“We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.”
Dead Poet’s Society
What does euphoria feel like? I asked myself few years back, I read the definition which stated something like “intense excitement” but how intense, I was not satisfied with the answer. That question was answered yesterday only when I wrote Ghazal which was technically correct (in meter: which can be sung). Yeah, and I really felt like what intense meant in the dictionary. Its when you cannot sleep, continuously being elated about what you just wrote, and more than that the extreme satisfaction that you feel that yes you can do something more humane other than just coding. Every pursuit in life demands hard work and it has its own usefulness in society. But again, when you search for meaning of life, no quotation answer it better than one from this “Poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.”
My first Ghazal
On a personal level when I ask question that why haven’t I felt the same excitement before for other achievements as well? Its because it brings me emotionally closer to the people I love and care about. Completing 10 KM run, learning to swim for the first time, doing 20 push ups for first time were all the “firsts” in my life which bought elation but not as the same level as when I completed my first Ghazal. One of my close friend, when I shared the same recitation with him that I shared here, he started crying he said reading it make him remember how valuable people around him are. And once they are not here it is difficult to imagine life without them. Well I got my answer there right away, it is this precise humane touch which makes the moment very special. Other achievements were kind of selfish, with focus being just me and me alone. On the other hand, if I have written something which people can relate to and feel the love, sadness and emotions that I am trying to convey then it is different and worth more than anything.
मैं तो ग़ज़ल सुना के अकेला खड़ा रहा
सब अपने अपने चाहने वालों में खो गए
कृष्ण बिहारी नूर
Also, reading poetry especially Ghazals has made me more empathetic towards not just other people but myself as well. Understanding them more, if they are not happy then what might have been they going through in life. And beyond that the language of subtext that people speak, the unspoken language the one you to guess through their behavior or expressions. One of the best sher on sub text I like is by Habib Jalib:
जो हो न सकी बात वो चेहरों से अयाँ थी
हालात का मातम था मुलाक़ात कहाँ थी