems merely a neatly laid out city of government abutting the old walled city. But in and around the architectural work of Lutyens one may imagine the ghosts of many governments past. In these poems by Abhay Kumar, a cavalcade of disenchanted spectres walk the streets of Delhi, and the long passage of centuries has not diminished the regret or rancour of their thoughts. Till time itself has come to an end, it appears, they will continue to broadcast their claims about legitimacy, treachery, history and fate.</p> <p>Side by side, in another landscape, Russia, the souls of Nikolai Gogol and Fyodor Dostoevsky wander, one dispersed amongst his fictional creations, the other towering like a colossus over his own body of work and aflame with the drama of both life and literature.</p> <p><br/> <strong>Dara Shikoh</strong></p> <p>I wander the streets of Delhi<br/> seeking my name<br/> Dara—the scholar, the Sufi<br/> Shahjahan’s licit heritor<br/> I was trapped and assassinated<br/> by my own treacherous brother</p> <p>I see, masters of Delhi<br/> have named streets<br/> after murderous Aurangzeb<br/> but Dara Shikoh<br/> the people’s prince<br/> no one remembers, no one cares.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Ghalib</strong></p> <p><em>Na tha kuchh to khuda tha, kuchch na hota to khuda hota,<br/> Duboya mujhko hone ne, na hota main to kya hota?</em></p> <p><em>(When there was nothing there was God, if there had been nothing there would have been God,<br/> Being has ruined me, if I did not exist what would have been?)</em></p> <p>Months of journey<br/> on bullock-cart, palki, boat<br/> tonga, ekka and what not<br/> Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow,<br/> Allahabad, Banaras, Banda,<br/> Patna, Murshidabad,<br/> finally Calcutta, then endless wait<br/> to petition Lord Amherst—<br/> ‘double my paltry pension (of rupees sixty two)’</p> <p>I returned Shahjahanbad<br/> scorned, derided<br/> my family debt-ridden<br/> my dignity robbed<br/> my brother died in my arms<br/> none of my sons survived<br/> I turned into a stone wrapped in human skin<br/> then came the worst<br/> the massacre of Delhi<br/> my friends were butchered<br/> I alone survived<br/> to take down their corpses hanging<br/> from the trees, the lamp-posts<br/> to usher them into their graves<br/> to lament my destiny.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Iltutmish</strong></p> <p>Raised heads in awe<br/> murmur, hushed voices, sighs of relief<br/> in admiration of the Qutub<br/> I, the Slave King<br/> calmly quiver in my tomb<br/> in oblivion.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Zauq</strong></p> <p>Cynosure of the eyes<br/> of the last Mughal<br/> the lion’s rival<br/> the poet-laureate of Delhi<br/> time is the greatest judge<br/> it has judged Ghalib the best<br/> I accept it<br/> turning in my grave.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Gogol</strong></p> <p>Your long nose<br/> and even longer overcoat<br/> still wander<br/> at odd hours<br/> on the Nevsky Prospect<br/> guarded by an army of dead souls,<br/> are you still enamoured<br/> with heaven<br/> on a marshy land?<br/> Why disguise yourself<br/> as an inspector general,<br/> a police chief,<br/> or a lowly clerk,<br/> don’t you know<br/> the tsars and communists have left<br/> St Petersburg?</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Dostoevsky</strong></p> <p>Harrowing prophet,<br/> impassioned, irrational<br/> sick and spiteful<br/> how could I be otherwise<br/> my father murdered by his own serfs<br/> I and my Petrashevskian friends<br/> arrested for treason<br/> sentenced to death<br/> to face the deadly bullets of the firing squad<br/> I miraculously escaped<br/> seconds before triggers were pulled<br/> was shipped off to Siberia<br/> for metamorphosis, to live<br/> in the house of the dead<br/> I came out a believer<br/> to return the world to God<br/> I fought heroic battles on blank pages<br/> with an army of charismatic devils, saintly prostitutes, mystic terrorists<br/> possessed idiots and deadly demons in a fallen world<br/> I became tormented Raskolnikov,<br/> chafed Stavrogin and atheist Ivan Karamazov.</p></div> </div> <div class="views-field-phpcode"> <span class="field-content"><div class="shortbioview"><p><strong>Abhay K. </strong>is an Indian poet-diplomat whose idea of an official Earth anthem has been hailed by UNESCO as a thought that could contribute to bringing the world together. Winner of the SAARC Literary Award 2013, he is the author of five collections of poems and two memoirs. His website is at <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150711151020/http://www.abhayk.com/" target="_blank">www.abhayk.com</a>.</p> </div></span> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div></div><div class="detail-body"><div class="detailBody"><p><strong>ABOUT THE POEMS</strong> Central Delhi now seems merely a neatly laid out city of government abutting the old walled city. But in and around the architectural work of Lutyens one may imagine the ghosts of many governments past. In these poems by Abhay Kumar, a cavalcade of disenchanted spectres walk the streets of Delhi, and the long passage of centuries has not diminished the regret or rancour of their thoughts. Till time itself has come to an end, it appears, they will continue to broadcast their claims about legitimacy, treachery, history and fate.</p> <p>Side by side, in another landscape, Russia, the souls of Nikolai Gogol and Fyodor Dostoevsky wander, one dispersed amongst his fictional creations, the other towering like a colossus over his own body of work and aflame with the drama of both life and literature.</p> <p><br/> <strong>Dara Shikoh</strong></p> <p>I wander the streets of Delhi<br/> seeking my name<br/> Dara—the scholar, the Sufi<br/> Shahjahan’s licit heritor<br/> I was trapped and assassinated<br/> by my own treacherous brother</p> <p>I see, masters of Delhi<br/> have named streets<br/> after murderous Aurangzeb<br/> but Dara Shikoh<br/> the people’s prince<br/> no one remembers, no one cares.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Ghalib</strong></p> <p><em>Na tha kuchh to khuda tha, kuchch na hota to khuda hota,<br/> Duboya mujhko hone ne, na hota main to kya hota?</em></p> <p><em>(When there was nothing there was God, if there had been nothing there would have been God,<br/> Being has ruined me, if I did not exist what would have been?)</em></p> <p>Months of journey<br/> on bullock-cart, palki, boat<br/> tonga, ekka and what not<br/> Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow,<br/> Allahabad, Banaras, Banda,<br/> Patna, Murshidabad,<br/> finally Calcutta, then endless wait<br/> to petition Lord Amherst—<br/> ‘double my paltry pension (of rupees sixty two)’</p> <p>I returned Shahjahanbad<br/> scorned, derided<br/> my family debt-ridden<br/> my dignity robbed<br/> my brother died in my arms<br/> none of my sons survived<br/> I turned into a stone wrapped in human skin<br/> then came the worst<br/> the massacre of Delhi<br/> my friends were butchered<br/> I alone survived<br/> to take down their corpses hanging<br/> from the trees, the lamp-posts<br/> to usher them into their graves<br/> to lament my destiny.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Iltutmish</strong></p> <p>Raised heads in awe<br/> murmur, hushed voices, sighs of relief<br/> in admiration of the Qutub<br/> I, the Slave King<br/> calmly quiver in my tomb<br/> in oblivion.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Zauq</strong></p> <p>Cynosure of the eyes<br/> of the last Mughal<br/> the lion’s rival<br/> the poet-laureate of Delhi<br/> time is the greatest judge<br/> it has judged Ghalib the best<br/> I accept it<br/> turning in my grave.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Gogol</strong></p> <p>Your long nose<br/> and even longer overcoat<br/> still wander<br/> at odd hours<br/> on the Nevsky Prospect<br/> guarded by an army of dead souls,<br/> are you still enamoured<br/> with heaven<br/> on a marshy land?<br/> Why disguise yourself<br/> as an inspector general,<br/> a police chief,<br/> or a lowly clerk,<br/> don’t you know<br/> the tsars and communists have left<br/> St Petersburg?</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Dostoevsky</strong></p> <p>Harrowing prophet,<br/> impassioned, irrational<br/> sick and spiteful<br/> how could I be otherwise<br/> my father murdered by his own serfs<br/> I and my Petrashevskian friends<br/> arrested for treason<br/> sentenced to death<br/> to face the deadly bullets of the firing squad<br/> I miraculously escaped<br/> seconds before triggers were pulled<br/> was shipped off to Siberia<br/> for metamorphosis, to live<br/> in the house of the dead<br/> I came out a believer<br/> to return the world to God<br/> I fought heroic battles on blank pages<br/> with an army of charismatic devils, saintly prostitutes, mystic terrorists<br/> possessed idiots and deadly demons in a fallen world<br/> I became tormented Raskolnikov,<br/> chafed Stavrogin and atheist Ivan Karamazov.</p> </div></div><div class="shortbioview"><p><strong>Abhay K. </strong>is an Indian poet-diplomat whose idea of an official Earth anthem has been hailed by UNESCO as a thought that could contribute to bringing the world together. Winner of the SAARC Literary Award 2013, he is the author of five collections of poems and two memoirs. His website is at <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150711151020/http://www.abhayk.com/" target="_blank">www.abhayk.com</a>.</p> </div> <div class="paging"></div> <div class="text-size-bottom"> <div class="views-as">View as</div><div class="single-paged">Single Page</div></div> <div class="story-tags"> <div class="story-block1"><div class="view view-story-related-tag view-id-story_related_tag view-display-id-block_1 view-dom-id-2"> <div class="view-header"> <h3 class="subject-heading">More From This Section</h3> </div> <div class="view-content"> <div class="views-row views-row-1 views-row-odd views-row-first"> <div class="views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/web/20150711151020/http://www.caravanmagazine.in/poetry/banaras">Banaras</a></span> </div> </div> <div class="views-row views-row-2 views-row-even"> <div class="views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a 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<div class="views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/web/20150711151020/http://www.caravanmagazine.in/reportage/battle-bihar-jitan-ram-manjhi-caste-politics">The Battle for Bihar</a></span> </div> <div class="views-field-field-story-dop-value"> <span class="field-content"><div class="story-created">By <span class="by"><a href="/web/20150711151020/http://www.caravanmagazine.in/profile/9882">PRIYANKA DUBEY</a></span> | <span class="date-display-single">1 July 2015</span></div></span> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="block-views-story_datails-block_1" class="clear-block block block-views"> <h2><a href="/web/20150711151020/http://www.caravanmagazine.in/opinions" class="block-title-link">OPINIONS</a></h2> <div class="content"><div class="view view-story-datails view-id-story_datails view-display-id-block_1 view-dom-id-3"> <div class="view-content"> <div class="views-row views-row-1 views-row-odd views-row-first views-row-last"> <div 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