Eh na samjheen main taan sirf likhaari haan.
Har pal badiyan di jarr kattdi aari haan.
Geet, ghazal te kavita likhna shauk nahin,
Dharam pachhaanan vargi zimmedaari haan.
Je mera ikk shabad kade vi dole taan,
Main mujrim haan, laanat da adhikaari haan.
While moving through today’s society, one feels as if silence has spread over life like a parasitic vine and is hollowing human beings from within. The noise of silence passes over the deaf ears of the mind. This tragedy is drying up, and consuming, the very roots of life’s colors, joys, and mutual love. These lines by Gurbhajan Gill create, in a beautiful way, a dialogue with readers around this anxiety and reflection:
Hothan utton chupp de jandre kholh dia kar.
Man mastak vich jo vi aave bol dia kar.
Tuun dharti di dhee hain lekha maavan dheean,
Maan di bukkal beh ke dukh sukh pholh dia kar.
Jo aaya so chalsi sabh koi aai vaari ai.
No one can deny this truth of life. And yet, when loved ones who dwell in the soul depart, they never really leave completely. Some part of them remains in our hearts, and while leaving, they take some part of us along with them. In the ghazal “Nazar Teri Di Inayat,” dedicated to his life partner Jaswinder Kaur, Gurbhajan Gill’s beating heart too remembers those who have gone away:
Nazar teri di inayat, vekh ki kujh kar gayi.
Birakh sukka futtia, har taahn phulli bhar gayi.
Lok marde roz ethe dharat ambar vaaste,
Muskani teri kiven mainu Sikandar kar gayi.
Among the woven threads of relationships, the bond with the mother is most precious, delicate, tender, and perhaps, more truly, tied through an inner cord. Gurbani links the earth with the mother. Society, culture, and civilization link language with the mother. The ungrateful human being keeps weaving his own web to scorch, cut, and sever the threads that bind mother, motherland, and mother tongue. Gurbhajan Gill has beautifully expressed this tender bond with the mother in the ghazal “Uh Taan Keval Chola Badle”:
Uh taan keval chola badle, kaun kahe maan mar jaandi hai.
Puttar dheean andar uh taan, aapna sabh kujh dhar jaandi hai.
Mahik sadeevi, moh diyan tandan, mamta moorat roop badaldi,
Kinne mehinge asal khazaane, de ke jholi bhar jaandi hai.
Dharti maan di dhee suchyaari, meri maan de vargi har maan,
Bin koshish ton maan boli da shabad-bhandaara bhar jaandi hai.
In the ghazal “Eh Saari Shaan Taan,” Gurbhajan Gill highlights not only the dignity of the turban bestowed by the Gurus, but also the challenge to that dignity, the arrogance of ruling powers, and the revolutionary thought and defiance of youth:
Eh saari shaan taan dastaar di hai,
Jo bakhshish bekasaan de yaar di hai.
Tusi ardaas kariyo, sambhal jaavaan,
Khudi di naagni funkaar di hai.
Tuhade aasre zinda haan, odan,
Rozana maut ‘waazan’ maardi hai.
Nave sooraj muhimman roz naviyaan,
Jawaani kaun aakhe, haardi hai.
Tusi vishvaas kariyo mehrbaano,
Muhabbat dubbdiyaan nu taardi hai.
All the ghazals in “Mirgaavli” are praiseworthy. Ghazals such as “Jarda Jarda Mar Na Jaavaan,” “Agge Agg Si Pichhe Paani,” “Tuun Mainu Jeen Joga Chhadd,” “Raatiin Birakh Udaas Bade Si,” “Tera Hassna Bahaar Denda Hai,” “Seena Taahiyon Taan Baraabar,” “Zulm Jabar Da Kehri,” “Mannia Dard Dile Da,” “Door Des Pardeson Hun Tuun,” “Kis Dharti Nu Aakhaan Maan,” “Kithe Vasde Bhet Na Dassde” and many others not only draw the reader’s attention, but also stand witness to Gurbhajan Gill’s sensitivity and broad vision.
Many people like me keep looking at society only with two eyes. The miraculous power of a third eye, one filled with sensitivity and a poetic soul, shines clearly in this writing.
I found this creation of Gurbhajan Gill outstanding. As a reader, I sincerely and strongly recommend “Mirgaavli” to other serious readers.
This book can be purchased through Singh Brothers, Amritsar; Chetna Prakashan, Punjabi Bhavan, Ludhiana; Navchetan Book Depot, Barnala; as well as from all book sale centers and Amazon. Its price is Rs 200.
I hope you will like this book. My best wishes as well for Gurbhajan Gill’s onward and further literary journey.
Long live life.
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