Heritage: As the war rages once more..

[Gul Agha <agha@CS.UIUC.EDU>]

O Sangram!
Come hither
Narain Shyam!
His and mine,
Quotes are the same
Words are the same
He is the undisputed
  master of song, but
My colors and styles
  are the same
My fears are the same
My drums are the same
My heart is the same
My mannerisms are the same
How can I aim a gun at him?
How can I shoot a bullet at him?
How can I!
How can I!!
How can I..

    -- Shaikh Ayaz (d. 1998)

Shaikh Ayaz is widely considered to be the greatest Sindhi poet of
this century and is certainly the most popular modern poet in Sindh.
He was born in Shikarpur, and as per his will, buried by the shrine of
Shah Latif, whom he recognized as his spiritual guide.

For his strong and vocal opposition to the war with India in 1965, as
is also manifest in the above poem written during that time, saaiin
Ayaz was charged with treason by Pakistan.  A change of government
spared his life from the gallows.  Unbowed and undettered, he again
supported the liberation struggle of Bangladesh and was arrested once
more.

The above poem appears in his collection 'vijjuun vasarna ayuun', a
collection of poems published in 1973 that he dedicated to 'Gita Raj'.
The rough translation of the poem is mine.. I have particular trouble
translating the tense of the last few lines, since the tense is not
directly translatable (e.g. 'kiien harnaan maan').  Narain Shyam was a
friend of Ayaz and member of the Sindhi literati circle which was
divided after the exodus of Sindhi Hindus to India in 1948.

sadaaiin ggaddu,

Gul A. Agha