"Waris Shah"

63 years ago, modern South Asia went through its liberating, but bloody, birth. Lest we forget that over a million people died at the moment the modern nations of India and Pakistan were born: this heartbreakingly beautiful poem by Amrita Pritam (recited by Gulzar).


(link and some verses after the jump)

I know almost no Punjabi, but this poem is incredibly touching and I would like to put up a good readable translation, if you can help me! These are a few of the verses that really, really grab me by the collar every time I listen to them, and shake me out of my torpor. (Have I mentioned I know no Punjabi? Thank goodness for Bhai Maya Singh's Punjabi-English dictionary!)

Aj aakhaan Waris Shah nu, kitton qabraan vichchon bol,

Te aj kitaab-e ishq da koi agla warqa phol

Today I tell Waris Shah: "Speak from inside your grave, and open up another page of the book of love!"

Ik royi si dhee Punjab di, tu likh likh maare vaen,

Aj lakkhaan dhiyaan rondiyaan, tainu Waris Shah nu kahen

"A daughter of the Punjab wept; you poured out a lament for her. Today hundreds of thousands of daughters are wailing, speaking to you, Waris Shah:"

Ve dard-mandiyaan de dardiya, uth tak apna Punjab,

Aj bele laashaan vicchiyaan, te lahoo di bhari Chenab

"Arise, you who feel the pain of the tormented, and look at your Punjab, at the corpses spread out today, at the Chenab filled with blood!"

As context, Amrita Pritam composed this while fleeing from Lahore to Amritsar, while watching innocents being slaughtered on both sides by both sides during the Partition of the Punjab. The man named in the poem, Waris Shah, is one of the greatest ever poets of the Punjabi language. He composed Heer Ranjha in the 17th century (I think), which is one of the great tragic romances of the region, the equivalent of Leyla and Majnoon. This brings even greater poignancy to the lament of the daughters of the Punjab.


Mekaal Hasan Band have set some of the verses of this beautiful, heart-breaking song to music in their album, Saptak. It's gorgeous.





Lest we forget.