Ek Haseen Shaam Ko

रोज़ शाम आती थी मगर ऐसी ना थी

रोज़ रोज़ घटा छाती थी मगर ऐसी ना थी

ये आज मेरी ज़िंदगी मे कौन आ गया

~ मजरूह

शाम भी थी धुआँ धुआँ, 

इश्क़ भी था उदास उदास

दिल को कई कहानियाँ 

याद सी आके रह गयीं

~ फिराक़ गोरखपुरी

कोई आहट नहीं बदन की कहीं 
फिर भी लगता है तू यहीं है कहीं 
वक्त जाता सुनाई देता है
तेरा साया दिखाई देता है
जैसे खुशबू नज़र से छू जाए
सुरमई शाम इस तरह आये
सांस लेते हैं जिस तरह साये
 ~ गुलज़ार

कोई भी उसका राज ना जाने, 
एक हक़ीक़त लाख फसाने
एक ही जलवा शाम सबेरे 
भेस बदलकर सामने आए
पिघला है सोना दूर गगन पर
फैल रहें हैं शाम के साए

~ साहिर    

दोनो वक़्त मिलते हैं दो दिलों की सूरत से
आसमाँ ने खुश होकर रंग सा बिखेरा है
पर्बतों के पेड़ों पर शाम का बसेरा है
सुरमई उजाला है, चंपाई  अंधेरा है
~ साहिर

कहीं दूर जब दिन ढल जाए 
सांझ की दुल्हन बदन चुराए, 
चुपके से आए
मेरे ख़यालों के आँगन मे 
कोई सपनो के दीप जलाए, 
दीप जलाए
~ योगेश


एक रूठी हुई, तक़दीर जैसे कोई

खामोश ऐसे है तू, तस्वीर जैसे कोई

तेरी नज़र, बन के जुबां, लेकिन तेरे पैगाम दिए जाए

ये शाम मस्तानी, मदहोश किये जाए

मुझे डोर कोई खींचे, तेरी ओर लिए जाए

~ आनंद बक्शी

 

मेरी हस्ती पे कभी यूँ कोई छाया ही ना था

तेरे नज़दीक मैं पहले, कभी आया ही ना था

मैं हूँ धरती की तरह, तुम किसी बादल की तरह

शाम रंगीन हुयी है, तेरे आँचल की तरह

सुरमई रंग सजा है, तेरे काजल की तरह

~ कैफ़ी आज़मी

 

मेरे दिल के कारवाँ को
ले चला है आज कोई
शबनमी सी जिसकी आँखे
थोड़ी जागी थोड़ी सोई
उनको देखा तो मौसम सुहाना हो गया
एक हसीन शाम को दिल मेरा खो गया
~ राजा मेहदी अली ख़ान

Kahin Door... Capture 1: Rang Hai Kesariya Is Bhoomi Ka..

To begin this series, I would love to choose the fabulous Sunset moment that I witnessed from the Fort Kumbhalgarh in Rajasthan. 

Kumbhalgarh was one of the most impregnable fort of Indian history. Apart from a peripheral wall which extends to about 38 km in length, (and is the second longest wall in the world after great wall of China), conquering the fort was made further difficult due to its terrain and the bravery of Mewar warriors. I wonder as to what extent does the valour of Rana Pratap could be attributed to the fact that he was born here. 

While I stood transfixed, watching the setting Sun that evening, the sky soon turned  to the perfect shade of saffron, as if the entire hill was coming ablaze, paying homage to the courageous warriors of Mewar in Kesariya colours.

Across a couple of centuries, few thousands miles and a couple of oceans away, a poet must have seen something similar that evoked these verse: 

Softly the evening came. The sun from the western horizon

  Like a magician extended his golden want o'er the landscape;
    Trinkling vapors arose; and sky and water and forest
      Seemed all on fire at the touch, and melted and mingled together.

                - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline

Shaam Dhale...The Prelude

Surprised seeing some prose here? or is the right word, Alarmed?

Pray, do not be either, because this is just a forward to a particular series within this blog that I am about to start off over here - about the Sunsets.

One of the earliest memories of my childhood has me travelling in a Tonga with my grandmother on a rural-ish road somewhere near Kota, while the evening colours of a setting Sun provided a perfect sepia hue to the moment. Though there is some kind of a foot injury also associated with this, but kyunki hum filmi hain, this moment of flashback too somehow, also has a song associated to it somehow.

Despite my own doubts about the veracity of some parts of this memory, I think this is where my association and fascination with sunsets began.  To me somehow the sky, despite being so bright throughout the day, is never as attractive, dramatic and comfortable as it looks at twilight.  Over the years, at various stages of life, the sunset has always been a constant friend to me, a source of comfort in turbulent moments, a silent companion for my melancholy, adding colour to my romance and has always been there to shar my joyous moments.  

Over the last few years, with photography becoming a hobby & passion, the Sunset has always been one of the constant themes of my images. Be it a vacation with the family, a walk or just birding around, I have been striving to capture the various moods of a setting sun across all seasons. I think it is time for me to share this fascination of mine with all those who have been appreciating my love for nature & literature.

So I request your indulgence as I bring to you a regular montage, of moments, captured or yet to be captured by me, of twilight and sunsets- interspersed with some of the best verses, written over the centuries, by masters of words who, like me, were also enamored by the beauty of a Sunset – but with a difference – they could express it better! I am sure that the days to come, or rather evenings, will give me enough opportunities to bring to you more hues & shades that the nature is able to create as the Sun flows down the horizon.

Before bringing to you the first image, however, I would like to go back to the memory I wrote about – or rather specifically to the song that is somehow associated with that memory - a lovely composition with some wonderful poetry of Anand Bakshi from a movie - Pushpanjali:

Kabhi ruke kabhi chale Radha chori chori
Piya kahe aa, jiya kahe nahi gori
Sham dhale Jamuna kinare kinare
Aaja Radhe aaja tohe Shyam pukare

A Sunset Dream!

How fine has the day been!

How bright was the sun, How lovely and joyful the course that he run!

Though he rose in a mist when his race he begun,

And there followed some droppings of rain:

But now the fair traveller's come to the west,

His rays are all gold, and his beauties are best;

He paints the skies gay as he sinks to his rest,

And foretells a bright rising again.

~ Isaac Watts (1674-1748 AD) – a well known English hymn-writer, theologian & logician