One step more: ‘An afternoon full of stars’
7 min read
LUCKNOW/04.12.2021 : Somewhere deep in the ice of the global pandemic for almost two years, the life battling with unconsciousness has started swearing again and the signs of being alive in life have started appearing again. The world needs to be reassured that it is breathing and still alive despite the grave and unbelievable loss. It is very important that we listen to the music of our beats again, feel the speed of the blood flowing in the veins and tell our brain again that it is true that we have lost a lot but it is equally true that still, we have a lot left. We must understand that life is a name to ‘go on’ and there is a golden dawn at the other end of every night.
The ‘ICN Media Group’ (ICN) and its affiliate ‘Scholar Institute of Media Studies’ (SIMS) have jointly organized a new series of positive events named as ‘One Step More’ to revive this belief in life. As the second step of said series, ‘Words, Vocal and Music Meet’ was organized in the auditorium of ‘SIMS’ in Lucknow, which was presided over by ICN’s Editor (Entertainment), internationally renowned in the field of music and Yash Bharti Awardee Kewal Kumar.
Inaugurating the program, Tarun Prakash Srivastava, Senior Executive Editor, ICN (Literator, Legal Expert and Law Firm Owner) said that it is time to revive the sentiments of the dying society. We have no right to die unless we actually die. We are deeply concerned for those who have separated us because of this global pandemic, but for those who are still alive, it is a festival of enthusiasm. Some of us have been unfortunate enough to be defeated by this pandemic but crores of us have also defeated this epidemic. We will walk again, we will move again and step by step we will create the history of new destinations on the geography of the world.
Prof. (Dr.) Shah Ayaz Siddiqui, Editor-in-Chief of ICN and Executive Director of SIMS, said about ICN that ICN is such an international forum of the best talent from various fields, who love India more than themselves. It represents the Indian culture and civilization not only through words but also through its actions and programs the ‘Rural Entrepreneurship’ for the all round development of the country and etire world. Throwing light on the working method of SIMS, he said that journalism is a big responsibility and this responsibility becomes even bigger in difficult and critical situations. ‘SIMS’ is committed to ‘produce’ such ‘skilled’ and subject-wise ‘educated’ journalists in the field of journalism, who may be useful for the balanced development of society through meaningful journalism.
The program ‘Words, Vocal and Music Meet’ was started by Dr. (Major) Ruchi Srivastava, a senior poet and retired surgeon from the Indian Army, with the prayer of Mother Sharda. Thereafter she presented a beautiful song of hope –
मन क्यों तू हिम्मत हार रहा?
साहस का अंचल छोड़ नहीं-
यह परम परीक्षा है तेरी!
कम्पित भावों को सम्बल दे
कुछ कठिन नहीं मत कर देरी।
सम्पूर्ण सृष्टि में उठ पाया
तम से उजास का भार कहां?
“Why are you losing heart?
Do not leave the zone of courage-
This is your ultimate test!
support trembling sentiments
Don’t delay doing anything difficult.
rose in all creation
Where the weight of light is borne by
darkness?”
After that, the young Ghazalkar (Urdu poet) Amit ‘Harsh‘ presented his ghazals (Urdu poetry) very well in front of the audience –
“अजीब मुश्किल, उलझन में हम पड़ गये।
मोहब्बत ज़्यादा थी और लफ़्ज़ कम पड़ गये॥
कैसे बताएँ कैफ़ियत इज़हार-ए-इश्क़ की,
होंठ ख़ुश्क बेबस और हाथ नम पड़ गये॥
गुमाँ तो बहुत था क़लम की धार पर अपनी,
पर इस क़वायद में काग़ज़ पर ज़ख़म पड़ गये॥
ख़ुशियों को ज़रा क्या दावत दे दी हमने,
बस इतनी सी बात पर पीछे ग़म पड़ गये॥
तुम गये, सर्दी गयी, गर्मी गयी फिर बरसात भी,
इस दरमियाँ देखो कितने मौसम पड़ गये॥”
“Weirdly difficult, confused.
Love was high and words fell short.
How to tell impact of expression of love,
Lips dry, helpless and hands moist.
I was missing a lot on the edge of my pen,
But in this exercise there were wounds on the paper.
What a feast we have given to happiness,
Sorrows target me for long for it.
You went, winter went, summer went, then rain also went,
Look at this time how many seasons have passed.”
The known poet Mrs. Sharad Singh recited her compositions –
“अपनों की भीड़ में तलाशा जब अपनों को,
मिला नहीं कोई वहां जहां अपने थे सब।
देखें थे सपन इन नयनों ने बार बार,
रहे वो सपन ही जो देखे सपने थे सब॥”
“Searching in the crowd of loved ones, when you find your loved ones,
No one was found where everyone was there.
These eyes had seen dreams again and again,
Only those all the dreams were the dreams only.”
Thereafter, ICN’s Bureau Chief (Uttar Pradesh) Dr. Amay Tripathi while reciting his poem, pointing to the mirage of a man caught in the storm of materialism, said –
“न जाने किन ख्वाहिशों के बोझ से
दबा जा रहा है,
बेवजह की लड़ाई जीतने के लिये
लड़े जा रहा है,
उन पैमानों के क्या मायने अमय
जिनपे उतरने को मरे जा रहा है।
“With the burden of unknown desires
being pressed,
To win an unnecessary battle
is being fought
What is the meaning of those scales
for which you are going to die everytime.”
Gauravendra Pratap Sinha, Editor, ICN (Retd. Pharmaceutical Manager) said that there is only ‘hope’ that runs the whole world and if we save our hope even after losing everything, then we are again ready to go for a new journey. On this occasion, he spelled the audience to dance by singing his favorite song written by Javed Akhtar –
“ये सफ़र बहुत है कठिन मगर
न उदास हो मेरे हमसफ़र।”
“This journey is very difficult but
Don’t be sad my friend.”
ICN Associate Editor Adarsh Srivastava, in a very interesting way, looked at the style of a person struggling with the problems of daily life with a tempering of ‘Khichdi’ (a north Indian dish made if rice and pulse( and got applause from the people.
Dr. Shikha Bhadauria, Associate Editor and noted musician first recited some shers of Shafaq Sahni Chishti’s Ghazal (Urdu poetry) in her melodious voice and then enthralled the audience with her magic by reciting her compositions. Her work on father was especially appreciated-
“कभी अभिमान तो कभी स्वाभिमान है पिता।
कभी धरती तो कभी आसमान है पिता॥
जन्म दिया है अगर माँ ने,
जानेगा जिसे जग वह पहचान है पिता॥”
“Sometime father is pride,
sometime father is self-respect.
Sometime father is the earth
sometimes the father is sky
If the mother has given birth,
Whoever the world recognizes, is known as the father.”
Satyendra Kumar Singh, Editor ICN and Dean SIMS, also a senior litterateur, narrated many soulful compositions from his collection of poetry ‘Tuta Hi Sahi, Ek Rishta To Hai’ (Though broken but there is a bond) on the demand of the audience –
“काम-क्रोध
छल और कपट,
छमन हर वक्त
सत्य का,
मन-मन्दिर पर
काबिज़
द्वेष और प्रतिकार,
रावण छदम्
रूप में
शासन है
कर रहा,
सुख और शांति,
सात्विक भावों
का है अंत
कर रहा,
मैं-विभीषण
मौन,
डरा हुआ
हर पल,
अनरत,
इन्तज़ार कर रहा
राम का।”
“sex anger
deceit and fraud,
all the time
of truth,
at the temple of mind
occupied
hatred and retribution,
Ravan camouflage
in the form of
rule is
doing,
happiness and peace,
the purest expressions
is the end of
doing,
I, Vibhishan,
afread
silenced,
Frightened
every moment,
continuously ,
waiting
Ram.”
When Ajay Kumar, Secreatary SIMS placed his compositions in front of the audience, it seemed that poetry does not sleep only on muslin beds but it sometimes grows like weeds even from rocky ground and talks directly with life also. His lines lingered in the minds of the listeners for a long time –
“हाँ, मैं नास्तिक हूँ
मगर इतना भी नहीं कि
औरों के धर्मों का सम्मान न कर सकूँ।”
“Yeah, I’m an atheist
but not so much
I can’t respect other’s religions.”
Tarun Prakash Srivastava, Senior Executive Editor, ICN said that poetry does not require any language or grammar. Poetry is just poetry. Poetry is either there or it is not. There is no middle way in this. In fact, poetry is life in the body. He narrated his poem ‘The Books breathe’ and other compositions –
“जब भी किताबों, डायरियों से भरी,
अपनी दशकों पुरानी अलमारी देखता हूँ,
ठिठक कर थोड़ी देर अवश्य सोचता हूँ-
मेरे जीवन का कितना बड़ा हिस्सा
आज भी परत दर परत सिमटा हुआ
छिपा है इस बेतरतीब ढेर में।
जब यह बेच दिया जायेगा
मेरे ही परिवार के किसी सदस्य द्वारा
किसी कबाड़ी को एक दिन,
उस दिन मैं अपने आप से कितना कट जाऊँगा,
और एक नीर भरे आवारा बादल की भाँति
किसी पहाड़ी से टकरा कर
कभी न सिले जाने के लिये
फट जाऊँगा।
मैं मर कर भी
ज़िंदा रहूँगा
अपनी किताबों के शहर में,
शहर की घुमावदार सड़कों में
और इन्हीं किताबों के
किसी मोहल्ले के आखिरी मकान में,
हज़ारों चरित्रों के साथ जो अब
तुम्हारी दुनिया में कहीं नहीं मिलते।
पता है मुझे,
मेरे मरने के बाद
मेरी रूह नहीं भटकेगी कहीं भी
बस समा जायेगी इन्हीं किताबों में,
पुरानी आधी अधूरी लिखी डायरियों में,
लंबी उम्र गुज़ार चुकी
पीली पड़ चुकी बूढ़ी कापियों में,
ताकि अनंत काल तक
तुम जब भी मुझे पुकारो,
मैं सदैव आवाज़ दूँ –
इन किताबों से,
इन डायरियों से,
इन पुरानी कापियों से।
मुझे लगता है,
हज़ारों लोग ज़िंदा है आज भी
बरसों पहले मिट्टी में दफन हो जाने के बावजूद
अपनी अपनी किताबों में,
पूरी शिद्दत के साथ।
मैंने तो महसूस किया है-
हज़ारों बार,
तुम भी किसी किताब को
जब मन से छुओगे तो पाओगे-
किताबें साँस लेती हैं।
“Whenever full of books, diaries,
I look at my decades old wardrobe,
I stop and think for a while-
what a big part of my life
Even today, layer by layer is confined
Hidden in this random heap.
When it will be sold
by a member of my own family
One day to some junk buyer,
How much will I be cut off from myself that day,
and like a faint cloud
hitting a hill
to never sew
I’ll explode.
Even I die
will live
in the city of my books,
in the winding streets of the city
of these books
in the last house of a locality,
With thousands of characters who now
can’t find you anywhere in the world.
I do know,
after I die
my soul will not wander anywhere
It will just be absorbed in these books,
In old half-written diaries,
In the long lived yellowed old copies,
so that for eternity
whenever you call me
I will always voice –
from these books,
from these diaries,
from these old copies.
I always feel,
Thousands of people are still alive today
Despite being buried in the soil years ago
in their own books,
With full enthusiasm.
I have felt-
thousands of times,
but you may feel too,
When you touch the books
with depth of your heart,
you will find-
the Books breathe.”
Akhil Kumar Srivastava ‘Akhil Anand’, with his very popular composition ‘Phoonkna Mana Hai’, made the audience laugh a lot at first, while at the end made them extremely sensitive and incredibly serious. He said –
“जिनके घर में कोई भी नेता नहीं है
या जिनका किसी भी नेता के साथ कोई संबंध नहीं है
उनके लिये फूँकना मना है।”
“In whose house there is no leader
or who have no relation with any leader
It is forbidden for them to blow the fire.”
Senior litterateur and special guest of the event, Akhilesh Srivastava ‘Chaman’ made the program even more dignified with his presence. He presented his powerful new song (nav geet)-
“अक्षत, फूल
कटा नींबू है,
उढ़का दोना है।
हे विधना
हर चौराहे पर
जादू-टोना है।”
“Pious rice, flower
sliced lemon,
under the covered cup.
hey distiny
at every crossroads,
there is magic.”
At the top of the program, the chief guest of the program Kewal Kumar mesmerized the audience by reciting the Ghazals (Urdu poetries) of Urdu poets Zafar Gorakhpuri and Tarun Prakash in his very melodious and soulful voice.
Dr. Harish Srivastava, Senior Surgeon and Senior Journalist Mr. Najam Mustafa, Anshuman Asthana, Aasia Khan while commenting on the significance of the program, said that certainly such programs represent the culture of our country.
Chief Consulting Editor, ICN and Chairman, SIMS Professor Pradeep Mathur and Director, SIMS Professor Bhanu Pratap Singh while expressing happiness over the success of the program, said that we all play our respective roles in building a clean and transparent society.
The program was efficiently conducted by Akhil Anand and Satyendra Kumar Singh placed the vote of thanks and the series ‘Ek Kadam Aur’ was postponed till its next step.
About Author
