[nukkad] Urdu shers

["Mahesh chandra gupta" <>]

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  Always proofread carefully to see if you any words out.       
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Context:

I interjected a few urdu couplets in my mails. Anna took note of 
them and wanted elucidation. She sent me a personal mail to the 
effect. It seems my reply somehow got lost on the way. I am 
sending the same again through the list. It may interest other 
non-Hindi speakers too. I have given the plain meaning, as well as 
free English poetic rendering of the urdu poetry.

MC Gupta
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Dear Anna,

It seems I forgot to enclose the following to my earlier mail.

Kabir said [and, rightly so]:

  >Pothi parh parh jag mua,
  Pandit bhaya na koi;
  Dhai acchar prem ka,
  Parhe so pandit hoi.<

"Volumes we read day in, day out,
Yet I say without a doubt;
He who has understood letters half and two,
Is the most erudite man I know."

[Plain meaning: All knowledge acquired through reading tons of 
books does not make a man learned. The really learned is he who 
has learnt the lesson of love].



>Mana ki bahut aham hai duniya ko badal dena;
Is se bhi aham-tar hai, apne ko badal lena.<

"It is important, no doubt, to change the world,
But, still more important, is the change inward."

[Plain meaning: One should aim at transforming himself rather than 
the whole world].

MC Gupta











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