A long over-due acknowledgement and thanks giving

 

Vrinda, our daughter, fondly addressed as Anu by us all, celebrated Golden Jubilee of her birthday on 2^nd November 2024. Her husband Nikhil and a coterie of their friends were eager to make it an occasion to cherish. They do tend to think out of the box. Accordingly, they  connived to surprise Anu with a bash on 1^st November, the eve of her birthday. They roped in Nitika-Nishka, Tinu- Anshu & Iraa-Reeva, Nitin-Anjali & daughters, Praveen & Veenu to be part of the fun. Nikhil, being very caring, respectful and meticulous, made it a point to ensure that his parents viz. Shri R C Khattar & Mrs. Sharda Khattar and Vrinda’s parents  that is Mrs. Kanta Chhokra her mother and myself her father. A wonderful humorous skit written and enacted by Nitika and Nishka brought the house down. Best wishes through video messages from Tinu & family, Nitin & family and Praveen & Veenu livened up the occasion. And Nikhil’s emotional speech laced with humour befitting the occasion heightened the mirth of the celebrations.

 When I was given the opportunity to speak, I took it gratefully because I saw it as an occasion to express my gratitude to God, an acknowledgement of his boon and metamorphosis that came into my life with the arrival of Vrinda into our lives. I made a brief speech which was perhaps not in the line of the intended milieu and my reputation of making funny speeches. However, the tone and tenor of the speech that I gave was intentional and was not influenced by any opinion of anyone else. Here is how it goes(went)

 I was born in 1943 in Lyallpur which is now in Pakistan. In 1947, like millions of others, we were uprooted from our native place and finally took refuge in Jalandhar. The life of my family including my own during the years between 1947 and 1964 was a quite a grind but our resilience helped us. We survived various kinds of experiences and hardships. But the year 1964 turned a new leaf for us. My elder brother left on Work Visa for greener pastures in England while I got selected in the prestigious Training School of BARC then known as AEET. I could successfully withstand the rigours of the course of training as a physicist.

When on the successful completion of training, I got appointed in   BARC in 1965 as a Scientific Officer, my paternal family was very happy and felt very proud. I too was very proud, happy and contented with my achievements which were not mean by any standard that a middle class family sets for itself. But my elation was very short-lived and it soon turned into despondency. The primary cause of this bitterness was a very hostile attitude and nearly sadistic trait of my immediate superior and the apathy of the higher authorities. I felt like a bonded labourer. Because of various reasons, I could not quit at that time. The ingrained resilience counselled me to lie low and bide time which I did. The patience paid. I even got a nominal promotion. Then a big change occurred in my life which turned out to be harbinger of pride, confidence and happiness.  In year 1971, I got married to Ms. Kanta Sethi. This brought stability in my thinking and general attitude by instilling a sense of responsibility. The things changed and changed for the better.

 

And then CAME the change, the biggest of them all. It was a boon that we, Ms. Kanta and myself, got from God. We got blessed with our daughter Vrinda whom we fondly address by her pet name Anu. I am happy and proud to declare that 2^nd November 1974 is the happiest day of my life, Kanta ji will also concur and corroborate the same.

 

Up to the time before the arrival of Anu, I had almost resigned to the escapist tendency that my destiny would decide the course of my life, which seemed to lack a sense of purpose and direction.

This finds expression in the following poem titled 

मेरा उम्र भर का सफ़र राएगाँ  गया

 

क़िस्सा-ए-हस्त-ओ-बूद​ मेरा बेबयां गया

मेरा उम्र भर का सफ़र राएगाँ  गया

मन्ज़िल थी सामने रसता भी साफ़ था

फिर भी न उस समत मेरा कारवां गया

तेरी जुस्तजू में जाना भटका हूं दर-ब-दर​

मायूसी हाथ आई मैं चाहे जहां गया

तुम न  थे साथ  फिर भी तन्हा नहीं रहा

तेरा अक्स साथ आया मैं जहां जहां गया

दुश्मन को भी न  मैने कभी बददुआएं दीं

फिर क्या हुआ कि दुश्मन हो आस्मां गया​

मैने न जाने कितने हवाई क़ले बनाये

लेकिन यहां ज़मीं पर मैं ला-मकां गया

 And when Vrinda descended into our lives, my mindset changed and has changed to more optimism and the heightened zeal and zest for life as follows

अब वजह मिल ग​ई है जीने की

जाम यह ज़िन्दगी का पीने की

आखिरी बूंद तक मज़ा लेंगे

आबरु रखेंगे आब गीने की

 Both me and my wife are thankful to God for giving us this wonderful gift of our daughter Vrinda. And we are thankful to God and Vrinda for gifting us our wonderful grand daughters Nitika and Nishka. And we are thankful to God and Vrinda because of whom we got to be blessed with a wonderful Son-in-Law Nikhil. And we are forever obliged and thankful to Mr. R C Khattar and Ms Sharda Khattar who were blessed by God with a wonderful son Nikhil who in turn established an everlasting bond between them and us.

 We must thank all the friends and well wishers of Vrinda and Nikhil for the love and affection they shower on all the Khattar family and on me and my wife.

It is with utmost love and affection that we pray to God for bestowing the best of everything on our dearest daughter Anu for many many more years to come. We wish her many happy returns of the day.

 

Happy Golden Jubilee - Dearest Vrinda 

 

कैसे हो पाएगा

ज़िन्दगी के उधार बाक़ी हैं

चन्द नहीं बेशुमार बाक़ी हैं

कितने वादे अभी अधूरे हैं 

कितने कौल ओ करार बाक़ी है

हसरतें आरज़ूएं तमन्नाएं

ख्वाहिशें सद हज़ार बाक़ी हैं

दिल में अरमान हूक देते हैं 

रन्जिशों के ग़ुबार बाक़ी हैं

अनगिनत काम अब भी करने हैं 

साँसें गिनती की चार बाक़ी हैं

सफ़र ज़िन्दगी का जारी है

 

सफ़र ज़िन्दगी का जारी है

खतम होने की इन्तेज़ारी है

और कितनी दूर जाना है

कुछ न इसकी जानकारी है

 

मुद्दतें बीत ग​ईं चलते हुए

गिरते पड़ते संभलते हुए

बोझ हस्ती का हुआ भारी है

 

आंख धुंधली पांव में छाले हैं

अंजर पंजर ढीले ढाले हैं

सांस तक लेने में दुश्वारी है

 मेरा उम्र भर का सफ़र राएगाँ  गया

क़िस्सा-ए-हस्त-ओ-बूद​ मेरा बेबयां गया

मेरा उम्र भर का सफ़र राएगाँ  गया

मन्ज़िल थी सामने रसता भी साफ़ था

फिर भी न उस समत मेरा कारवां गया

तेरी जुस्तजू में जाना भटका हूं दर-ब-दर​

मायूसी हाथ आई मैं चाहे जहां गया

तुम न  थे साथ  फिर भी तन्हा नहीं रहा

तेरा अक्स साथ आया मैं जहां जहां गया

दुश्मन को भी न  मैने कभी बददुआएं दीं

फिर क्या हुआ कि दुश्मन हो आस्मां गया​

मैने न जाने कितने हवाई क़ले बनाये

लेकिन यहां ज़मीं पर मैं ला-मकां गया

Prayer in despair

 

दुआ और इल्तिजा

ज़िंदगी से नजात मिल जाए,

है यही रोज़ की दुआ मेरी

मेहरबां वो जो सबकी सुनता है,

कब सुनेगा इल्तिजा मेरी

इब्तिदा ही से मुझको शुबह था,

अच्छी होगी न इन्तिहा मेरी

मुझको जबरन हयात ले लाई,

मुझसे पूछी नहीं रज़ा मेरी

रात दिन इंतिज़ार करता हूं,

लेने आएगी कब क़ज़ा मेरी

जिस्म खस्ता है पर नहीं तजती,

रूह अजब है बावफ़ा मेरी

क़ैद तो चार दिन की थी​ लेकिन

ख़त्म होती नहीं सज़ा मेरी

रु-ब-रु आएं वो तो दम निकले,

कैसे पंहुचेगी  वां  सदा मेरी

उनका शैदा हूं उनको इल्म नहीं

बात मानेंगे क्यों भला मेरी

मैंने तौबा शराब से कर ली,

ज़ीस्त हो गई बद-मज़ा मेरी

दोस्त अहबाब हैं खफ़ा मुझ से,

ऐसी दुश्मन हुई सलाह मेरी

Lohri and Baisakhi - Windows to a Punjabi's Life

During my search for the article on 'Sundar Mundriye', I  serendipitously came across some more  articles, that I had penned for the 'News Letter' of Punjabi Biradari. One of the articles is  on the festival of 'Lohri' and  another on the festival of 'Baisakhi'. The significance of these two festivals is not lost on any Punjabi worth his salt. Thousands and thousands of articles and volumes after volumes have been written on the origin and import of these two  festivals which are typical for Punjabis.  Yet, I had shown the temerity to write about them with a purpose and in my own way. I would not let go the opportunity of exposing them to a wider audience and readership which is afforded by modern devices such as  blogs. 

Here are the copies of the articles. Since the documents are very old, quality of the scans is nothing  to write home about.  Other minor mistakes and omissions  wrt spellings and grammar  may also be observed. These may please be condoned.  

Consider what Iqbal said

माना कि तेरी दीद के क़ाबिल नहीं हूँ मैं

तू मेरा शौक़ देख मिरा इंतिज़ार देख