Tuesday, March 21, 2017

सारे जहाँ से अच्छा

Upon reading an article in the NEWSpaper today, Court orders eviction: bedridden woman, teen daughter out in the street in Kanjirappally. I couldn't help but remember this song:

"सारे जहाँ से अच्छा हिन्दोसिताँ हमारा
हम बुलबुलें हैं इसकी यह गुलसिताँ हमारा...
मज़्हब नहीं सिखाता आपस में बैर रखना
हिंद्वी हैं हम, वतन है हिन्दोसिताँ हमारा...
कुछ बात है कि हस्ती मिटती नहीं हमारी
सदियों रहा है दुश्मन दौर-ए-ज़माँ हमारा...
सारे जहाँ से अच्छा हिन्दोसिताँ हमारा
हम बुलबुलें हैं इसकी यह गुलसिताँ हमारा..."

Translation:

Better than the entire world, is our Hindustan,
We are its nightingales, and it (is) our garden abode...
Religion does not teach us to bear animosity among ourselves
We are of Hind, our homeland is Hindustan...
here is something about our existence for it doesn't get wiped
Even though, for centuries, the time-cycle of the world has been our enemy...
Better than the entire world, is our Hindustan,
We are its nightingales, and it (is) our garden abode...

About the song:

सारे जहाँ से अच्छा, is a patriotic song written by Muhammad Iqbal. It is often rendered during patriotic occasions in India and is used as a marching song by the Armed Forces. The song is often accompanied by music composed by Ravi Shankar. Written for children in the ghazal style of Urdu poetry, the poem was first published in the weekly journal Ittehad on 16 August 1904, it quickly became an anthem of opposition to the British rule in India. 

Now you know the relevance it has even today...