Sir Syed Day and AMU Tarana

Come 17th of Oct and AMU would look new,fresh and breathing all over again.For sometime it would seem we are far from the political playground that the campus has been reduced to.Sir Syed Day meant celebration.The University would be lit up and from some distance it would seem as if sky had come down to kiss the dust of our alma mater.I would think it wasnt without reason that Majaz wrote these powerful lines which all of us proudly sang.If there is one song which arouses the feeling of camarderie,pride and passion it always is the AMU tarana.

The lines that moved all of us are here(courtesy-aligarians.com)

ye meraa chaman hai meraa chaman, maiN apne chaman kaa bulbul huuN

sarshaar-e-nigaah-e-nargis huuN, paa-bastaa-e-gesuu-sumbul huuN

ye meraa chaman hai meraa chaman, maiN apne chaman ka bulbul huuN
jo taaq-e-haram meN roshan hai, vo shamaa yahaaN bhii jaltii hai

is dasht ke goshe-goshe se, ek juu-e-hayaat ubaltii hai

ye dasht-e-junuuN diivaanoN kaa, ye bazm-e-vafaa parvaanoN kii

ye shahr-e-tarab ruumaanoN kaa, ye Khuld-e-bariiN armaanoN ki

ifitrat ne sikhaii hai ham ko,uftaad yahaaN parvaaz yahaaN

gaaye haiN vafaa ke giit yahaaN, chheRaa hai junuuN kaa saaz yahaaN

ye meraa chaman hai meraa chaman, maiN apne chaman ka bulbul huuN
is bazm meN teGheN khenchiiN haiN, is bazm meN saGhar toRe haiN

is bazm meN aanKh bichaa’ii hai, is bazm meN dil tak joRe haiN

har shaam hai shaam-e-Misr yahaaN, har shab hai shab-e-Sheeraz yahaaN

hai saare jahaaN kaa soz yahaaN aur saare jahaaN kaa saaz yahaaN

zarraat kaa bosaa lene ko, sau baar jhukaa aakaash yahaaN

Khud aankh se ham ne dekhii hai, baatil kii shikast-e-faash yahaaN

ye mera chaman hai mera chaman, main apne chaman ka bulbul hun
jo abr yahaaN se uThThega, vo saare jahaaN par barsegaa

har juu-e-ravaan par barsegaa, har koh-e-garaaN par barsegaa

har sard-o-saman par barsegaa, har dasht-o-daman par barsegaa

Khud apne chaman par barsegaa, GhairoN ke chaman par barsegaa

har shahr-e-tarab par garjegaa, har qasr-e-tarab par kaRkegaa

ye abr hameshaa barsaa hai, ye abr hameshaa barsegaa

ye abr hameshaa barsaa hai, ye abr hameshaa barsegaa

ye abr hameshaa barsaa hai, ye abr hameshaa barsegaa

barsegaa, barsegaa, barsegaa…………………

God Suffers in POK

Mangla Temple-Once a greatly revered shrine,now in tatters
Picture Courtesy-Hanif Garib

Main Khush hua masjid-e-veeran ko dekh kar

Mere tarah khuda ka bhi khana kharab hai

Migrant Kashmiris yearn to return by Aastha Manocha(in The Indian Express)

It was a hot day otherwise but up on Hari Parbat, it is only strong cool winds that one feels. Hari Parbat is one of the landmarks in Kashmir, which housed the Sharika Devi Temple. However, for exiled Kashmiri Hindus who do not have the luxury of their homeland, this replica in Faridabad will have to do, for now. This is also the place where the exiled Kashmiri Hindus now living in Delhi and NCR areas meet often.
This Sunday on October 6, the occasion was to commemorate the 1st anniversary of Roots In Kashmir, a Kashmiri Hindu organization formed with the long-term aim of returning home. The under-running sentiment of returning is unfathomable to an outsider after hearing their stories, of giving up house and hearth and escaping Kashmir by the night, not daring to raise their heads until after crossing the Jawahar tunnel, of the humiliation of living in camps with bare minimum of supplies. But return they will, even if their properties are no longer theirs, as one of them puts it, ‘Even if I couldn’t live there, I would prefer to die there’. The pleasure of pain and pining maybe.
The meeting starts with prayers in the Temple of Goddess Shaarika, believed to be an incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi. It is followed by deliberations of the organization’s role so far and future plans. The group is not very large and is pretty informal, but the underlying feeling of camaraderie is hard to miss as they talk among themselves in rapid Kashmiri or sing ‘Leela’, a music form of Kashmiris.
The Kashmiri Hindus, often known as Kashmiri Pandits due to their culture of learning under their presiding deity Sharda, are a proud lot willing to fight for their place in the rich Kashmiri history. In fact, there is much outrage at the notion that the Kashmiri script was always in Urdu. The original Kashmiri script was in the Sharda script, named after the Goddess of intellect, Sharda, they assert, quoting the Rajtarangini, an ancient treatise on Kashmiri history.
The temple complex is built on land donated by the villagers of Anangpur, where it is built. The temple was funded by JN Kaul, head of SOS India, and built with the help of the villagers. Remaining true to the original structure, this temple too has a total of 258 stairs, which take one high up to the place where there is a single statue of Goddess, surrounded by paintings of the other deities, all of them goddesses. The view of the village and open spaces below is perhaps fitting to the pastoral way of life the Kashmiris are used to.
As the conversation veers to those still languishing in camps, it is surprising to hear that many who have been brought up in those camps are MA’s or MBA ’s. Apparently the culture of learning manifests itself with parents staying up at nights fending off snakes during long power cuts so that their children’s studies go unhindered. However, problems still galore as these young graduates are in need of counselling and guidance. Sunil Ji Bhat, a student of post-graduation in mass communication, recounts his experiences, “the camp school functioned through tents in senior secondary it shifted to a rented house. My school never had a library, let alone a computer.”