बन कर जुगनू

जब रात होती है सबसे स्याह
होती नहीं आशा की किरण
बन कर जुगनू आती हो तुम

जब जीवन लगने लगे वीरान
अर्थहीन, नीरस और रंगहीन
बन कर ख़ुशबू आती हो तुम

दिन भर की आपाधापी में
मिलते हैं कितने ही आघात
बन कर चन्दन आती हो तुम

नहीं रहे जब कोई पूर्वाग्रह
हो चुका हूँ सपनों से आज़ाद
बन कर बंधन आती हो तुम

In response to: Reena’s Exploration Challenge # 110

13 thoughts on “बन कर जुगनू”

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  3. English translation

    In the darkest nights
    Without a ray of hope
    -You shine like a firefly

    In the emptiness of life
    sans meaning, joy or color
    -You enter as fragrance

    In the busyness of life
    I take many blows, but
    -You refresh like sandalwood

    I surrender presumptions
    give up fantasies of togetherness
    -You envelop me in bonds

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Thanks Reena ! Fireflies are magical creatures… one has to experience them firsthand… the only time I saw them was on a trip to Dehradun… the metaphor of Jugnu is much more prominently used in Hindi than in English… there’s a whole genre of Punjabi poetry inspired by this magical creature, called “Jugni”….

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      2. some information on the genre “jugni”:

        Jugni is an age-old narrative device used in Punjabi folk music and sung at Punjabi weddings in India, Pakistan, US, Canada, Australia and UK. The word literally means ‘Female Firefly’, in folk music it stands in for the poet-writer who uses Jugni as an innocent observer to make incisive, often humorous, sometimes sad but always touching observations.

        In spiritual poetry Jugni means the spirit of life, or essence of life. Alam Lohar (Punjab, Pakistan) and after Alam Lohar the singer and humorist Asa Singh Mastana (Punjab, India) is also credited with popularizing this poetry from early Sufi spiritual writings and then subsequently later on it was transformed by other singers as a female girl just like prefixes like Preeto.

        Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jugni

        Liked by 1 person

  5. Pingback: Reena’s Exploration Challenge #111 – Reena Saxena

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