Hasya Kavi Sammelan

Was looking for some interesting videos to watch on Youtube today, and landed up on a Hasya Kavi Sammelan video conducted in IIT KGP. That got me started into a journey into the past. My father has always been a great fan of Kavi Sammelan’s (literally, a congregation of poets), and as a kid we used to go for many performances during the festival seasons of Holi and Diwali.

Great thing about these are – unlike the idiot boxes of today – the poets would mix humour with social messages, the humour would be very clean and simple, weaved together using perfect verse and recited eloquently. Those days are now over – what we enjoy today is Big Boss, and stand up comedy where in most cases men dress up as women and act stupid (don’t get me wrong — that’s also fun and enjoyable, but these lack the depth).

So, here’s a peep into the past and a few verses I discovered today. I’ll start with Ashok Chakradhar in his brilliant Buddhe Bacche aka Galiyaan:

Moving next, the brilliant poet who creates humour with a straight face, Surendra Sharma:

Continuing the Haryanvi Streak of Humour, Arun Jemini:

No kavi sammelan is complete without a poem of the veer ras (war poetry), and presenting Hari Om Panwar:

Next up, is the grand old man, Shail Chaturvedi:

And thus, we come to the end of the ceremony with Shailesh Lodha, a young poet but worth a watch:

Thank you guys! And hope you enjoyed the show :)

Life of a Pawn

एक मोहरे का सफ़र

जब वो कम उम्र ही था
उसने ये जान लिया था की अगर जीना है
बड़ी चालाकी से जीना होगा
आँख की आखि़री हद तक है बिसाते-हस्ती
और वो मामूली सा इक मोहरा है
एक इक खा़ना बहुत सोच के चलना होगा
बाज़ी आसन नहीं थी उसकी
दूर तक चारों तरफ़ फैले थे
मोहरे
जल्लाद
निहायत सफ़्फा़क
सख़्त बेरहम
बहुत ही चालाक
अपने क़्ब्ज़े में लिए
पूरी बिसात
उसके हिस्से में फ़क़्त मात लिए

वो जिधर जाता
उसे मिलता था
हर नया खा़ना नई घात लिए
वो मगर बचता रहा
चलता रहा
एक घर
दूसरा घर
तीसरा घर
पास आया कभी औरों के
कभी दूर हुआ
वो मगर बचता रहा
चलता रहा
गो की मामूली सा मोहरा था मगर जीत गया
यूं वो इक रोज़ बड़ा मोहरा बना
अब वो महफूज़ है एक खाने में
इतना महफूज़ कि दुश्मन तो अलग
दोस्त भी पास नहीं आ सकते

उसके इक हाथ में है जीत उसकी
दूसरे हाथ में तनहाई है |

Brilliantly written by Javed Akhtar. Check the original (there’s some help for tougher words as well).