Dhoondta phirta huN ay 'Iqbal' apne aapko,
aap hi goya musafir aap hi manzil huN maiN
* * *
Kisii raahro1 ko ye khabar na hogi
Ki inshaN tanha bhi ik karvaaN hai
1.. Musafir (Nizaam Rampuri)
Musafir is an extraordinary word; it is our essence, symbolic of our journey through life and our quest to search that illusive meaning of our existence. Even though the word means just the traveler, there is an implicit allusion to a stranger, which we all are to ourselves. Musafir also connotes exotic and unknown and provides awe and exhilaration of discovery. There is also an element of fear, fear of unknown and our inability to plan for this eventuality.
"Manzil k us taraf bhi ik raah-e-justjuu hai,
Manzil ka zurm hai ki yaheeN karvaaN thahre" ( Shazaad Lakhnawi)
Musafir is incomplete without a Manzil. One obvious Manzil is qazaa, but before that are several stopovers. At each step there is sense of accomplishment and joy of discovery and sometimes disappointment of a let down. The ultimate Manzil is deceptively dark, remote and foreboding like qazaa is. The fear of this Manzil is kind of organic and irrational. Organic fear stems from our need for survival and is reflex reaction, therefore we have no control over this fear. Irrational fear is our own creation and is caused by our inability to comprehend the foggy mystery surrounding qazaa.
Laut aaya phir yahaN tak, ay amir-e-karvaaN,
ChoR aaya tha jahaN tu, vo meri manzil na thi (Iqbal)
These words are truly extraordinary for the simple reason that in spite of being functional/ utility words, they retain freshness and exude an aura of spirituality.
And finally, ye bhi to aik masafir ka hi nazariya hai:
Surag-e-raah na koii manziloN ke nishaaN
safar ki shaam thi, gard-o-ghubaar main guzari!
Anil Kala
