Click here for background and on any passage for word meanings and explanatory discussion. ashok lal (xxxx-living) dehli. urdu poet, playwrite, screen writer, theatre director. His father, vinod lal taalib was an urdu poet and his mother was a hindi writer and poet. Their house had frequent gatherings of poetry recitation. Two of his older pramod lal yakta and subodh lal saaqi are poets also featured on urdushahkar. All three are committed secularists. ashok lal’s collection of poems is titled ‘raushnaaii’.
1
raghupati¹ raaghav² raaja raam
patit³ paavan⁴ siita raam   1.head of house of raghu (ram’s ancestor) 2.descendent of raghu 3.fallen 4.pure
O, raaja raam, the descendent of raghu, the head of his house, uplifter of the fallen.
2
tulsi¹ ki ramayan ke
raam ki liila² vaale raam
bachpan meN the dost meray
aur laRakpan meN ham-jaam³      1.tulsidas, who wrote ramcharitmaanas 2.pageant, drama 3.drinking out of the same cup
The poet recalls with fondness his early memories of raam from tulsidas’s book where he is depicted as gentle and loving character. He remembers raam from the pageantry of raam-liila, performed as a folk festival. This character was his friend in childhood and companion in boyhood.
3
qasbe¹ qasbe nagar nagar
jahaaN bhi le pahuNche ayyaam²
naam tumhaara chalta tha
ban jaate the bigRe kaam   1.neighbourhood 2.days/life
Wherever life took us, into whatever neighbourhood or town, you were known and faith in you solved our problems.
4
des to kya pardes¹ meN bhi
hamraahi² the tum har gaam³
mile jakarta meN bhi tum
liila meN ban kar islam⁴      1.other/foreign land 2.companion 3.step 4.a person by the name of mohammed islam
The poet traveled to Jakarta/Indonesia and saw raam-liila being performed. A local person by the name of mohammed islam played the role of raam.
5
desh jo lauTa¹ phir na mile
DhooNDa tum ko har ek dhaam²
pata chala ki qaid³ ho tum
chaaroN taraf tirshool⁴ ka daam⁵     1.returned 2.place, home 3.imprisoned 4.trident, three pronged spear 5.price
The trishool these days is a potent symbol of hindutva extremism and is displayed aggressively. The poet returned home but could not find the loving raam of his childhood memories. He learnt that that raam was imprisoned surrounded by trishool.
6
rath-yaatra¹ meN maare gaye
raam ki liila vaale raam
aur december chhe² ke baa’d
jis jaa³ dekho qatl-e-aam⁴     1.chariot procession (this one was led by lal kishan advani and eventually led to the destruction of the babari masjid) 2.December 6^th, when the masjid was destroyed 3.place, direction 4.mass murder
The loving raam of his memories, the inclusive raam of raam-liila was killed in the (political) rath-yaatra and after Decemeber 6^th, whichever direction one looked, there was mass murder.
7
raghupati¹ raaghav² raaja raam
patit³ paavan⁴ siita raam   1.head of house of raghu (ram’s ancestor) 2.descendent of raghu 3.fallen 4.pure
O, raaja raam, the descendent of raghu, the head of his house, uplifter of the fallen.