Sunday, December 14, 2008

Words from another wise guy

I have been meaning to write the sequel to the words from my favourite poet for the longest time, but somehow never got around to doing it. This one's for baby Aish, Asha and her son, and Sudeep and his mom (who I'm told likes dohas).

So here they are, some of another great poet Rahim's pearls of wisdom:

Rahiman dhaga prem ka, mat todo chatkaaye
Toote se phir na jude, jude gaanth pad jaaye

Rough translation: Rahim says, don’t break the delicate thread of love. Once it breaks, it can’t be joined. Even if you join it, there will be a knot.

Executive summary: Don't break it when you know you can't fix it.

***

Rahiman badan ko dekh ke, laghu na deeje daar
Jahan kaam aaye sui, kya karey talwar?

Rough translation: Rahim says, don’t ignore the humble when introduced to the big/important. When you’re in need of a needle, of what use is a sword?

Exective summary: Don't underestimate the humble.

***

Kheera mukh te kaatiye, maliyat laun lagaaye
Rahiman karwe mukh ko chahiyat eehi sazaye

Rough translation: Rahim says, to cure a bitter cucumber, we cut its head off and rub salt over it. A bitter mouth deserves the same treatment.

Executive summary: Bitterness will never get you anywhere.

***

Je Rahim uttam prakrati, ka kari sakat kusung
Chandan vish vyapat nahi, liptat rahat bhujang

Rough translation: Rahim says, how will evil corrupt the one who has an excellent character? Sandalwood does not become poisonous even though snakes cling around its trunk.

Executive summary: Build yourself a Teflon character.

***

Kahe Rahim sampati sage, banat bahu bahu reet
Bipati kasoti je kase, te hi saanche meet

Rough translation: Rahim says, where there is fortune, people will find many ways to form relations. But your true friend are those who stand by you in misfortune.

Executive summary: Fairweather friends are worse than enemies.

***

Rahiman ya tan soop hai, leejeeye jagat pachhor
harikan ko udijan dey, garuay rakhee bator

Rough translation: Rahim says, be like a winnow and sort the world (people) through it. Let the light (bad) ones fly away and carefully preserve the heavy (good) ones.

Executive summary: Cherish the good stuff. Throw the bad. Don't look back.

***

Rahim ve nar mar chuke, je kahu mangan chaee
Unte pahel ve mue, jin mukh niksat nahi

Rough translation: Rahim says, men who choose to beg are as good as dead. But those who say 'No' were never men to begin with.

Executive summary: Help yourself. Help others.

***

Meetha sab se boliye, phailey sukh chahu oar
Vashikaran hai mantra yehi, taj de wachan kathor

Rough translation: Rahim says, speak sweetly with everyone, and spread joy everywhere. Giving up harsh words is the true vashikaran mantra (the mantra to win everyone over).

Executive summary: How to win friends and influence people: watch your words.

***

Bade badai na kare bade na bole bol
Rahiman heera kab kahe lakh taka mero mol

Rough translation: The great never praise themselves or reveal their worth. Rahim says, have you ever heard a diamond say "I'm worth one lakh rupees"?

Executive summary: Don't praise yourself. Let others do it.

***

Rahiman ahee sansaar mein, sab saun miliye dhay
Na jaane kahi roop mein, Narayan Mil jaaye

Rough translation: Rahim says, meet everyone with love. You never know when you may bump into a form of Narayan (God) Himself.

Executive summary: Play it safe. You never know.

***



23 comments:

Homer said...

Gold.. yeshhhh!!!
how can we bewdas disappoint you without yelling gold :p

Bhavya said...

Silver! Now I'll read it

vineet said...

Know dohas from Rahim, where he did not use his name?

fee said...

lovely stuff Sayesha..I dont even understand Urdu(that is what it is right), but thank you so much for the translation. I wah-wah'ed at the english version ;)..True essences of life!!

Bronze!!

Bhavya said...

Lovely collection of dohas - words to live by :)

Marina D' Souza said...

Oh i miss these. Reminds me of school :). I think you missed out on the ever popular .. "kal kare so aaj kar" ?

Sayesha said...

#Homer,
Hehehe! :P

#Bhavya,
:)

#vineet,
Can't think of any at the moment... please do share. :)

#Preethi,
You're welcome! :) I think it's awadhi/brajbhasha. :)

#Bhavya,
True. :)

#Marina,
//Oh i miss these. Reminds me of school :)

Meeeee toooo! :)

//I think you missed out on the ever popular .. "kal kare so aaj kar" ?

I believe that was by Kabirdas. You can find some of his work here: http://sayesha.blogspot.com/2008/05/words-from-wise-guy.html

Akshay said...

Words to live by indeed ..

especially #1, makes so much sense.

Sanchit said...

way to go...
this make so much sense: Build yourself a Teflon character

Rosh said...

We had a lesson on dohas in school. I was way too bad in Hindi to understand the meanings of those.
Thanks for the english translations. Why don't you publish a guide for people like me?

Cheers,
Rosh
(http://roshabraham.blogsome.com)

Bivas said...

\\Build yourself a Teflon character.
Too Good :) and hilarious :D

santasizing...Fantasizing said...

hmmmmm....I like:)
damn good..
thanks for bringing back good old memories..with the gyan element:)
//build yourself a teflon character//
i loved this one:)

Sum said...

I used to love these dohas in school... we wud even have to know some of them by-heart..... But i used to like Kabir's more than Rahim's as the former were more easily understandable.... Thanks for sharing them and for the translations......

Sum said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
qqq said...

hi sayesha,

was wondering why there was no post for the past 3 days and i see this one. 1st 3 sentences padha and AHHHHHHHH , apun ka aur puttar ka mention dekha. .

read the post. the son read it too. nice one as usual.

liked 2 of them the best.
Kheera mukh te kaatiye, .....
ko chahiyat eehi sazaye


Rahiman ahee sansaar mein, .....
Narayan Mil jaaye

thanks for sharing these pearls of wisdom, put forth in such a simple language, 1st by Rahim and then their translations by you

lots of love

asha

Cherish said...

Sayesha,

Am new to comments section...usually a silent reader of your blog...acquainted with your tastes... though this comment is out of place...just wanted to bring to your notice of a new TV show featuring Farhan Akhtar Oye Its Friday on NDTV imagine..and its first episode is there on youtube...(I know you're a fan of him through the blog)..hope it helps :-)

VIDYA said...

Arrey...Kisi ne bhi BRONZE kaha nahin?
Whatever happened to all the childish glee over here at the commments section?
Also,loved the executive summary.Just what we need in times of brevity and cost-cutting! :)

Kanan said...

Loved all of them, Sayesha. The last one's the best! :) Thanks for putting these up.

Iday said...

I come back after a few months and The Bhai has gotten wiser (or at least borrowing it from Rahim)!!!

PS: How are things???

Taurus Girl said...

Hi Sayesha..
A friend of mine recommended ur blog.. Have been reading it dedicatedly for 4 days now..
Kudos to you!!
Infact wrote a few posts myself (not particularly great ones), haven been inspired by you to write in an otherwise empty blog I started years ago..
Will keep following..
Smiles,
Andy

Sayesha said...

#Akshay,
Yep, totally agree. :)

#Sanchit,
Thanks. :)

#Rosh,
Hahaha, sure sure. :P

#Bivas,
Thank you thank you! :)

#Santa fanta,
Thanks! :)

#Sum,
Yeah... even I think Kabir's are easier to understand... but both used very cool analogies! :)

#Asha,
Thanks! Hope all's well! :)

#Cherish,
Thank you! Yeah, I have seen the trailers of the show.. will catch the first episode.. thanks for the tip! :)

#VIDYA,
Hahahaha! Tu le le na! :)

//Just what we need in times of brevity and cost-cutting! :)

Hehehe... :P

#Kanan,
Thank you! :)

#Iday,
Bhai has not gotten wiser... Bhai is trying. :)
PS: All good! How about you?

#Taurus Girl,
Welcome and thank you! Off to read your blog now! :)

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workhard said...

Cool post, nice dohas
i remember them in school, reminds me of how we had to memorize it, i wish you were my teacher then:D

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