डंका: एक कविता

[FOREWORD: The title of this post would till now have mystified all the non-English admirers of this blog (I believe there are none), but if you are stumped, then I regret I'll have to leave you at that. This is my first dab at Hindi poetry, and bear with me if some words or phrases seem out of place. Without further agonising ado, I commence...]


देखो रे देखो साथियों,
आया ये कैसा समय.
जो हो गया सो हो गया,
अब जीत लो ये भय.

हो ना शहीद जो युद्ध में,
वह है बड़ा बदकिस्मत.
यह हाँथ-पैर हैं कुछ नहीं,
जो है सो वो है हिम्मत.

कर दो अगर जी जान से,
यह एक बार की खिदमत,
तो यह खुदा भी मान जाए,
अपना जूनून है बेहद!

कट जायेंगे सर भी अगर,
मुड़ने ना पाएं कदम.
चोटें तो खा लेंगे मगर,
पीठों को ना हो भनक.

यह तीर ताकतवर नहीं,
कर ना सका है असर.
इंसान तो मर जायेंगे,
पर हौंसला है अमर.

-रामधारी सिंह 'दिनकर' द्वारा रचित 'रश्मिरथी' से प्रेरित

Great Man's Dilemma: A Poem

[Not much seems to be rhyming in my very first and modest try at poetry. I hope this sudden upsurge of thoughts moves the reader as much as the writer]


I stand on the head of the hillock today,
It splits my past and future;
I stand in such a wary stance,
that I face none of the either.

On my left, have I, a gleaming past,
where the sun beams down at me;
but the right side has a day overcast,
only haze it has to offer.

I take a step towards my right,
and my limbs don't seem to waver,
I know it'll be an uncertain path,
but pray, do I have a choice?

Sooner or later, my grave awaits,
my corpse draped in white cotton.
But that shouldn't make me change my mind,
Because time I have in ample.

If my one step does change my fate,
and that of a million others,
I care not what is uncertain,
I care not what is fear.

Because change is change,
whether good or bad,
It happens for the better.
And so I plunge from the top-most point,
into my hazy future.

I know the odds are ten to one,
I know success is bleak.
O God I know that I might fail,
But jumping is what matters!


-B.M.